Back Clinic Intermittent Fasting. For most individuals, fasting all day and then having a good evening meal is the best strategy for a fast day. A small calorie allowance on fast times is 500-600 calories. A single 500 calorie meal can be very substantial, but you may be able to possess mini-meals if you try to spread the calories more than dinner, lunch, and breakfast. However, most men and women find that eating just a small amount only cures the hunger pangs for a brief time and actually makes them hungrier for the rest of the day. Therefore it is generally best to avoid snacking on fast days and spare your calories until you can have a full healthy meal.
In addition to being easier for many people, Intermittent fasting is also more effective for weight loss, as you will have fasted for longer. A survey inquired into the factors that influence weight loss on the 5:2 diet has proven this. The analysis of our survey questionnaire discovered that fasting for over 20 hours on a fast day led to a greater weight loss than fasting for less than 16 hours. There are lots of possible scientific explanations for why this could be. El Paso Chiropractor Dr. Alex Jimenez explains and gives insight into this way of eating that has been around since the dawn of time.
Proponents of intermittent fasting contend that this popular way to lose weight is better than conventional dieting. But this type of diet isn’t necessarily best for everyone, a top expert says.
“Fasting is currently one of the newest diet fads and, while there are studies showing benefits, there are also potential downsides,” Dr. Kent Holtorf tells Newsmax Health.
A recent University of Illinois at Chicago study finds intermittent, or alternate-day fasting, was equal in results to calorie counting when it came to weight loss, along with keeping off the excess pounds.
The study, which followed 100 obese people for a year, found that those who engaged in intermittent fasting lost 6 percent of their body weight, while those who ate a calorie-restricted diet lost 5.3 percent, not a statistically significant difference, the researchers say in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Holtorf is the Los Angeles-based medical director of the Holtorf Medical Group and a founder and director of the nonprofit National Academy of Hypothyroidism. He also has appeared as a medical expert on several TV shows, including “The Today Show,” “Good Morning America,” and “ABC News.”
Here are excerpts from his recent interview with Newsmax Health.
Q: What exactly is intermittent fasting?
A: The idea is to intermittently significantly reduce calories in a strategic way to reduce overall caloric intake instead of eating less per day. One common method is called the 5:2 diet, which involves significant caloric restriction two non-consecutive days per week while eating normally the other five days.
Q: How did this type of diet catch on?
A: Several studies were published showing that severe periodic calorie reduction had been shown to have many benefits including changing gene expression and stimulating cell repair, reducing the risk of Type 2 diabetes, improving cholesterol, lowering the risk of cholesterol levels, reducing heart disease and cancer risk and even extending lifespan.
Q: What do you think of intermittent fasting for weight loss?
A: There is a large amount of research supporting the safety and efficacy of intermittent fasting. If an individual fasts for a designated period of time, weight loss is to be expected as caloric intake has been reduced; however, research finds fasting offers long-term benefits including reduction of inflammation and improvement in mood. For example, a randomized, clinical trial of 71 people who followed intermittent fasting for three months lost an average of 5.7 pounds while the weight of the control group, which didn’t alter their eating habits, lost no weight. Those in the fasting group saw a reduction in blood pressure, body fat, and waist size.
Q: What effect does intermittent fasting have on mood?
A: Going without food for 10-16 hours causes the body to release fatty acids known as ketones. According to Mark Mattson, a senior investigator for the National Institute of Aging, who has done extensive investigation on the health benefits of intermittent fasting, ketones have been shown to protect memory and learning function as well as slow disease processes in the brain. Ketones are also shown to boost the body’s formation of particular stress reducing neurotransmitters, such as serotonin and GABA, which helps you stay calm under stress and have fewer cravings.
Q: What are the drawbacks of using this type of diet for weight loss?
A: While it can be a way to jumpstart weight loss and have health benefits, studies also show that it can permanently reduce metabolism (calories burned per day). The metabolism may not go back to normal when normal eating is resumed unless steps are taken to prevent or reverse the drop in metabolism. Thus, fasting or so-called “yo-yo dieting” can contribute to long-term weight gain, wiping out the short-term health benefits of fasting.
Q: Are there any groups for which this may be a particular problem?
A: This is shown to be more of an issue for women because women’s bodies appear to perceive fasting as more of a threat of starvation and respond by lowering metabolism to survive the perceived famine. This is especially true if a woman has any signs of low thyroid, including low body temperature, depression, cold intolerance, PMS, cold extremities or suffers with fatigue.
Q: So is there any one best diet out there for everyone?
A: Studies show that most diets are successful short-term but most suffer from equal long-term failure. But thyroid evaluation and optimization, if low, can increase the likelihood of successful weight loss whether via fasting or other diet plan.
Conventional knowledge wants us to believe that athletes must eat a high carb diet in order to function at optimum levels. While many people believe this, nothing could be further from the truth. Ben Greenfield conducted extensive tests on himself to prove that it is possible to be a fat burning athlete, and that being a high carb athlete should be a thing of the past.
Ben�s analysis was very detailed and impressive: he had blood work, biopsies, urine and stool samples taken before the study began. He then walked on the treadmill for three hours and retook the blood work, biopsies the urine, and the stool samples, then analyzed the data. The study was called The Faster Study, and the data is available via PDF for those interested in looking at his findings and Ben�s write-up on the experience can be found here.
The Faster Study
When I asked Ben why he did the study, he said it was for his own selfish reasons. He said he was training for an Ironman triathlon at the time and wanted to go faster or at least maintain his speed for longer periods without experiencing the deleterious effects that chronically elevated blood sugar�can cause. He also wanted to avoid the potentially unsettling effects that carbohydrates fermenting in your gut can cause.
Ben also had another incentive: he was diagnosed as having a 17% higher than normal risk for Type 2 diabetes. As a result, he needed to figure out a way to complete an Ironman triathlon without going the traditional route of fueling with gels, bars, and energy drinks.
I can attest that his theory works because I tried it myself: while on an 18 hour intermittent fast, I went on a 3 hour bike ride. By the time I got home, it was 22 or 23 hours before I�d eaten one bite of food, and to everyone�s surprise, I didn�t bonk. Everyone on the ride that day was a seasoned athlete and eating constantly. I was the only one not eating, yet had plenty of energy, even after 20 hours without food. Ben proved that in a laboratory and I successfully tested his hypothesis in a real life situation.
The Faster Diet
In preparation for his experiment, Ben followed a diet of 80 to 90% fat and 5 to 10% carbohydrates. His protein intake would vary depending on the day�s activities. For example, protein intake would be approximately 20% on days he�d run or do weight training. On average, the majority of his diet was fat based. He jokingly said he was banned from Italian restaurants during this time.
