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IN THIS ISSUE:

Super Ch-Ch-Chia Seeds

Posted Feb 4, 2012

Imagine a plant food that is naturally rich in protein, an excellent source of dietary fiber and, according to Dr. Andrew Weil, has more omega-3 fatty acids than flax seeds. Just a small amount of this food provides energy for long periods of physical exertion (think marathon running). What is this magical food? Chia seeds, of course.

CHIA IN HISTORY. While it may be strange to think of these little seeds (which are about the size of sesame seeds) as a serious source of nutrition and even the foundation of a meal, they were an agriculturally important crop to the ancient Aztecs, even as important as corn, beans, and amaranth, according to the USDA Agricultural Research Service. The state of Chiapas in Mexico is even named after the seed.

Imagine a plant food that is naturally rich in protein, an excellent source of dietary fiber and, according to Dr. Andrew Weil, has more omega-3 fatty acids than flax seeds. Just a small amount of this food provides energy for long periods of physical exertion (think marathon running). What is this magical food? Chia seeds, of course.

CHIA IN HISTORY. While it may be strange to think of these little seeds (which are about the size of sesame seeds) as a serious source of nutrition and even the foundation of a meal, they were an agriculturally important crop to the ancient Aztecs, even as important as corn, beans, and amaranth, according to the USDA Agricultural Research Service. The state of Chiapas in Mexico is even named after the seed.

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Simple Tips for Weight Loss Success- Part 3

Posted Dec 31, 2011

How can you lose weight in 2012? Let us count the ways. Whether you’ve vowed to lose 5 pounds or 50, the following advice will help make achieving your weight loss resolution a little easier. We scoured research journals and spoke with diet and fitness experts to find a year’s worth of practical and effective methods to rev your metabolism, torch fat, and flatten your belly. In this three- part series, we’ll bring you a total of 52 ways to cut the fat.

The following tips are simple, but the effects will add up.

“When you successfully implement one change, you’re more likely to do another. The more you’re able to stick to your goal, the greater your confidence, and the more chance you’ll have to start and accomplish new goals. These small changes can add up to a lifestyle change,” says Jessica Cassity, author of “Better Each Day: 365 Expert Tips for a Healthier, Happier You.” Over the next 52 weeks, use these strategies in your daily life to help you reach your goal by year’s end.

-Pop smarter. Popcorn is a great whole grain snack, but don’t pour on the butter. Three cups of Orville Redenbacher Pour Over Movie Theater Butter popcorn will set you back 154 calories and 12 g of fat. Choose the Smart Pop version and snack without guilt for 48 calories and 1 g of fat.

-Take a fish oil supplement. A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that people who took 6 grams of fish oil a day and exercised three times a week lost 3.4 pounds more in 12 weeks than those who just hit the gym and didn’t take a supplement.

-Max out. Stoke up your after-burn by lifting heavy. Women burned twice as many calories the 2 hours following a workout that involved doing 8 reps of lifting 85 percent of their max as when they did 15 reps at 45 percent of their max. Your max refers to the maximum amount of weight that you can lift in a single rep of an exercise. To estimate your one-rep max, determine the greatest amount of weight you are able to perform an exercise to exhaustion. Plug in the weight and number of reps into this formula: Weight

How can you lose weight in 2012? Let us count the ways. Whether you've vowed to lose 5 pounds or 50, the following advice will help make achieving your weight loss resolution a little easier. We scoured research journals and spoke with diet and fitness experts to find a year's worth of practical and effective methods to rev your metabolism, torch fat, and flatten your belly. In this three- part series, we'll bring you a total of 52 ways to cut the fat.

The following tips are simple, but the effects will add up.

"When you successfully implement one change, you're more likely to do another. The more you're able to stick to your goal, the greater your confidence, and the more chance you'll have to start and accomplish new goals. These small changes can add up to a lifestyle change," says Jessica Cassity, author of "Better Each Day: 365 Expert Tips for a Healthier, Happier You." Over the next 52 weeks, use these strategies in your daily life to help you reach your goal by year's end.

-Pop smarter. Popcorn is a great whole grain snack, but don't pour on the butter. Three cups of Orville Redenbacher Pour Over Movie Theater Butter popcorn will set you back 154 calories and 12 g of fat. Choose the Smart Pop version and snack without guilt for 48 calories and 1 g of fat.

-Take a fish oil supplement. A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that people who took 6 grams of fish oil a day and exercised three times a week lost 3.4 pounds more in 12 weeks than those who just hit the gym and didn't take a supplement.

