Categories
Healthy Tips

Probiotics may Help Fat and Weight Loss

[amazon_link asins=’B00Q3K6ZFU,B002S1U7RU,B00L3JTHME,B00XRWDW5I,B00JEKYNZA,B0072F88WS’ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’finmeacur-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’626aa584-d1ed-11e7-8424-b5daf3377bcc’][amazon_link asins=’B00Q3K6ZFU,B002S1U7RU,B00L3JTHME,B00XRWDW5I,B00JEKYNZA,B0072F88WS’ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’finmeacur-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’6270e693-d1ed-11e7-9a46-67d1f2963029′]

Daily supplements with the probiotic Lactobacillus gasseri SBT2055 may help weight loss in people with obese tendencies, according to new research.
CLICK & SEE
After twelve weeks of consuming a fermented milk product containing the Lactobacillus strain, study subjects averaged a 4.6 percent reduction in abdominal fat and a 3.3 percent reduction in subcutaneous fat.

NutraIngredients reports:
“Furthermore, body weight dropped by 1.4 percent and waist size decreased by 1.8 percent … The study extends previous findings … which showed LG2055 may reduce fat levels (adiposity) and fat cells in animals”.

Resources:
NutraIngredients June 11, 2010

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition June 2010; 64(6):636-43

Enhanced by Zemanta
Categories
Healthy Tips

Sleep Habits Linked to Fat Gain in Younger Adults

James Hetfield.
Image via Wikipedia

[amazon_link asins=’0449004023,B00JCO3ALG,B0047T73RI,B016K0W90C,B072BJF9FW,B004AH8N3A,B06VTNSG4W,B00IP6G4S8,B00IP6G4T2′ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’finmeacur-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’a9b769ec-84a5-11e8-981f-1d2c6f342569′]

Researchers found that among adults younger than 40, those who typically slept for five hours or less each night had a greater accumulation of belly fat over the next five years.
……..CLICK & SEE
But those who logged eight hours or more in bed each night also showed a bigger fat gain, although it was less substantial than that seen in “short sleepers.”

On average, short sleepers showed a 32 percent gain in visceral fat, versus a 13 percent gain among those who slept six or seven hours per night, and a 22 percent increase among men and women who got at least eight hours of sleep each night.

A similar pattern was seen with superficial abdominal fat. Even when the researchers considered factors like calorie intake, exercise habits, education and smoking, sleep duration itself remained linked to abdominal-fat gain.

The study does not prove that too little or too much sleep directly leads to excess fat gain. But the findings support and extend those of other studies linking sleep duration — particularly a lack of sleep — to weight gain and even to higher risks of diabetes and heart disease.
Resources:
Reuters March 1, 2010
Sleep March 1, 2010 :

Related articles by Zemanta
Reblog this post [with Zemanta]
Categories
Exercise

Using a Chair Can Help Abdominal Crunches

Have you ever thought of using a folding chair when performing abdominal crunches? Try it. You’ll find that it’s a comfortable way to focus on contracting your abs without feeling pressure on your back.

…………...…CLICK & SEE

STEP-1. Place an open-back chair or bench on a flat, padded surface and lie down in front of it. Place your lower legs on the seat of the chair with your feet hanging off the back end of the seat. Scoot in so your hips are close to the chair. Place your hands behind your head with your elbows pointed out to the sides. Inhale, allowing your abdomen and rib cage to rise slightly.

STEP-2. On an exhale, push your back firmly against the floor as you contract your abdominal muscles to raise your chest, shoulders and head off the floor. Pause for two seconds with the front of your ribs and navel pressed toward the floor. Remember to rest your head in your hands so your neck and shoulders can stay relaxed. Lower and repeat 15 to 20 reps. Rest 20 seconds and repeat another set.

Source: Los Angeles Times

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]
Categories
Health Alert Healthy Tips

Health Tips For 2010

As Written by :DR GITA MATHAI
————————————————-

[amazon_link asins=’190703076X,B00VWF9Q52′ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’finmeacur-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’3311ee2d-f0ec-11e6-875e-4be353e0932b’]
Somehow the spirit of the New Year affects everyone, including cynics. It is time for all those resolutions that will change your life and make you a better person. After all, before you “heal the world (and) make it a better place,” you have to change “the man in the mirror”.