While on his high fat/low carb diet, Ben did two ironman triathlons that year (Ironman Canada and Ironman Hawaii.) He stresses that that a low carbohydrate diet does not mean a zero carbohydrate diet. Using Ironman triathlon as an example, participants may be out competing for ten or more hours. When passing someone the on the bike, a person may go from their normal race pace of 250 watts up to 400 watts for a few moments. This surge of energy being exerted can cause a pretty significant glycolytic shift, resulting in the body needing to burn through a high amount of carbohydrates.
Ben took in about a quarter of the amount of carbohydrates that he�d normally consume during the actual event, along with ample amounts of easy to digest proteins, amino acids, easy to digest fats, and medium chain triglycerides. After his triathlon season was completed, Ben added exogenous ketones�to his diet in powder form to increase ketone levels. Ben admitted that he finds the ketones extremely beneficial and says he wish he�d known about them while training for previous triathlons. Personally, I have experimented with exogenous ketones in my own fat burning regime, after learning more about how they work during my interview with Dominic D�Agostino (watch the interview here.)
Study Findings
During that triathlon season, Ben conducted quite a few studies, with a few standing out in particular. In this test, a microbiome analysis was conducted to see how the gut differs between someone who follows a high-carbohydrate diet and someone who follows a high-fat diet.
Fat biopsies were taken both before and after exercise to see to see if his actual fat tissue make-up was any different. Tests were also conducted to see if there was any difference in the ability of his muscles to store carbohydrate and how quickly the muscle would burn through carbohydrates. A resting metabolic test was conducted, which is an analysis of how much fat and carbohydrate is burned at rest. And another measurement was taken to determine how many carbohydrates, fats, and calories are burned during exercise.
What makes these tests interesting is even though most physiology textbooks claim that the average person will burn about 1.0 grams of fat per minute during exercise, the athletes who followed a ketogenic or low-carbohydrate diet for close to 12 month were experiencing fat oxidation values of closer to 1.5 to 1.8 grams of fat per minute. This is significantly higher than what experts expected.
Initially, there was some confusion pertaining to this study because it was called � The Faster Study.� Critics would say Ben wasn�t going any faster on the high fat/low carb diet than those on the high carb diet. What they neglected to understand was the purpose of the study wasn�t to go faster than those on high carb diets. Instead, the goal was to maintain similar speeds while limiting (and possibly eliminating) the chronic fluctuations and elevations of blood sugar.
Ben�s thought process behind the study was simple: If he could go just as fast by eliminating sugars, why not do it? If he slowed down or felt his energy levels being depleted, he�d be forced to ask himself the following questions as an endurance athlete:
What kind of balance did he want between health and performance?
How many years of his life was he willing to sacrifice in exchange for going just a little bit faster?
How much pressure was he willing to put on his joints?
As it turns out, Ben could go just as fast on a carbohydrate-limited diet.
Go Just as Fast, Live Longer
While people are focused on getting faster, the ultimate goal should be to go just as fast and live longer doing it. Unfortunately, many high-carb athletes have a wide assortment of health problems, which can range from joint problems to life threatening emergencies such as heart attacks. Many of them are dying prematurely and don�t realize a contributing factor to their ailments is the high carb diet they had been following for years. Ironically, many athletes are thin but show evidence of degenerative disease indicating years of inflammation and oxidative stress�caused by repeated glucose and insulin spikes. We know this damage is oxidative, is harmful to the cells, and causes premature aging.
There are many studies with research illustrating how endurance sports increase oxidation and aging, but I believe as more research is done this belief will change. Studies by Ben and others show that a fat-adapted endurance athlete does not have the same levels of oxidative stress as high carb endurance athletes. At age 50, I have 8% body fat and can exercise for hours without ingesting carbohydrates because, like Ben, I�m very efficient at fat burning.
I firmly believe Ben�s study proves that people who are efficient at fat burning can burn well over one gram of fat per minute of exercise, whereas before it was believed one gram (or less) was a more realistic number. It should be noted that in order to burn that much fat, a person has to be fat adapted. It�s impossible to accomplish this level of fat burning on a high-carbohydrate diet (read more on how to get fat-adapted here: Part 1 and Part 2.)
Fat Adaption: A trick to Accelerate the Process
Becoming an efficient fat burner takes time. Many of the athletes that Ben coaches have been on a high fat diet for twelve months or more. While the greatest benefits aren�t felt for several months, a person can experience lower blood sugar levels and less oxidation within a few short weeks of starting a high fat diet. However, in order to achieve the mitochondrial density necessary for producing a lot of ATP on a high-fat diet while exercising, a person will need to follow a high-fat diet for at least a year.
It can take anywhere from 6 months to 2 years for a person to become fully efficient at burning fat. While some may balk at how long it can take, it�s not long when compared to the time it may take to become proficient in a sport, learning to play a musical instrument, or getting a college degree.
Adjusting to a high fat diet takes time and patience. To accelerate the process, one can choose to eat within a compressed time window, a strategy known as intermittent fasting. Intermittent fasts can range from 14-24 hours with just liquids being consumed. Intermittent fasting can be a challenge for beginners as the body begins to adapt, but becomes easier with each subsequent fast. I intermittent fast daily and must say it�s been the great contributor to my overall cellular health.
Some side effects beginners may experience while intermittent fasting the first few times may include the following
Fatigue
Nausea
Vomiting
Diarrhea
Headaches
Lack of focus
Bad breath
Lethargy
Joint pain
Minor depression
These side effects are normal as the body eliminates various toxins. Drinking pure water�helps to alleviate some side effects and quickly remove them from the body via urination. Staying focused on the long term is key when embarking on these changes.
Occasionally, I will receive emails from my clients or the doctors of my clients, telling me they are keto-adapted, but they�re not burning fat, they don�t notice any significant changes in their bodies, and they haven�t lost any weight. I explain how this is normal, and the body has to adjust. It takes time for the body to realize it is not starving and that it can begin to burn its own fat for energy. Using my wife as an example, it was almost a year before she was able to use her fat storage for energy. Now, she�s an efficient fat burner and finds it much easier to stay lean.
Not All Fat is the Same
An important aspect of being efficient at fat burning is the type of high fat diet you follow. A plant-rich, ketogenic diet not only limits oxidation and free radical production, but it also causes an increase in stable energy sources due to high fiber content. Having high levels of plant-based chlorophylls in the bloodstream also has the potential to increase ATP production beyond what we fully understand in nutrition science.
