But there’s another significant reason to manage it, better yet, help it go into remission…

And that’s cancer.

Men with diabetes are 19 percent more likely to develop cancer. For women, the risk is 27 percent. If that weren’t bad enough, research has shown a link between diabetes and metastatic cancer. High concentrations of sugar in the blood encourages cancer cells to spread.

Researchers looking into the diabetes-cancer connection know how you can take both of these dangerous conditions down…

Can losing weight control diabetes AND cancer?

The Diabetes Remission Clinical Trial (DiRECT), a structured weight management program for people with diabetes, produced some amazing results…

Under the supervision of a dietitian, participants replaced their habitual diets with a prescribed diet. Foods not on the prescribed diet were slowly reintroduced.

After two years of this trial, 68 men and 53 women saw their type 2 diabetes go into remission, compared with only six men and five women in the control group.

When Emma Hazelwood of Bristol Medical School in England read these results, a bell went off…

She knew that people with type 2 diabetes also had an increased risk of developing certain cancers — including pancreatic cancer.

Had the trial participants who successfully lost weight and controlled their diabetes also reduced their cancer risk?

Nine cancer-related proteins reduced with weight loss

Previous studies have found that having increased body weight changed the level of certain proteins with a known link to cancer.

So, along with a team of researchers from Bristol Medical School, Hazelwood used data from 261 people with diabetes who were enrolled in the DiRECT trial.

The team analyzed blood samples from before and after weight loss and found that nine cancer-related proteins were reduced, compared with none in the control group, who had received standard diabetes care but not the prescribed diet.

“Results from this study help us gain insight into potential mechanisms linking type 2 diabetes and body fatness with cancer development.

“These findings offer encouraging evidence that the increased cancer risk seen in people with diabetes might be reduced with weight loss interventions. This has important implications for both diabetes treatment and cancer prevention.”

Do-it-yourself weight loss and disease prevention

Of course, not all of us can enroll in a trial that supervises our weight loss.

But that doesn’t mean there aren’t proven ways to do it yourself.

The Mediterranean diet is favored among people who are trying to lose weight and eat more healthfully. In fact, one study showed that people lost more weight and stuck to this diet more easily than either the Paleo or intermittent fasting diets.

Then there’s something known as mindful eating. It may sound like a New-age fad, but on the contrary, eating mindfully is a powerful way to control blood sugar.

But if you need a little guidance on your weight loss journey, consider Weight Watchers. The organization has been a leader in the weight loss industry for more than 50 years — and recognizing that weight loss is key for preventing type 2 diabetes, they’ve become a pioneer in helping people stop the disease progression in its tracks.

They’ve also got a reputation for helping people keep the weight off.

Sources:

Weight loss intervention in people with type 2 diabetes influences cancer-associated proteins — Eureka Alert

Impact of weight loss on cancer-related proteins in serum: results from a cluster randomised controlled trial of individuals with type 2 diabetes — eBioMedicine

Direct Clinical Outcomes at 24 Months — Diabetes Remission Clinical Trial

The post The diabetes-cancer connection and how to take both down appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

If you haven’t, let me share a little about its appeal…

First off, it’s not just a drink. Some call it an experience — one that should probably be kept to a minimum, as it involves sugar, a variety of flavors and toppings.

But what really defines this drink sensation is the boba — chewy tapioca pearls swimming in your drink.

That means you can simultaneously sip your tasty tea and enjoy the “mastication pleasure” of smooth, soft beads bouncing around your mouth until you “pop” them, taking this sensory experience to the next level: chewy sweetness.

But as I mentioned, it’s not the healthiest of drinks, as most fad foods aren’t. But what if you could add beads or pearls to your drink that did more than give your mouth something tasty to chew on?

Like tiny green tea beads that trap fat and melt away pounds …

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Fat-absorbing microbeads without the nasty side effects

The quest for a magic weight loss pill is still alive and well.

However, today’s popular GLP-1 agonists, gastric bypass, and the gut-wrenching Olestra chips of the 90s, prove the journey to prevent dietary fat absorption is fraught with adverse side effects.

But there’s an interesting idea on the horizon…

A team of researchers led by Yue Wu, a graduate student at Sichuan University, was inspired to target the same sort of fat absorption without the negative side effects. “We want to develop something that works with how people normally eat and live,” Wu says.

They started by creating tiny plant-based spheres spontaneously formed through a series of chemical bonds between green tea polyphenols and vitamin E. These structures can form chemical tethers to fat droplets, serving as the “fat-binding core” of the microbeads.

The researchers then coated the spheres in a natural polymer derived from seaweed to protect them from the stomach’s acidic environment. Once ingested, the protective coating expands in response to the acidic pH as the beads travel towards the intestine. There, the green tea polyphenols and vitamin E compounds bind to and trap partially digested fats, which are ultimately eliminated.

Next, they tested the weight-loss treatment in rats…

The researchers divided the rats into three groups: those fed a diet of 60 percent fat with microbeads, those fed the same high-fat diet without microbeads, and those fed a normal diet of 10 percent fat. All the rats were fed these diets for 30 days.

The results were astounding. Rats fed the high-fat diet with microbeads lost 17 percent of their total body weight, while rats in the other groups didn’t lose weight at all.

Additionally, rats on the high-fat microbead diet exhibited reduced adipose tissue and less liver damage compared to those on the other two diets. They also excreted more fat in their feces compared to rats not given microbeads, and the extra fat had no apparent ill effects on their health.

Then, when comparing rats on the high-fat microbead diet with rats treated with orlistat, the researchers observed that the high-fat microbead rats showed similar intestinal fat excretion without the gastrointestinal side effects observed in the orlistat-treated rats.

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Safe weight loss inspired by boba tea

These preliminary results look promising…

The researchers say this microbead approach to weight loss may be safer and more accessible than surgery or pharmaceuticals.

“Losing weight can help some people prevent long-term health issues like diabetes and heart disease,” Wu says. “Our microbeads work directly in the gut to block fat absorption in a noninvasive and gentle way.”

The microbeads are nearly flavorless, and the researchers believe they can easily be integrated into people’s diets: for example, as small tapioca- or boba-sized balls added to desserts and bubble teas.

Wu and her team are collaborating with a biotechnology company to produce the plant-based beads using food-grade, FDA-approved ingredients.

The researchers have also initiated a human clinical trial in collaboration with the West China Hospital of Sichuan University.

“This represents a major step toward clinical translation of our polyphenol-based microbeads, following our foundational results,” Wu says. “We have officially enrolled 26 participants in our investigator-initiated trial, and we anticipate that preliminary data may become available within the next year.”

So if you’ve been waiting to jump on the bubble tea trend, you may be in luck, especially if the next generation can boast safe weight loss along with that “mastication pleasure!”

Source:

1. Tiny green tea beads trap fat and melt away pounds without side effects — ScienceDaily

The post Green tea beads: The next big thing in weight loss appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

It includes recommended amounts of fat, saturated fat, protein, carbohydrates, salt, and fiber, as well as recommendations on the intake of fruits, vegetables, grains, and protein sources.

In the United Kingdom, My Plate’s counterpart is known as The Eatwell Guide.

But there’s a catch with guides like these: they leave it up to us to decide where we get these dietary building blocks from. And the choices run the gamut, from processed, ultra-processed or minimally processed foods to whole foods.

This choice is significant if you’re trying to lose weight.

A British study has proven that one option is twice as effective as the other when it comes to meeting that goal. I’ll give you one guess…

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The foods that won’t help with weight loss

A clinical trial led by researchers at University College London and UCL Hospital found that people eating minimally processed foods lost twice as much weight as those on diets eating ultra-processed foods.

This real-world study is the longest experimental study of an ultra-processed diet to date.

In it, 55 adults were split into two groups. One group started with an eight-week diet of MPF, such as overnight oats or homemade spaghetti Bolognese. After a four-week ‘washout’ period during which participants went back to their regular diet, they switched to a diet of UPF, such as breakfast oat bars or a lasagna ready meal. The other group completed the diets in the opposite order. 

Both diets adhered to the Eatwell Guide in terms of intake of fat, protein, salt, fiber, etc., and both groups could eat as much as they wanted of fruits and vegetables.

At the end of the eight weeks, the MPF group lost twice as much body weight (2.06%) as the UPF group (1.05%).

And in case you’re thinking, “Oh, they probably lost muscle, not fat,” think again. The greater weight loss experienced on the MPF diet came from reductions in fat mass and total body water, with no changes in muscle mass.

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Minimally processed foods for the win

Before I get into how to help you determine the differences between UPF and MPF, I want to share some other interesting findings from this study…

If you’ve ever dieted to lose weight, you know cravings alone can sabotage your best efforts. But MPF actually squashed cravings.

The participants completed several questionnaires during the study. When all the results were tallied, there were significantly greater improvements in the number of cravings and ability to resist them (craving control) on the MPF diet than on the UPF diet.

Specifically, on the MPF diet, participants reported:

• A two-fold greater improvement in overall craving control;
• A four-fold greater improvement in craving control for savory food;
• And an almost two-fold greater improvement in resisting whichever food they most craved.

If you read my recent article on The Food That Won’t Let You Outrun Obesity, you may already know that UPF has the opposite effect. Researchers surmise that the energy density, nutrient composition and appearance of UPF disrupt hunger hormone signals and actually encourage over-eating.

But that’s not all…

UPF calories are absorbed into the body quickly, where they can be stored as fat. These foods lack fiber and contain additives that may disrupt the normal digestive processes. They also have an obesogenic effect: obesogens are chemicals that disrupt the endocrine system and lead to weight gain.

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Identifying MPF and UPF: Which is which

Food experts are still trying to classify the level of processing in foods so we can have an easier time understanding what we’re eating.

I have seen MPF described as foods that are cut, washed, peeled, shredded and packaged. That would describe a bag of salad, apple slices or chopped nuts.

I’ve also read that frozen or canned fruits and vegetables are considered minimally processed — as long as when you open the package, you recognize the food. Canned fruit should be packaged in natural juices, though, not syrup. And no breading on those vegetables.

The easiest way to recognize a UPF is to simply read the label. If you see ingredients listed that are hard to pronounce or require a Google search to know what they are, that’s a UPF. They also bear very little resemblance to real food.

The best rule of thumb? Include as many whole foods as possible. That means consuming foods that look like the real thing, versus a stick of fish. Following an eating plan like the Mediterranean diet is a great way to ensure your diet consists mainly of whole, unprocessed or minimally processed foods.

Sources:

This diet helped people lose twice as much weight, without eating less — Science Daily

Ultraprocessed or minimally processed diets following healthy dietary guidelines on weight and cardiometabolic health: a randomized, crossover trial — Nature Medicine

Effect of a high-fat Mediterranean diet on bodyweight and waist circumference: a prespecified secondary outcomes analysis of the PREDIMED randomised controlled trial — The Lancet

The post How to lose twice as much without eating less appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

And inflammation can lead to a host of problems, including metabolic syndrome, a group of cardiometabolic factors that can raise the risk of type 2 diabetes and lead to plaque buildup inside arteries, increasing the risk of heart attack and stroke.

What’s more, inflammation makes it more challenging to lose weight — and that creates a viscous cycle most of us know all too well.

One contributing factor to inflammation is an excessive amount of acid in the body. So you might wonder if there’s anything we can do to counteract this acidity. According to one team of researchers, there’s a specific diet that can help…

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The role of acid load

Researchers led by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine conducted an analysis of a study involving 62 overweight adults who were assigned to either a Mediterranean diet or a low-fat vegan diet for 16 weeks. They then had a four-week wash-out period, followed by an additional 16 weeks on the alternate diet.

The researchers used the participants’ dietary records to calculate their dietary acid load. This is commonly estimated by Potential Renal Acid Load (PRAL) and Net Endogenous Acid Production (NEAP) scores, with a higher score indicating a higher dietary acid load.

Animal products such as meat, fish, eggs and cheese — plentiful in the standard American diet — cause the body to produce more acid, which increases dietary acid load.

This increase in acid is linked to chronic inflammation that disrupts metabolism and can lead to weight gain. Plant-based diets, by contrast, are more alkaline and are associated with weight loss, improved insulin sensitivity, and lower blood pressure.

In the new analysis, both acid load and acid production scores declined significantly in the vegan group, but there were no significant change in the group on the Mediterranean diet.

The reduction in dietary acid load in the vegan group was associated with weight loss, and this association remained significant even after adjusting for changes in energy consumption.

That wasn’t the most dramatic part. The body weight in the vegan group decreased by about 13.2 pounds!

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Switching to a more alkalizing diet

The authors of the study say the alkalizing effect of a vegan diet increases the body’s pH level to make it less acidic and may help promote weight loss.

“Eating acid-producing foods like meat, eggs and dairy can increase the dietary acid load, or the amount of acid consumed, causing inflammation linked to weight gain,” says Dr. Hana Kahleova, director of clinical research at the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and lead author of the study. “But replacing animal products with alkaline plant-based foods like leafy greens, berries and legumes can help promote weight loss and create a healthy gut microbiome.”

The original study fothat und a vegan diet also reduced insulin needs, improved insulin sensitivity and glycemic control and led to improved cholesterol levels and kidney function.

Some of the top alkalizing foinclude are vegetables, fruits, leg,umes and certain grains, all of which abundantance in a vegan diet. Examples of particularly alkalizing foods include:

• Asparagus
• Beets
• Broccoli
• Cabbage
• Carrots
• Garlic
• Leafy greens
• Apples
• Apricots
• Berries
• Cantaloupe
• Cherries
• Beans
• Chickpeas
• Lentils
• Peas
• Soy
• Millet
• Quinoa

If a complete switch to a vegan diet seems daunting, at least cut down on acidic foods. You could start by enjoying a plant-based breakfast rich in alkalizing foods. For instance, substitute millet with berries or a green smoothie with soy protein for your usual eggs or yogurt,.

Or if you really need that yogurt on occasion, go low-fat and incorporate lots of berries and flaxseed. Flax seeds contain fiber, which can further promote alkalinity by absorbing excess acid in the digestive tract. 

You may also be interested in incorporating sparkling water into your routine. It helps reduce acid in the bloodstream, which may improve metabolism.

As you become accustomed to this routine, you can try incorporating more plant-based alkalizing foods into your lunches and dinners. Before you know it, you’ll see the benefits around your waist!

Sources:

Acid-busting diet triggers 13-pound weight loss in just 16 weeks — ScienceDaily

Dietary acid load on the Mediterranean and a vegan diet: a secondary analysis of a randomized, cross-over trial — Frontiers in Nutrition

Obesity and inflammation: the linking mechanism and the complications — Archives of Medical Science

Metabolic syndrome is an inflammatory disorder: A conspiracy between adipose tissue and phagocytes — Clinica Chimica Acta

Associations between dietary acid load and obesity among Iranian women — Journal of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Research

The post The alkaline secret to losing 13 pounds in 16 weeks appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Whether you’re tempted by sugary treats, salty snacks or indulgent fats, giving in can lead to unwanted calorie consumption, making it challenging to shed those extra pounds or, even worse, contribute to weight gain.

But here’s the exciting news! It turns out you can have your cake and eat it too, in a thoughtful and measured way, which could actually be a fabulous strategy for achieving your weight loss goals.

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Understanding Food Cravings and Weight Loss

Let’s explore some insights from Manabu T. Nakamura, a respected professor in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at the University of Illinois. He shares a valuable perspective: “When you eat and snack without intention, it becomes incredibly difficult to maintain control.”

Many dietary programs suggest cutting certain foods out entirely, but Nakamura advocates for an “inclusion strategy.” This approach encourages you to incorporate small portions of your desired foods into well-balanced meals.

In a year-long clinical trial, Professor Nakamura monitored the changes in cravings among participants who were classified as obese. They successfully integrated their favorite foods into an overall healthy diet, while also participating in a dietary program designed to educate dieters about key nutrients, helping them make informed decisions about their food selections until sustainable dietary changes are achieved.

The results were quite remarkable! Participants who thoughtfully included their desired foods alongside nutritious meals experienced more significant weight loss over the year, and in the following months, their cravings diminished substantially.

Throughout the trial, the researchers assessed cravings in two meaningful ways…

First, participants completed a questionnaire every six months, sharing their cravings for specific foods. Additionally, they rated their cravings using a 15-statement survey that allowed them to express the frequency and intensity of these cravings, using responses ranging from 1 (never) to 6 (always). Phrases like, “Whenever I have food cravings, I find myself making plans to eat,” provided valuable insights into their experiences.

When all this data was analyzed, it suggested that an individual’s cravings were connected more to a decrease in body fat than to their actual diet choices.

According to Professor Nakamura, “This finding challenges the long-standing ‘hungry fat cell’ theory, which suggested that fat cells become starved for energy, triggering cravings that lead dieters to regain weight. However, this is not the case. Maintaining a healthy weight is key to keeping cravings at bay.”

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Mastering Cravings for Success

So, how can you manage those pesky cravings without letting them derail your weight loss efforts? It’s natural to desire what we perceive as off-limits. A fantastic tactic is to include small portions of those coveted foods within a wholesome, balanced meal.