-Max out. Stoke up your after-burn by lifting heavy. Women burned twice as many calories the 2 hours following a workout that involved doing 8 reps of lifting 85 percent of their max as when they did 15 reps at 45 percent of their max. Your max refers to the maximum amount of weight that you can lift in a single rep of an exercise. To estimate your one-rep max, determine the greatest amount of weight you are able to perform an exercise to exhaustion. Plug in the weight and number of reps into this formula: Weight

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Simple Tips for Weight Loss Success- Part 2

Posted Dec 29, 2012

How can you lose weight in 2012? Let us count the ways. Whether you’ve vowed to lose 5 pounds or 50, the following advice will help make achieving your weight loss resolution a little easier. We scoured research journals and spoke with diet and fitness experts to find a year’s worth of practical and effective methods to rev your metabolism, torch fat and flatten your belly. In this three-part series, we’ll bring you a total of 52 ways to cut the fat.

The following tips are simple, but the effects will add up.

“When you successfully implement one change, you’re more likely to do another. The more you’re able to stick to your goal, the greater your confidence, and the more chance you’ll have to start and accomplish new goals. These small changes can add up to a lifestyle change,” says Jessica Cassity, author of “Better Each Day: 365 Expert Tips for a Healthier, Happier You.” Over the next 52 weeks, use these strategies in your daily life to help you reach your goal by year’s end.

-Eat an orange. People who don’t get enough vitamin C burn 25 percent less fat when working out than those who have adequate levels, say researchers. They also found that people who are vitamin-C deficient can quadruple their fat burn after taking 500 mg of the nutrient.

-Do intervals. You’ve probably already heard it, but doing interval training – alternating between periods of intense exercise and recovery – burns more fat and calories than exercising at a steady rate. University of Guelph researchers found that cyclists who switched between cycling for four minutes at 90 percent of their max and 2 minutes of recovery for an hour burn up to 36 percent more calories after their workout than those who biked at a moderate pace for the same amount of time.

-Go organic. Canadian researchers found that people with the highest levels of organochlorides – a chemical found in pesticides – were more likely to have slower metabolisms.

-Munch on almonds. Spanish researchers found that people who eat a diet high in MUFAs lose more fat from their middles than people who follow a high-carb diet or a high-fat one.

-Outsmart the elliptical trainer. The calorie-count mechanisms on cardio equipment are often off by 20 to 30 percent. So if the readout says that you’ve cranked out 260 calories’ worth of exercise, a more accurate estimate could be 200 calories burned. To even things out, aim to burn off 30 percent more than your target, notes Cassity in “Better Each Day.” Even if your machine’s calorie tally is accurate, ramping up your workout will help you achieve your weight loss goal.

-Pick a smarter spread. Rather than smear on a tablespoon of butter over your morning toast (102 calories, 11.5 g of fat), try apple butter (20 calories, 0 g fat). It tastes delicious and packs a fraction of the fat and calories.

-Choose Canadian bacon. You can get a heftier portion of the leaner meat and still cut fat. Two slices of Canadian bacon are 89 calories, 4 g of fat (57 g); two slices of the regular kind contain 86 calories and 6 g of fat (16 g).

-Try Meatless Monday. Vegetarians usually have a lower body mass index than those who eat meat. For instance, lacto-ovo vegetarians have an average BMI of 25.7, whereas meat eaters check in at a BMI of 28.8. Not ready to forgo meat entirely? Incorporate Meatless Monday into your eating routine. You’ll still be able to reap the benefits as vegetarian diets tend to be lower in saturated fat and cholesterol, and higher in fiber, potassium and antioxidants than other diets.

-See the sun. Researchers from the University of Minnesota found that people who had higher levels of vitamin D were able to lose more weight on a reduced-calorie diet than those who had inadequate levels – even though both cut 750 calories from their diets. Your body generates vitamin D naturally through sunlight, and it’s also found in foods like salmon, tuna, fortified milk and cereals and yogurt.

-Broaden your circle of friends. Having a lot of friends might not just help you live longer – it may make you leaner, too. A study in Cell Metabolism found that having a more active social life can turn regular white fat into calorie-torching brown fat, increasing overall calorie burn. Researchers found that when lab rats were placed in a living environment with 15 to 20 other mice and had greater opportunity to play, they lost weight due to increased brown-fat stores.

-Have half a grapefruit. There’s no need to go on an all-grapefruit diet, but incorporating the fruit into your diet can help you lose weight, say researchers from Scripps Clinic in La Jolla, Calif. They found that people who ate half a grapefruit before every meal lost 3 pounds more than those who didn’t. Why? Not only is grapefruit a good source of fiber, but it also seems to help regulate insulin levels.

-Sweeten with cinnamon. An in vitro study by the USDA found that the spice can increase the rate at which sugar is metabolized by 20-fold. Eating 1/4 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon of cinnamon a day has also been shown to lower blood sugar levels. The spice is also a great low-calorie alternative to sugar to sweeten your coffee.