Ben encounters many people who follow the Bulletproof Coffee type of approach:
Three cups of coffee with grass-fed butter and MCT oil during the day
Coconut milk with some coconut flakes and some chocolate stevia
Fatty grass-fed steak for dinner
Macadamia nuts for a snack
The problem with this type of diet is there�s very little plant matter eaten, and plants are an integral part of a healthy high fat diet.
Ben Greenfield�s Diet
Ben eats an astonishing 20 to 25 servings of plants per day. He has an enormous backyard garden and eats kale, butter lettuce, bok choy, mustard greens, cilantro, parsley, and tomatoes daily. He says these foods do not count towards his total daily carbohydrate intake, and that eating a high-fat diet does not mean that you�re not eating plants. It�s the opposite. �I eat a lot of plants, a lot of fiber, and it makes a night-and-day difference.�
In order to get 20-25 servings Ben eats huge salads and drinks nutrient dense smoothies. He�ll drink one or two large smoothies a day, using a powerful blender that blends everything from the pit of an avocado to an entire bunch of kale. A sample smoothie includes the following ingredients:
Six to eight different plants (both wild plants and herbs)
Lunch. Lunch is a salad in an enormous bowl filled exclusively with vegetables. Ben will spend 30 to 60 minutes chewing each bite 20 to 25 times and �eating lunch like a cow while I go through emails and things like that during lunch.�
Dinner. Another big salad.
Snack. Snacks are normally smaller versions of the smoothie�he had for breakfast.
He stresses that his salads are extremely large and he prefers thicker smoothies: �If you were to see the size of my salads and the size of my smoothies, you would be shocked. You�d think I would be morbidly obese, but if you dig in and you look at it, it�s really just mostly plant volume. That�s generally what I do, salads and smoothies. I make them so thick I need to eat them with a spoon because I really like to chew my food. Yeah, I�m a smoothie and a salad guy.�
He goes on to say �When I look over the blood and bile markers of people following a high-fat diet, a lot of times I see really high triglycerides and really low HDL, which is often what you�ll see in someone who is eating a ton of animal fats without many plants or without much fiber. I�ll see a lot of CO2 and really low chloride levels, an indicator of a net acidic state, and a lot of biomarkers that aren�t necessarily favorable and that can be a result of a high-fat diet done improperly. I think that�s one important thing to bear in mind, too, is that you don�t want to necessarily eschew plant intake and vegetable intake; you just want to ensure that those are accompanied primarily by healthy fats and oils rather than accompanied by high amounts of protein and starches.�
When it comes to good fats, Ben prefers the following:
Animal fats are eaten sparingly. He�ll eat a grass-fed steak and wild fish a couple of times a week. He also likes pemmican, which comes in a tube that he can snack on while flying or if he needs a quick snack on the go.
When Ben was a bodybuilder, he would aim for 200 grams of protein per day but now only consumes between 100 to 120 grams. Currently, he weighs about 180 pounds and consumes between 0.5 and .8 grams of protein per pound of body weight. He feels this is the amount is sufficient to avoid any loss of muscle.
Ben says he has excellent colonic health. Since he started the high fat diet four years ago, he doesn�t have the fermentation, gas, bloating, or constant gas that many endurance athletes have. He also believes the high fat diet offers a lower risk for things like small intestine bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) and fermentation in the gut.
Diet Variation
In addition to eating a variety of plant based foods, an important eating concept that I have written about is something I like to call �diet variation,� which is basically emulating what our ancestors have done: They were forced into different diet variations seasonally, and in some instances, weekly.
When we look at the Hunza people as an example, they were relying mostly on plant food in the summers to survive. During the cold winter months, vegetables and fruits were scarce or nonexistent, and as a result, they were forced to eat higher-fat foods (meats and animal fats). Over time we can see a pattern: there would be long stretches where their diet consisted mostly of vegetables (summer,) then extended periods of time where their diet was mainly meat products (winter.) This type of seasonal eating created a variation in their diet they had little control over. Today, we have the ability to vary our diet at all times, which can work for us and against us.
I go into ketosis every summer and eat more good fats and protein than I do in the winter, when I eat more healthy carbs. Like Ben, I�m very fat adapted, yet still able to stay in ketosis while eating a lot of plants in my diet. I intermittent fast in the morning and by the afternoon I�m burning high ketones.
One of the popular diet trends these days is the Paleo Diet, where a person is instructed to eat large amounts of protein. Quite frankly, I am not a fan of this diet. I have read many studies on high-protein diets and feel they are not healthy. Eating too much protein can cause weight gain, extra body fat, increased stress on the kidneys, dehydration and other health issues.
If you include the dangers of eating grain fed beef instead of the healthier grass fed beef, we can clearly see how the Paleo Diet could be a recipe for disaster. I tell people as a general rule, eating protein that is equivalent to half your body weight (considering that you�re not morbidly obese) is usually safe and practical. Athletes like Ben (and those who do a lot of strenuous physical exercise) can consume more protein than the average person and utilize it safely. These individuals may require 0.7 to 0.8 grams of protein per day, while the average person only needs .55 grams per day.
Fasting
Ben goes on a 24 hour fast once a month, just to �clean things out a little bit.� He will start the fast Saturday at lunchtime end it at lunchtime on Sunday. Or, he�ll skip dinner on Saturday night and won�t eat again until dinner on Sunday. He�ll drink water, coffee�and tea primarily during the fast, and kombucha on occasion. He also goes on a 12-16-hour intermittent fast daily. The majority of the fast is overnight where he�ll finish dinner around 7:00 or 8:00 p.m. and eat breakfast sometime 9 and 10:30 a.m. During the daily fast, Ben will perform a few low-level exercises in the morning: yoga, foam rolling, or mobility work are exercises of choice.
In addition to daily intermittent fasting, Ben believes a likely factor that helps him to stay lean and maintain a low body fat percentage is taking cold showers. He likes to do one of the following daily:
Fast, perform a low intensity exercises then take cold shower or�
Fast, sit in a sauna for a few minutes, followed immediately with a cold shower.
Ben�s Exercise Regimen
Ben is active all day, but in an unconventional way:
�I generally am active all day long. Today, while I�m writing, doing consults, and reading emails, I�ll walk somewhere in the range of three to five miles at a low intensity like I am right now. When I get up in the morning, I�ll generally spend 20 to 30 minutes doing some deep-tissue work and some mobility work, some foam roller, and some band work for traction on my joints. By the time I get to the end of the day, I�ve been mildly physically active for six to eight hours at just very low-level intensity.