According to Professor Nakamura, consistency plays an essential role in managing cravings and maintaining your weight. “There’s a common myth that requires an ironclad will to resist temptation, but this isn’t necessarily true,” he reveals. “Variations in eating patterns, meal times, and portion sizes can also incite cravings, so striving for consistency is vital.”

Some individuals have reported that flexible diets, such as the Paleo diet, which allows for generous consumption of approved foods, have helped them combat cravings effectively. However, if you’re not interested in adopting a specific diet, rest assured, there are other effective strategies you can implement:

1. Avoid purchasing trigger foods. If those tempting treats aren’t readily available in your kitchen, you’re less likely to indulge.

2. Consider spinach extract. A study found that taking 5 grams of spinach extract per day lowered cravings for chocolate as well as other high-sugar foods by up to 95 percent in women. It was shown to increase the release of GLP-1, which is how Wegovy, Ozempic and Mounjaro work.

Remember, the most important takeaway is that your cravings don’t have to dictate your choices. Embrace this journey with a positive mindset, armed with the understanding that you have the ability to navigate your cravings with awareness and balance.

Sources:

Eating craved foods with meals lessens cravings, boosts weight loss — Science Daily

Reduced food cravings correlated with a 24-month period of weight loss and weight maintenance — Science Direct (Physiology and Behavior)

The post Embrace your cravings and still lose weight appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

While she was always successful at losing weight, it always came back a few months later, along with a couple of extra pounds. Talk about frustrating!

Given how good she was at sticking to whatever diet she was following, we could never figure out why she struggled with weight cycling.

Now, a team of researchers at ETH Zurich may have hit upon the reason behind this “yo-yo effect” — and it has nothing at all to do with willpower…

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Fat cells remember how to put the weight back on

Unlike genetic markers, epigenetic markers are more dynamic; they can be changed throughout a person’s lifetime by factors such as environment, eating habits and body conditions like obesity.

ETH Zurich researchers decided to look for the molecular causes of the weight-loss “yo-yo effect” — also known as weight cycling — by analyzing fat cells from overweight mice and those that had shed their excess weight through diet.

They found that obesity leads to characteristic epigenetic changes in the nucleus of fat cells and that these changes persist even after a diet.

“The fat cells remember the overweight state and can return to this state more easily,” says research lead Ferdinand von Meyenn, a professor at ETH Zurich.

The researchers showed that mice with these epigenetic markers regained weight more quickly when they once again had access to a high-fat diet.

The team also found evidence for this mechanism in humans by analyzing fat tissue biopsies from formerly overweight people who had undergone stomach reduction or gastric bypass surgery. In these samples, the researchers analyzed gene expression rather than epigenetic markers. However, the results were consistent with those of the mice.

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How long do fat cells remember

The researchers have not investigated how long fat cells can “remember” obesity. But they typically live for ten years before the body replaces them with new cells. That’s potentially ten years of epigenetic “memory” that makes weight cycling easier.

Unfortunately, it’s impossible to change the relevant epigenetic markers that could erase those memories from fat cells.

“Maybe that’s something we’ll be able to do in the future,” says Laura Hinte, a doctoral student in the research group. “But for the time being, we have to live with this memory effect.”

Von Meyenn adds that this memory effect is precisely why it’s so important to avoid being overweight in the first place. “… That’s the simplest way to combat the yo-yo phenomenon,” he says.

It’s easy to take these findings to mean that losing weight and keeping it off is a hopeless battle. But that’s far from their intention.

They hope that children and young people can focus harder on preventing obesity to avoid the difficulty we’ve learned about fat cell memory.

But for adults already dealing with weight problems, the only answer is avoiding the yo-yo train that just reinforces fat cell memories over and over again.

If whatever you’re doing to lose weight is working, that’s great — but once it’s off, it’s time to shift gears. Here is where you need to change what you’ve done in the past. Keeping the weight off requires a different approach that focuses more on exercise and less on calories.

Sources:

Cause of the yo-yo effect deciphered — EurekAlert!

Adipose tissue retains an epigenetic memory of obesity after weight loss — Nature

The post Losing it just to gain it back? Blame fat cell memories appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

But today, you’re going to hear a slightly different story. You’ll want to pay close attention if you’re trying to lose weight.

You’ll hear about how certain processed foods can play an important role in helping you achieve that goal — with some added health benefits.

So, if you find it hard to follow a healthy whole foods diet, abhor frequent trips to the grocery store or market for fresh produce and enjoy the convenience of processed food — go for these and watch the weight fall off…

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Plant-based processed foods boost metabolism and weight loss

Dr. Hana Kahleova is the director of clinical research for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.

She and an international group of medical researchers have determined that plant-based foods, regardless of their level of processing, are effective for significant weight loss.

“Our research shows that choosing a bagel instead of bacon for breakfast or a veggie burger instead of a hamburger for dinner is the best option if you are looking to lose weight,” says Dr. Kahleova.

“Filling your plate with plant-based foods — even if they are considered ultra-processed like soy milk and vegan meat and yogurt alternatives — instead of animal products can have a positive impact on your weight and overall health.”

Dr. Kahleova and her team looked at the results of a study where participants who were overweight were randomly assigned to either an intervention or control group for 16 weeks.

During that time, the intervention group followed a low-fat, plant-based diet with no limit on calories, while the control group did not change their diets.

The group following a vegan diet lost an average of 13 pounds compared with an insignificant weight loss in the control group. They also showed greater improvement in their postprandial (after-meal) metabolism.

These findings suggest that replacing animal products with low-fat plant-based foods — even those that are considered processed, such as beans and cereal — may be an effective weight loss strategy.

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An easier way to switch to plant-based eating

There are other benefits to eating a plant-based diet, and it doesn’t take long for them to show up, either.

In a study where pairs of twins were assigned either a vegan diet or a diet that included both plant and animal foods, it took only 4 weeks for the vegan dieters to lower their LDL (“bad” cholesterol) levels.

In that same time period, they lowered their insulin levels and lost weight, which improved their heart health. But this twin study emphasized vegetables and fruits, legumes and whole grains free of sugars and refined starches.

Maybe if following a plant-based diet is new to you, but you’d like to try it to lose weight and improve blood sugar, reaching for plant-based processed food could be an easy way to ease into it.

But don’t cheat yourself by not adding in some fresh fruit and vegetables eventually. Take mangoes, for instance, which have been shown to improve insulin sensitivity and lower inflammation and glucose levels.

If you need to wean off of eating meat, you could try a green Mediterranean diet where fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains make up the bulk of your meals.

And you won’t feel a bit deprived! You can enjoy smoothies with healthy ingredients like blueberries, leafy greens, bananas, yogurt and avocados on this diet. Or try some veggie chili with beans, chickpeas and other vegetables — no meat needed!

Enjoy experimenting with Mediterranean spices that have special anti-diabetic benefits, and you’ll find yourself enjoying plant-based eating in no time!

Sources:

Swapping animal products for plant-based foods—no matter how processed—leads to weight loss, finds new study — Eureka Alert

Effect of a Low-Fat Vegan Diet on Body Weight, Insulin Sensitivity, Postprandial Metabolism, and Intramyocellular and Hepatocellular Lipid Levels in Overweight AdultsA Randomized Clinical Trial — JAMA Network Open

Vegan diet, processed foods, and body weight: a secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial — Nutrition and Metabolism

The post The best processed foods for weight loss appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

In fact, not only can yo-yo dieting damage your heart, but it also comes with additional health warnings to be wary of, including:

• Increased risk of diabetes
• Higher risk of gallstones
• Poor gut health
• Depression

Now, research is linking one more health danger to body-weight cycling. It’s one that anyone living with type 1 diabetes needs to be aware of…

Weight cycling and kidney disease

The study published in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism examined six years of body-weight data for more than 1,400 people who participated in the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT) or the Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions and Complications (EDIC) study.

Type 1 diabetes has long been considered a disease of lean individuals, but, as the authors noted, the prevalence of obesity is rising among those with type 1 diabetes, mirroring the increase in the general population.

The researchers specifically delved into the effect of weight fluctuation on six different criteria for kidney function decline and progression toward chronic kidney disease in this group.

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Here’s what they found…

The scientists determined that people who experienced more significant weight fluctuations suffered from a 40% decline in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), which measures how well the kidneys filter toxins from the blood.

Results also showed that those with greater weight fluctuations were more likely to experience moderately to severely increased albuminuria. This occurs when there are abnormally high levels of a protein known as albumin in the urine. Larger amounts occur in the urine of people with kidney disease.

Additionally, according to the researchers, in all of the indices they examined, similar findings of kidney disease were confirmed.

“We showed that high body-weight variability is associated with increased risk of different outcomes of diabetic kidney disease (DKD) progressions in people with type 1 diabetes, independently of traditional DKD risk factors,” said lead author Marion Camoin, M.D.

People with Type 1 should focus on the long-term

This is the first study to show a link between yo-yo dieting and kidney events in people with type 1 diabetes, according to the authors.

However, the mechanisms linking body-weight cycling to increased renal risks are still not fully understood.

The researchers hypothesize that insulin therapy, which is necessary to treat type 1 diabetes, is a contributing factor to body-weight cycling. Others have theorized that body-weight cycling leads to added strain on the heart and contributes to kidney and vascular damage.

It may be safest to work on weight loss with an expert in type 1 diabetes. That’s because first and foremost, managing insulin levels is a priority.

According to experts on type 1 diabetes, weight gain can be a common result of managing T1D due to:

• taking too much insulin and eating to match your insulin
• treating multiple hypos daily/weekly
• inactivity due to fear of highs and lows
• over-consumption of calories when trying to eat low carb (these foods are often higher in fat and therefore higher in calories).

To lower the risks of yo-yo dieting and the occurrence of kidney disease, the study authors suggest that “Strategies aimed at weight reduction in people with type 1 diabetes should focus on promoting long-term weight maintenance, as weight stability may have a positive impact on health outcomes.”

Sources:

Yo-yo dieting may significantly increase kidney disease risk in people with type 1 diabetes — EurekAlert!

What Happens to Your Body When You Yo-Yo Diet — WebMD

Consequences of Weight Cycling: An Increase in Disease Risk? — NIH

The Long-Term Effects Of Yo-Yo Dieting — Forbes

The post Type 1 diabetes: weight loss and kidney disease risk appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

But what the marketers of these drugs aren’t telling you is that weight loss comes with a lot of drawbacks: weight loss plateaus, scary gastrointestinal side effects, a sobering black box warning and a hefty price tag.

Luckily, there are a couple of simple and inexpensive steps you can take to mimic the effects of these drugs.

For instance, berberine is a phytochemical found in several plants that lowers insulin and fasting glucose levels and reduces triglycerides, which can lead to lower cholesterol. These are similar to the effects triggered by GLP-1 agonists.

Or here’s one that’s even easier….

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Beta-glucan the fiber that mimics GLP-1 agonists

Previous research has touted the ability of fiber to nourish our gut microbiome in ways that help with weight loss.

One such fiber is inulin. It packs a powerful metabolic punch that’s reported to suppress appetite, lower blood sugar and promote healthy weight.

But a recent study has taken that a step further by identifying a specific type of fiber that mimics the effects of GLP-1 agonists.

Beta-glucan, a form of fiber found in oats and barley, was singled out in the study as being able to control blood sugar and assist in weight loss in mice fed a high-fat diet.

The researchers say beta-glucan is the only fiber supplement they tested that lowered a mouse’s fat content and body weight within 18 weeks. Other fibers considered, including wheat dextrin, pectin, resistant starch and cellulose, had no such impact, though they did shift the makeup of the microbiome compared to the mice fed no fiber supplements.

“We know that fiber is important and beneficial; the problem is that there are so many different types of fiber,” says University of Arizona biomedical scientist Frank Duca.

“We wanted to know what kind of fiber would be most beneficial for weight loss and improvements in glucose homeostasis so that we can inform the community, the consumer and then also inform the agricultural industry,” Duca adds.

Oats for weight loss, reduced fat, gut health and insulin sensitivity

Dietary fiber is the main energy source for gut bacteria, yet less than 5 percent of Americans consume the recommended 25 to 30 grams of fiber (between 0.9 and 1 ounce) of fiber per day.

Even when we do choose to consume fiber, it’s tough to know which type to pick. There are water-soluble fibers like oat beta-glucans and wheat dextrin that are easily fermentable by gut bacteria.

Then there are others that are less soluble or insoluble, meaning they pass through the gut and help form stool. Both are important from a health perspective.

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But if you’re looking to lose weight, beta-glucan may be the way to go…

The study found that only beta-glucan increased the number of Ileibacterium found in the mouse intestine. This bacterium has been linked to weight loss in other mouse studies.

Long before the 10-week mark, mice fed beta-glucan demonstrated reduced body weight and body fat content compared to mice fed other types of fiber.

The beta-glucan mice also showed increased concentrations of butyrate in their guts, a metabolite made when microbes break down fiber. Butyrate triggers the release of GLP-1, the same protein mimicked by drugs like Ozempic to stimulate insulin release.

And that’s not the only effect, Duca says. “We think that there are other beneficial things that butyrate could be doing that are not gut peptide related, such as improving gut barrier health and targeting peripheral organs like the liver,” he notes.

The researchers caution more study is needed before these results can be extended to humans. However, the findings do suggest some fiber may be better suited to weight loss and insulin control than others.

So if you’re looking to lose weight, boosting your intake of beta-glucan could benefit those efforts. Try eating a bowl of oatmeal (which contains both inulin and beta-glucans) for breakfast, or adding a helping of barley to your soup or salad. Not only will it support your weight loss efforts, but it will give you better gut health to boot.

Sources:

How your morning oats could help you manage your weight — The University of Arizona News

Impact of Plant-Based Dietary Fibers on Metabolic Homeostasis in High-Fat Diet Mice via Alterations in the Gut Microbiota and Metabolites — The Journal of Nutrition

The post The breakfast food that mimics how Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro work appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

The chatter is that drinking sparkling water, AKA fizzy water and, technically, carbonated water, can help level up a fat-burning metabolism

Sound too good to be true?

Could a bubbly beverage really possess weight loss powers? And if so, how?

A recent study published in the BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health journal has the answers…

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Four ways sparkling water impacts weight loss

Researchers set out to build on the results of previous studies on what happens when carbon dioxide (CO2) — the gas used to create the bubbly sensation in drinks like sparkling or carbonated water — is consumed and enters the blood.

Overall, the experts say that the effects of sparkling water could impact weight loss help in four distinct ways:

#1 – Improves feelings of satiety

The first impactful way sparkling water could help anyone on a weight loss journey is by simply promoting satiety. This doesn’t seem like rocket science at all. After all, when you sip a carbonated drink, and those fizzy bubbles reach your stomach, there’s a feeling of fullness. It’s easy to see how that would make you less hungry.

#2 – Supports gut motility

According to Dr. Tara Narula, those same bubbles that make us feel full might also “increase or change your gut motility or movement.” This is important since lack of gut motility (dysmotility) can lead to bloating and has been independently associated with weight gain.

#3 – Promotes healthier choices

Drinking sparkling water could be a great way to support healthy choices that reduce the amount of sugar and calories we consume each day.

Dr. Narula points out that “You may not be reaching for a sugary beverage or soda if you’re drinking carbonated water.”

Previous research saw people who swapped out one eight-ounce sugar-sweetened beverage for an eight-ounce glass of water per day could drop their daily calorie intake significantly.

#3 – Lowers blood sugar levels

And the final benefit of carbonated water is easily the most important…

When asked about how action could support weight loss, Dr. Narula explains, “When carbon dioxide gets into your bloodstream, your red blood cells, it changes the pH and makes the blood a little more alkaline  — and in that setting, the blood cells are able to absorb more sugar, or glucose, dropping your blood sugar level. In that respect, it might help your metabolism.”

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In other words, by alkalizing your body, carbonated water helps keep blood sugar on an even keel, so your metabolism works more effectively to burn fat between meals for energy.

Raise a glass of sparkling water to weight loss

Despite these benefits, the scientists say that the clinical results of the study were small.

However, if you’re like me, you’ve probably found that when it comes to weight loss, taking all of the help you can get is key— as long there are no side effects.

I don’t see any downsides to drinking sparkling water. The only thing you have to lose is those unwanted pounds.

And as an added benefit, by increasing your body’s alkalinity, you could also improve your overall health. Check out these four evidence-based benefits of an alkaline diet.

Sources:

Can carbonated water support weight loss? — BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health

What to know about sparkling water and weight loss, according to new study — ABC NEWS

What you should know about carbonated water and weight loss — CNN

Dysmotility Symptoms Are Independently Associated With Weight Change: A Population-based Study of Australian Adults — NIH

The post 4 ways sparkling water supports weight loss appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

However, there’s a catch…

While the drugs are effective in weight loss, they come with significant side effects that should not be overlooked. These include pancreatitis, gastroparesis, and bowel obstruction, as well as nausea, vomiting, and extreme acid reflux. It’s important to note that the medications could cause a loss of skeletal muscle mass, along with fat mass loss, leading to frailty and a higher likelihood of future weight gain.