-Clean your house. A tidy home may translate to a fit body. A recent study found that how clean a house is – or isn’t – is a better indicator of the occupant’s fitness level than the home’s proximity to safe walking trails and sidewalks. “Scientists really don’t know if it’s because you burn calories while cleaning the house or if it’s a reflection of how you take care of your body,” says Cassity. “It’s probably a little bit of each.”

-Avoid boxed baked goods. Store-bought cookies, cakes and mixes are often loaded with saturated fat. Case in point: A serving of Entenmann’s coffee cake is loaded with 260 calories and 13 g of fat – 4 of which are saturated. Make your own dessert at home for less.

-Switch to sorbet. A 1/2-cup serving of Haagen-Daz chocolate sorbet has half the calories and a whopping 16 grams fewer fat than a serving of chocolate ice cream.

-Slurp broth-based soups. A bowl of creamy New England clam chowder contains 154 calories and 5 g of fat. Switch to the broth-based Manhattan clam chowder at 73 calories and 2 g of fat per cup. Penn State researchers found that people who had a cup of soup before lunch ate 20 percent fewer calories at the meal. When you choose a low-cal soup to fill up on beforehand, you can actually consume fewer calories overall, too.

-Cut the can. And while we’re on the subject of soup, fresh is better than canned. Harvard researchers found that people who ate canned soup for 5 days in a row had BPA levels in their blood that were 10 times higher than those who ate homemade soup for the same amount of time. Elevated levels of BPA – a chemical- and hormone-disruptor that’s found in plastics and plastic-lined cans – has been shown to increase the number and size of fat cells.

-Skip fried food. It’s a no-brainer. Deep-frying adds tons of fat and calories. Make this fast-food swap: Instead of a Chipotle BBQ Snack Wrap (Crispy) from McDonald’s, try the grilled version. You’ll save 80 calories and 7 g of fat.

For more tips and tricks, visit Fitbie.com

@2011, Fitbie.com

Visit them at http://fitbie.msn.com/

Distributed by MCT Information Services

How can you lose weight in 2012? Let us count the ways. Whether you've vowed to lose 5 pounds or 50, the following advice will help make achieving your weight loss resolution a little easier. We scoured research journals and spoke with diet and fitness experts to find a year's worth of practical and effective methods to rev your metabolism, torch fat and flatten your belly. In this three-part series, we'll bring you a total of 52 ways to cut the fat.

The following tips are simple, but the effects will add up.

"When you successfully implement one change, you're more likely to do another. The more you're able to stick to your goal, the greater your confidence, and the more chance you'll have to start and accomplish new goals. These small changes can add up to a lifestyle change," says Jessica Cassity, author of "Better Each Day: 365 Expert Tips for a Healthier, Happier You." Over the next 52 weeks, use these strategies in your daily life to help you reach your goal by year's end.

-Eat an orange. People who don't get enough vitamin C burn 25 percent less fat when working out than those who have adequate levels, say researchers. They also found that people who are vitamin-C deficient can quadruple their fat burn after taking 500 mg of the nutrient.

-Do intervals. You've probably already heard it, but doing interval training - alternating between periods of intense exercise and recovery - burns more fat and calories than exercising at a steady rate. University of Guelph researchers found that cyclists who switched between cycling for four minutes at 90 percent of their max and 2 minutes of recovery for an hour burn up to 36 percent more calories after their workout than those who biked at a moderate pace for the same amount of time.

-Go organic. Canadian researchers found that people with the highest levels of organochlorides - a chemical found in pesticides - were more likely to have slower metabolisms.

-Munch on almonds. Spanish researchers found that people who eat a diet high in MUFAs lose more fat from their middles than people who follow a high-carb diet or a high-fat one.

-Outsmart the elliptical trainer. The calorie-count mechanisms on cardio equipment are often off by 20 to 30 percent. So if the readout says that you've cranked out 260 calories' worth of exercise, a more accurate estimate could be 200 calories burned. To even things out, aim to burn off 30 percent more than your target, notes Cassity in "Better Each Day." Even if your machine's calorie tally is accurate, ramping up your workout will help you achieve your weight loss goal.

-Pick a smarter spread. Rather than smear on a tablespoon of butter over your morning toast (102 calories, 11.5 g of fat), try apple butter (20 calories, 0 g fat). It tastes delicious and packs a fraction of the fat and calories.

-Choose Canadian bacon. You can get a heftier portion of the leaner meat and still cut fat. Two slices of Canadian bacon are 89 calories, 4 g of fat (57 g); two slices of the regular kind contain 86 calories and 6 g of fat (16 g).

-Try Meatless Monday. Vegetarians usually have a lower body mass index than those who eat meat. For instance, lacto-ovo vegetarians have an average BMI of 25.7, whereas meat eaters check in at a BMI of 28.8. Not ready to forgo meat entirely? Incorporate Meatless Monday into your eating routine. You'll still be able to reap the benefits as vegetarian diets tend to be lower in saturated fat and cholesterol, and higher in fiber, potassium and antioxidants than other diets.