�At the end of the day, I�ll throw in 30 to 60 minutes of a hard workout. That might be a tennis match. It might be kickboxing or jujitsu. It might be some kind of an obstacle course workout with sandbags, and kettlebells, and things like that. It might be a swim. It varies quite a bit, but generally it�s 30 to 60 minutes of something hard in the afternoon to the early evening, then up until that point, low-level physical activity all day long. It�s just tough to quantify because I�m always moving. As far as a formal workout, it comes out to about 30 to 60 minutes a day. We�re talking about a workout where the average heart rate is very close to maximum heart rate, so like a puke-fest style workout. That�s pretty draining from an energy standpoint. Generally, for me to do daily�exceeding 16-hour fasts daily�that gets tough.�
What�s Next For Ben?
Ben is an outdoorsman and wants to experiment with living on the land:
�I�d like to look into more of an ancestral application, a more practical application. I would like to look a little bit more into persistence hunting, something closer to where I live where I�d be going after elk or moose or something like that, preferably in the snow where tracking is a little bit easier, but seeing if it�s doable.
�A five to eight day hunt is realistically what you�re looking at with a bow, or with a spear, or with a close-range weapon, and seeing if it�s possible to actually go and get your own food in the absence of food, just to begin to get people thinking about the state that we live in, the culture that we live in where food is just constantly readily available. What would happen if we didn�t have food but we had to figure out a way to feed ourselves?�
Ben also shares the outdoor life with his children: One day week in the summers, they can only eat the plants they find outside in the garden until dinner. As part of their childhood, he wants them to learn how to take care of themselves. They can use the stove and the blender, stuff like that, but they can�t use ingredients from the pantry, or from the refrigerator. It�s all based on plants.
While many people may think this way of thinking and living is extreme, Ben believes more people can benefit from it if they stay open minded and give it a try:
�I would like to get people more aware of that type of practice because it really goes quite handily with the things that we�ve talked about�fasting and ketosis, and denial of modern food sources and starches and instead just learning how to take care of yourself. I think that there�s a lot of lessons to be had from a health and survival standpoint, and so plant foraging, spreading our message, as well as the potential of seeing the persistence hunting in the absence of any significant sources of calories, to be able to take what allows one to, say, do an Ironman Triathlon with very little calorie intake and then turn that into a more practical level like going out and getting your own meat and stuff. Again, without carrying a bunch of power-bars out with you, I think that�d be a cool little adventure to embark upon.�
A Life of Fitness
Ben believes fitness is a lifestyle, and everyone can incorporate fitness into their daily activities:
If you work in a traditional office setting, put a kettlebell underneath your desk.
Get one of these stools that you lean back on rather than sitting down.
Every time that you go to the bathroom have a rule that you�ve got to do 50 air squats.
�Start to work in those little things throughout the day. You�d be surprise at how fit you can stay and how prepared you can be for a big event without necessarily neglecting your family, your friends, hobbies, or work.�
Ben Greenfield is an inspiration. His research on high fat diets is sure to revolutionize the way athletes view diet and endurance exercise as a whole.
El Paso, TX. Chiropractor Dr. Alex Jimenez examines working out on an empty stomach.
For a thing that should be simple, working out doesn�t consistently feel that way. There�s choosing the best fat-burning workout. There�s that pesky question of whether diet or exercise is essential for fat loss. And there�s a new one to throw into the mix: whether working out on an empty stomach can help you shed weight faster.
Bodybuilders swear by it while many people religiously enjoy their pre -workout protein shake. What exactly gives? Should you hitting the gym on an empty stomach and be forgoing food in the event you want to lose pounds?
Regrettably, like so much fitness guidance, this falls into the grey, �it depends� place. Let�s inquire.
Work Out On an Empty Stomach?
The theory behind exercising having an empty tummy is that when you squeeze before breakfast, your body burns fat faster.
See, what occurs is that glycogen, a type of carbohydrate which our bodies shop, � runs out� overnight. When you wake up and hit the gym first thing in the morning, because your body is low on carbs, the notion is the body will really turn to fats next to obtain energy. (1)
Things do get tricky because if the body is completely from glycogen � you had an early dinner, got the full nighttime�s remainder and perhaps snoozed an extra hour or two � the body might bypass fat burning and head directly to muscle shops instead, chipping away at body definition.
�
Advantages of Working Out On an Empty Stomach
So what does the science say the huge benefits before working out to missing breakfast?
1. Burn Fat Quicker. One study followed 12 active males after breakfast who ran on the treadmill either or while they were still fasting from the night time before. (2) The men who hadn�t broken their fast, i.e. hadn�t had breakfast, burned up to 20 percent more body fat during the same work outs.
What�s especially fascinating is that the guys who jumped breakfast didn�t overeat after or attempt to otherwise make � for the early AM calories up they missed out on. So obtaining a head start on your fitness regimen pre-breakfast can help you lose more fat without making you sneak in extra calories later.
2. Improve Performance. There�s evidence that exercising when your carb levels are low, like when you�re on an empty stomach, actually helps improve functionality during �normal� workouts. The concept behind �train low, compete � that is high is that working out in a glycogen- low state helps the body become more efficient at burning off fat so at times when carb levels are quite high, the body is primed and raring to go. (3)
3. Time-Restricted Eating Can Help In Losing Weight. Work Out out on an empty stomach ties into the thought of time-limited eating. On this diet program, it is possible to eat as much as you want of anything you desire. The only caveat is that you just eat strictly between certain hours, with 12�16 hours of time where you don�t eat anything.
The notion is that when our bodies understand just when we�re going to be eating, our hormones react by burning fat and supporting weight reduction during the food-free hours. Scheduling workouts during fasting hours could encourage the body to burn more fat, particularly when you�re exercising first thing in the morning.
4. Improve Body’s Response To Insulin. When we eat, our bodies release insulin to consume all of the nutrients in the foods we�re enjoying. However, as soon as we�re eating way too many carbohydrates and sugar, our bodies become resistant to insulin � it�s unable to do its job at the same time.
All that insulin can bring in regards to an assortment of chronic illnesses and builds up. Among many health benefits of fasting, however, is reducing that susceptibility to insulin. Without continuous food, insulin isn�t so our bodies don�t become immune to the hormone, created often.
5. Inspiration To Work Out More.�Let�s confront it � we�re all super active. By working out each morning before stopping to make breakfast, having that cup of coffee or whatever it’s that might derail you in the mornings, you can get your calorie burning out of the way with no distractions that happen after.
In the event you have to be out of your house by 8 a.m., it�s a lot easier to hit the gym before eating as opposed to sitting down for breakfast, waiting to digest and then working out.
