The Anti-Diet: Intuitive Eating
by Kirsten Ackerman, MS, RDN Intuitive eating encourages internal regulation of the eating experience (REF). Unlike many traditional diets, intuitive eating encourages people to listen to and honor their internal cues for hunger and fullness. It also discourages food judgments that some foods are “good” and others are “bad.” Rather than having people try to override…
Eating a Better Breakfast
The alarm rings and you press “snooze” one time too many. By the time you roll out of bed, you think it’s too late for breakfast, so you don’t eat. While some people do skip breakfast on a regular basis, it’s not a good idea. The potential perils include a more sluggish metabolism as the…
Surprising News on Diabetic Symptoms
Research published online in The Journals of Gerontology turned up some unexpected findings about type 2 diabetes. Just 2 weeks without much activity can have a dramatic impact on health, according to researchers who studied overweight older adults at risk of developing type 2 diabetes. And unfortunately, it may be difficult to recover from this negative effect.…
CoQ10 Benefits Inflammation
Many metabolic diseases can be attributed to chronic inflammation. The effect of Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10, ubiquinone-10) on inflammatory markers in patients with metabolic disease has recently been evaluated. CoQ10 is a compound produced by the body and stored in the cell’s mitochondria. It not only acts as a key cofactor in the mitochondrial electron transport system, it…
B’S and Omega-3’S: Better Together For Brain Health
Too often, we look at the physiological effect of different nutrients in isolation, however, more and more research is uncovering the synergistic benefits of nutrients in combination. Take omega-3s and B vitamins, for example. An unlikely pair, they have been shown to work better together when examining brain health and cognition. Research has already determined that B…
Exercise May Prevent Stress-induced Immunosuppression
By Yi Sun, Ph.D., and Jeffrey A. Woods, Ph.D., FACSM Vaccination is one of the most successful public health interventions to prevent infectious diseases and reduce the associated mortality and morbidity rates. However, chronically stressful situations can reduce the immune responses to vaccination and lead to decreased vaccine efficacy. Physical activity is known to be…
Magnesium Boosts Power of Vitamin D
by Matthew Kadey, MS, RD You may believe you’re getting ample vitamin D, but you won’t get the full benefit if your diet lacks magnesium. A study published in the Journal of the American Osteopathic Association found that vitamin D is not properly metabolized when magnesium levels are low. Thus, it remains largely inactive in the body,…
Why We Eat Too Much at Night
It’s 10 p.m., you’re catching up on email, and it suddenly hits you: a Goliath-sized craving for chocolate-chunk ice cream. Findings in the International Journal of Obesity show why the evening hours pose such a high risk for overeating and unhealthy munching. For the study, researchers from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine recruited 32 adults with…
Effective Strategies for High-Intensity Mental Training
Ours is a world wired for distraction. Online information and social media constantly compete for our attention, thwarting efforts to focus on a single goal. The results are scattered thoughts, shorter attention spans, and a rewiring of our brains, all of which prevent us from performing at our very best in whatever we do. For…
A Golden Gem For Brain Health
We are constantly stressed with deadlines and pressured to produce tasks faster and with more efficiency. In today’s workforce, our mental clarity plays a major role in delivering quality work. Practices to help think more clearly may include better sleep, control anxiety, and brain supplements. One such “brain supplement” with research bragging rights is curcumin,…