-See the sun. Researchers from the University of Minnesota found that people who had higher levels of vitamin D were able to lose more weight on a reduced-calorie diet than those who had inadequate levels - even though both cut 750 calories from their diets. Your body generates vitamin D naturally through sunlight, and it's also found in foods like salmon, tuna, fortified milk and cereals and yogurt.

-Broaden your circle of friends. Having a lot of friends might not just help you live longer - it may make you leaner, too. A study in Cell Metabolism found that having a more active social life can turn regular white fat into calorie-torching brown fat, increasing overall calorie burn. Researchers found that when lab rats were placed in a living environment with 15 to 20 other mice and had greater opportunity to play, they lost weight due to increased brown-fat stores.



-Have half a grapefruit. There's no need to go on an all-grapefruit diet, but incorporating the fruit into your diet can help you lose weight, say researchers from Scripps Clinic in La Jolla, Calif. They found that people who ate half a grapefruit before every meal lost 3 pounds more than those who didn't. Why? Not only is grapefruit a good source of fiber, but it also seems to help regulate insulin levels.

-Sweeten with cinnamon. An in vitro study by the USDA found that the spice can increase the rate at which sugar is metabolized by 20-fold. Eating 1/4 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon of cinnamon a day has also been shown to lower blood sugar levels. The spice is also a great low-calorie alternative to sugar to sweeten your coffee.

-Clean your house. A tidy home may translate to a fit body. A recent study found that how clean a house is - or isn't - is a better indicator of the occupant's fitness level than the home's proximity to safe walking trails and sidewalks. "Scientists really don't know if it's because you burn calories while cleaning the house or if it's a reflection of how you take care of your body," says Cassity. "It's probably a little bit of each."

-Avoid boxed baked goods. Store-bought cookies, cakes and mixes are often loaded with saturated fat. Case in point: A serving of Entenmann's coffee cake is loaded with 260 calories and 13 g of fat - 4 of which are saturated. Make your own dessert at home for less.

-Switch to sorbet. A 1/2-cup serving of Haagen-Daz chocolate sorbet has half the calories and a whopping 16 grams fewer fat than a serving of chocolate ice cream.

-Slurp broth-based soups. A bowl of creamy New England clam chowder contains 154 calories and 5 g of fat. Switch to the broth-based Manhattan clam chowder at 73 calories and 2 g of fat per cup. Penn State researchers found that people who had a cup of soup before lunch ate 20 percent fewer calories at the meal. When you choose a low-cal soup to fill up on beforehand, you can actually consume fewer calories overall, too.

-Cut the can. And while we're on the subject of soup, fresh is better than canned. Harvard researchers found that people who ate canned soup for 5 days in a row had BPA levels in their blood that were 10 times higher than those who ate homemade soup for the same amount of time. Elevated levels of BPA - a chemical- and hormone-disruptor that's found in plastics and plastic-lined cans - has been shown to increase the number and size of fat cells.

-Skip fried food. It's a no-brainer. Deep-frying adds tons of fat and calories. Make this fast-food swap: Instead of a Chipotle BBQ Snack Wrap (Crispy) from McDonald's, try the grilled version. You'll save 80 calories and 7 g of fat.

For more tips and tricks, visit Fitbie.com

@2011, Fitbie.com

Visit them at http://fitbie.msn.com/

Distributed by MCT Information Services

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Simple Tips for Weight Loss Success

Posted Dec 27, 2011

How can you lose weight in 2012? Let us count the ways. Whether you’ve vowed to lose 5 pounds or 50, the following advice will help make achieving your weight loss resolution a little easier. We scoured research journals and spoke with diet and fitness experts to find a year’s worth of practical and effective methods to rev your metabolism, torch fat, and flatten your belly. In this three-part series, we’ll bring you a total of 52 ways to cut the fat.

The following tips are simple, but the effects will add up.

“When you successfully implement one change, you’re more likely to do another. The more you’re able to stick to your goal, the greater your confidence, and the more chance you’ll have to start and accomplish new goals. These small changes can add up to a lifestyle change,” says Jessica Cassity, author of “Better Each Day: 365 Expert Tips for a Healthier, Happier You.” Over the next 52 weeks, use these strategies in your daily life to help you reach your goal by year’s end.

-Hit the gas early during your workout. College of New Jersey researchers found that men who started a 30-minute running workout at high speed, working at 70 percent of their VO2 max, and then eased up to 50 percent of VO2 max burned 5 to 10 percent more fat than those who started slow and then revved up the pace. The after-burn of the high-intensity workout seems to carry over into the lower-intensity period, increasing overall fat burn.