As it turns out, those issues may be just the tip of the iceberg.

That’s because, according to the University of Alberta in Canada, in addition to the problems they cause with skeletal muscle, these drugs may also affect the muscles of your heart, causing them to shrink.

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Reduction in cardiac size

Your cardiac muscles play a crucial role in pumping blood that carries oxygen and nutrients to every part of your body, including your brain. This means that anything that affects your heart muscles’ health could have a significant impact on your overall body health, making it a matter of serious concern.

That’s why the findings of this study are of utmost importance. They shed light on the potential risks associated with GLP-1 agonists, providing valuable information for those considering these medications for weight loss.

The researchers gave semaglutide (the ingredient that makes Ozempic effective) to both lean and obese mice with no previous heart problems for 21 days.

In those 21 days, the obese mice lost a whopping 30% of their body weight and an amazing 65% of their fat mass, which sounds incredible.

However, they found that lean mice treated with the drug lost approximately 8% of their skeletal mass over the same time period.

Even more concerning was the fact that both groups showed decreases in overall heart mass and reductions in the individual size of their heart muscle cells.

“Together,” said the researchers, “these data indicate that the reduction in cardiac size induced by semaglutide occurs independent of weight loss.”

Tests in human cells add more weight to the evidence

Of course, while trials in mice are important, we really want to know how these drugs affect our bodies.

To learn the answer, scientists decided to test the effects of semaglutide on human cells. And the results were once again worrisome.

The team discovered that treating human heart muscle cells with the drug significantly reduced their size.

However, the researchers say that it may not be time to panic if you’ve taken a GLP-1 agonist for weight loss because they can’t be certain semaglutide is causing the shrinkage of cardiac muscles or even if this muscle loss is bad.

They do still warn, though, that semaglutide “has the potential to be detrimental in the long term” to cardiac muscle.

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Supporting weight loss safety

The good news is that you don’t have to turn to drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy to drop those unwanted pounds.

In fact, scientific research has already provided two natural options that offer a safer, more natural way to lose weight by leveraging an “Ozempic-like effect.”

The first is beta-glucan, a form of fiber found in oats and barley, that was singled out in a study as being able to control blood sugar and assist in weight loss in mice fed a high-fat diet.

The mice fed beta-glucan also showed increased concentrations of butyrate in their guts, a metabolite made when microbes break down fiber. Butyrate triggers the release of GLP-1, the same protein mimicked by drugs like Ozempic to stimulate insulin release.

Additionally, some nutritional experts call one particular supplement, berberine, “Nature’s Ozempic.”

Of course safest of all is the diet researchers say is a viable option for people who want to control their body weight and improve the quality of their diet to prevent and treat metabolic diseases.

Sources:

Drugs Like Ozempic May Have a Shrinking Effect on The Heart – Science Alert

Semaglutide Reduces Cardiomyocyte Size and Cardiac Mass in Lean and Obese Mice – ScienceDirect

When wonder drugs lead to pancreatitis, gastroparesis and bowel obstruction – Easy Health Options

The post ‘Miracle weight loss drugs’ may be shrinking hearts appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

That’s because dropping the extra pounds is one of the most effective ways to improve your blood sugar.

And now according to a new study, there’s one more big benefit to following a weight management program for your diabetes — being able to cut back on or even toss out both your diabetes and your blood pressure medication for good.

Lose weight and kiss diabetes and high blood pressure goodbye

The research specifically utilized a weight management program developed by researchers at the Universities of Glasgow and Newcastle for the Diabetes UK-funded Diabetes REmission Clinical Trial (DIRECT).

It involves multiple phases — the first of which is 12 weeks on a diet that involves consuming low-calorie soups and shakes. And it can lead to weight loss of over 15 kg or 33 pounds in just four months when followed fully.

For the second phase, you simply choose foods and eat wisely in order to maintain your weight.

For the study, researchers had participants stop all diabetes and blood pressure drugs at the start of the diet and then only had them restarted if their blood sugar or blood pressure went up.

And here’s what happened.

Not only did participants experience remission of their type 2 diabetes, but the diet also helped lower blood pressure — and reduce the need for antihypertensive medications.

The study showed that:

• Maintaining the 33-pound weight loss allowed 80 percent of people to become free from type 2 diabetes, without the need for diabetes medications for at least 2 years.
• Average blood pressure fell steadily as people lost weight.
• Blood pressure remained lower after the formula diet period finished, and then at 12 and 24 months.
• Just over a quarter (28 percent) of people needed to reintroduce a blood pressure tablet during the diet.
• Another 28 percent were able to remain off their blood pressure medications for at least two years following the diet.

“Our study shows that, in addition to possible remission from type 2 diabetes, there are other very important health benefits, as weight loss is a very effective treatment for hypertension and its associated serious health risks,” said Professor Mike Lean, from the University of Glasgow.

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Slimming down to ditch the drugs

The study showed that simply by losing weight, you have the power to not only improve your heart, blood vessel, and blood sugar health but also finally either decrease or eliminate the need for medication to treat those issues.

Of course, you don’t want to simply ditch the drugs without talking to your doctor, even if you are losing weight.

Instead, start a healthy weight loss plan and ask your doctor to monitor your blood pressure and blood sugar to help you get off the medications safely.

To follow the diet used in the study, check out the book Life Without Diabetes: The Definitive Guide to Understanding and Reversing Diabetes by Ron Taylor, MD.

Or simply follow a low-calorie, nutrient-dense diet with plenty of fruits and veggies, such as the Mediterranean diet. Weight loss might be slower. But when it comes to weight loss, getting to your destination is what matters.

Sources:

Reversing Type 2 Diabetes and Ongoing Remission — Newcastle Magnetic Resonance Centre

Diabetes remission diet also lowers blood pressure and reduces need for medication — EurekAlert!

The post Kiss diabetes and high blood pressure goodbye in one step appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

To win that battle, you need as many helpers in your corner as possible. But while many people are reaching for GLP-1 drugs, better known by brand names like Ozempic and Wegovy, you may want to think twice about reports of serious side effects that are stacking up.

Luckily, scientists have identified one more helper in the weight loss battle — an anti-obesity antioxidant that actually blocks fat accumulation and can keep even a high-fat, high-calorie diet from packing pounds onto your body.

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PQQ: an antioxidant powerhouse

The antioxidant is known as pyrroloquinoline quinone or PQQ for short.

It’s one that’s been found to lower heart failure risk and help rescue a fatty liver.

It’s also known as a “longevity” nutrient due to its ability to improve the function of the body’s cellular powerhouses — mitochondria.

And that effect on the mitochondria is just one of the ways scientists say PQQ can help you slim down.

Battling the bulge

The scientists pitted PQQ against a high-fat or high-calorie diet in a mouse model.

They found that PQQ:

• Significantly attenuated (reduced) both the total body fat and visceral fat volume in the abdominal region of the mice.
• Blocked body fat accumulation under both high-fat and high-calorie consumption conditions.
• Suppressed lipogenesis (the process by which fat forms) in adipocytes, the body’s fat cells.
• Promoted mitochondrial biogenesis (in other words stimulated the body to produce more mitochondria).

So what does that all mean?

PQQ actually kept fat from being formed (even during consumption of what amounts to a fast food diet).

It stopped pounds from being packed on around the middle and kept visceral fat low. That’s the kind of fat that is stored in your abdominal cavity, wraps around your organs and raises your risk of serious disease.

In fact, in a follow-up paper published in 2023, the same researchers stated that PQQ has the potential to treat numerous metabolic disorders including diabetes. PQQ influences insulin signaling via multiple pathways and increases glucose absorption.

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Boosting your PQQ

I don’t know about you, but my immediate thought was “Give me some PQQ.”

So where can you get the antioxidant? PQQ is found in a number of fruits and veggies, such as:

• Spinach
• Celery
• Green peppers
• Papaya
• Kiwi

And if you like liver, it’s also a good source of PQQ.

However, the truth is that PQQ is one of those nutrients that can be a challenge to get enough of through diet alone.

That’s why I mentioned supplementing earlier. Fortunately, it’s become popular in the supplement industry where its strong potential as a potent therapeutic nutraceutical has been recognized.

Supplementing PQQ is considered safe and, as an ingredient, it meets all the USA-FDA “generally regarded as safe” (GRAS) requirements.

Sources:

Pyrroloquinoline Quinone Attenuates Fat Accumulation in Obese Mice Fed with a High-Fat Diet, Daphnia magna Supplied with a High Amount of Food, and 3T3-L1 Adipocytes – ACS Publications

Pyrroloquinoline-quinone to reduce fat accumulation and ameliorate obesity progression – Frontiers Journal Molecular Biosciences

Pyrroloquinoline-Quinone Is More Than an Antioxidant: A Vitamin-like Accessory Factor Important in Health and Disease Prevention – Journal Biomolecules

The post PQQ: The antioxidant that fights the most dangerous fat appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

White fat isn’t one of them. It accounts for more than 90 percent of the body’s fat and amounts to stored calories.

If those calories don’t get burned up, that fat just keeps building up on our bellies, buttocks and thighs — and around our internal organs where it’s termed “visceral fat.”

Then there are brown and beige fats — the “good” types…

Brown fat converts calories into heat. It gets activated when we need that energy to get warm, like when we’re exposed to cold.

People with more brown fat have less visceral fat and are less likely to have conditions like fatty liver and diabetes.

But the thing we probably appreciate the most about brown fat is that it’s key to cutting down on white fat. In fact, the more brown fat you have, the healthier the distribution of white fat in your body.

Beige fat are white fat cells that are in the process of converting to brown fat, and they behave much as brown fat cells do.

Scientists previously thought that only newborn humans and small animals like mice had brown fat. But research has since shown that some adults have brown fat throughout their lives.

So wouldn’t it be nice if they could help us figure out how to use it to our benefit? That’s exactly what they hope to do…

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Brown fat’s ‘off switch’

A group of European researchers discovered a protein named AC3-AT that, when activated is responsible for switching brown fat “off” and stopping it from burning calories.

“As AC3-AT is found not only in mice but also in humans and other species, there are direct therapeutic implications for humans,” says co-author, Ronja Kardinal, a Ph.D. student at the University of Bonn.

“When we investigated mice that genetically didn’t have AC3-AT, we found that they were protected from becoming obese, partly because their bodies were simply better at burning off calories and were able to increase their metabolic rates through activating brown fat,” says Hande Topel, first author of the study and a senior postdoc at the University of Southern Denmark and the Novo Nordisk Center for Adipocyte Signaling.

“Looking ahead, we think that finding ways to block AC3-AT could be a promising strategy for safely activating brown fat and tackling obesity and related health problems,” Topel adds.

Interestingly, the study also identified other unknown protein/gene versions that respond to cold exposure in a way similar to AC3-AT.

“However, further research is needed to elucidate the therapeutic impact of these alternative gene products and their regulatory mechanisms during BAT [brown adipose tissue] activation”, says co-corresponding author Prof. Dagmar Wachten, Co-Director of the Institute of Innate Immunity at the UKB and member of the Cluster of Excellence ImmunoSensation2 and the Transdisciplinary Research Areas “Modelling” and “Life & Health” at the University of Bonn.

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Enhancing your brown fat stores

As promising as this research is, it will be years before it results in any sort of therapeutic options. But if you feel left out in the cold, that’s not such a bad thing…

Although the prevalence of brown fat decreases with age, it can still be activated. And when it is, it can help to enhance the rate of metabolism and help stabilize weight loss.

I’ve written previously about ways to stoke your body’s fat-burning furnace. One is through cold exposure. This includes things like taking cold showers, turning down the thermostat in the winter and even sticking your feet in an ice bath.

Exercise is another fantastic way to get that brown fat working. One study shows that during exercise, brown fat signals the muscle to take up more fatty acids to use as fuel. Irisin, a hormone also released during exercise can help white fat cells turn beige.

Some foods and specific nutrients can also help stoke that brown fat furnace:

• A combination of black seed oil and omega-3 fatty acids
• Flavanols
• Coffee
• Vitamin A

One final caveat: you’ll want to control inflammation in your body since it can block brown fat activation. My colleague Virginia Tims-Lawson lays out some steps to combat that inflammation so that you can truly harness the power of turning your white fat brown.

Sources:

Breakthrough in brown fat research: Researchers from Denmark and Germany have found brown fat’s “off-switch” — EurekAlert!

Cold-induced expression of a truncated adenylyl cyclase 3 acts as rheostat to brown fat function — Nature Metabolism

The post Scientists find how to control body’s fat-burning switch appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

There’s the bone density berry that beats back bone loss…

There’s the one that works for a better brain and blood pressure…

And the berry that improves heart and blood vessel function — in 30 days!

Then there’s the elderberry — best known as a natural flu remedy.

The secret to the elderberry’s anti-viral power lies in its high concentration of anthocyanins, a group of deep red, purple, and blue pigments that give berries their rich colors.

They also contain quite a lot of vitamin C — just one cup accounts for 57% of the recommended daily value.

The anthocyanins in elderberries work to fight free radical damage and boost your immune system in two ways:

• They shield your immune cells so that they can protect you
• They promote white blood cell production to fight off infection

And now a Washington State University-led study says elderberries have powerful benefits for weight management and metabolic health — thanks to those very same anthocyanins…

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Elderberries improve metabolism and burn fat

“Elderberry is an underappreciated berry, commercially and nutritionally,” said corresponding author Patrick Solverson, an assistant professor in the Washington State University Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine’s Department of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology. “We’re now starting to recognize its value for human health, and the results are very exciting.”

In a clinical trial published in the journal Nutrients, Prof. Solverson and team found that drinking 12 ounces of elderberry juice daily for a week causes positive changes in the gut microbiome and improves glucose tolerance and fat oxidation.

A group of 18 overweight participants consumed either elderberry juice or a placebo with similar coloring and taste, specially designed by North Carolina State University’s Food Innovation Lab, while maintaining a standardized diet.

Those who drank the elderberry juice saw the following health benefits:

• Improved gut microbiome. There was a significant increase in the amounts of beneficial gut bacteria, including firmicutes and actinobacteria, and decreased amounts of harmful bacteria, such as Bacteroidetes.
• Improved metabolism. There was a reduction in blood glucose levels by an average of 24%, indicating a significantly improved ability to process sugars following carbohydrate consumption. Insulin levels also decreased by 9%.
• Enhanced fat burning. There was a significant increase in fat oxidation, or the breakdown of fatty acids, after a high carbohydrate meal and during exercise.

“Food is medicine, and science is catching up to that popular wisdom,” Prof. Solverson says. “This study contributes to a growing body of evidence that elderberry, which has been used as a folk remedy for centuries, has numerous benefits for metabolic as well as prebiotic health.”

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How to get your elderberries

Elderberries are easily found in various forms: juice, powder (which can be added to tea, smoothies, or oatmeal), lozenges and elderberry tea.

It’s important to note that you shouldn’t eat elderberries whole when raw since they contain the toxic compounds, lectin and cyanide (primarily found in the seeds, stems, and leaves), which can cause nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.

You can cook them or buy products with cooked berries instead, including elderberry juice, tea, lozenges, syrup, or powder that can be added to foods like oatmeal.

Because elderberry may stimulate the immune system, it could interfere with medications taken to suppress the immune system. These medications include corticosteroids (prednisone) and medications used to treat autoimmune diseases. People with organ transplants should also avoid elderberry.

Sources:

Elderberry juice shows benefits for weight management, metabolic health — Eureka Alert

A one-week elderberry juice intervention augments the fecal microbiota and suggests improvement in glucose tolerance and fat oxidation in a randomized controlled trial — Nutrients

Elderberry — mtsinai.org

The post The berry that boosts metabolism, burns fat and fights flu appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

But the active ingredient in both, semaglutide, hasn’t been without concerns, the least of which may be acid reflux, nausea and vomiting but includes acute pancreatitis and gallbladder disease — tied to the way the drug works by slowing the passage of food through the digestive tract.

There’s also the black box warning for thyroid cancer.

We expect drugs to have drawbacks, even trade-offs. But proponents of semaglutide say the health benefits of weight loss, especially when comorbidities like diabetes and high blood pressure exist, outweigh the risks.

But for semaglutide the risks keep piling up…

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Ozempic’s potential for vision loss

A paper published in JAMA Ophthalmology by scientists from Harvard Medical School has uncovered a huge potential trade-off…

Their findings suggested an association between semaglutide and non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION), an irreversible and uncommon condition causing damage to the optic nerve and, ultimately, permanent loss of vision.

“We were motivated to do this study purely because of our experience,” Joseph F. Rizzo III, MD, principal investigator, said. “I had seen a patient who had NAION, and she was on Ozempic. I was meeting with my trainees the same day, and I was telling them about this when a resident walked in and said that she had just seen a case like that in the emergency room. Later that week, I saw a third case. Three cases within 7 or 8 days were very odd, I thought. That’s when I began to develop the strategy to do a clinical study.”