When It�s Not Wise To Work Out Without Any Food On Board
But working out on an empty stomach might not be the finest idea for everybody. For each study that says burning fat occurs more easily when you exercise before eating, there�s another one that says the opposite. An International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism study found that a pre-workout snack or light meal actually helps burn body fat. (4)
Plus study found no difference in weight reduction between women who ate a meal-replacement shake before exercising without eating and those that got directly in their workouts. (5)
Another problem is that without any fuel in your belly, you may well not be working out as hard as you could. A pre-workout snack that�s a mix of carbs, protein and healthy fats can give you the energy you need to push yourself harder.
That extra fire might be just things you must finish high-intensity interval workouts like Crossfit or Tabata, which actually help you burn off more calories in a briefer amount of time. These are intense work outs where you�re likely to need to max out your energy.
And when you�re training for endurance sports like long-distance racing or a triathlon, working out on an empty stomach might work for short distances, but you definitely wish to consume before longer work outs � depending on how much you�re going, you might even need to refuel during training.
Finally, if you�re someone who psychologically has to realize which you aren�t going to burn out mid way because you�ve eaten through exercising, it�s not a great day to work out on an empty stomach. Same goes for people who are diabetic or experience low blood sugar. Eating a small bite will make sure that you remain safe throughout your workout.
Final�Thoughts
I wish I possibly could tell you that working out on an empty stomach will cause results that are better. But because numerous variables are at play � how fit you are, what type of exercise you�re doing and the way you workout best � it�s impossible.
What is vital is that you just remain hydrated before, during and following your workout. Drinking enough water will keep up energy levels. Drinking enough H2O can also keep pounds from increasing because thirst is, in addition, mistaken for hunger.
Maybe more notably than whether you eat before a workout is what you�re having later. A mix of protein and healthy carbs can help muscle tissue recover. Drinking a post-workout recovery shake or eating eggs with veggies in the first 45 minutes after exercise while your blood is circulating well is ideal. Take a look at my list of 43 greatest post-workout meals for quicker results � you�re certain to find something you�ll adore.
Eventually, whether you�re working out on an empty stomach or not, kudos to you for getting out there and taking control of your quality of life. Keep up the work outs!
People who want a healthy heart should be mindful of not only what they eat, but when they eat, according to a new scientific statement from the American Heart Association (AHA).
The report is a response to the growing evidence that timing matters when it comes to heart disease risk, said Marie-Pierre St-Onge, the lead author of the statement. The various organs of the body have their own “clocks,” St-Onge explained, and that may affect how we handle food at different times of the day and night.
“For example, later in the evening, it’s harder for the body to process glucose [sugar], compared with earlier in the day,” said St-Onge, an associate professor of nutritional medicine at Columbia University in New York City.
The new statement highlights what’s known — and what’s not — about meal timing and heart health. The statement lacks specific rules, such as “Never eat after 8 p.m.,” or “Everyone should eat breakfast.”
It does, however, suggest that people spread out their calories over a “defined” period of the day — as opposed to either eating a lot over a short period, or grazing from morning until night. Based on the evidence, the AHA says, it’s probably a good idea to get a large share of your calories earlier in the day.
“A long fasting duration at night is better than a long fast during the day,” St-Onge said.
But there’s no declaration that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
The evidence, St-Onge said, is just not clear enough to make specific recommendations on breakfast.
A number of studies have found that breakfast eaters are generally healthier than breakfast skippers: They tend to weigh less, have better blood pressure and cholesterol numbers, and have lower risks of type 2 diabetes and heart disease, according to the AHA.
The problem is, those studies don’t prove that breakfast deserves the credit. And few trials have actually tested the effects of “assigning” people to eat breakfast, the AHA says.
Based on what studies have been done, adding breakfast doesn’t seem to aid weight loss, the report said. Of course, if breakfast skippers simply add an extra meal to their day, they’ll gain weight, St-Onge pointed out. A few small trials have, however, suggested that breakfast can help regulate blood sugar and insulin levels, according to the AHA.
Sonya Angelone is a registered dietitian and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. And she was clear in her support of eating breakfast.
“I think it’s very important to eat breakfast every day,” Angelone said.
Just as important, she said, is to hydrate after a long liquid-free night. Coffee does “count,” she noted, but a glass of water is better. According to Angelone, breakfast is critical because it’s hard to get all the nutrients you need in just two meals a day — even if you snack.
That raises another question: Should people eat “three square meals,” or is it better to stick with small, but more-frequent meals?
That’s not clear, according to the AHA.
Studies that track people in the real world have found that those who eat more often during the day have a lower risk of obesity and better cholesterol levels. On the other hand, the AHA says, small trials that have tested the effects of altering meal frequency have mostly come up empty. When daily calories are kept constant, meal frequency may not affect people’s weight, levels of “good” HDL cholesterol or other factors that affect heart health.
Of course, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to eating, St-Onge said.
Some people, she noted, do well with “grazing” throughout the day — as long as the food choices are healthy, and they do not keep grazing until midnight.
“If you’re someone with good control over your diet, maybe grazing is a good idea,” St-Onge said. “But if it’s difficult for you to stop eating once you start, it’s probably not a good idea.”
According to Angelone, frequent eating may not be wise for people with resistance to insulin — the hormone that regulates blood sugar. Insulin resistance is seen in people with type 2 diabetes or “pre-diabetes.” If those people eat often, Angelone explained, their insulin levels may never have a chance to drop. In general, St-Onge said, “mindfulness” is critical. Often, people eat not because they’re hungry, but to deal with emotions, she said.
“Ask yourself why you’re eating,” St-Onge said. “Is it because you’re stressed or sad or bored? Ask yourself whether you’re really hungry right now.”
The statement was published online Jan. 30 in the AHA journal Circulation.
SOURCES: Marie-Pierre St-Onge, Ph.D., associate professor, nutritional medicine, Columbia University, New York City; Sonya Angelone, M.S., R.D.N., spokesperson, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Chicago; Jan. 30, 2017, Circulation, online
For more information, please feel free to ask Dr. Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900 .
Additional Topics: Weight Loss Eases Back Pain
Back pain and symptoms of sciatica can affect a majority of the population throughout their lifetime. Research studies have demonstrated that people who are overweight or obese experience more back complications than people with a healthy weight. A proper nutrition along with regular physical fitness can help with weight loss as well as help maintain a healthy weight to eliminate symptoms of back pain and sciatica. Chiropractic care is also another natural form of treatment which treats back pain and sciatica utilizing manual spinal adjustments and manipulations.
A research study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in September 2015 demonstrated that nearly 50 percent of adults in the United States may have pre-diabetes or diabetes.
Approximately 9 out of 10 people may have undiagnosed pre-diabetes while 1 out of every 4 people may have undiagnosed diabetes. Statistics from the Center for Disease Control also revealed that about 30 percent of all individuals with pre-diabetes will develop type 2 diabetes within 5 years.
