WebMD, a source of information for practicing physicians, posted an articleby Steven Reinberg on April 2, 2014 titled CDC Salt Guidelines Too Low for Good Health, Study Suggests. If WebMD had posted this on April 1, 2014, we might have thought that the article was an April Fool’s joke.The article is based upon a Danish study that found that too much or too little salt was dangerous to health. The review author Dr. Niels Graudal, a senior research consultant at Copenhagen University Hospital summarized the findings."For most people, there is no reason to change their dietary habits concerning salt, as most people eat what appears to be the safest amount."

WebMD, a source of information for practicing physicians, posted an articleby Steven Reinberg on April 2, 2014 titled CDC Salt Guidelines Too Low for Good Health, Study Suggests. If WebMD had posted this on April 1, 2014, we might have thought that the article was an April Fool’s joke

The article is based upon a Danish study that found that too much or too little salt was dangerous to health. The review author Dr. Niels Graudal, a senior research consultant at Copenhagen University Hospital summarized the findings.

"For most people, there is no reason to change their dietary habits concerning salt, as most people eat what appears to be the safest amount."

If you go to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) you will find the official 

government guidelines for salt in the article Most Americans Should Consume Less Sodium.

The CDC guidelines are 2,300 mg of sodium per day for most people, with 1,500 mg of sodium for those with heart disease, a prior family history of high blood pressure or over 50 years of age. African-Americans are identified as being at higher risk than the overall population for high blood pressure.

Gradual summarized the findings of the meta-study.

"Salt intake above 12,000 mg [milligrams] is associated with increased risk of

cardiovascular disease and mortality. The same effect is seen at the other end of the spectrum, when too little salt is taken in each day. The safest range is between 2,645 and 4,945 mg of salt a day.”

Janelle Gunn, a public health analyst in the CDC's division for heart disease and stroke prevention, had this to day about the new study.

"Nearly everyone benefits from reduced sodium consumption. Ninety percent of Americans exceed the general daily recommended sodium intake limit of 2,300 mg, increasing their risk for high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke."

The real source of the problem may be the way the study was done. This was another “meta-study” in which 25 prior studies were grouped together to arrive at this new conclusion. The specific parameters of the test groups are often inappropriately combined, and key knowledge is often lacking by the analyzers of the other peoples’ works.

Another recent meta-study concluded that the only fat that is linked to heart disease is trans fat, which is hydrogenated or partially-hydrogenated oils. This study suggested that you do not need to worry about total fat or saturated fat found in meat because their analysis indicated that of the data did not correlate total fat or saturated fat to increase heart disease or mortality.

Let’s take a look at what the Harvard Medical School has to say about fats with regard to heart disease.

“Detailed research shows that the total amount of fat in the diet isn’t really linked with weight or disease. What really matters is the type of fat and the total calories in the diet.

• Bad fats, meaning trans and saturated fats, increase the risk for certain diseases.
• Good fats, meaning monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, do just the opposite. They are good for the heart and most other parts of the body.”

The object of this article is to point out the clearly contradictory health information provided by “experts” with regard to major dietary guidelines.Common sense says that living on processed foods that are high in saturated fats and sodium is going to lead to high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease.

The statistics for the US confirm that people are increasingly obese, diabetic, suffering from high blood pressure and dying from heart disease and kidney failure. If you want to take the expert opinions over common sense and real disease statistics, feel free to get the bacon double cheeseburger with the giant soft drink and the large fries. Bon appetit.

5 Reasons Why You Can't Lose Weight

You're eating healthier and working out more. But why aren't you losing weight? Here are 5 possible reasons why this happens.

1. You're still eating too much

You have replaced your pizzas and nasi lemak with lots of fruits, yoghurt and nuts. But that doesn't mean you can eat as much as you want. Oranges and bananas are rich in vitamins, but they also tend to be high in sugar. Nuts are a great source of protein, but have a high fat and caloric content. In other words, the quantity of healthy food you consume is as important as the type of food you eat.

2. You don't vary your workout routine

If you keep doing the same exercise routine e.g. running for an hour every day, your body will hit a plateau over time and you stop making progress. To overcome this, challenge your body by changing your workouts routines.