The study consisted of 16,827 patients referred to and evaluated at Mass Eye and Ear, one of the country’s largest neuro-ophthalmology clinics, from December 1, 2017, through November 30, 2023.  

• Of 710 patients with type 2 diabetes, 194 had been prescribed semaglutide while 516 had been taking non–GLP–1 RA antidiabetic medications.
• Of 979 overweight/obese patients, 361 had been taking semaglutide, while 618 had been taking non–GLP–1 RA weight-loss medications.
• Among the two groups, the hazard ratios for NAION were 4.28 and 7.64 respectively.

Dr. Rizzo concluded that patients should be informed of this potential risk, but because their study was observational, more research was needed before broad changes could be made.

Now, two Danish studies have confirmed his team’s findings, and in a much larger study population…

Danish studies confirm NAION association

The first Danish study was conducted by Dr. Jakob Grauslund, Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Southern Denmark (USD).

Dr. Grauslund and colleagues examined data from all 424,152 Danes with type 2 diabetes. They found that Ozempic more than doubles the risk of developing NAION.

They’ve also seen an increase in cases of NAION in Denmark since Ozempic came on the market there in 2018, rising from 60-70 a year to up to 150.

In the second study, Dr. Anton Pottegard and colleagues from USD looked at the number of patients in Denmark and Norway who developed NAION after starting treatment with Ozempic compared with people who used another medication to treat diabetes.

They found that Ozempic carried a 2.81 times greater relative risk of developing NAION. This means that a patient with type 2 diabetes who takes Ozempic, has almost three times the risk of developing NAION as those who don’t use the drug.

The Danish researchers emphasized the importance of treating diabetes, and that NAION is a serious, but rare side effect. They hope their results can be used by doctors and patients to discuss the pros and cons of treatment with Ozempic.

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Things to consider

It’s always best to talk to a doctor before changing the way you take any medication that has been prescribed. And that’s part of the advice offered by The American Academy of Ophthalmology and the North American Neuro-Ophthalmology Society following the results of the Harvard study.

They do not recommend that people stop taking semaglutide unless they experience sudden vision loss — in which case they say to stop taking the drug and see a doctor immediately.

NAION symptoms include:

• Blurred vision
• Color distortion
• Loss of peripheral vision
• A dark or gray spot in the vision that doesn’t move
• Loss of contrast or light sensitivity

They also acknowledged that the medical community has been aware of other vision changes with semaglutide for some time, including that semaglutide can cause blurred vision, worsening of diabetic retinopathy and macular complications. However, they go on to say these appear to be temporary side effects.

They also suggest anyone taking semaglutide should talk to their doctor to be sure the medication is right for them.

We will stay on top of this news and if they issue a new statement based on the results of the Danish studies, we will share it.

Sources:

Danish diabetes medicine increases the risk of severely debilitating eye condition — EurekAlert

Risk of nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy in patients prescribed semaglutide — JAMA Ophthalmology

Specialists discuss concerns over impact of semaglutide on the eye — Healio News

Use of semaglutide and risk of non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy: a Danish-Norwegian cohort study — medRxiv

American Academy of Ophthalmology and North American Neuro-Ophthalmology Society Issue Advice on Weight Loss Drug and Eye Health — American Academy of Ophthalmology Newsroom

The post Ozempic and Wegovy associated with vision loss risk appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Research suggests roughly 80 percent of people who lose significant body fat won’t maintain that degree of weight loss for a year. In fact, one meta-analysis of studies found dieters regain on average more than half of what they lose within two years.

But whether it’s for better health or lifestyle, when a new weight loss method is discovered, there’s no shortage of people willing to jump on the bandwagon — especially when the answer seems only a pill or an injection away…

The latest of these discoveries is the GLP-1 agonist class of medicines. Originally intended to treat diabetes, doctors eventually saw the patients using these drugs were also losing significant amounts of weight. Once this became apparent, a whole new class of weight-loss drugs was born.

Unfortunately, while these drugs have become hugely popular, there are some big drawbacks to them that even doctors admit. There’s also the black box warning, rebound weight and the outrageous cost—about $1,400 a month if insurance doesn’t cover it. And yes, these drugs hit a weight loss plateau too.

And now we’re learning these drugs may set users up for stomach issues that could lead to increased risk for diabetes, poor nutritional absorption and pancreatic cancer.

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GLP-1 agonists and stomach issues

The way GLP-1 agonists work— like Wegovy, Ozempic, Saxenda, and Victoza — is that they slow the speed at which food passes through the stomach, making people feel fuller for longer. Therein lies a problem…

Researchers in Canada analyzed data from 5,411 non-diabetic obese patients taking various GLP-1 agonists for weight loss. The results were sobering, with a number of these patients experiencing various digestive issues.

What the study found was an increased risk of problems including pancreatitis, gastroparesis and bowel obstruction in patients using GLP-1 drugs, compared with a medication that doesn’t activate the same chemical pathways as GLP-1.

It’s important to note that while the risk is increased for GLP-1 drugs, it’s still relatively small. For instance, 0.8 percent of people taking the GLP-1 medication Saxenda reported bowel obstructions, compared with 0.17 percent of people taking Contrave, a non-GLP-1 drug.

Still, that’s a fourfold increase in risk of bowel obstruction for patients taking Saxenda.

“When you have millions of people using these drugs, you know, a 1 percent risk still translates to many people who may experience these events,” epidemiologist Mahyar Etminan from the University of British Columbia tells CNN.

These are not minor digestive problems…

• Pancreatitis is an inflammation of the pancreas that, if it lasts long-term, could raise your risk of diabetes, poor nutritional absorption and pancreatic cancer.
• Gastroparesis is a paralysis of the stomach that can lead to acid reflux, malnutrition and dehydration, blood sugar imbalances and stomach obstruction.
• And bowel obstruction is a potentially deadly medical emergency that requires immediate intervention, often surgery, to repair.

This isn’t the first time this connection has been made. The companies that manufacture GLP-1 agonists have acknowledged the possibility of digestive complications, but say they are known side effects and only affect a small fraction of users.

Still, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has already ruled that Ozempic should come with a warning indicating the variety of gastrointestinal disorders reported by users of the medication. It’s likely only a matter of time before they require the same of other GLP-1 agonists.

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More research is needed

The study didn’t cover all GLP-1-related treatments and didn’t go into why these drugs are increasing the associated health risks. Nor did it prove cause and effect. However, the results indicate further investigation is needed in this area.

“Given the wide use of these drugs, these adverse events, although rare, must be considered by patients who are contemplating using the drugs for weight loss because the risk-benefit calculus for this group might differ from that of those who use them for diabetes,” the researchers write in their published paper.

Luckily, if you’re truly committed to losing weight and keeping it off, there are a number of natural alternatives to these drugs that I wrote about in a past article. Any of these methods can help you be one of those who successfully beat the weight loss odds.

Sources:

Popular New Weight Loss Drugs Linked to Digestive Problems — ScienceAlert

Risk of Gastrointestinal Adverse Events Associated With Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists for Weight Loss — JAMA

Unexpected Clues Emerge About Why Diets Fail — Scientific American

Researchers link popular weight loss drugs to serious digestive problems for ‘hundreds of thousands’ worldwide — CNN

Pancreatitis — Johns Hopkins Medicine

Gastroparesis — Cleveland Clinic

Bowel Obstruction — Cleveland Clinic

Drug Safety-related Labeling Changes (SrLC): Ozempic — U.S. Food and Drug Administration

The post When wonder drugs lead to pancreatitis, gastroparesis and bowel obstruction appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Some research has indicated it can help us lose weight, live longer and maintain good heart health.

But there hasn’t really been one study that’s looked specifically at the impact of water on health — until now.

Their findings have revealed that drinking water could be the easiest health hack ever — with added benefits if you drink at least one glass when you first wake up…

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Drinking water impacts several conditions

Researchers at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) waded deep into analyzing 18 randomized controlled trials to determine the benefits of drinking plenty of water.

“For such a ubiquitous and simple intervention, the evidence hasn’t been clear and the benefits were not well-established, so we wanted to take a closer look,” says senior and corresponding author Dr. Benjamin Breyer, a professor at UCSF. “To our knowledge, this is the first study assessing the benefits of water consumption on clinical outcomes broadly.”

Here’s what they found:

• The researchers found ample evidence in favor of drinking water to prevent kidney stones and help people lose weight.
• Drinking eight cups of water a day significantly decreased the likelihood of getting another kidney stone.
• Several studies indicated drinking about six cups of water a day helped adults lose weight — and say encouraging people to drink water before meals is a simple, cheap intervention that could have huge benefits in combating weight gain.

There were other conditions that researchers found were improved by drinking more water…

• Adults with recurrent headaches had improvements in their quality of life after three months of improving their water consumption.
• When women with recurrent urinary tract infections drank an additional six cups of water a day, it reduced the number of infections and increased the amount of time between them. 
• Drinking about four additional cups of water a day helped diabetic patients with elevated blood glucose levels.
• And drinking more water helped raise blood pressure in young adults with low blood pressure.

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The most impactful time for drinking water

Another study sheds light on why drinking a glass of water first thing in the morning is an incredibly great way to start your day.

In that study, participants had not consumed water for 12 hours — they slept overnight and did not drink water for some time before bedtime.

• Drinking about 7 ounces of water upon waking — a single glass — not only helped them recover from nightly dehydration and reduce thirst but it also reduced anger, fatigue and poor mood.
• Even better, drinking two glasses was shown to improve working memory.
• Those who didn’t drink any water complained of being tired, grumpy and thirsty — not surprising!

The Heart Foundation, which warns that dehydration can thicken blood and impact circulation, also recommends getting in the habit of drinking a glass of water first thing in the morning.

And other experts have found drinking water in the morning can kickstart your metabolism by up to 30 percent for the next few hours.

So, after drinking that first glass first thing in the morning, simply add a glass of water before each meal and try for a total of between six and eight cups a day. But also follow Dr. Breyer’s advice…

“There isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach for water consumption. We know that dehydration is detrimental, particularly in someone with a history of kidney stones or urinary infections. On the other hand, someone who suffers from frequent urination at times may benefit from drinking less.”

Remember soups and some fruits and vegetables, tea and coffee contribute to your water intake too.

One thing to keep in mind is that most water, whether from the tap or a bottle, contains forever chemicals. So invest in a good quality reverse osmosis water filter, if you can, which can reliably remove the most common forever chemicals like PFOAs.

Sources:

Drinking plenty of water may actually be good for you — EurekAlert!

Outcomes in Randomized Clinical Trials Testing Changes in Daily Water Intake — JAMA Network Open

The effect of hypohydration on endothelial function in young healthy adults — European Journal of Nutrition

Different Amounts of Water Supplementation Improved Cognitive Performance and Mood among Young Adults after 12 h Water Restriction in Baoding, China: A Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) — International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

The post The one health hack you should do every morning appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Lately, however, we’ve discovered that BMI is not the most accurate way to measure just how much of our weight can be attributed to body fat.

And when body fat is associated with a deadly cancer, this really matters…

What is hormone-positive breast cancer?

Contrary to what you may think, there’s more than one type of breast cancer.

Estrogen receptor-positive (ER-positive) breast cancer, also called hormone-positive breast cancer, means there are specific estrogen receptors on the tumor cells.

When estrogen binds with these receptors, it stimulates the cancer cells to grow and reproduce. Therefore, one of the main goals of therapy or intervention with hormone-positive cancer is to reduce hormonal stimulation as much as possible.

Why weight matters for post-menopausal women

Estrogen is made by the ovaries during the years before menopause, but it’s also made in fat cells where enzymes convert other hormones to estrogens. After menopause, fat is the primary source of estrogen production in the body.

So of course, maintaining a healthy weight is a prime way for post-menopausal women to reduce their risk for this type of breast cancer.

But more than weight, the amount of excess fat a woman is carrying is of primary importance in determining her risk for this cancer.

Traditionally, body mass index (BMI) has been the way body fat has been measured.

But now we’re finding that it’s not the most accurate way.

BMI underestimates ER+ breast cancer

BMI does not account for age, sex, or ethnicity. So a team of Spanish researchers used another validated measure of body fat that does account for these factors, known as CUN-BAE.

Both BMI and CUN-BAE numbers were obtained for 1033 white post-menopausal women with breast cancer, as well as for 1143 who were cancer-free but matched for age and sex.

Using BMI, they found an estimated 19.9 percent of breast cancer cases to be hormone-positive, but using the alternative measurement, about 41.9 percent were determined to be hormone-positive.

“Our findings suggest that the population impact could be underestimated when using traditional BMI estimates, and that more accurate measures of body fat, such as CUN-BAE, should be considered when estimating the cancer burden attributable to obesity in postmenopausal breast cancer.”

The team also noted that, when planning effective strategies to prevent breast cancer, this difference is crucial.

Lose weight to reduce risk for ER+ breast cancer

If you’re a woman who is beyond menopause, the best way to help prevent estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer, other than maintaining a healthy weight, is to control cholesterol.

Research has shown that byproducts of cholesterol can bind to estrogen receptors and promote the growth of ER+ tumors.

Following a healthy low-fat diet can help you do both…

Whole grain fiber foods, like barley, oats, and brown rice are great at lowering cholesterol. A high-fiber diet promotes the binding of both cholesterol and estrogen in the colon, which reduces reabsorption.

In fact, a Swedish study found that fiber intake from fruit and cereal may play a role in reducing breast cancer risk in postmenopausal women, particularly.

But cutting down on dairy fat and saturated fats is also a must.

Other foods can help tame estrogen and guard against cancer as well, including:

Manuka honey. Researchsuggests that this medicinal honey could be developed into a natural supplement or even a standalone treatment for ER-positive breast cancer, especially for patients who experience resistance to the commonly used therapies.

Cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and kale contain diindolylmethane (DIM), a compound that promotes the healthy metabolism of estrogen.

Green tea. Green tea contains powerful polyphenols that have proven to play a role in resisting a variety of cancers — liver, breast, prostate, lung and skin cancers, among others.

Don’t forget to exercise. Combining aerobics and strength training gets you the most cancer protection from both cancer incidence and mortality.

Sources:

Around 40% of postmenopausal hormone positive breast cancers linked to excess body fat — Eureka Alert

Burden of postmenopausal breast cancer attributable to excess body weight: comparative study of body mass index and CUN-BAE in MCC-Spain study — Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health

The post The underestimated factor for ER+ breast cancer appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

But for those who have already faced a cancer diagnosis, the risk becomes even more concerning.

If you fall into this category, here’s what you need to know to save your life.

How obesity causes cancer

Experts believe that the connection between obesity and cancer risk lies in the inflammation caused by visceral fat — an especially dangerous type of fat known to build up around organs in the abdominal cavity, or midsection of the body.

Visceral fat cells are large, and there are a lot of them. This excess fat doesn’t leave much room for oxygen — and that low-oxygen environment triggers inflammation.

Inflammation caused by obesity can keep the body from properly responding to insulin. This is called insulin resistance. When the body doesn’t respond to insulin correctly, it produces more insulin to compensate for that.  

The increase in insulin due to insulin resistance triggers an increase in the number of cells produced, which can lead to cancer.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the following 13 cancers are obesity-related:

• Breast (in women who have gone through menopause)
• Colon and rectum
• Uterus
• Gallbladder
• Upper stomach
• Kidneys
• Liver
• Ovaries
• Pancreas
• Thyroid
• Meningioma (a type of brain cancer)
• Multiple myeloma

Obesity also makes a second diagnosis more likely

Researchers from the American Cancer Society have found that cancer survivors who are overweight or considered obese are at increased risk of developing cancer again.

They analyzed data from 26,894 cancer survivors in the Cancer Prevention Study II Nutrition study. Participants were surveyed starting in 1992 with follow-up occurring through 2017.

They found that overweight cancer survivors had a 15% increased risk for a second diagnosis of any cancer and a 40% increased risk for a second diagnosis of obesity-related cancers. 

In comparison, obese cancer survivors had a 34% increased risk for a second diagnosis of any cancer and a 78% increased risk for a second diagnosis of obesity-related cancers. 

Make weight maintenance part of cancer prevention

Whether or not you’re a cancer survivor, being overweight or obese clearly stacks the odds against you. That makes avoiding weight gain paramount.

But because cancer survivors deal with unique factors, including treatment-induced hormonal effects that can lead to weight gain, especially in breast, prostate and colon cancer treatment, fad weight loss diets may not provide the nutrition they need.

The Dana Farber Cancer Institute provides some specific advice for cancer survivors. They suggest that unwanted weight gain can be managed, and even reversed, by following some simple, healthy eating and activity guidelines including:

• Follow a schedule, and don’t skip any meals or snacks.
• Fill up on nourishing, naturally low-calorie foods, such as including a fruit/veggie at every meal or snack. The fiber will keep you full and help prevent overeating.
• Adjust your portions by using a smaller plate, which will make a smaller portion look bigger.
• Balance your plate by making at least half of your plate consist of vegetables and fruit, one-quarter of your plate should be lean protein and one-quarter whole grains.
• Incorporate moderate exercise.
• Get adequate sleep.