The changes must be effected on a war footing. India is already known as the world’s diabetic and ischaemic heart disease capital. The statistics are alarming. Unless we get going right now, many of us will not live to see our grandchildren. And even those who survive may be too sickly to enjoy them.

click & see

IN GOOD COMPANY: Join a group if exercising alone seems uninspiring

Recommendations for fitness have increased over the last five years from walking half an hour three or four times a week to one hour every day. However, a one-hour stroll in bathroom slippers will not do the trick — walking or jogging should be at a steady pace where conversation is not possible. At least four to five kilometres have to be covered in 60 minutes. If you feel you can walk for an hour in the evening as well, your health may improve further.

At times, taking walks outdoors may be dangerous, especially for women. There are no nearby walkers’ parks. Don’t lose heart — it’s possible to get almost similar benefits by spot jogging. This means standing in one spot and running vigorously, moving the arms as well. You must wear jogging shoes. The right foot has to hit the ground 45 times in one minute. Gradually, try to work up to 45 minutes a day. It is less effective than a using a treadmill or running on the road as there is no forward propulsion, but it definitely has health benefits and is better than doing nothing.

Jogging or walking helps reduce weight, trim the waistline and tone the body, controls blood pressure, boosts the immune system, and decreases the risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, stroke, fracture and mental disease. Depression and insomnia are far less. Walkers have also been shown to live to a healthy, mentally active old age in greater numbers than their inactive counterparts.

People are always asking for a magic pill for health, a single ingredient to prevent disease and treat all illnesses……. Regular speed walking or jogging is an activity that provides an answer to all these.

Diabetes, hypertension and ischaemic heart disease develop in susceptible genetically predisposed individuals when the environment is right. Even if the disease appears inevitable, the onset of these diseases can be delayed 10 years or more by maintaining a body mass index (BMI) of 23. This can be calculated by dividing the weight in kilograms by the height in metre squared. The only variable in this formula is the weight, as adult height does not change.

Walking or running alone will not help maintain your BMI. Diet has to be factored in by eating 20 calories per kilogram of expected weight. This, combined with jogging or walking, will help maintain your BMI. Calories are hidden everywhere — a cube of chocolate means 60 calories, a ladoo 280 calories and a plate of bhel puri 400 calories! Each teaspoon of sugar in juice adds 20 calories, 100gm of peanuts 550 calories and a teaspoon of oil around 50 calories.

A good way to chart progress is to maintain a diary and record the kilometres covered daily along with the approximate number of calories consumed. The weight should be recorded once a week.

It takes a negative balance of 3,500 calories to lose half a kg of body weight. This cannot be achieved by dieting alone. Walking or jogging builds up the calf muscles. It also increases the BMR (basal metabolic rate) so that more calories are utilised even at rest.

If exercising alone is a bother, get yourself good company. I am a member of groups such as Runners for Life, Chennai Runners and Chain Reaxion. I participated in the Chennai Half Marathon and two 47-km cycling events. To my pleasant surprise, I found a group of enthusiastic young people determined to propagate a healthy lifestyle. I also discovered that contrary to common belief, age is not a bar. Nor does running cause your knees to develop osteoarthritis!

Take the example of 97-year-old Fauja Singh who goes around the world running marathons. He is the Adidas poster boy for their slogan “nothing is impossible”.

So as we move into 2010, let us make the figure our walking milestone and cover 2,010 km in 365 days

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]
Categories
News on Health & Science

Two Dietary Oils Gives 2-Sets of Benefit

A study comparing how two common dietary oil supplements — safflower oil and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) — affect body composition suggests that both oils can lower body fat in obese postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes.
click to see
In the study, 16 weeks of supplementation with safflower oil reduced fat in the trunk area, lowered blood sugar and increased muscle tissue in the participants.

Conjugated linoleic acid supplementation for the same length of time, on the other hand, reduced total body fat and lowered the women’s body mass index (BMI), a common health measure of weight relative to height.

All of the women in the study took one oil for 16 weeks, followed by the other oil for an equal amount of time.

Reources:

Eurekalert July 7, 2009
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition June 17, 2009

Enhanced by Zemanta
css.php