3. You don't sleep enough

Lack of sleep has been linked to an increase in hunger and appetite, and possibly weight problems and obesity. Inadequate sleep also stimulates cravings for high-fat, high-carbohydrate and sugary foods. A 2004 study suggests that people who get less than 6 hours sleep a day were 30% more likely to become obese than those who slept for 7 to 9 hours.

4. You are perpetually stressed

Stress eating or emotional eating results in you eating high-calorie foods, even when you're not hungry, as a way to handle your daily stress. Find a healthier way to manage your stress e.g. dancing, gardening or going to the gym.

5.  You're gaining muscle

This is the best case scenario for weight gain. When you start exercising, your body composition will change to a higher muscle mass and lower body fat. Because muscle is denser than fat, it is therefore heavier, resulting in you gaining weight.

(Source: Not losing weight? by Fiona Ho, StarFit4Life, 9 February 2014)

So take a moment to reflect on what is the real reason stopping you from losing weight and address the problem. You will find that you are more successful in achieving your objective.

'Hungry Girl Diet' helps you lose 10 pounds in 4 weeks, says weight-loss expert

April 2, 2014

Weight-loss expert Lisa Lillien said you can lose weight without being hungry as long as you make smart food swaps, she told ABC News April 2.

“I’m all about swapping foods,” said Lillien, author of The Hungry Girl Diet. “It’s making better choices.”

Lisa, a best-selling author and "Food Network" star, said the key to shedding weight without deprivation is super-sizing portions of nutrient-dense foods.

For example, Lillien suggested using low-carb tofu shirataki noodles instead of regular pasta when making her Fettucine Hungry Girlfredo (see recipe below).

You can still eat a heaping plate of the chicken alfredo, but at half the calories. “You get a lot of bang for your calorie buck,” she said.

Dietitian Rachel Beller said following "The Hungry Girl Diet" is an effective way to lose weight. “This diet isn’t so much of an extreme measure,” said Beller, author of Eat to Lose, Eat to Win. “It addresses cravings."

Lillien, who oversees a multimillion-dollar empire of "Hungry Girl" cookbooks, recipes and TV shows, has successfully maintained her own 25-pound weight loss since 2001 by following her diet guidelines. She's happy that she has been able to help others embrace healthy eating.

"If I'm helping people turn boxes around and turn cans around and read labels and understand what it means and learn how to maintain a healthier weight, then I'm doing good work," said Lisa, 48.

Fettucine Hungry Girlfredo recipe from the Hungry Girl Diet:

• 1 package tofu shirataki fettuccine shaped tofu noodles
• 1/2 wedge Laughing Cow light cheese
• 1 teaspoon fat-free sour cream
• 2 teaspoons Kraft reduced fat parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper to taste.

Rinse fettuccine noodles very well. Microwave for one minute, then drain them and pat dry. Add cheeses and sour cream. Mix thoroughly. Microwave to help melt cheese further, and mix some more. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serves one (80 calories).

http://tinyurl.com/kbqjtxj

Dieting monkeys offer hope for long life

Extreme calorie counting boosts lifespan in monkeys, according to new research.

Until now, the rationale for following an ultra-low calorie diet to ward off ageing has been based on experiments in worms and mice.

Studies reported in Nature Communications found primates also benefited from the regime.

A nutritionist urged caution over severe calorie restriction in humans, saying more research was needed.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

Perhaps Benjamin Franklin was right when he said, 'To lengthen thy life lessen thy meals'”

Dr Emma WilliamsBritish Nutrition Foundation

Advocates of the Calorie Restriction (CR) diet claim that by severely restricting the number of calories they consume they will live longer, perhaps into their hundreds.

They cite a wealth of scientific evidence dating back more than 75 years.

Much of the research is based on experiments in animals such as mice and worms, with primate studies giving conflicting results.

Now, a US team has published new evidence showing CR also shows benefits in primates.

Less is more

"CR works to delay ageing in primate species," Dr Rozalyn Anderson of the department of medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told BBC News. "Our study data is consistent with that."

The study found CR boosted survival in a group of rhesus monkeys studied over the course of decades.

Monkeys lived longer when their daily food intake was reduced by a quarter

And she said conflicting findings, from a previous study at a different institute, might be due to flaws in the control group.