Their recommendations on how to eat for cancer prevention and survivorship are similar to the Mediterranean diet, which is considered a sustainable eating style because it’s not overly restrictive, making it easier to follow and stick to.

It’s heavier on fruits and vegetables and whole grains — two of the best ways to get more fiber into your diet. It also is heavier on fish and poultry, recommends healthier fats, like olive oil, and limits red meat.

As far as exercise, studies have found it has numerous benefits including:

• Helps reduce pain and increase energy during treatment.
• Kicks the immune system into gear against cancer
• Helps starve cancer and halt the spread.

Just remember to start easy and discuss any limitations with your cancer team, and start working on leaving cancer in the rearview mirror.

Sources:

Body weight linked to 2nd diagnosis for cancer survivors: Study — Becker’s Hospital Review

Excess Body Weight and the Risk of Second Primary Cancers Among Cancer Survivors — JAMA Network

Health Risks of Overweight & Obesity — National Institutes of Health

How does obesity cause cancer? — University of Texas MC Anderson Cancer Center

The post The high-risk factor for a 2nd cancer diagnosis appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

And obesity is really a form of premature aging.

Being overweight ages us from the inside out, affecting our telomeres, harming our energy-producing mitochondria, and weakening our immune system.

And as if that weren’t enough, it makes our brain get old a lot faster than it normally would, making us more vulnerable to Alzheimer’s disease.

But according to ongoing research, there’s a simple way to change your diet that will stop the obesity train in its tracks and keep your brain from aging prematurely.

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The brain power of the Green Mediterranean diet

The DIRECT PLUS study (Dietary Intervention Randomized Controlled Trial Polyphenols Unprocessed Study) conducted by Israeli scientists in 2017-18 was the first to introduce the concept of the green Mediterranean, high polyphenols diet and its potential for weight loss in older adults.

In this trial, 284 people were divided into three groups. The first ate a healthy diet. The second adhered to a traditional Mediterranean diet, including 28g of polyphenol-rich walnuts.

The third group ate a “green Mediterranean diet.” On top of walnuts, they added three to four cups of green tea daily, as well as a green shake made with Mankai duckweed as a substitute for dinner. They ate almost no red meat.

At the end of the 18-month trial, brain MRIs on all participants showed a significant slowing in brain atrophy (shrinking) in those who ate a Mediterranean diet.

The change was even more noticeable in participants over age 50 who went “green.”

Follow-up study shows even better benefits

Scientists at Ben Gurion University recently conducted a sub-study of the DIRECT PLUS trial to examine the effects of weight loss on brain age and other factors affecting brain health.

The researchers chose 102 individuals who met the criteria for obesity.

Each received a brain scan both before and after the study to examine how weight loss through diet affected their “brain age.”

They found that a one percent reduction in body weight led to brain age being almost nine months younger than expected for a person of that chronological age.

And, as a bonus, these “younger” brains were also associated with a decrease in liver fat and liver enzymes that have been shown to negatively affect the brain of people with Alzheimer’s disease.

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How to go green for a big brain (and slimmer waist and liver)

Now, you may remember we wrote last year about how the green Mediterranean diet doubles fat loss.

That means the green Mediterranean diet is the one diet we could all get on board with, from weight loss to brain health — not to mention the liver benefits.

If you’re not already following a Mediterranean diet, take a look at this guide to getting started.

Then, start to tweak things gradually. Eliminate one portion of meat and substitute fish or a plant-based protein like nuts, seeds or legumes. As you go along your goal should be a diet that includes very little if no meat at all.

Fruits and veggies should make up the bulk of your diet. Don’t forget, whenever possible, raw is better for you.

Pile on whole grains (rich in heart-protective betaines) like brown rice, barley and buckwheat.

Dairy is allowed but in moderation. And don’t forget those healthy fats: olive oil, avocados, walnuts and almonds.

Drink plenty of green tea (though black tea has some impressive benefits of its own!).

Last, but not least, if you must eat processed foods, keep them to a minimum—especially foods with added sugars and refined grains.

Sources:

Could a better diet make your brain younger? — Eureka Alert

The effect of weight loss following 18 months of lifestyle intervention on brain age assessed with resting-state functional connectivity — Epidemiology and Global Health

The effect of a high-polyphenol Mediterranean diet (Green-MED) combined with physical activity on age-related brain atrophy: the Dietary Intervention Randomized Controlled Trial Polyphenols Unprocessed Study (DIRECT PLUS) — The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

The effect of high-polyphenol Mediterranean diet on visceral adiposity: the DIRECT PLUS randomized controlled trial — BMC Medicine

The post The diet that sheds pounds and keeps your brain from shrinking appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

But recently, this sour, fermented apple liquid has found itself in the spotlight — and not just for its cleaning power. ACV is now being touted as a health elixir, with claims that it can aid in weight loss, control diabetes, improve cardiovascular health, and more. 

But how much of this is hype, and how much is backed by science?

Let’s dive into what the research says about apple cider vinegar’s health benefits…

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What the Science Shows

Lowering Blood Glucose Levels

One of the best-supported claims about ACV is its potential to help manage blood sugar.

Several studies have found that consuming apple cider vinegar daily may slightly reduce fasting blood glucose and A1C levels in people with Type 2 diabetes. 

A 2021 meta-analysis of 9 studies showed a reduction in fasting blood glucose by about 8 mg/dL for those with Type 2 diabetes. In a more recent intervention trial, people who consumed 2 tablespoons of ACV daily for eight weeks saw a reduction in their A1C, provided they also followed a healthy diet.

While these results are promising, it’s important to note that all of these studies were relatively small and more research is needed before we can call ACV a game-changer for diabetes management — especially since the blood sugar reductions were relatively minor.

Still, the possibility that incorporating ACV could be helpful as part of a comprehensive approach for managing blood sugar elevations cannot be excluded.

Lowering Cholesterol Levels

Another area where ACV has been touted as a solution is in cholesterol management. The same 2021 meta-analysis also suggested that ACV consumption could help reduce total cholesterol, particularly in people with Type 2 diabetes.

The intervention trial found that diabetic individuals who drank ACV while also adhering to a healthy diet saw improvements in both LDL (“bad”) cholesterol and total cholesterol.

However, we should view all these findings cautiously given that they were seen in the setting of Type 2 diabetes and in combination with dietary modification.  Whether the cholesterol improvement was related to better blood sugar control, a direct effect on cholesterol metabolism, or the dietary changes themselves is unknown.

My best advice would be that if you’re going to try apple cider vinegar as a cholesterol-lowering intervention, don’t just accept it on faith that it’s going to work.

Objectively test your response with a repeat lipid profile evaluation after at least 30 days of consistent use — ideally without changing anything else about your diet or exercise routine.  

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Weight Loss and Appetite Control

There are also claims that ACV can promote weight loss by reducing appetite, slowing gastric emptying, and curbing cravings. However, the studies behind these claims have been small and short-term.

Real, sustained weight loss comes from consistent healthy habits — like eating a nutrient-dense diet, incorporating physical activity, and lowering overall calorie intake. It won’t come from consuming ACV alone.

Supporting Gut Health

Because apple cider vinegar is a fermented product, so long as it is not pasteurized it will contain natural probiotics that can help support a healthy gut microbiome.

Probiotics boost the amount of beneficial bacteria in your gut, which in turn can promote better immunity, digestive health, and even mental well-being.

Including ACV in your diet, whether as part of a salad dressing or marinade, can be one way to add a probiotic boost. 

Downsides of Apple Cider Vinegar

If the above discussion has you thinking – “What do I have to lose?” — just remember that ACV is VINEGAR. That means it can irritate your stomach, worsen gastric reflux, and even strip tooth enamel. “Miracle” cures are often not entirely miraculous. At the very least, in the case of ACV, please never drink it undiluted.  

At Step One Foods, we believe in a holistic approach to health with an emphasis on sustainable, balanced choices—like consuming real, wholesome foods every day. With Step One Foods, you get scientifically formulated products designed and proven to support heart health without any downsides. No miracles required.

The post A cardiologist answers: What can apple cider vinegar really do? appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

It’s long been acknowledged that being overweight or obese dramatically increases your risk of heart disease.

A few years ago, I wrote about metabolically healthy obesity as a way of explaining why some obese people have better cardiovascular health than people of healthy weight.

But is it pounds that count, or something else entirely?

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The history of body mass index

Since the 1990s, body mass index, or BMI, has been the standard way to estimate a person’s percentage of body fat. It’s a number that is calculated from a person’s weight and height.

BMI was originally meant to describe the risk of a population as a whole. But because it’s so easy to calculate, it became a clinical tool. A doctor can calculate your BMI with nothing more than a scale and a tape measure.

But BMI doesn’t distinguish among different types of weight.

“Weight can be composed of so many parts of us: our water weight, bone weight, fat, and muscle,” says Dr. Beverly Tchang, an endocrinologist and assistant professor at Weill Cornell Medicine.

“You can have someone come in with a normal BMI, and they already have prediabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol,” she says. “That’s probably because that normal BMI is missing the fat distribution detail.”

There’s an alternative to the BMI, and it’s turning out to be the prediction tool we need.

BRI: A better predictor of your heart’s risks

Body roundness index (BRI) combines waist circumference and height, reflecting the proportion of abdominal and visceral fat a person carries. Actual weight in pounds is not a factor in this formula.

A study recently showed why BR, is a far more accurate way to assess an individual’s risk of cardiovascular disease.

Researchers in China analyzed BRI measurements in a group of almost 10,000 adults between 2011 and 2016.

They assigned people to three groups based not only on their BRI, but on how it changed over time: a low-stable group, a moderate-stable group, and a high-stable group.

Compared to participants in the low-stable BRI level group, the risk of cardiovascular disease in the moderate-stable BRI level group increased by 61 percent, and the risk in the high-stable BRI level group increased by 163 percent.

“Our findings indicate that six years of moderate-to-high stable BRI appeared to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, suggesting that BRI measurements may potentially be used as a predictive factor for cardiovascular disease incidence,” says senior study author Dr. senior study author Yun Qian.

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How to avoid being “round”

To be honest this information isn’t news to us. It’s just more confirmation that fat carried in the midsection — belly fat, visceral fat, call it what you will — is almost a sure ticket to cardiovascular disease.

Back in 2019, I reported that the Endocrine Society listed waist circumference, an indication of excess fat in the midsection, along with four other factors to identify metabolic syndrome as a cardiovascular risk factor.

As with most things, diet and exercise are your two best weapons.

If you’re carrying belly fat, don’t be discouraged if you start exercising and don’t see visible changes. Even when it doesn’t show, it’s altering the composition of that deadly fat by reducing the number of inflammation-causing cells it contains. Inflammation is a significant contributor to heart trouble.

The role of hormones can’t be ignored when discussing belly fat either. Several, including the sex hormones estrogen and testosterone, insulin, cortisol (stress hormone), leptin and ghrelin (hunger hormones), not to mention thyroid and adrenal hormones, affect abdominal weight gain.

Discuss having your thyroid levels checked and rule out adrenal fatigue, leptin resistance and insulin resistance, and explore balancing estrogen and testosterone with a trusted healthcare practitioner.

According to cardiologist, Dr. Elizabeth Klodas, “As more studies validate the effectiveness of BRI, we could see a shift in how doctors assess and manage weight-related health risks. While BMI isn’t likely to disappear overnight, it’s clear that it can’t stand alone as the definitive measure of health.”

Sources:

Measure of body roundness may help to predict risk of cardiovascular disease — Eureka Alert

Body Roundness Index Trajectories and the Incidence of Cardiovascular Disease: Evidence From the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study — Journal of the American Heart Association

More belly weight increases danger of heart disease even if BMI does not indicate obesity — Science Daily

Could the Body Roundness Index One Day Replace the BMI? — JAMA Network

Time to Say Goodbye to the B.M.I.? NY Times

Body Roundness Index and All-Cause Mortality Among US Adults — JAMA Network

The post What to know about the new heart disease risk measurement appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Yet, while these GLP-1 drugs, better known by brand names like Ozempic and Wegovy, are having their moment in the sun, more and more reports of serious side effects are stacking up.

Luckily, recent research has proved that you don’t have to risk the dangers of these drugs to lose weight. In fact, the researchers say that embracing one specific dietary strategy can not only help you shed excess pounds — but also dramatically improve your health.

That’s a far cry from what we’re hearing about GLP-1 agonists…

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The dangers of weight loss drugs

But before we take a look at the diet trick that research shows really works, just how bad can those oh-so-popular weight loss drugs be?

It turns out pretty horrible.

Just ask Juanita Gantt, who was prescribed Ozempic and Wegovy and is now suing their manufacturer.

Gantt, who had always struggled with her weight, found herself at 62 weighing 242 pounds. After talking to her doctor about her weight and diabetes risk, she started the drugs.

According to CBS News, a few months later, her husband found her unconscious on the floor.

The problem?

Large portions of her large intestine had died inside of her and required surgery to be removed.

And her troubles weren’t over…

While still in the hospital, Gantt suffered a cardiac arrest. And though thankful, that she lived, Gantt now lives with a daily reminder of her ordeal in the form of an ileostomy bag to collect waste that’s attached to her abdomen.

A safer weight loss option

 Scary stuff, right?

That’s why it’s so important to consider natural options, like diet, for weight loss whenever possible.

And that’s where research from Qilu Hospital of Shandong University comes in.

Researchers there found that “A plant-based diet is a viable option for people who want to control their body weight and improve the quality of their diet to prevent and treat metabolic diseases.”

In fact, they didn’t just conduct a single study.

They reviewed 24 studies, combining data on more than 2,200 people on the effects of a plant-based diet on weight loss.

And they found that not only does going plant-based work, the positive impacts of plant-based diets increase over time.

The researchers found that while a strictly vegan diet leads to the most weight loss, it was not significantly more than diets that included dairy and eggs.

And they say that to grab the most benefits, what matters is eating more raw vegetables — a factor that had the strongest links to a lower risk of obesity and heart problems.

“Raw vegetables contain phytosterols and unsaturated fats that lower blood cholesterol concentrations,” explained the researchers. “They also contain various substances (e.g., tocopherols, ascorbate, carotenoids, saponins, and flavonoids) that can reduce inflammation and oxidative stress, thereby reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease.”

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An evidence-based strategy that works

The news about regaining weight after stopping GLP-1 agonists is surely disappointing. But reports are mounting that, other than staying on the drug, it offers no evidence-based strategy to maintain weight loss.

Nate Wood, MD, MHS, of Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut, told MedPage Today “We generally do expect that when folks discontinue this medication, they’ll gain at least some weight back, if not all of it. And the reason for that is that we really think about obesity as a chronic disease. And chronic diseases require chronic treatment.”

That puts these drugs in the same basket as those people take for high blood pressure or high cholesterol, for example. As soon as the medication stops, the health threat returns. However, the dangers of GLP-1 agonists cast doubt on the safety of taking the drugs for life.

So if you want to lose weight, without facing the possibility of serious adverse effects due to weight loss drugs, adding more vegetables (especially raw veggies) to your diet seems to be the way to go.

Just remember that you can take a raw vegetable diet too far since going 100% vegetarian or vegan can lead to nutrient deficiencies.

Additionally, while eating a plant-based diet is a powerful and healthy weight loss strategy, eating certain foods can give you an even bigger advantage thanks to specific nutrients.

So be sure to check out this shortlist of foods that have been shown to help promote a fat-burning metabolism.

Sources:

Weight loss drugs allegedly landed this woman in the hospital, prompting lawsuit about drug label warnings — CBS News

New Study Backs Simple Weight Loss Strategy That Doesn’t Require Drugs — Sciencealert

The post The safe simple drug-free weight loss strategy that works appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Or maybe you work out at home, streaming fitness videos and hitting the pavement to get your steps in after lunch and supper.

Maybe you’ve been at it for a while but not seeing the results you were hoping for in the mirror — and you’ve started to question if it’s even worth it.

Well, I’ve got good news for you.

According to research from the University of Michigan that delved into the differences in belly fat between exercisers and non-exercisers, even if visible results have been hard to come by, staying active truly is doing your body good.

Here’s how…

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Fat storage and your health

The Michigan researchers specifically set out to determine what, if any effects, years of regular exercise have on fat tissue. To do so, they compared two groups of obese participants, half of whom had exercised at least four times a week for at least two years and the other half who would be considered a group of couch potatoes.

Each participant had a sample of belly fat taken from just beneath their skin to be analyzed.

And sure enough…

Exercise really is worth it — even if the scale doesn’t show it!

The researchers found that exercise actually alters fat tissue in distinct structural and biological ways by:

• Increasing the number of blood vessels, mitochondria and beneficial proteins
• Reducing a type of collagen that can interfere with metabolism
• And resulting in fewer cells that cause inflammation

Altogether, the scientists say this “healthier” fat can be stored more effectively in the subcutaneous tissue.

Now, hold on a minute. Fat can be stored more effectively? But I don’t want more fat!

If you just had the same thoughts I initially did when reading this research, don’t worry…

Increasing the capacity to store fat doesn’t mean gaining fat, which requires that you overeat.