While these statistics have become dangerously alarming in the United States, the increasing issue of pre-diabetes and diabetes cases in adults has been growing throughout the world. Over the last decade, for instance, Great Britain has seen a drastic rise in both pre-diabetes and diabetes cases as well. According to a BBC News report, approximately more than one-third of British adults have been diagnosed with pre-diabetes, as compared to a 2003 report, where only 11.6 percent of British adults had been diagnosed with pre-diabetes. By 2011, the amount of individuals diagnosed with the conditions had almost tripled to about 35.3 percent.
Pre-diabetes is medically characterized as having a fasting blood sugar of 100-125 mg/dl or a hemoglobin A1C of 5.7-6.4 percent. Researchers medically defined diabetes as having a fasting blood sugar greater than 126 mg/dl or a hemoglobin A1C > 6.5 percent, a measure of long term glucose control.
Health Complications Related to Diabetes
A majority of the complications associated with pre-diabetes and diabetes can develop gradually over time. Individual�s who�ve had the condition for an extended period of time, and who also maintain less control of their blood sugar levels, may have a higher risk of suffering other complications commonly associated with type 2 diabetes. If these issues are not treated accordingly, they could eventually lead to disabling or even life-threatening complications.
Common complications associated with pre-diabetes and diabetes include:
Skin and tissue infections: Damage to blood vessels and nerves can affect the proper circulation and blood flow to the skin. This can result in the death of skin cells which may lead to a variety of changes in the skin as well as in other important structures of the body.
Foot damage: The Improper blood flow and circulation as well as damage to the nerves in the feet can increase the risk of experiencing a variety of foot issues. If left untreated, these foot complications, such as cuts and blisters, can develop into serious infections which can often heal poorly. Severe infections may ultimately require toe, foot or leg amputations.
Eye damage or retinopathy: Diabetes can damage the blood vessels of the retina which can potentially lead to blindness. This complication of the condition also increases the risk of other serious vision conditions, such as the development of cataracts and glaucoma.
Kidney damage or nephropathy: The kidneys are made up of millions of tiny blood vessel clusters, known as glomeruli, which function by filtering waste from the blood. Type 2 diabetes can damage these blood vessel clusters, affecting their normal function to properly filter the blood. Severe damage to the glomeruli can lead to kidney disease or kidney failure which may require dialysis or a kidney transplant.
Peripheral neuropathy or nerve damage: Increased blood sugar levels can injure the walls of the capillaries, tiny blood vessels which nourish the nerves, particularly those found in the legs. Peripheral neuropathy can cause pain, tingling and burning sensations and numbness along the upper and lower extremities. If this type of nerve damage is left untreated, the symptoms mentioned above may worsen, resulting in loss of strength and balance as well as the complete loss of feeling in the affected limbs. A majority of people with advanced stages of peripheral neuropathy experience chronic symptoms of pain and they may be unable to walk without the help of a cane or walker. Some people may need to use a wheelchair. Nerve damage can also affect the nerves of the digestive system, causing nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or constipation. For men, peripheral neuropathy may lead to erectile dysfunction.
Cardiovascular disease: Pre-diabetes and diabetes also dramatically increases the risk of developing a variety of cardiovascular problems, including coronary artery disease with chest pain or angina, heart attack, stroke and narrowing of arteries, or atherosclerosis. Individuals with diabetes are more likely to experience heart disease or stroke.
Hearing impairment: Individuals with diabetes have double the risk of experiencing hearing loss and other auditory complications than adults without the condition.
Alzheimer�s disease: According to various research studies, type 2 diabetes has been linked to the development of Vascular Dementia and Alzheimer�s disease.
Risk Factors Leading to Diabetes
Pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes can develop due to a variety of risk factors. Knowing these factors can help individuals be more aware of their chances of developing the condition in order to help them take the necessary precautions to prevent diabetes from developing.
Several risk factors contributing to pre-diabetes and diabetes include:
Weight: Excess weight and obesity can cause the development of insulin resistance, one of the most common reasons behind pre-diabetes and diabetes in adults.
Inactivity: Sedentary individuals who engage in less exercise and physical activity can be at greater risk of developing the condition. Physical activity and exercise helps control weight, utilizes glucose as energy and improves insulin sensitivity.
Family history: A person�s risk of developing pre-diabetes or diabetes can increase if a parent or sibling has the condition. Although Type 2 Diabetes is not hereditary, it can develop due to lifestyle habits. Your family history can help predict the probability of developing diabetes.
Race: Research published in JAMA revealed that African-Americans, Hispanics, American Indians and Asian-Americans are at higher risk for developing Type 2 Diabetes.
Age: The risk of developing pre-diabetes and diabetes does increase with age. This is generally believed to be due to inactivity associated with aging, loss of muscle mass and weight gain. However, pre-diabetes and diabetes has also dramatically increased among children, adolescents and younger adults over the past several years.
Gestational diabetes: A woman who developed gestational diabetes while pregnant, may have an increased risk of developing pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes. If you gave birth to a baby weighing more than 9 pounds, 4 kilograms, you may also be at risk of developing diabetes.
Polycystic ovary syndrome or PCOS: For women, having polycystic ovary syndrome, a common condition characterized by irregular menstrual periods, excess hair growth and obesity, can also increase the risk of developing diabetes.
High blood pressure: Having blood pressure of over 140/90 mm Hg, or millimeters of mercury, has been associated to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes.
High cholesterol and triglyceride levels: Individuals with low levels of high-density lipoprotein, HDL or good cholesterol, their risk of developing pre-diabetes or diabetes is generally higher. Triglycerides are another type of fat carried in the blood. People with high levels of triglycerides can be at risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Consulting a doctor at this point is important as they can inform you on what your cholesterol and triglyceride levels are.
Preventing Diabetes
Diabetes has become one of the most common diseases of the 21st century, most of which can lead to peripheral neuropathy. Although there are many factors behind this type of nerve damage, such as the use of medications and drugs, approximately 66 percent of all people with diabetes will develop peripheral neuropathy over time.
Fortunately, you can avoid developing pre-diabetes, diabetes and ultimately, peripheral neuropathy, by making some simple lifestyle changes. While changing the regular diet you are used to can be challenging, taking such a task slowly can help ease the daunting change. For instance, you can try changing one thing about your diet today. Whether it involves giving up soda or skipping sweets after dinner, this small change can be effortless for many. Now try doing this for 30 days. It will be difficult at first but it will get progressively easier.
