Back Clinic Weight Loss. People who are overweight or obese and are suffering from back pain may not realize that their excess weight contributes to their back pain. It is a known fact that overweight people are at risk for back pain, joint pain, and muscle strain. Not only is back pain an issue, but other symptoms of obese or overweight people may include fatigue, difficulty breathing, and/or shortness of breath during short periods of physical activity. When this happens, people begin to avoid physical activity, which leads to pain and various other unhealthy conditions.
Dr. Jimenez brings the PUSH-as-Rx System, which is a program designed by a strength-agility coach and physiology doctor with a combined 40 years of experience. The program is the multidisciplinary study of reactive agility, body mechanics, and extreme motion dynamics at its core.
A clear quantitative picture of body dynamics emerges through continuous and detailed assessments of the clients in motion and under directly supervised stress loads. This system with continual dynamic adjustments has helped many of our patients in their weight loss. Plus, they become faster and stronger. Results demonstrate clear improved agility and speed no matter the age. Along with physical training, Dr. Jimenez and the trainers offer nutritional advice.
New research has found that acupuncture could be effective as a tool to aid weight loss.
Carried out by the School of Chinese Medicine (SCM) of Hong Kong Baptist University in cooperation with the Hong Kong Hospital Authority, the study looked at 72 participants, 13 males and 59 females, aged between 18 and 68.
All participants had a body mass index (BMI) of 25 or above, and had not used any other weight control measures or any medication in the three months before the trial.
The team randomly assigned the participants to two groups for the controlled trial — either the “real acupuncture group” or the “sham acupuncture group.”
All participants completed a total of 16 sessions of acupuncture treatment over an eight-week period.
The treatment included certain acupoints in the body — the areas where needles are inserted and manipulated — including areas on the abdomen and the lower limbs.
The participants also received auricular acupressure in the ears targeting the auricular points of Hunger, Shen men, Spleen and Stomach. According to Chinese medicine, these acupoints can restore and harmonize the flow of energy in the intestines as well as transform body fluid and expel phlegm.
After undergoing the acupuncture treatment, the team found that the “real acupuncture group” showed a 2.47 kg decrease in average weight and a decrease of 1.56 kg/m2 in average BMI.
The most successful result recorded was a participant who lost 7.2 kg with a drop of 3.2 kg/m2 in BMI.
On the other hand, the “sham acupuncture group” had an average weight loss of just 0.54 kg with an average lowering of 0.19 kg/m2 in BMI.
Dr Zhong Lidan, who worked on the study, suggested that the weight loss may be due to acupuncture having a stimulating effect on serotonin and beta endorphin, which suppresses appetite and increases lipolysis activity — the breakdown of lipids — resulting in weight loss.
She added that the trial could be used as the basis of future larger studies, paving the way to integrating acupuncture in a weight-loss or weight control program.
The results also come just days after a study published in the journal Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine appeared to find a reason why acupuncture is an effective treatment for relieving pain.
PUSH-as-Rx � is leading the field with laser focus supporting our youth sport programs.� The�PUSH-as-Rx � System is a sport specific athletic program designed by a strength-agility coach and physiology doctor with a combined 40 years of experience working with extreme athletes. At its core, the program is the multidisciplinary study of reactive agility, body mechanics and extreme motion dynamics. Through continuous and detailed assessments of the athletes in motion and while under direct supervised stress loads, a clear quantitative picture of body dynamics emerges. Exposure to the biomechanical vulnerabilities are presented to our team. �Immediately,�we adjust our methods for our athletes in order to optimize performance.� This highly adaptive system with continual�dynamic adjustments has helped many of our athletes come back faster, stronger, and ready post injury while safely minimizing recovery times. Results demonstrate clear improved agility, speed, decreased reaction time with greatly improved postural-torque mechanics.��PUSH-as-Rx � offers specialized extreme performance enhancements to our athletes no matter the age.
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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.
Doctor of Chiropractic, Dr. Alexander Jimenez looks at obesity in children and the risk of type 2 diabetes.
Close To 13 Million American Children & Teens Are Obese
And�new research shows they may be four times more likely than kids with a healthy weight to develop type 2 diabetes by age 25.
Between 2002 and 2005, there were 3,600 cases a year of type 2 diabetes among U.S. kids and teens, according to the Endocrine Society’s Endocrine Facts and Figures report. A large study of British children produced similar results, the researchers noted.
“As the prevalence of obesity and being overweight has rapidly risen, an increasing number of children and young adults have been diagnosed with diabetes in the United Kingdom since the early 1990s,” said study co-author Ali Abbasi, a research fellow at King’s College London.
For the study, published April 25 in the Journal of the Endocrine Society, the researchers reviewed health records of 375 general practices in the United Kingdom.
BMI Is A Measure Used To Determine If Someone Is A Healthy Weight For Their Height
The team compared the diabetes status and body mass index (BMI) of about 370,000 children between the ages of 2 and 15.
The study found that 654 youngsters were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and 1,319 with type 1 diabetes between 1994 and 2013. Nearly half of those with type 2 diabetes were obese. There was no link, however, between obesity and rates of type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease, researchers noted.
“Diabetes imposes a heavy burden on society because the condition is common and costly to treat,” Abbasi said in an Endocrine Society news release. “Estimates indicate one in 11 adults has type 2 diabetes, or about 415 million people worldwide. Given that diabetes and obesity are preventable from early life, our findings and other research will hopefully motivate the public and policymakers to invest and engage in diabetes prevention efforts.”
News stories are written and provided by HealthDay and do not reflect federal policy, the views of MedlinePlus, the National Library of Medicine, the National Institutes of Health, or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
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!
The problem: When I gain weight, it goes straight to my middle
You know those squishy midsection lumps you can pinch? That’s subcutaneous fat, located just beneath the surface of your skin, says Ursula White, PhD, an obesity researcher at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center at Louisiana State University. Another type of fat, called visceral fat, sits deep within the abdominal area, surrounding the organs. This is the kind that’s considered especially harmful; research has found that excess amounts of visceral fat may put your at a higher risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
Where we pack on flab may be determined by genetics, says White. But in general, notes Tara Collingwood, RDN, coauthor of Flat Belly Cookbook for Dummies ($23; amazon.com)�when people gain weight, it often increases their amount of visceral fat. That’s one reason a diet that’s too high in simple carbs is so problematic: “Eating too many low-fiber, high-sugar foods can spike levels of insulin, which then stores all those calories as fat,” explains Collingwood.
The solution:�You can’t fight genetics�but you can make it harder for your body to store excess calories as fat by limiting your consumption of refined carbs. Eat more high-fiber foods instead, such as oats, beans, and sweet potatoes, suggests Leslie Bonci, RDN, owner of Active Eating Advice. Also, aim to eat three meals and one snack a day�and have them on a set schedule, recommends Bonci. One 2014 study found that eating erratically was linked to a bigger waist circumference than sticking to a schedule.
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