“What it means is that if or when people experience weight gain, this excess fat will be stored more ‘healthfully’ in this area under the skin, rather than in the fat tissue around their organs (visceral fat) or an accumulation of fat in organs themselves, like the liver or heart,” explains the researchers.

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Avoid visceral fat to avoid chronic disease

In other words, exercising — even if it doesn’t help you lose weight — still keeps you from building the type of dangerous deep belly fat that can lead to serious health problems.

One of the most common of these is nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, which occurs when excess fat builds up in the liver and can lead to cirrhosis.

That deep belly fat has also been linked to:

• An increased risk of Alzheimer’s
• Prostate cancer development in men
• Heart disease and diabetes
• Higher chances of stroke
• And disease-causing inflammation

So don’t let your eyes deceive you.

No matter what the mirror shows, keep up the exercise to beat back the dangers of deep belly fat.

And for added help in winning the battle of the bulge, consider trying the antioxidant that research has shown can significantly reduce both total body fat and visceral fat volume and actually kept fat from being formed (even during consumption of what amounts to a fast food diet).

Sources:

Long-term exercisers have ‘healthier’ belly fat — EurekAlert!

Men should lose the ‘spare tire’ to lose risk for prostate cancer — Easy Health Options

The link between poor sleep, deep belly fat and your heart — Easy Health Options

The connection between deep belly fat and Alzheimer’s — Easy Health Options

The post How exercise improves belly fat even when you don’t see it appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

It increases the risk of joint issues like osteoarthritis, breathing problems like asthma and sleep apnea, gallstones and gallbladder disease.

Obesity can also lead to heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, more than a dozen types of cancer and premature death.

Diet and exercise (or lack thereof) play a role in weight gain. But so do hormones, so any tip to make things just a little easier is golden, right?

Well, I have one for you that could help make fighting obesity as simple as adding this newly designated superfood to your diet…

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Pecans slay pesky pounds

A team of researchers from the United States and Mexico applied whole pecans, a pecan polyphenol extract and high-fat diets to mice models to see what impact they might have on the development of metabolic abnormalities.

According to the results, supplementing a high-fat diet with whole pecans or a pecan polyphenol extract

• Reduced fat mass by 44 percent and serum cholesterol by 40 percent;
• Enhanced glucose tolerance by 37 percent, prevented the enlargement of pancreatic islet cells;
• And increased oxygen consumption by 27 percent!

How do pecans work their magic?

The researchers found these beneficial effects were connected with increased activity of brown adipose tissue, a type of fat that actually burns calories, as well as mitochondrial oxidative metabolism in the liver and skeletal muscle.

And there’s more…

The researchers also observed anti-inflammatory properties in pecans. The mice fed pecans or pecan polyphenol extract showed a reduction in low-grade inflammation, which can lead to chronic inflammation and subsequent inflammation-related diseases.

Dr. Luis Cisneros-Zevallos, a professor at the Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and affiliate scientist in the Institute for Advancing Health Through Agriculture, says the results show pecans maintain body weight and prevent diabetes despite consuming a high-fat diet.

“Obesity and diabetes numbers are increasing in modern society worldwide, and the trend in high fat diet consumption is one of the main reasons besides lifestyle and genetic predisposition,” Cisneros-Zevallos says. “People are searching for healthier options, and we have now shown pecans are a healthy tool consumers have in their hands.”

Due to this new functionality, the researchers indicate pecans can be designated a superfood that can be consumed directly or utilized as a functional food or dietary supplement.

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The superfood reputation stacks up

We often think of pecans as a holiday food. But given how healthy they are, they should be seen as a year-round treat.

For one thing, they’re loaded with monounsaturated fats, which help reduce the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes. A previous study found that eating pecans lowered levels of both total cholesterol and LDL (the “bad” type of cholesterol) 10 percent more than a diet specifically designed to reduce cholesterol. And a second study showed that adding pecans to participants’ daily diet lowered cholesterol more effectively than exercise.

The minerals found in pecans help maintain and improve cognitive function. Pecans also contain antioxidants like flavonoids that help control the free radical damage that can lead to inflammation. And they’re a great source of copper and manganese, two hard-to-get trace minerals essential for bone health.

Pecans contain fiber, which contributes to good digestion, a healthy weight and improved blood sugar levels. Plus, pecans contain vitamin A, which protects the skin from premature aging, and zinc and vitamin E, which help keep skin clear.

Given all these benefits, plus their potential to combat obesity, it makes sense to add this superfood nut to your daily diet. But be careful — because of their high fat and carbohydrate content, pecans have a lot of calories. A one-ounce serving of pecans (roughly ¼ cup) contains about 201 calories.

To maintain a healthy diet, you’ll want to limit your intake to a small handful or two of plain, unsalted pecans a day. Even better, use that small handful or two to replace any less-healthy calorie-heavy snacks you find yourself eating too often.

Sources:

Pecans give obesity and diabetes a slim chance — EurekAlert!

Pecans and Its Polyphenols Prevent Obesity, Hepatic Steatosis and Diabetes by Reducing Dysbiosis, Inflammation, and Increasing Energy Expenditure in Mice Fed a High-Fat Diet — Nutrients

Childhood Obesity Facts — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Nuts and your heart: Eating nuts for heart health — Mayo Clinic

The post The nut that slays pesky pounds, diabetes and high cholesterol appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

From Ozempic to Wegovy and Mounjaro, these drugs have taken the nation by storm with more and more celebrities — including the past poster girl for Weight Watchers, Oprah herself — admitting to using them to drop huge amounts of weight fast.

However, there’s an absolute mountain of evidence building showing that just like with so many medications that might at first seem like wonder drugs, these GLP-1 medications are not all they’re cracked up to be.

They’ve been linked to pancreatitis, gastroparesis and bowel obstruction. And they can come with extremely frustrating weight loss plateaus and almost inevitable rebound weight gain.

Luckily, according to a group of scientists from the University of California San Francisco, there may be a far better, more natural option in the works that can help you go from weight problems to slim and trim.

And it works by turning bad white fat into a calorie-burning beige machine.

Here are the details…

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The good, the bad and the better for burning fat

While most of us have heard that there are different colors of fat in our bodies — white, beige and brown — many of us lump the brown and the beige together causing some confusion when it comes to their role in our weight.

So here’s a quick primer on our three types of fat.

The first, white fat, serves as an energy reserve for your body. It’s also the fat you see when you look in your mirror that collects like a muffin top or unsightly lumps around your abdomen, hips and thighs.

On the other hand, brown fat cells are the ones that burn energy to release heat, which helps maintain body temperature.  It’s the kind that we would all like to have more of since burning energy means burning calories.

However, our brown fat disappears after our first year of life. And that’s the third type of fat, beige fat, comes in…

Beige fat cells combine the characteristics of white and brown fat. They burn energy just like brown fat, but unlike brown fat cells, which grow in clusters, beige fat cells are embedded throughout white fat deposits. 

Also unlike brown fat cells, it’s possible for beige fat can form throughout your life. You just need to encourage its production.

In labs, scientists do this using stem cells, which sounds great on the surface. But stem cells are rare and stem cell therapy is costly enough to be out of bounds for the majority of us.

So to solve the problem, those University of California researchers set out to find a switch that could be flipped to turn white fat cells directly into beige ones. 

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The protein answer

They found the answer in a protein called KLF-15, which plays a role in metabolism and the function of fat cells. 

By analyzing the protein, the team discovered that KLF-15 was much less abundant in white fat cells than in brown or beige fat cells.  They found that when they bred mice with white fat cells that lacked KLF-15, the mice converted them from white to beige.

Not only could the fat cells switch from one form into another, but without the protein, the default setting appeared to be beige. 

So they decided to test their work in human fat cells…

By culturing human fat cells, the team was able to show that the protein controls the abundance of a receptor called Adrb1, which helps maintain energy balance. And they now believe that producing a drug that specifically targets that receptor, could allow for significant weight loss, without the side effects of GLP-1 drugs.

That’s because its activity would be limited to fat deposits, rather than affecting the brain like those drugs do.

Even better, the scientists believe that the effects of such a drug would be long-lasting because fat cells are relatively long-lived. 

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Turning your white fat beige

Of course, the lead researcher also pointed out, “We’re certainly not at the finish line, but we’re close enough that you can clearly see how these discoveries could have a big impact on treating obesity.”

That means the drug is not yet available to help those of us ready to lose weight now. But I’m not going to leave you hanging til then…

It’s not only possible but easy to encourage the browning of your white fat — with a few tricks science has shown to work…

These include:

• Taking flavonols – Flavanols have the power to activate fat browning via the sympathetic nervous system.
• Going BATTY – Studies show that cold exposure results in BAT (brown adipose tissue) activation.
• Adding in vitamin A – Additional research found that when vitamin A was increased along with cold exposure white fat was converted into brown fat, with higher rates of metabolic activity, energy consumption and fat burning.
• Supplementing with nutritional oils – A supplement combo of natural oils has been proven to not only reduce lipid droplet size to shrink fat cells but also increase hallmarks of beige adipocytes in cell culture so that more brown fat is created.

You can start with just one or try all four options to really take your body’s conversion of white fat to beige to the next level.

Sources:

Scientists turn white fat cells into calorie-burning beige fat — EurekAlert!

The post Fat burning ‘default’ switch? appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

If that sounds like a lot to you, you’re not alone. Most Americans are only eating one serving or less of fruits and vegetables every day.

These poor dietary habits are part of the reason the rate of type 2 diabetes is skyrocketing. An estimated 11.6 percent of the American population is currently living with type 2 diabetes, and that number will likely continue to grow if we don’t get our diets under control.

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Drink more tea, eat more apples and berries

Flavonoids are substances found in plant-based foods and beverages that have powerful health properties. Flavonoids such as anthocyanins, fisetin, quercetin and isoflavones can help defend against conditions inlcuding high blood pressure, inflammation, menopause and type 2 diabetes.

Researchers have discovered there are three foods, in particular, you should be eating if you really want to turbo-charge the diabetes-protective impact of these flavonoids: tea, berries and apples.

The researchers analyzed data gathered from 2006 to 2010 from 113,097 participants in the UK Biobank study. The participants’ flavonoid intake was measured through two or more 24-hour dietary surveys analyzed using the US Department of Agriculture databases.

Based on average daily consumption, the researchers selected 10 flavonoid-rich foods and calculated a Flavodiet Score (FDS) by adding up the servings of these foods. They then performed statistical analyses to assess the link between dietary flavonoid intake and development of type 2 diabetes.

They discovered a higher FDS equivalent to consuming six servings of flavonoid-rich foods daily was connected to a 28 percent lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes compared to a lower FDS of one serving daily.

Results also showed that each additional daily serving of flavonoid-rich foods cuts diabetes risk by 6 percent. And three foods in particular were found to slash diabetes risk:

• Four servings of black or green tea per day were associated with a 21 percent lower diabetes risk
• One daily serving of berries was linked to a 15 percent reduced diabetes risk
• One serving per day of apples was connected to a 12 percent lower diabetes risk

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This is good news as the odds of developing type 2 diabetes continue to grow. And the older you get, the more at risk you are — practically one out of every two older Americans is on the cusp of type 2 diabetes.

Flavonoids lead to better blood sugar control and more

The study findings also indicate a diet rich in flavonoids positively affects weight management, glucose metabolism, inflammation and kidney and liver function, all of which contribute to the reduced type 2 diabetes risk.

Flavonoids, particularly anthocyanins, flavan-3-ols, and flavonols, can enhance insulin secretion and signaling and improve the transport and metabolism of glucose. This means that higher flavonoid intake can lead to greater insulin sensitivity and an improved blood lipid profile.

The researchers found certain people were more likely to engage in higher consumption of foods rich in flavonoids including women, older individuals and physically active participants.

Clearly, adopting a diet rich in flavonoids is a good move for staving off type 2 diabetes. So if you really want to turbo-charge the diabetes-protective impact of flavonoids, make sure you’re enjoying plenty of apples, berries and tea.

Sources:

Flavonoid-rich foods and drinks tied to an up to 28% lower risk of type 2 diabetes — Medical News Today

Higher habitual intakes of flavonoids and flavonoid-rich foods are associated with a lower incidence of type 2 diabetes in the UK Biobank cohort — Nutrition & Diabetes

National Diabetes Statistics Report — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The State Of The Plate: New Research Reveals America’s Fruit & Vegetable Consumption Is Eroding — Have a Plant

The post 3 foods to take down blood sugar, blood pressure and weight appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

It’s also a great way to power up your health, as long as you’re cautious.

Time in the sun contributes to the amount of vitamin D in your body — the nutrient necessary for health processes that help delay frailty and guard against dementia, ramp up the immune system, promote youthful testosterone production and increase the odds you’ll live longer.

It’s also vital to supporting a healthy heart.

And now there’s one more reason to get your time in the sun — the ability to ramp up your metabolism…

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UV exposure and the browning of fat

Previous studies on the effects of UV exposure on obesity and metabolic disorders have demonstrated that although UV rays do not directly reach subcutaneous fat when exposed to the skin, they can regulate fat metabolism.

So scientists at Seoul National University Hospital decided to dive into the deep end and see just exactly what processes those UV rays are capable of kicking off…

To do so, the team used two groups of mice — one fed a normal diet and one on a high-fat diet — exposing the power of ultraviolet radiation.

They discovered that even though both groups exhibited an increased appetite due to a decrease in leptin, the satiety hormone, neither of the groups gained an ounce!

According to the team, this is because UV radiation also enhances the secretion of norepinephrine — which increases energy expenditure through the “browning” of subcutaneous fat.

In other words, it turns white fat that does nothing more than accumulate around your hips, thighs and middle, into calorie-burning beige fat.

This means that even if you continue eat at your normal level, maybe more, your body burns it off before it can find its way to your waist.

“Notably, the fact that UV radiation lowers leptin levels and increases norepinephrine, thereby promoting the browning of subcutaneous fat and increasing energy expenditure, provides a groundbreaking clue for the development of obesity treatment strategies,” said Lead investigator Jin Ho Chung, MD, PhD.

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Burn the calories, not your skin

This isn’t the first study to link sunlight to weight. Researchers from the University of Alberta found that the fat cells just beneath your skin shrink when they’re exposed to the sun.

So if you want to turn your own body into a calorie-burning machine with more beige fat, make sure to get enough time outside.

Just be sure to strike the right balance…

Too much sun can harm your skin. And even though this study focuses on UV rays, consolidated evidence from existing research supports the role of vitamin D in regulating adipose tissue (white fat) and obesity prevention.

Another found that “high-dose vitamin D increased sensitivity to leptin without significantly affecting the amount of leptin produced per fat mass. This increased leptin sensitivity did not alter appetite but did increase fat free mass adjusted energy expenditure.”

When choosing a vitamin D supplement, be sure you look for one that contains D3, the most bioavailable form of the nutrient and the one that’s already stored in our bodies. Vitamin D3 is almost twice as effective as vitamin D2 at raising vitamin D levels.

Be sure to dose adequately. Vitamin D is not a one-size-fits-all vitamin.

Sources:

UV Light Increases Appetite But Suppresses Weight Gain – NeuroscienceNews.com

Vitamin D – Mayo Clinic

Vitamin D supplements may benefit heart health, research finds – Medical News Today

Vitamin D and Male Erectile Function: An Updated Review – NIH

Low Vitamin D Levels and Frailty Status in Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis – NIH

CAN SUNLIGHT MAKE YOU SKINNY? – Easy Health Options

The post Soak up the sun to ramp up your calorie-burning metabolism appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

But roughly 80 percent of people who lose a significant amount of weight won’t maintain that weight loss for a year. And one study found on average, dieters regain more than half of the weight they lose within two years.

That’s probably a sign the “lose weight fast and easy” gimmicks are just that. Real, lasting weight loss takes time and commitment to a healthy lifestyle.

But weight loss can also be associated with serious health problems… unintentional weight loss, especially if it occurs in a short amount of time warrants a checkup…

Possible root cause of unintentional weight loss

Dana Farber researchers recently assessed 40 years of data gathered from 157,474 participants in two large studies — the Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up study — which ran from 1976 to 2016 collecting, among other things, weight, exercise and diet habits of participants.

“We wanted to differentiate healthy weight loss from unhealthy weight loss,” says Dr. Qiaoli Wang, a research fellow at Dana-Farber and the manuscript’s first author.

Results showed that weight loss of greater than 10 percent of body weight during the previous two years was linked with an increased rate of cancer during the next year compared with those who hadn’t lost weight in that time frame.

When breaking down by specific type, the researchers found recent weight loss was associated with significantly higher risk of these cancers:

• Upper gastrointestinal tract (including esophageal, stomach, liver, biliary tract and pancreatic)
• Hematological (including non-Hodgkin lymphoma, multiple myeloma, and leukemia)
• Colorectal
• Lung

By contrast, it was not connected with increased risk for other types of cancer like melanoma or breast, genitourinary or brain cancers.

“Healthy weight loss can come from dietary changes or increased exercise,” Wang says. “But unhealthy weight loss that occurs unexpectedly can be due to an underlying cancer.”

