How Now, Brown… Fat?

There are no short cuts to weight loss. In my experience, I still find that the most effective way to help people lose weight is with the combination of a healthier diet and exercise along with addressing underlying metabolic imbalances — such as insulin resistance, thyroid gland function and stress levels (because stress hormones impact both insulin resistance and thyroid hormones).

However, there have been recent discoveries, and much discussion¹ about the role that so-called brown fat may play in weight loss. Brown adipose tissue — brown fat — is common to many mammals.

Lose Weight with No Hunger

In traditional approaches to dieting, one of the tools that seems to improve weight loss is food journaling, writing down everything you eat. This method works because it helps control the mindless eating that people do — just popping something in your mouth even if you aren’t hungry. In fact, one study found that food journaling every day led to twice as much weight loss among dieters.¹

While food journaling may help control mindless eating, as a dietitian I have observed that it doesn’t help people who are just flat out hungry. Out of all the dieting side effects, I find there is nothing that will undo a diet faster than hunger!

Falling Off the Diet Bandwagon? Read This

A New York Times article this week confirmed my worst fears – stress is sending Americans to candy stores in droves.¹

While at first glance this little headline, “When Economy Sours, Tootsie Rolls Soothe Souls” seems amusing, from my perspective it unwittingly brings up two important issues in healthcare today:

Obesity – Is it Genes or Lifestyle?

Is obesity genetic, or is lifestyle is a bigger factor? Over thousands of years, human genetics haven’t changed much; yet over the past couple of decades there’s been an exponential increase in obesity and its related problems like metabolic syndrome, a group of risk factors that leads to heart disease and diabetes.¹ So, even though it may seem that some people are hard wired to be overweight, the sudden increase in obesity indicates that something more than genetics is playing out.

Weight Loss: Back to Basics

In past articles, I have written about high-intensity interval training and its benefits in prolonging the after-burn effect. This is the ability of the body to increase metabolic disturbances hours after your workout sessions. But in this article, I want to take a step back and make exercise recommendations for people that are overweight and can’t handle the stress and anaerobic activity volume that comes with high-intensity metabolic training programs.

Exercise is crucial for long-term healthy weight loss. Regular cardiovascular workouts such as running, walking, and stair climbing burn calories, increase circulation, improve heart health, and increase endurance. Getting even a modest amount of exercise — the equivalent of walking 30 to 45 minutes — prevents weight gain and promotes positive changes in body composition.

Vibration Plates for Fat Loss?

Some of you may have heard of a new piece of equipment that is popping up in gyms and fitness centers across the US…Whole body vibrational plates are devices that you stand on and as the name suggests, they vibrate in three different planes of motion. These devices are reported to lower the percentage of body fat while increasing muscle mass and bone density.

Normally, I wouldn’t give anything with such big claims a second look. You know the old “if it sounds too good to be true it probably is,” saying. However, the studies on vibration plates look promising.

Trick #4 to Boost Your Metabolism: Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate

Who would have thought that something as easy as drinking enough water would help you lose weight? Well, it’s true. Studies show that adequate hydration levels will increase muscular endurance which has a direct impact on higher metabolism. As described in previous articles, metabolism is the rate at which energy is created and expended.

Scott et al.1 discovered that under-hydration negatively affects phosphor-creatine production in endurance exercise. This means that less energy is available for use. If lower hydration levels affect this critical chemical in energy production, metabolism in turn will be negatively affected.

Two Simple Diet Changes for a Slimmer Healthier You

How many different diets have you tried? Did you buy cookbooks and try recipes, attempting to make major changes in the way you eat? Well, there are millions like you.

I advise people to think about making just two changes in their diets — eliminate refined sugars and eat more vegetables. Of course other things matter, like not eating trans-fats. But these two simple changes alone can go a long way to improve your ability to manage your weight and reduce your risk of disease.1

A New Look at FAT- Because it Doesn’t “Just Sit There”

The discovery of “leptin” in 1994 created an explosion of interest in the “biology of white adipose tissue” — otherwise known as FAT. You probably remember those photos of seriously obese mice sitting next to their slender littermates — and the only difference between them was that the thin ones had been given this magic substance called leptin?

Major pharmaceutical companies embarked on a flurry of research, trying to discover the next “Blockbuster Drug for Weight Control,” and hoped to make a killing selling expensive drugs to desperate people.