For people who already developed diabetes as well as some of the common complications associated with the condition, keep in mind that both type 2 diabetes and peripheral neuropathy can be reversed with the right lifestyle changes as well. By addressing your diet and other lifestyle habits, such as the amount of exercise you participate in and how much sleep you get, the condition and its complications can be tremendously improved. In one 10-year long study of 70,000 diabetes-free women, researchers found that women who either slept less than five hours a night or more than nine hours each night were 34 percent more likely to develop diabetes than women who slept seven to eight hours each night.
In addition, getting the appropriate amount of vitamin D on a daily basis can also help improve diabetes. Evidence demonstrated that vitamin D can be extremely beneficial for both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Taking vitamin D supplements if you�re not spending the necessary amount of time out in the sun can in turn help provide the required nutrients and minerals.
In conclusion, diabetes is considered to be one of the most prevalent conditions today, where nearly up to 50 percent of people have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Many factors can often increase the risk of developing the condition but diabetes can be prevented as well as reversed. If you�ve been diagnosed with diabetes or you suspect you may have the condition, make sure to seek professional care to receive proper diagnosis and treatment.
For more information, please feel free to ask Dr. Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900 .
By Dr. Alex Jimenez
Additional Topics: What is Chiropractic?
Chiropractic care is an well-known, alternative treatment option utilized to prevent, diagnose and treat a variety of injuries and conditions associated with the spine, primarily subluxations or spinal misalignments. Chiropractic focuses on restoring and maintaining the overall health and wellness of the musculoskeletal and nervous systems. Through the use of spinal adjustments and manual manipulations, a chiropractor, or doctor of chiropractic, can carefully re-align the spine, improving a patient’s strength, mobility and flexibility.
Peripheral neuropathy may be more common in patients with pre-diabetes than previously thought, and early interventions may be warranted in this patient population, according to researchers from the University of Utah.
Currently, 86 million adults � more than one in three U.S. adults � have prediabetes, according to CDC estimates. Without weight loss and moderate physical activity, 15% to 30% of these people will develop full-blowntype 2 diabetes within 5 years.1
�We know now a lot more than we did 3 or 5 years ago about neuropathic pain in patients with prediabetes. Neuropathy affects patients with prediabetes in a continuum,� said J. Rob Singleton, MD, who is a professor of neurology at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. �We think it is more obesity and dysfunction of lipids (fats) that is causing the problem.�
Research Shows the Link between Obesity, Pre-diabetes and Neuropathy
In another study conducted by researchers from the University of Michigan, peripheral neuropathy was also common in obese patients, even if they had normal blood sugar levels, when compared with lean control participants. This same study also confirmed that rates of neuropathy were increased in participants with prediabetes and diabetes, leading the researchers to conclude that diabetes, prediabetes, and obesity are likely metabolic drivers of peripheral neuropathy. The findings were published in JAMA Neurology.1
Dr. Singleton and his team have been studying peripheral neuropathy associated with prediabetes and metabolic syndrome as well as what treatments may work best. Metabolic syndrome is the name for a group of risk factors that raise the risk for heart disease, diabetes and stroke. Risk factors include high blood pressure, elevated blood glucose, elevated cholesterol, and abdominal fat. Through their research, they have found that many patients with metabolic syndrome have pre-diabetes and peripheral neuropathy. Therefore, a multi-pronged approach to managing these patients is essential.
�We have shown that, in pre-diabetics with neuropathic pain, exercise reduces neuropathic pain and increases the intradermal nerve fibers in the thigh and ankle. We are in the process now of replicating that study,� Singleton said in an interview withEndocrinology Advisor. �You need to improve lipid (cholesterol) function and glucose levels. So, lifestyle issues have to be addressed.�
Relationship Between Nerve Damage and Pre-diabetes
New studies evaluating the link between prediabetes and peripheral neuropathy are filling in some of the gaps in knowledge.
In a study recently published in Diabetes Care, C. Christine Lee, PhD, of the University of Toronto, and colleagues reported that prediabetes was associated with similar risks for nerve dysfunction and damage leading to peripheral neuropathy as one develops with �new-onset� diabetes.2
While the exact mechanisms behind these associations are unclear, a growing body of evidence suggests that peripheral neuropathy begins in the early stages of diabetes pathogenesis, the researchers noted.
Lee and colleagues analyzed data on 467 individuals. The researchers found that the prevalence of peripheral neuropathy was 29% in adults with normal glucose levels, as compared with 49% in adults with prediabetes and 50% in adults with new-onset diabetes.
The researchers also found that progression of elevated glucose (pre-diabetes) over 3 years predicted a higher risk for peripheral neuropathy and nerve dysfunction.
Early intervention with lifestyle changes involving diet and exercise may be vital to preventing the severity of nerve damage, Dr. Lee stated. This had previously been backed up by another study published in 2006 in Diabetes Care, by Dr. Singleton. Singleton and his colleagues found that dietary changes and exercise can result in cutaneous reinnervation and improved pain in patients with prediabetes.3
Nerve Damage Occurs Long Before Diabetes
It is imperative to realize that the nerve damage seen in peripheral neuropathy can actually occur long before diabetes sets in. In fact the most current research has shown that obesity, even with normal glucose (blood sugar) levels has been linked with causing peripheral neuropathy as well as pre-diabetes. Although it is important to strive for maintaining fasting glucose levels between 70 � 80 mg/dL, it is equally important to keep your weight down, lower LDL cholesterol and triglycerides. All of this can be accomplished without the use of medication or bariatric procedures.
For more information, please feel free to ask Dr. Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900 .
Additional Topics: Neck Pain and Auto Injury
Neck pain is characterized as the most prevalent symptom after being involved in an automobile accident. During an auto collision, the body is exposed to a sheer amount of force due to the high speed impact, causing the head and neck to jolt abruptly back-and-forth as the rest of the body remains in place. This often results in the damage or injury of the cervical spine and its surrounding tissues, leading to neck pain and other common symptoms associated with whiplash-related disorders.
It�s often assumed that in order to develop type 2 diabetes, you have to be overweight. While it�s true that excess weight is clearly associated with insulin resistance and diabetes, it�s the insulin resistance � not necessarily the weight gain � that drives the disease.
As such, many people with a healthy weight are not metabolically healthy, putting them at risk of diseases like type 2 diabetes � even without being overweight or obese.
One of the greatest risk factors, according to University of Florida researchers, is actually inactivity, which drives up your risk of pre-diabetes regardless of your weight.
Inactivity Is Associated with Diabetes
If you were looking for motivation to get moving, this study, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, is as good as it gets.
In a survey of more than 1,100 healthy-weight individuals, those who were inactive (physically active for less than 30 minutes per week) were more likely to have an A1C level of 5.7 or higher, which is considered to be pre-diabetic.