Patients with advanced cancer often lose weight unintentionally. But in the past, weight loss wasn’t linked with early-stage disease. This study, however, found similar levels of weight loss happened before diagnosis of both early and late-stage cancer.

This means that unintentional weight loss could be a sign of a developing cancer, and that could help diagnose the cancer earlier when treatment could be more effective.

The study confirms findings from past research that linked unexpected weight loss with increased cancer risk. In fact, the American Cancer Society says an unexplained weight loss of 10 pounds or more may be one of the first signs of cancer.

See your doctor immediately

If you experience unintended weight loss over a short period of time, you should definitely consult your doctor. The quicker you do, the better the odds that whatever is going on inside your body can be caught before too much damage is done.

“Sometimes weight loss is due to more exercise or a healthier diet, and this can be beneficial to people’s health,” says lead investigator Dr. Brian Wolpin, director of the Gastrointestinal Cancer Center at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and director of the Hale Family Center for Pancreatic Cancer Research.

“However, when a patient experiences unintentional weight loss not due to healthier behaviors, seeing your primary care doctor is appropriate, so they can determine whether additional evaluation is necessary for other causes of weight loss, including cancer.”

Cancer prevention can be part of healthy lifestyle habits, some of which also help maintain a healthy weight…

The Mediterranean diet is a great anti-cancer diet and a clear winner for healthy weight loss. It encourages eating more vegetables (like broccoli, the cancer-slayer), fruit (like these cancer-fighting ones) and fish — and doesn’t include ultra-processed foods which have been linked to cancers including  liver cancer and colon cancer.

And don’t forget that quite a few nutritional supplements are backed up by research that attests to their cancer-prevention benefits, too…

• Vitamin D
• Resistant starch
• Aspirin (but check with your doctor to be sure the potential benefits outweigh any risks especially if you have existing conditions.)

Sources:

Study suggests that unintentional weight loss is a signal to see a doctor — ScienceDaily

Cancer Diagnoses After Recent Weight Loss — JAMA

[Latest] Global Weight Loss and Weight Management Market Size/Share Worth USD 405.4 Billion by 2030 at a 6.84% CAGR: Growing obesity rate to propel market growth — Facts & Factors (Industry Trends, Revenue, Statistics, Segmentation, Report)

Unexpected Clues Emerge About Why Diets Fail — Scientific American

The post When weight loss is a sign to get checked for these cancers appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

The best solutions are usually natural, like a fermented tea known as kombucha, which is already known to have an indirect benefit to those who want to lose weight.

That’s because kombucha has a positive effect on a few aspects of health that are crucial to healthy weight loss.

But now research has revealed that this fermented tea could have a more direct benefit as a natural weight loss aid…

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2 ways kombucha aids in weight loss

You’ve probably seen kombucha at your grocery store or local coffee shop, but its origins go back several thousand years to Northeast China.

It’s a great way to kick any diet plan into high gear without taking any of those dangerous stimulant drugs for weight loss.

So what exactly IS kombucha?

It’s a fermented black tea that’s loaded with probiotics, and it delivers two main health benefits:

It promotes a healthy gut. Kombucha is one of the richest sources of probiotics you can find. Probiotics are a proven way to colonize your gut with healthy bacteria, which promotes weight loss.

One probiotic species in particular, Lactobacillus gasseri, has been known to reduce visceral fat (the dangerous fat around your midsection), by up to 9 percent after three months.

It helps your body detox. Kombucha acts as an antioxidant. Its active components help detoxify your liver so that you can clear out the waste. Combined with the good bacteria kombucha supplies your body, this helps you get your diet off on the right foot.

We’ve known about these two benefits for a while. But new research is revealing that kombucha can have an even more direct effect on weight loss by triggering a “fasting-like” state…

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Microbes in kombucha increase fat-burning

A research team at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has found evidence that the microbes found in kombucha can mimic the fat-burning effects of fasting.

A team led by Dr. Robert Dowen fed microbes found in kombucha tea to the worm C. elegans. Because the cells of these worms age in ways similar to human cells, they are often used as a model to find out more about human metabolism.

The microbes colonized the worms’ intestines and changed the expression of genes involved in fat metabolism. This change caused reduced fat stores in the worms, similar to what happens when humans fast.

The authors of the study emphasize that more research is needed in humans but noted that their findings appear consistent with the reported human health benefits of kombucha.

“We were surprised to find that animals consuming a diet consisting of the probiotic microbes found in Kombucha Tea displayed reduced fat accumulation, lower triglyceride levels, and smaller lipid droplets — an organelle that stores the cell’s lipids — when compared to other diets. These findings suggest that the microbes in Kombucha Tea trigger a “fasting-like” state in the host even in the presence of sufficient nutrients.”

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Other benefits of fermented foods

Kombucha’s effect on metabolism doesn’t surprise me one bit.

Fermented foods have a long history of known health benefits besides helping with weight loss. In fact, fermented foods tackle a driving force behind many chronic health issues.

For example, studies show that lactic acid is a good way to fight off influenza. And fermented foods are full of lactic acid.

Also, eating fermented foods in combination with more fiber has been shown to help regulate stress and reduce anxiety.

Other such foods include sauerkraut and kefir. But, the Japanese have really mastered the art of fermentation.

They’re known for several healthy dishes made with fermented soybeans in various forms, including tempeh, miso, kimchi and natto (a food that contains the highest amount of artery-loving vitamin K2).

Fermentation of food and drink is a lost art. In the old days, fermentation took the place of refrigeration. It preserved food, but now science has shown many times over that fermentation gives up valuable natural substances that boost health.

Sources:

Kombucha’s Microbial Magic: New Study Shows Fat-Busting Effects — Sci Tech Daily

Kombucha Tea-associated microbes remodel host metabolic pathways to suppress lipid accumulation — PLOS Genetics

Consuming probiotics promotes weight loss and reduces BMI — Medical Express

The post Kombucha: The bacterial boost your metabolism needs appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

The use of ACV as a home remedy goes back thousands of years. In 400 BC, Hippocrates prescribed it mixed with honey to treat coughs and colds, among other illnesses. It’s also been used in African and Chinese traditional medicine to stimulate circulation, aid in liver detoxification, purify blood, cleanse lymph nodes and improve immune system responses.

There are even a couple of newer uses for ACV that dovetail with some health ailments that have been on the rise in recent years…

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Ways in which ACV benefits health

Like all vinegar, ACV is made through fermentation. Manufacturers first add yeast to apple juice to break down the natural sugars, resulting in alcohol. Then, they add specific bacteria to convert the alcohol into acetic acid, which gives vinegar its pungent odor and taste and some of its health benefits.

Fruit vinegars like ACV also contain polyphenols with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

The bacteria used in making ACV appears as a cloudy, spongy or stringy mass known as the “mother.” Some manufacturers filter ACV to remove the mother, while others bottle the ACV with the mother and label the product accordingly. ACV with the mother is believed to have more health benefits than filtered ACV due to the probiotics, enzymes and nutrients the mother contains.

Here are some ailments that ACV is being used for nowadays….

Blood sugar

One of the most interesting hypotheses surrounding ACV is that it helps manage blood sugar levels. And this has proven true in studies in rats and limited studies in humans.

One study had people with type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance drink one to two tablespoons of ACV or other types of vinegar mixed with water just before eating meals high in carbohydrates. Results showed these patients experienced less dramatic blood sugar spikes than those who did not consume vinegar before their meals.

Some research suggests that ACV may lower blood sugar spikes by slowing the movement of food through the digestive tract and interfering with certain enzymes that convert carbohydrates into simple sugars.

Weight loss

ACV’s ability to slow the digestive process is similar to the mechanism of action of the popular GLP-1 agonists now widely used for weight loss. But ACV is far cheaper and has fewer side effects than these drugs.

So, is there proof that ACV is effective at supporting weight loss?

One study of 155 adults in Japan found those who consumed two tablespoons of ACV in water every day for three months lost about four pounds. And a trial of 120 people ages 12 to 25 in Lebanon showed those who drank one tablespoon of ACV in water every morning for three months lost an impressive average of 15 pounds.

However, a study that monitored participants after they stopped taking ACV found that, on average, they regained most of the weight they lost within four weeks. Therefore, if you’re going to use ACV as a weight loss aid, you’ll likely need to continue taking it to keep the weight off.

Animal research has demonstrated the ability of acetic acid to reduce fat accumulation in certain tissues and to help increase the release of hormones that signal fullness. This further indicates ACV’s potential usefulness in weight management.

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Gut and digestive health

ACV with the mother has potential probiotic benefits for the gut microbiome and can help prevent unhealthy overgrowth of yeasts like Candida that can destroy the microbiome’s delicate balance.

Also, ACV is a great acid reflux preventative because the acetic acid it contains turns alkaline during digestion and reduces acid. The advice is to take two tablespoons of ACV in a glass of water 30 minutes before eating to normalize the stomach acid and prevent indigestion.

However, it doesn’t work on everyone and in some reports has worsened the condition.

Acne

ACV may also benefit acne-prone skin by balancing skin pH, exfoliation, reducing hyperpigmentation and stimulating circulation. But never use ACV straight. According to University of Nebraska Health, always dilute it and do a skin patch test before applying it to larger areas. It can make skin more sensitive to the sun, just like vitamin C extracts, so be sure to apply sunscreen.

Safe consumption of ACV

ACV can interact with certain medications, including some diuretics and drugs for diabetes and heart conditions. If you take any of these drugs, check with your doctor before adding ACV to your daily regimen. Also talk to your doctor if you have low potassium levels, since ACV can further reduce blood potassium.

One thing to always remember is to dilute ACV with water. Mix a tablespoon or two of ACV in a glass of water, and don’t ingest more than two to four tablespoons a day to protect the lining of your esophagus. Also, it’s probably a good idea to drink it with a straw, since even diluted, ACV could erode tooth enamel.

Sources:

1. Is Apple Cider Vinegar Really a Cure-All? — The New York Times

2. What Is the Mother in Apple Cider Vinegar? ACV Explained — MasterClass

3. Apple Cider Vinegar Myths & Facts — WVU Extension

The post ACV: From ancient remedy to social media sensation appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

There are more than 8,000 identified varieties of polyphenols, and they’re plentiful in various fruits and vegetables, extra-virgin olive oil, tea and coffee. Some of the highest sources are berries.

Studies indicate polyphenols have a powerful impact on our well-being.

But despite mountains of research into those benefits involving cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative conditions and age-related sensory decline — there have been gaps in understanding how they do what they do in the body. One reason is due to their low bioavailability.

Some interesting research seems to have nailed it down and provided a nice list of benefits you don’t want to miss out on…

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Polyphenols are bitter for a reason

Unlike vitamin levels that can be measured in the blood, polyphenols are not present in the blood or in organs. When foods containing polyphenols are eaten, intestinal bacteria usually break down polyphenols to exit the body with other waste.

However, recent studies have found that ingested polyphenols have an impact while they’re in the gut: they alter the composition of the gut microbiome, which then alters the composition of secondary metabolites in the colon.

The theory is these altered metabolites may be absorbed and affect metabolic and cognitive functions. And they may do that through sensory receptors that are widely distributed throughout our bodies.

Sensory nutrition is a relatively new field of study examining the communication between the food and beverages consumed, the brain and its impact on human behavior. Some reports suggest food signals contribute to homeostasis, or equilibrium within the body, via gut-based sensory receptors.

Using sensory nutrition, researchers discovered several ways polyphenols, which are inherently bitter in taste, interact with the body’s bitter taste receptors — which are expressed in several of the body’s tissues, including the gastrointestinal tract — ultimately influencing metabolic pathways and promoting overall health, including:

• Guards against heart problems: It was suggested the astringency of polyphenols was a sensation that can occur anywhere in the body. It was connected with improved blood pressure and risk factors for heart diseases.
• Promotes normal blood flow: At moderate doses, polyphenols caused a marked increase in blood flow-dependent vasorelaxation (FMD) levels. Vasorelaxation, also known as vasodilation, is the widening of blood vessels.  When blood vessels are wider, blood flow faces less resistance or pressure.
• Lowers blood pressure: One animal study showed repeated intake of astringent polyphenols significantly reduced FMD response along with blood pressure.
• Promotes blood sugar regulation: Consumption of bitter polyphenols increases secretion of gastrointestinal hormones, leading to the regulation of blood glucose levels and glucose tolerance.
• Promotes brain health: Researchers noted astringent polyphenols regulate the activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, improving mood and memory function.
• Promotes healthy weight: The bitter and astringent perception of polyphenols are believed to have anti-obesity effects.

To sum up, these findings strongly suggested that polyphenols work in the body via sensory receptors of the gastrointestinal tract, ultimately influencing metabolic pathways and promoting overall well-being.

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Putting polyphenols to work in your diet

According to Naomi Osakabe, a professor at Shibaura Institute of Technology in Tokyo, “Our study is the first to identify that sensory stimuli in food can promote homeostasis and paves the way for the development of novel food products aimed at promoting human health,”

That’s certainly a convenient idea… but you can take advantage of polyphenols’ health-promoting benefits just by eating red and purple fruits and vegetables, coffee, tea and dark chocolate.

Some of the foods with highest amounts of polyphenols include:

• Berries, especially elderberries, chokeberries, blueberries and black currants
• Herbs and spices like cloves, peppermint and star anise
• Cocoa powder
• Nuts, especially chestnuts, hazelnuts and pecans
• Flaxseeds
• Vegetables like artichokes and red onions
• Olives

One way to make sure you get the maximum benefit from polyphenols is to consume them with protein. One study showed that alpha-casein, a protein found in cow’s milk, helped rats being fed blueberries absorb more of the anthocyanins — particularly powerful polyphenols — from the fruit.

Sources:

1. Deciphering the role of bitter and astringent polyphenols in promoting well-being — ScienceDaily

2. Sensory Nutrition and Bitterness and Astringency of Polyphenols — Biomolecules

3. Healthy Foods High in Polyphenols — Nourish by WebMD

The post The unique way polyphenols improve heart and brain health appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

But really, who has time for that much exercise? It’s often all anyone can do to keep up with work and home chores, not to mention caring for kids if they have them.

That’s why scientists have been exploring whether it’s truly necessary to get that much exercise to stay healthy. So far, the research into short exercise “bursts” has been all over the map, with studies finding cardiovascular and brain health benefits from 12 minutes, 10 minutes and even 2 minutes a day of moderate-to-high intensity exercise.

But what about weight loss? Surely you need to do more than a couple minutes a day of exercise if you’re going to lose weight — or do you?

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‘Weekend warriors’ lost just as much

In the first study of its kind, a team of researchers examined the association between physical activity patterns and objectively measured fat tissue mass. They looked at data from more than 9,600 participants in the U.S.-based National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey ranging in age from 20 to 59.

The researchers collected physical activity levels from a questionnaire and split the respondents into three categories:

• Inactive;
• Weekend warriors — meaning they exercised one to two days a week;
• and regularly active.

Weekend warriors accounted for 8.2 percent of total respondents, while the regularly actives accounted for almost 37 percent.

In addition, the researchers used a body composition scan and anthropomorphic measures to determine abdominal and general fat composition.

Compared to the inactive participants, both the weekend warrior and regularly active groups had lower abdominal fat content, waist circumference, whole-body fat mass and body mass index (BMI). These two groups were younger than the inactives and were also less likely to be unemployed or to have hypertension or diabetes.

In short, the researchers found that the weekend warriors who exercise only once or twice a week can lose weight similar to those who exercise on a regular basis as long as they achieved the recommended physical activity goals.

“The weekend warrior pattern is worth promoting in individuals who cannot meet the recommended frequency in current guidelines,” says Lihua Zhang, health care scientist, Fuwai Hospital, National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China. Zhang is one of the corresponding authors of the study.

These results could be important to office workers, bus drivers and other employees who have to sit for many hours during the workday. “Those people are struggling to catch up in their exercise plan in daily life to offset the hazard of a sedentary lifestyle but have less free time to get to the gym,” Zhang says. “Our study could offer them an alternative choice to keep fit.”

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Activities to ramp up your weekends

To reduce abdominal fat, previous studies have recommended extensive lifestyle modifications such as adopting a Mediterranean diet, rigorously planned exercise and sleep restriction. But outside of the study environment, these modifications have proven hard to stick to.

For this reason, the researchers say targeted physical activity over a shorter period could be more accessible for busy individuals.

It’s worth noting that the weekend warriors’ workouts were of higher intensity and longer duration, and that more intensity and duration correlated with even lower abdominal fat.

Zhang says some suitable physical activities for weekend warriors include climbing, hiking, cycling or running. All of these activities involve a moderate-to-vigorous level of exercise.

It might take a while to build up the stamina and endurance needed to get these benefits from just two days of exercise, but anything worthwhile is worth putting time into.

As is always the case when beginning a new fitness regime, you should check with your doctor before adopting a “weekend warrior” style of exercise — especially if you have any existing health problems. They can help you decide what activities to adopt and how often and for what duration you should do them.