-Use public transportation. Turns out taking the bus or train is as good for your body as it is for your wallet and the environment. In one recent study from two Pennsylvania universities, researchers found that people who switched from driving everywhere to using a light-rail system lost an average of about 6 pounds in a year.

“The theory is that by walking the extra blocks it takes to get to and from bus stops and train stations – instead of pulling up right in front of a destination – you naturally increase your activity level enough to result in weight loss,” says Cassity.

-Drink two cups of coffee, black. A study in the journal of Physiology and Behavior found that drinking two cups of caffeinated coffee can boost your metabolism by 16 percent compared with the decaf kind. Make sure to drink it black though. The 67 calories in a spoonful of sugar and a tablespoon of cream can negate caffeine’s calorie-burning benefits.

-Blot your pizza with a napkin. You’ll dab off about 4.5 g of fat – or close to 30 calories per slice. Of course, depending on the pizza and your toppings, the amount of excess oil you can remove varies, notes Keri Gans, RD, author of “The Small Change Diet.” If you want a healthier slice, she prefers one loaded with veggies.

-Have a glass of wine. Rat studies show that resveratrol, a compound in red wine, may help fight weight gain when eating a high-fat diet. The same seems to hold true in humans. Harvard researchers found that women who drank about two glasses a day gained less weight and were less likely to become overweight than teetotalers.

-But avoid vodka. A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that drinking even as little as 1 ounce of vodka can slow your metabolism by as much as 73 percent.

-Douse your food in Tabasco. Capsaicin – the spicy compound found in the white membrane of chili peppers – has been shown to rev up your metabolism and can torch somewhere near an extra 50 calories. Eating salsa may boost fat burn a little bit, says Cassity, but don’t let that give you license to pile on the chips and guac. You still need to watch out for overall calorie intake.

-Fuel up on fiber. In addition to making you feel full, longer (and therefore helping you eat less), fiber can help you burn through as much as 30 percent more calories, according to a study in the Journal of Nutrition. “Fiber has roughage,” says Gans. “And roughage takes a longer time for your body to break down and requires more energy to digest.”

-Sleep more. Researchers found that dieters who logged 8.5 hours of shut-eye burned more fat than those who slept 5.5 hours. While both groups lost a similar amount of weight (6.6 pounds), the ones who got a full night’s rest dropped the majority of their weight from fat while those who slept less lost most of theirs from muscle.

-Increase physical activity outside of the gym. In a recent U.K. study, 34 overweight women completed the same 150-minute-a-week exercise program, and while some women lost up to 7 pounds of body fat, others gained up to 5. The researchers think that the women who lost the most were the ones who maintained or increased their physical activity beyond the gym; those who gained weight had cut back on their everyday activity. “If you’re going to the gym, you don’t want to negate it by eating a lot afterward or no longer taking the stairs,” says Cassity. “You have to live the same life – if not improve on it – when you pick up exercise.”

-Eat breakfast. A study conducted by the U.S. Navy found that people who ate breakfast daily helped boost the metabolisms of its personnel by as much as 10 %.

-Pump iron. Lifting weights can help you torch a few more calories even after you finish your session, according to a study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. Women who did an hour-long strength-training program burned 100 more calories in the next 24 hours than when they didn’t hit the weights.

-Choose tuna swimming in water. Stick to tuna packed in water not oil. Three ounces of water-packed chicken of the sea contains 109 calories and 2.5 g of fat compared with 158 calories and 6.9 g of fat in the oil-soaked kind. Plus, it’s a good protein source that’s rick in omega-3 fatty acids, which can help reduce your risk of heart disease and help prevent depression, says Gans.

-Drink chocolate milk. McMaster University researchers compared the effects of downing low-fat chocolate milk, fat-free soy protein drink, and a traditional carbohydrate recovery drink after exercise. Not only did the milk drinkers gain more muscle than those who drank the soy and carbohydrate beverages, but they also lost twice as much fat.

-Drink cold water. German researchers found that your metabolism can increase by as much as 30 percent during the 10 minutes after you drink a cold glass. Why? They speculate that your body burns more calories as it tries to warm the water.

-Brew a cup of green tea. A 2010 Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics study found that after 3 months, people who drank two glasses of decaf green tea a day lost 2.6 more pounds than those who drank an herbal brew. Researchers believe that catechin compounds in green tea may prevent fat formation and stimulate your metabolism.

-Say yes to yogurt. A study in the International Journal of Obesity found that eating yogurt as part of a low-calorie diet may help burn more fat. People who tucked in three 1-cup servings a day lost 22 percent more weight and 61 percent more fat than those who dieted without including yogurt. Even better – most of the fat lost was from the belly.

For more tips and tricks, visit Fitbie.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services

How can you lose weight in 2012? Let us count the ways. Whether you've vowed to lose 5 pounds or 50, the following advice will help make achieving your weight loss resolution a little easier. We scoured research journals and spoke with diet and fitness experts to find a year's worth of practical and effective methods to rev your metabolism, torch fat, and flatten your belly. In this three-part series, we'll bring you a total of 52 ways to cut the fat.