But she said CR was a research tool not a lifestyle recommendation.

"The concept is to delve into the biology of ageing and try to understand what's the basis for increased risk for diseases as you get older and with advanced age," she said.

"It would be very difficult to implement CR in a long term way in humans."

Caution advised

A US study is currently looking at whether healthy humans live longer on less food.

The participants restrict calories by 25% over several years, existing mainly on a diet of vegetables, fruits (especially apples), and soups.

Dr Emma Williams, a nutrition scientist at the British Nutrition Foundation, said caution was advised until results from human trials were available.

"Perhaps Benjamin Franklin was right when he said, 'To lengthen thy life lessen thy meals,'" she said.

"However, as this research was based on studies in primates more research is needed regarding the precise role of calorie restriction in human life expectancy before any definitive conclusions can be made."

http://tinyurl.com/q39fbws

Can extreme calorie counting make you live longer?

Bombarded with advertisements promising a longer, healthier life, the BBC's Los Angeles reporter Peter Bowes goes in search of eternal youth.

At 6ft 1in (1.85m), Martin Knight weighs 10st 4lb (65.77kg). Breakfast - the same every day - is a 170-calorie mixture of kale, shallots, sprouted oats, tomato paste and olive oil. He washes it down with green or white tea.

Knight follows a calorie-restricted diet.

He eats 10 small meals a day and survives on about 1,900 calories - more than most people who restrict their calorie intake. Each meal is weighed to ensure that his daily intake is accurate.

Adherents of this approach to health are known as Cronies - Calorie Restriction with Optimal Nutrition - and Dr Janet Tomiyama, a psychologist at the University of California, is studying them.

"The normal person needs around 2,000 calories (a day). So if you are talking about cutting 500 calories per day, every day for the rest of your life, that's a very tall order," she says.

"That's why this group is so fascinating because they've been able to do this, and they've been able to do it for over a decade."

Knight's breakfast may not appeal to everyone

Tomiyama says the group is mostly made up of older white men. They tend to be well-educated "connoisseurs of scientific literature".

They are mostly looking for good health and see a longer life, if it occurs, as a welcome by-product.

The results of Tomiyama's study, exploring the psychological impact on the participants, are expected to be published later this year.

Knight, 49, joined the study two years ago. He had followed a vegetarian or vegan diet for much of his adult life but in the past few years has restricted his intake of calories.

He works in the finance industry and lives in a sparsely furnished house in the coastal town of Santa Barbara, California.

He enjoys a slow, meditative existence, practising yoga, lifting weights and running in his spare time.

"It's second nature to me now, it doesn't seem difficult," he says. "It would be harder for me to live with unlimited calories, like I did before. I think I would be miserable."

It is perhaps just as well that he does not like ice cream. For a treat, he will occasionally have an avocado sandwich.

Knight says he follows his diet because it makes him happy.

"It makes you more alert. It fits in with a more healthy, slower-paced kind of lifestyle. It's very practical," he says.

"When you have a little bit of hunger in the background, you're more aware and more alive."

Experiments on mice have shown that eating significantly less food can extend lifespans, so long as the food is highly nutritious.

There is still no proof that restricting calories extends human life spans, however, and two recent studies with rhesus monkeys produced conflicting results.

But both studies reported the same beneficial effects on health - all the monkeys were much healthier and suffered from fewer diseases.

"If we were able to reduce... weight in the Western world by 15 to 20%, the incidence of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and obesity, would go down dramatically," says Dr Raphael de Cabo, the lead author of one of the studies.

"That undoubtedly would increase the mean life span of the human population."

Perhaps the final word should go to the man many credit with pioneering the idea of restricting food intake to extend life.

Dr Roy Walford, a professor of pathology at the UCLA School of Medicine, died in 2004 due to complications from Lou Gehrig's Disease, also known as Motor Neurone Disease. He was 79. For much of his life he was a passionate believer in the power of eating less.

He consumed a mere 1,600 calories a day and believed that a lifespan of 150 was possible for human beings.

Walford was one of the first scientists to demonstrate that mice on a limited diet could double their lifespan. When I met him in 1999, at his home in Santa Monica, he offered a pragmatic view of calorie restriction and its benefits.