The researchers suggested that people who live a largely sedentary lifestyle yet have a healthy weight may have �normal-weight obesity or �skinny fat,’� which they described as a �high proportion of fat to lean muscle.�
�Don�t focus solely on the scale and think you�re OK. If you have a sedentary lifestyle, make sure you get up and move,� lead author Arch Mainous III, chair of health services research, management and policy in the University of Florida�s College of Public Health and Health Professions, said in a news release.
Weight Doesn�t Always Reveal Metabolic Health
Weight isn�t always an accurate tool by which to gauge metabolic health, and research by Dr. Robert Lustig, professor of pediatric endocrinology at the University of California, San Francisco (USCF), bears this out.
Lustig is perhaps best known for speaking out about the health risks of sugar, but in our 2015 interview he explained the problem with �judging a book by its cover� in terms of weight and health.
More than two-thirds of the American population is overweight or obese. About 50 percent have diabetes or pre-diabetes, and 1 out of every 3 have high blood pressure. Many also have high serum triglycerides, which is a risk factor for heart disease and stroke. Insulin resistance is a component of all of these health issues.
According to Lustig, at least 50 percent of Americans have some form of insulin resistance � whether you�re overweight or not � and that is what�s driving our seemingly out-of-control disease statistics.
Exercise Is Important
The evidence is clear that regular physical activity, which includes reducing your time spent sitting and exercising, is crucial to lower your risk of diabetes (and treat it if you�ve already been diagnosed).
For instance, sitting for more than eight hours a day has been shown to increase your risk of type 2 diabetes by 90 percent, while people with diabetes who engaged in a six-month moderate-intensity exercise program experienced significant health improvements, including decreased fat in the abdomen, liver and around the heart.
How to Determine if You�re Pre-Diabetic
If you�re reading this and aren�t sure what your fasting insulin and glucose levels are, these are blood tests I recommend receiving annually. Your fasting insulin level reflects how healthy your blood glucose levels are over time.
A normal fasting blood insulin level is below 5, but ideally you�ll want it below 3. A fasting glucose level below 100 mg/dl suggests you�re not insulin resistant, while a level between 100 and 125 confirms you have pre-diabetes. If this, or your A1C level, confirms you either have or are at risk of pre-diabetes or diabetes, the time to take action is now. You might also find a hip-to-waist size index chart helpful.
This is far better than body mass index (BMI) for evaluating whether or not you may have a weight problem, as BMI fails to factor in both how muscular you are and your intra-abdominal fat mass (the dangerous visceral fat that accumulates around your inner organs), which is a potent indicator of insulin/leptin sensitivity and the associated health problems.
You Can Improve Your Insulin Sensitivity in Just Two Weeks
Fortunately, proper exercise and attention to diet can reverse the course of this disease, with benefits seen in as little as two weeks (and to some extent after just one exercise session).
For instance, unfit but otherwise healthy middle-aged adults were able to improve their insulin sensitivity and blood sugar regulation after just two weeks of interval training (three sessions per week). A follow-up study also found that interval training positively impacted insulin sensitivity.
The study involved people with full-blown type 2 diabetes, and just one interval training session was able to improve blood sugar regulation for the next 24 hours.10 You can actually reap much greater benefits by exercising in short, high-intensity bursts known as intervals than you can exercising for longer periods at a slower steady pace.
The high-intensity interval training (HIIT) approach I personally use and recommend is the Peak Fitness method, which consists of 30 seconds of maximum effort followed by 90 seconds of recuperation, for a total of eight repetitions. I also recommend super slow weight lifting for your resistance training.
Getting Up From Your Chair Is Also Important
When you hear the term sedentary, it�s important to understand that exercising for 20 or 30 minutes a day, and then sitting for much of the rest, is not enough to pull you out of this category. Long hours spent sitting are linked to chronic diseases including diabetes, and this may be, in part, because it increases aging at the cellular level.
In a study of 64- to 95-year-old women, those who sat for more than 10 hours a day and got less than 40 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity had shorter telomeres and were, on average, eight years older, biologically speaking, than women who moved around more often.
Every time a cell divides, the telomeres get shorter, which is why they�re used as a measure of biological aging. Short telomeres have also been linked with chronic diseases such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes.
In addition, your body�s ability to respond to insulin is affected by just one day of excess sitting, which leads your pancreas to produce increased amounts of insulin. Research published in Diabetologia also found that those who sat for the longest periods of time were twice as likely to have diabetes or heart disease, compared to those who sat the least. I recommend replacing the majority of your sedentary sitting time with active movement, keeping sitting to three hours a day or less.
What to Do if You Have Pre-Diabetes or Diabetes
You may be thin but that doesn�t mean you have more lean muscle than fat in your body. Having a higher percentage of fat than lean muscle can set the stage for insulin resistance.
The take-home message to remember is that you shouldn�t assume you�re metabolically healthy just because you�re not overweight or obese � especially if you live a largely sedentary lifestyle. You could actually be �skinny fat,� with many of the same health risks as someone who�s overweight or obese and sedentary.
The good news is that there�s plenty you can do to not only reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes and pre-diabetes but also improve your metabolic health at the same time.
During the three-year Diabetes Prevention Program study, for instance, lifestyle interventions were found to be more effective than the diabetes drug metformin at preventing or delaying the development of diabetes in people at high risk of the disease. A follow-up study monitored the group for 15 years � and lifestyle interventions were still more effective than metformin at preventing diabetes.13
One of the most important dietary recommendations is to limit net carbs (total carbohydrates minus fiber) and protein, replacing them with higher amounts of high-quality healthy fats, like seeds, nuts, raw grass-fed butter, olives, avocado, coconut oil, organic pastured eggs and animal fats (including animal-based omega-3s).
If you�re insulin resistant or diabetic, I also strongly suggest you limit your total fructose intake to 15 grams per day until your insulin/leptin resistance has resolved (then it can be increased to 25 grams) and start intermittent fasting as soon as possible.
As mentioned, exercise and reduced sitting time are also crucial, along with attention to proper sleep, optimized vitamin D levels and gut health. Taken together, this plan will lower your risk of diabetes and related chronic diseases and help you to avoid becoming victim to a health condition you might not even realize you have.
For more information, please feel free to ask Dr. Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900 .
Additional Topics: Early Intervention After Auto Injury
When a person is involved in an unexpected automobile accident, the most common type of injury which often results from the incident is whiplash. Whiplash is identified as a neck injury caused by the sudden, back-and-forth motion of the head during a car crash. Whiplash can cause a variety of symptoms and complications if left untreated, which is why seeking medical treatment immediately after being involved in an auto accident is essential in order to help people recover quickly without developing further issues.
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