The following tips are simple, but the effects will add up.

"When you successfully implement one change, you're more likely to do another. The more you're able to stick to your goal, the greater your confidence, and the more chance you'll have to start and accomplish new goals. These small changes can add up to a lifestyle change," says Jessica Cassity, author of "Better Each Day: 365 Expert Tips for a Healthier, Happier You." Over the next 52 weeks, use these strategies in your daily life to help you reach your goal by year's end.

-Hit the gas early during your workout. College of New Jersey researchers found that men who started a 30-minute running workout at high speed, working at 70 percent of their VO2 max, and then eased up to 50 percent of VO2 max burned 5 to 10 percent more fat than those who started slow and then revved up the pace. The after-burn of the high-intensity workout seems to carry over into the lower-intensity period, increasing overall fat burn.

-Use public transportation. Turns out taking the bus or train is as good for your body as it is for your wallet and the environment. In one recent study from two Pennsylvania universities, researchers found that people who switched from driving everywhere to using a light-rail system lost an average of about 6 pounds in a year.

"The theory is that by walking the extra blocks it takes to get to and from bus stops and train stations - instead of pulling up right in front of a destination - you naturally increase your activity level enough to result in weight loss," says Cassity.

-Drink two cups of coffee, black. A study in the journal of Physiology and Behavior found that drinking two cups of caffeinated coffee can boost your metabolism by 16 percent compared with the decaf kind. Make sure to drink it black though. The 67 calories in a spoonful of sugar and a tablespoon of cream can negate caffeine's calorie-burning benefits.

-Blot your pizza with a napkin. You'll dab off about 4.5 g of fat - or close to 30 calories per slice. Of course, depending on the pizza and your toppings, the amount of excess oil you can remove varies, notes Keri Gans, RD, author of "The Small Change Diet." If you want a healthier slice, she prefers one loaded with veggies.

-Have a glass of wine. Rat studies show that resveratrol, a compound in red wine, may help fight weight gain when eating a high-fat diet. The same seems to hold true in humans. Harvard researchers found that women who drank about two glasses a day gained less weight and were less likely to become overweight than teetotalers.

-But avoid vodka. A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that drinking even as little as 1 ounce of vodka can slow your metabolism by as much as 73 percent.

-Douse your food in Tabasco. Capsaicin - the spicy compound found in the white membrane of chili peppers - has been shown to rev up your metabolism and can torch somewhere near an extra 50 calories. Eating salsa may boost fat burn a little bit, says Cassity, but don't let that give you license to pile on the chips and guac. You still need to watch out for overall calorie intake.

-Fuel up on fiber. In addition to making you feel full, longer (and therefore helping you eat less), fiber can help you burn through as much as 30 percent more calories, according to a study in the Journal of Nutrition. "Fiber has roughage," says Gans. "And roughage takes a longer time for your body to break down and requires more energy to digest."

-Sleep more. Researchers found that dieters who logged 8.5 hours of shut-eye burned more fat than those who slept 5.5 hours. While both groups lost a similar amount of weight (6.6 pounds), the ones who got a full night's rest dropped the majority of their weight from fat while those who slept less lost most of theirs from muscle.

-Increase physical activity outside of the gym. In a recent U.K. study, 34 overweight women completed the same 150-minute-a-week exercise program, and while some women lost up to 7 pounds of body fat, others gained up to 5. The researchers think that the women who lost the most were the ones who maintained or increased their physical activity beyond the gym; those who gained weight had cut back on their everyday activity. "If you're going to the gym, you don't want to negate it by eating a lot afterward or no longer taking the stairs," says Cassity. "You have to live the same life - if not improve on it - when you pick up exercise."

-Eat breakfast. A study conducted by the U.S. Navy found that people who ate breakfast daily helped boost the metabolisms of its personnel by as much as 10 %.

-Pump iron. Lifting weights can help you torch a few more calories even after you finish your session, according to a study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. Women who did an hour-long strength-training program burned 100 more calories in the next 24 hours than when they didn't hit the weights.

-Choose tuna swimming in water. Stick to tuna packed in water not oil. Three ounces of water-packed chicken of the sea contains 109 calories and 2.5 g of fat compared with 158 calories and 6.9 g of fat in the oil-soaked kind. Plus, it's a good protein source that's rick in omega-3 fatty acids, which can help reduce your risk of heart disease and help prevent depression, says Gans.

-Drink chocolate milk. McMaster University researchers compared the effects of downing low-fat chocolate milk, fat-free soy protein drink, and a traditional carbohydrate recovery drink after exercise. Not only did the milk drinkers gain more muscle than those who drank the soy and carbohydrate beverages, but they also lost twice as much fat.