It is a "choice you have to make", he told me.

"You're healthier during all that time, you need less sleep, you're intellectually stimulated, you're kind of wired, there's an increased sense of well-being and vitality.

"So if you want to trade all that to eat cake, then I say - go ahead and eat cake."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21125016

Why do we put weight back on?

I try to watch very little television, as (Un) Real (and Boring) House-wives of Melbourne and CSI Iowa consistently provide so little entertainment. Alas I do have a television, so I can't escape some shows and oh-so-many commercials.

The food commercials intrigue me. I raise my hands when Milo promotes a healthy morning, and Pizza Hut adds a cheeseburger to each slice of pizza crust. Huh? Currently, one is standing out above all – Jenny Craig sponsoring Magda Szubanski's weight loss (Part 2).

Jenny Craig is taking quite a risk, because in paying Magda $1.25 million for a sequel, two advertising messages from her new commercial smacked me squarely in the face:

a) "Whoops, that weight loss plan didn't work;" and/or,

b) "It's OK if you put the weight back on. Like Magda, it's OK to come back (and add to the Jenny Craig cash register again)."

Which brings this column to discuss a life and health message: Why do we put weight back on? So many folks lose it, then find it again. It's a struggle, and it's damaging to the body, because the body doesn't like change – it prefers long-term, healthy living.

Here are a few theories:

It's not fun losing weight

Take somebody that has a relationship with food and is overweight. Salt, sugar, and fat becomes a friend that hugs you, because mega-taste feels good. Take that friend away to lose weight and you're depriving yourself of what you love, of what makes you feel good. If weight loss is the result when you're not having fun, chances are the weight will pile back on when you're ready to get back to fun living and taste. You;ve got to find a way to make healthy recipes and healthy living into their own fun.

You didn't exercise

Diet companies love it when you fully rely on their food plan. And dieters love it when these diets say "no strenuous exercise required". I'm a firm believer in exercise as a weight loss tool, and equally important as a maintenance tool. When you hit your goal weight, it's fun to re-introduce some of the naughty food treats that won't touch the sides because you're toning and moving your body for the long-term. Ignore exercise, and watch the kilos slowly come back on.

Dieting didn't work

In American Psycho-logist 2007, UCLA reported results on dieting where individuals are likely to lose 5 to 10 per cent of their weight, then the majority gain it back plus more. Other studies even use dieting as a future predictor of weight gain. UCLA ultimately concluded dieting does not work in the long-term. So, if you're dieting? You're in trouble unless you're making lifestyle change permanent.

No lesson learned

To lose weight, if all you did was Dial-1800 and collected food at your doorstep each day, that does not equip you for a post-diet, healthy life. Did you learn to cook healthy breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks? Nope. You learned very little except how to microwave three square meals per day. Did you starve yourself, or drink chilli, lemon, and syrup potions to lose weight? Then you learned the wrong lessons. You are the CEO of your body; learn and lead it to a healthier lifestyle.

You reached a fake finish line

When goal weights get reached, you can't think "Yes, I did it … I'm finished!". Lifestyle change isn't about reaching a finish line. If you hit your goal weight, change your mindset and don't celebrate by re-introducing the old, naughty lifestyle. You didn't reach your destination, but rather a new, healthier, and happier starting line.

Did it for the money and the fame

Celebrities yo-yo because they did it for the money. They did for the contract, and they did it for the PR opportunities to connect with the public. But did they do it for their health and happiness? Only they know that answer.

You just don't want it badly enough

Maybe you don't mind the weight and prefer pizza, booze, and laziness. Rather than stepping up to the healthy challenge, you'd rather lay down and play Atari. That's a shame, yet that's the reality.

I've written before that "The mind is like a waterfall - start with your head, and only then can lifestyle change flow down to the rest of the body". I'm cheering for Magda and many more to find a happier, healthier lifestyle … not to star in more sequels than Rocky.

Ultimately, I don't care if Jenny Craig's strategy is financially lucrative – I'll let their marketing and strategy team sweat that one out. In the meantime, I hope Magda and the masses do their own sweating and swearing while losing some kilograms … for good.

Have you lost weight then put it back on? Why do you think that happened? What helps you keep it off for good?

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