Sources:

Study: whether you exercise regularly or one-to-two days a week, weight loss is possible — EurekAlert!

The associations of “weekend warrior” and regularly active physical activity with abdominal and general adiposity in US adults — Obesity

The post Lose fat exercising just two days a week appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

But it can feel as if those pounds are not only glued on but also multiplying.

Now, we may know why it’s so hard to lose weight and so easy to gain more, thanks to researchers at the University of California San Diego.

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The diet mistake that dampens energy burn

Researchers focused on why, in the case of obesity, a fat cell’s ability to burn energy starts to fail, making it so difficult to lose weight.

And they discovered a surprising answer in the cell’s mitochondria…

They found that after consuming a high-fat diet, mitochondria within the fat tissue of mice began to break apart, splitting into many smaller mitochondria that are incapable of burning fat efficiently.

According to the researchers, too many calories from overeating not only causes weight gain, it also “triggers a metabolic cascade that reduces energy burning, making obesity even worse.”

They did have some good news though…

They discovered that a single molecule was in control of the entire process. When they turned off that molecule, known as RaIA, they were able to protect the mice from excess weight gain, even when they ate the same high-fat diet as other mice.

And they say that in the future, they may be able to help treat or prevent obesity by targeting the RaIA pathway with new therapies.

Of course, that doesn’t do a lot for those of us struggling right this minute.

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Supporting your energy-burning mitochondria

Luckily, there are things you can do to support your mitochondrial health and energy production in the meantime.

This includes:

#1 – Supplementing with nutritional oils

Research published in the journal Antioxidants found a two-supplement combo that boosts the body’s energy expenditure.

The combo, which included black seed oil and omega 3s not only shrunk fat cells and turned bad white fat into energy-burning brown fat, but it also elevated mitochondrial function.

#2 – Using a super-energizing enzyme duo

Two powerful enzymes have been shown in extensive research to be capable of boosting your mitochondria and reducing oxidative stress that fuels inflammation and with it, obesity.

This duo includes CoQ10 (coenzyme Q 10) which helps mitochondria make ATP, as well as PQQ (pyrroloquinoline) which increases the number of mitochondria, so you have more fat burners on board.

#3 – Staying active

Finally, be sure to get up and get moving.

Exercise is vitally important to mitochondrial health and it can take as little as two minutes of physical activity to boost your mitochondrial health if you do it right.

#4 – Avoid a high-fat diet

Turn the dial down on the fats in your diet. Fat has a role in the body, but steer your diet towards healthy fats — in moderation. The Mediterranean diet focuses on those healthy fats, like omega-3s from fatty fish, and olive oil and has been shown to be an easier diet to stick to.

So if you’ve been struggling to lose weight, you now have the secret to powering up your mitochondria to power up your weight loss and your health.

Sources:

How obesity dismantles our mitochondria — EurekAlert!

The post Why a fat cell’s ability to burn energy fails and how to avoid it appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

• A reduced risk of Afib and heart failure
• Lowered cholesterol and heart disease prevention
• Longer lifespan
• Decreased cancer risk
• Stronger brain waves
• Higher levels of the happiness hormone, serotonin

With all of these benefits, what could possibly hold anyone back?

The fear of weight gain.

Sadly, despite the proven health benefits of this food, 87% of Americans avoid it because they believe it leads to weight gain.

The truth? They’re wrong.

According to research from Vanderbilt University Medical Center, a handful could actually help you slim down…

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Improving body composition and health

The research team recruited 84 adults who had at least one metabolic syndrome risk factor. These could be high blood pressure, high blood glucose, excess body fat around the waist or abnormal blood cholesterol levels.

Every participant was then asked to eat a snack of one ounce of mixed, unsalted tree nuts (including pistachios) or one ounce of a carbohydrate snack (like unsalted pretzels or graham crackers) twice per day for 16 weeks.

And there’s no doubt that while the nuts were higher in both calorie content and dietary fats, participants who went a little nutty won big…

The results showed that nut-eaters:

• Reduced their risk of metabolic syndrome: 67 percent for women and 42 percent for men.
• Did not gain any weight — and women saw their waistlines shrink too!
• Experienced a lowered risk of disease factors: men reduced blood insulin levels; women’s risks for diabetes and heart disease went down.
• Were able to use fat for energy more efficiently compared to a carbohydrate snack.

In other words, eating nuts leads to better health, better energy burn and better body composition!

That’s a triple-stack of benefits I’ll take any day — especially since it builds on previous research that says no matter how many calories are found in nuts, your body can only absorb part of them.

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Snacking on better health

So the next time you reach for a snack, make sure it includes a handful of nuts to grab all the good without the weight gain worry.

Some of the best nuts to add to your diet include:

• Brazil nuts
• Almonds
• Walnuts
• Pistachios
• Cashews
• Macadamia

The key is to stick with raw or dry-roasted nuts, to avoid unhealthy oils, sugary coatings or high levels of salt.

Now, sit back, enjoy a snack and start taking advantage of all the wonderful things nuts have to offer.

Sources:

Daily intake of tree nuts, including pistachios, does not lead to weight gain, body fat gain, or changes in energy intake in Millennials — EurekAlert!

The post The high-calorie snack that burns fat and slims bodies appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Right now, that’s the GLP-1 agonist class of drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro. But these treatments are expensive and can have risky side effects… not to mention, they don’t work forever.

Wouldn’t it be great if the “next big thing” for losing weight was a way of revving up the body’s own fat-burning machinery?

Well, researchers in Germany may have hit upon that formula….

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Harnessing the power of brown fat

As you may already know, there are three types of fat in our bodies. White fat makes up more than 90 percent of the body’s fat tissue and is usually located in the abdomen, buttocks and upper thighs.

Then there are the “good” types of fat: brown and beige. Brown adipose tissue converts energy into heat and is key to eliminating unwanted fat deposits. Beige fat are white fat cells that are in the process of converting to brown fat, and they behave much as brown fat cells do.

The researchers in Germany sought to identify the main regulator for increasing the formation of brown and beige fat.

“Our energy-dense foods lead to energy being stored in white fat,” says corresponding author Alexander Pfeifer, director of the Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University Hospital Bonn and a professor at the University of Bonn. “But losing weight isn´t that easy, as the body saves energy in response to a low-calorie diet.”

The goal of the researchers was to achieve additional energy release by increasing the body’s “biological oven” of brown fat while simultaneously reducing white fat.

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The team used a mouse model to investigate the cAMP signaling pathway in fat metabolism that plays a central role in fat cells. They then discovered a relatively unknown protein called EPAC1 (exchange protein directly activated by cAMP) that’s responsible for the growth of brown fat. Not only that, but EPAC1 increases the formation of beige fat cells.

The researchers showed the cAMP signaling pathway is also active in human fat cells. And they used human organoids to confirm the function of EPAC1. Human organoids are organ-like microstructures that serve as a model of human brown fat.

In addition, the team found an association between a non-functional human EPAC1 gene variant and increased body mass index (BMI).

“Our study shows that EPAC1 is an attractive target to increase brown fat mass and thus also energy expenditure,” Pfeifer says.

Their discovery of EPAC1 is an important step toward their goal of finding medications to stoke the body’s fat-burning processes to decrease metabolic disease.

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“Browning” your own white fat

While this development is exciting, it may be years before it results in therapeutics for weight loss. In the meantime, other studies have identified means of optimizing the conversion of white fat into brown fat.

Here are some ways of doing that that have been identified so far:

• Cold exposure
• Exercise
• Calorie restriction
• A combination of black seed oil and omega-3 fatty acids
• Flavanols
• Coffee
• Vitamin A

Take a close look at the research and see which of these methods might work best for you. While exercise is always a great place to start, adding one or more of the supplements on this list could help supercharge your brown fat-burning capabilities.

Keep in mind, however, that it’s important to control inflammation as well since it can block brown fat activation. So be sure to follow the steps my colleague Virginia Tims-Lawson lays out to combat that inflammation so that you can truly harness the power of turning your white fat brown.

Sources:

Main regulator for the body`s oven discovered — EurekAlert!

EPAC1 enhances brown fat growth and beige adipogenesis — Nature Cell Biology

The post Stoking the body’s fat-burning furnace appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

WHAT?

There’s a large body of popular literature claiming that cold water immersion can do all sorts of things: end chronic pain, ward of dementia, reduce symptoms of depression, boost the immune system and help you lose weight.

But the scientific proof for much of this is spotty.

That’s why a group of Norwegian researchers set out to get things straight.

Here’s what they discovered.

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Cold water increases “good” fat

Three Norwegian scientists conducted a detailed search of the scientific literature on the subject of cold water immersion. They analyzed 104 studies and the health claims they made.

The one health benefit they found to be conclusive was that cold water swimming or bathing increases the amount of beige fat in your body.

This “good fat” actually can burn calories, which in turn can help protect against obesity and heart disease.

And one more thing — a cold bath or swim seems to be related to a process that can prevent diabetes.

Several of the studies the scientists examined give credit to the possibility that beige fat improves glucose metabolism by increasing the production of the protein adiponectin. This protein plays a key role in protecting against insulin resistance.

So what about other health claims?

Lead author James Mercer of The Arctic University of Norway explains why more research is needed before broad claims can be made about the health benefits of cold water immersion.

“Based on the results from this review, many of the health benefits claimed from regular cold exposure may not be causal. Instead, they may be explained by other factors including an active lifestyle, trained stress handling, social interactions, as well as a positive mindset.

“Without further conclusive studies, the topic will continue to be a subject of debate.”

In other words, losing weight, feeling less depressed, or having more energy may actually be a result of other behaviors like regular exercise and handling stress well, and cold water immersion may just be “going along for the ride.”

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Should you try cold water therapy?

If you decide you’d like to give cold water immersion a try, and think, “What have I got to lose?” Mercer and his colleagues have a word or two of advice for you.

Education is needed regarding the health risks associated with taking a dip in icy water, say the study authors.

These risks include hypothermia, where your body loses heat more quickly than it can produce it. Body temperature can drop so low that the heart, nervous system and other organs cannot function properly. Hypothermia is considered a medical emergency.

Also, studies show that plunging into cold water without giving the body time to adjust can result in abnormal heart rhythms that can be fatal, particularly in warm weather.

So, while cold water immersion seems to hold promise as a practice with some great health benefits, it’s probably best to talk with your doctor before trying it, and to perhaps pursue other methods of improving your health or losing weight until more research has been done.

However, if you want to give the “live cold, die old” lifestyle a try, you’re only option isn’t jumping into a cold lake with both feet. Drinking coffee and lowering the thermostat have been found to stimulate brown fat as well, not to mention the Japanese study that found fish oil can help too.

Sources:

An icy swim may cut ‘bad’ body fat, but further health benefits unclear — Science Daily

Health effects of voluntary exposure to cold water – a continuing subject of debate — International Journal of Circumpolar Health

Heart Attack Warning Over Cold Water  — heart.co.uk

The post How cold would you go to burn fat and cut diabetes risk? appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Did you know, for example, that a medium-sized sweet potato gives you over 400 percent of your daily vitamin A? Sweet potatoes also give you a healthy dose of:

• Vitamin C
• Manganese
• Copper
• Pantothenic acid
• Vitamins B1, B2, B3 and B6
• Vitamin A (to nourish your skin)
• Biotin
• Potassium (to support normal blood pressure)
• Phosphorus
• Fiber
• Beta-carotene (a double whammy against cholesterol and inflammation)

But if you’re planning on preparing sweet potatoes for the holidays or any time after, there’s something else you should know: if you boil them instead of baking them (which you may want to do from now on) — they release a peptide that could lower your cholesterol and…

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Help you lose weight!

Researchers from the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization in Japan found that mice who ate this sweet potato peptide lost weight even when they were overindulging in fatty foods — like we often do during the holidays.

But that’s not all. Mice who were fed the sweet potato peptide also had:

• Healthier livers (vital to processing body fat)
• Lower cholesterol
• Lower triglycerides
• Higher levels of leptin (natural appetite-suppressing hormone) and adiponectin  (lipid-controlling hormone)

Researchers believe sweet potato peptide is beneficial to your waistline and your health because it helps your body digest fat more efficiently and suppresses your appetite (both of which are useful during the holidays when tempting treats are around every corner).

So next time you boil a batch of sweet potatoes, make sure you save the water — because drinking the water the potatoes were boiled in is the best way to get those super slimming peptides.

If you’re not picky about taste, you can wait for it to cool down and sip it plain. Just think of it as a cheap and natural weight-loss drink.

Of course, a more palatable option would be to put it in a storage container in the fridge and use it in smoothies, for soups and sauces, to cook rice in, or for any other recipe you can think of. But whatever you do, make sure you use your slimming sweet potato water within a few days because those valuable nutrients won’t last. And most importantly, make sure you buy organic sweet potatoes, so you don’t end up drinking a cup full of pesticide residue.

Just give the skins a good wash and dice them up a bit before boiling. for tips on making mashed sweet potatoes, check out this recipe.

Sources:

1. Ishiguro, et al. “Effects of a sweet potato protein digest on lipid metabolism in mice administered a high-fat diet.” Heliyon, 2016; 2 (12).

2. “Sweet Potatoes: Health Benefits, Nutritional Information.” Medical News Today. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com. Retrieved December 13, 2016.

3. “Health Benefits of Sweet Potatoes.” Organic Facts. https://www.organicfacts.net. Retrieved December 13, 2016.

The post Do you know the sweet potato weight loss secret? appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

One is their estimated $1,400-a-month price tag, which isn’t covered by all insurance plans. Another is their black box warning that cautions the drugs caused thyroid cancer in rodents (though the same hasn’t been reported in humans). And people who stop taking these drugs often regain the weight they lost — plus more.

Then there’s a side effect that no one seems focused on….

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The GLP-1 Agonist Plateau

GLP-1 agonists are synthetic versions of glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1), a hormone made in the gut that controls blood sugar and insulin levels, as well as influencing hunger and satiety centers in the brain.

When these drugs are used to control weight, they work… for a while. But at some point, people hit a point where their weight stabilizes. And that plateau can differ for each person.

What’s more, sometimes with stabilization comes the return of appetite, which is something the drug is supposed to control.

On average, the plateau comes a little over a year with semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy. In the STEP 1 and STEP 2 studies, participants’ weight loss gradually stopped after week 60 of the 68-week trial, with about 10 to 15 percent of body weight lost. In a longer 2-year study, STEP 5, patients plateaued at around 60 weeks, though they were able to maintain their weight for the rest of the study.

With tirzepatide, the active ingredient in Mounjaro, the plateau hit within 60-72 weeks. A 2-year trial of the drug is ongoing and expected to offer more insight.

While physicians aren’t surprised by this plateau, they say their patients often are upset by it.

“Everyone will plateau, of course. No one on my watch has disappeared. No one has vanished,” Dr. Jody Dushay, an endocrinologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, tells MedPage Today. “It’s alarming to me that people find that surprising, but everyone will reach a plateau and there’s no way to know when you start the medication what that will be, what percent weight loss that will be, and how quickly they will reach it.”

Different responses for different patients

Dushay notes the importance of providers setting expectations with patients before prescribing GLP-1 agonists for weight loss. It’s also important to note that different medical histories, medications, and comorbidities can all affect how well, and for how long, an individual responds to these drugs.

Dushay says a “drug holiday,” where a patient stops and restarts a GLP-1 agonist has typically had no impact on plateaus.

Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford, an obesity medicine specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, tells MedPage Today she would like to see future studies on GLP-1 agonists that stratify patient response by various characteristics like genetics. Right now, she notes, weight-loss drugs require a lot of trial and error, so predicting how likely success will be would save time and money.

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“If I know that, on average, this person is going to be a really poor responder to a GLP-1 agonist, I won’t [prescribe it],” she says. “It is a really arduous pathway for a lot of reasons — access, coverage, prior authorization. It’s burdensome on the patient, it’s burdensome on the system, it’s burdensome on me.”

In the meantime, physicians do have strategies to help a patient move past a plateau if they still haven’t met important clinical markers. Some will increase the dose if the patient can tolerate it well, or they may supplement with a second drug that targets a different neuronal or hormonal pathway.

Natural alternatives to GLP-1 agonists

Are there any natural ways to get the same effects provided by these expensive, potentially toxic drugs? One has become known as “nature’s Ozempic” — berberine. This plant-based compound has been shown to help manage blood sugar, reduce cholesterol, and help with weight loss.

Another natural alternative, the humble chia seed, may also help reduce blood sugar and promote a feeling of fullness, keeping you from overeating. You could also try black seed oil, which has similar effects on blood sugar and could help manage obesity.

Finally, make sure your diet is rich in protein and soluble fiber, both of which can help with weight loss and blood sugar stabilization.

And remember, nothing beats diet and exercise. The best diet for weight loss is one you can stick to—and this one comes out on top!

Sources:

The GLP-1 Agonist Plateau No One’s Talking About — MedPage Today

Semaglutide Shines as Weight Loss Therapy — MedPage Today

Another Weight-Loss Trial Win for Weekly GLP-1 Drug — MedPage Today

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