-Drink cold water. German researchers found that your metabolism can increase by as much as 30 percent during the 10 minutes after you drink a cold glass. Why? They speculate that your body burns more calories as it tries to warm the water.

-Brew a cup of green tea. A 2010 Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics study found that after 3 months, people who drank two glasses of decaf green tea a day lost 2.6 more pounds than those who drank an herbal brew. Researchers believe that catechin compounds in green tea may prevent fat formation and stimulate your metabolism.

-Say yes to yogurt. A study in the International Journal of Obesity found that eating yogurt as part of a low-calorie diet may help burn more fat. People who tucked in three 1-cup servings a day lost 22 percent more weight and 61 percent more fat than those who dieted without including yogurt. Even better - most of the fat lost was from the belly.

For more tips and tricks, visit Fitbie.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,



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Test Your B12 Knowledge

Posted Dec 11, 2011

Every red-blooded American – and people from other countries, too – needs to be properly dosed with vitamin B-12, in large part to hasten red blood cell formation. But there’s so much more to know about B-12. Take our quiz to find out.

1. Which of the following does B-12 not positively contribute to?

a) Neurological function

b) Reduced kidney CK levels

c) DNA synthesis

2. According to the Mayo Clinic newsletter, a normal body will store how much B-12 in the liver?

a) “Two days’ worth”

b) “A few weeks’ worth”

c) “Several years’ worth”

3. Which serving of the following does not provide 100 percent of the daily value (listed at 6 micrograms) for B-12?

a) 3 ounces of fried clams

b) 3-ounce top sirloin steak

c) “Fortified” breakfast cereal

4. Those who are anemic have difficulty absorbing B-12 from the intestinal tract. Which population is not at special risk for being B-12 deficient?

a) Elderly

b) Vegetarians

c) Endurance athletes

5. In healthy people, how much of a 500-microgram oral supplement is actually absorbed by the body?

a) 6 mcg

b) 10 mcg

c) 50 mcg

ANSWERS: 1: b; 2: c; 3: b; 4: c; 5: b.

Sources: National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements (http://ods.od.nih.gov); Mayo Clinic (www.mayoclinic.com).

Every red-blooded American - and people from other countries, too - needs to be properly dosed with vitamin B-12, in large part to hasten red blood cell formation. But there's so much more to know about B-12. Take our quiz to find out.

1. Which of the following does B-12 not positively contribute to?

a) Neurological function

b) Reduced kidney CK levels

c) DNA synthesis

2. According to the Mayo Clinic newsletter, a normal body will store how much B-12 in the liver?

a) "Two days' worth"

b) "A few weeks' worth"

c) "Several years' worth"

3. Which serving of the following does not provide 100 percent of the daily value (listed at 6 micrograms) for B-12?

a) 3 ounces of fried clams

b) 3-ounce top sirloin steak

c) "Fortified" breakfast cereal

4. Those who are anemic have difficulty absorbing B-12 from the intestinal tract. Which population is not at special risk for being B-12 deficient?

a) Elderly

b) Vegetarians

c) Endurance athletes

5. In healthy people, how much of a 500-microgram oral supplement is actually absorbed by the body?

a) 6 mcg

b) 10 mcg

c) 50 mcg

ANSWERS: 1: b; 2: c; 3: b; 4: c; 5: b.

Sources: National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements (http://ods.od.nih.gov); Mayo Clinic (www.mayoclinic.com).

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Seniors’ Brains Benefit from Baked Fish

Posted Dec 5, 2011

A new study using MRI scans of the brain found that older people who regularly ate baked fish had less loss of brain cells as well as better performance on cognitive tests.

While the research only shows an association between fish consumption and brain health, it is one of the first to take actual MRI measurements of brain volume and link it to the consumption of eating baked or broiled fish over the course of 10 years.

“This kind of diet may have a protective effect (on the brain),” said Piero Antuono, a neurologist at Froedtert Hospital and the Medical College of Wisconsin who was not a part of the study. “It shows that these people (those who eat fish) are physically different.”

The study was presented Wednesday at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America.

The research involves 260 people with an average age of 71 who were cognitively normal at the start of the study.

In 1989 and 1990 they were asked how much fish they ate and 10 years later underwent MRI scans of the brain as well as cognitive testing.

The scans measured preservation of so-called gray matter, the brownish-gray tissue made up primarily of neurons, the main cells of the brain. The more gray matter in the brain, the healthier it is. Decreasing amounts of gray matter volume is a sign that neurons are shrinking.

The study showed that people who ate baked fish at least once a week had greater amounts of gray matter volume in three key areas of the brain involved in memory and cognition: the hippocampus, the posterior cingulated and orbital frontal cortex.

Those who ate fish had five times reduced risk of the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease or mild cognitive impairment over five years.

“More fish gives you more brain and more brain reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s disease,” said lead author Cyrus Raji, a physician and researcher with the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. “Consuming baked or broiled fish promotes stronger neurons in the brain’s gray matter by making them larger and healthier.”

Eating fried fish did not improve gray matter volume or reduce the risk of developing cognitive impairment.

Antuono noted that baked fatty fish is rich in omega-3 fats, which may improve vascular health in the brain.

He also said that DHA, one of the omega-3 fats in fish oil, is essential for the health of brain cell membranes.

On the other hand, it could just be that people who regularly eat baked fish are less likely to eat unhealthy foods that can be damaging to the brain, he said.

Raji acknowledged that his study only shows an association between eating fish and brain volume and that eating a lot of fish may be a marker for some other lifestyle measures that reduce Alzheimer’s risk. In an attempt to rule that out, the study adjusted for a variety of factors such as education, race, obesity, physical activity and a gene known to increase Alzheimer’s risk.

Still, he said it was the first study to show a benefit from fish consumption using MRI scans.

The issue of fish and omega-3 fats, which are found in high amounts in fatty saltwater fish, is an unsettled area of science.

Numerous observational studies have showed a link between eating fish and reduced risk of cognitive decline.

But clinical trials in which volunteers were given high doses of omega-3 fish oil generally have not showed a reduction in risk.

The new study lends credence to the idea that the benefit from fish comes from eating just one or two servings a week, said Martha Clare Morris, a professor of nutrition and nutritional epidemiology at Rush University in Chicago who was not a part of the study.

She noted that the clinical trials in which people were given high-dose fish oil capsules also allow them to eat up to three servings of fish a week. If the benefit comes from just a serving or two, that might explain why the clinical trials did not show a benefit, she said.

©2011 the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A new study using MRI scans of the brain found that older people who regularly ate baked fish had less loss of brain cells as well as better performance on cognitive tests.

While the research only shows an association between fish consumption and brain health, it is one of the first to take actual MRI measurements of brain volume and link it to the consumption of eating baked or broiled fish over the course of 10 years.

"This kind of diet may have a protective effect (on the brain)," said Piero Antuono, a neurologist at Froedtert Hospital and the Medical College of Wisconsin who was not a part of the study. "It shows that these people (those who eat fish) are physically different."

The study was presented Wednesday at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America.

The research involves 260 people with an average age of 71 who were cognitively normal at the start of the study.

In 1989 and 1990 they were asked how much fish they ate and 10 years later underwent MRI scans of the brain as well as cognitive testing.

The scans measured preservation of so-called gray matter, the brownish-gray tissue made up primarily of neurons, the main cells of the brain. The more gray matter in the brain, the healthier it is. Decreasing amounts of gray matter volume is a sign that neurons are shrinking.

The study showed that people who ate baked fish at least once a week had greater amounts of gray matter volume in three key areas of the brain involved in memory and cognition: the hippocampus, the posterior cingulated and orbital frontal cortex.

Those who ate fish had five times reduced risk of the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease or mild cognitive impairment over five years.

"More fish gives you more brain and more brain reduces the risk of Alzheimer's disease," said lead author Cyrus Raji, a physician and researcher with the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. "Consuming baked or broiled fish promotes stronger neurons in the brain's gray matter by making them larger and healthier."

Eating fried fish did not improve gray matter volume or reduce the risk of developing cognitive impairment.

Antuono noted that baked fatty fish is rich in omega-3 fats, which may improve vascular health in the brain.

He also said that DHA, one of the omega-3 fats in fish oil, is essential for the health of brain cell membranes.

On the other hand, it could just be that people who regularly eat baked fish are less likely to eat unhealthy foods that can be damaging to the brain, he said.

Raji acknowledged that his study only shows an association between eating fish and brain volume and that eating a lot of fish may be a marker for some other lifestyle measures that reduce Alzheimer's risk. In an attempt to rule that out, the study adjusted for a variety of factors such as education, race, obesity, physical activity and a gene known to increase Alzheimer's risk.

Still, he said it was the first study to show a benefit from fish consumption using MRI scans.

The issue of fish and omega-3 fats, which are found in high amounts in fatty saltwater fish, is an unsettled area of science.

Numerous observational studies have showed a link between eating fish and reduced risk of cognitive decline.

But clinical trials in which volunteers were given high doses of omega-3 fish oil generally have not showed a reduction in risk.

The new study lends credence to the idea that the benefit from fish comes from eating just one or two servings a week, said Martha Clare Morris, a professor of nutrition and nutritional epidemiology at Rush University in Chicago who was not a part of the study.

She noted that the clinical trials in which people were given high-dose fish oil capsules also allow them to eat up to three servings of fish a week. If the benefit comes from just a serving or two, that might explain why the clinical trials did not show a benefit, she said.

©2011 the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

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