Young people can usually get away with a suspect diet while they stay active. I’m sure there are plenty of high school athletes who don’t do any calorie counting or worry about skipping their favorite fast food. But as you get older, it’s not so easy to get away with ignoring half of the health formula.
In fact, when comparing the importance of diet vs. exercise, it’s now believed that diet wins out, hands down. The best thing for you do is to combine the two, but a new study says that your food has the bigger impact on your weight.
“Decreased physical activity may not be the primary driver of the obesity epidemic,” said Loyola University nutritionist Amy Luke, a member of the study team.
People magazine is reporting that country music star Wynonna Judd has a New Year’s resolution: to tell the world about Alli. She’s signed on to act as a representative for the super-popular weight loss supplement.
Unlike her half-sister Ashley Judd, Wynonna wasn’t blessed with a Hollywood leading lady figure. Which, in this case, gives her more appeal, since regular folks can relate to her.
“People can see themselves in me and say ‘You know what? If she can do it, I can do it,’” says Judd.
With the new year comes a heavy rotation of diet product marketing. Losing weight is on just about everyone’s mind, especially after a little overindulgence during the holidays. So which direction are you going to choose?
One popular approach is detox dieting. A detox diet, or cleansing diet, purports to remove toxins and poisons from your body. You’re supposed to eat natural foods, which will aid in proper organ function.
But detox diets are controversial. That’s because their legitimacy is often in question by the scientific community. Scientists assert that their is no evidence that products promoted as detox work.
My pregnant wife has had more than one craving in the last eight months. One of them happens to be ice cream. And when the supermarket is always running a two-for-one special, we’re assured to have a freezer full of the lovely diet-killing dessert.
One of her favorites is a peppermint flavored ice cream. And while this would never be a recommendation for anyone trying to lose weight, peppermint on its own has been shown to have health benefits.
The oil extracted from peppermint contains a number of compounds, including menthol. Studies have shown that peppermint oil can be effective relief for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Symptoms of IBS include abdominal pain and cramping, bloating, constipation and diarrhea. And it may effect up to one in five people.
Yahoo News has a disturbing, but seemingly logical, mathematic formula for students: Fast food + nearby schools = fat kids.
According to new research, kids who go to school within walking distance of fast food restaurants are more likely to be obese than students at other schools. The study was expansive, to say the least. It involved 500,000 adolescents at middle schools and high schools in California.
“We’ve basically discovered that kids who are going to a school that is near a fast-food restaurant have a higher chance of being overweight and obese than kids who are at a school that is not near a fast food restaurant,” said Brennan Davis of Azusa Pacific University in California. The study appears in the American Journal of Public Health.
It’s that time of year again. It’s New Year’s resolution time. Discovery Health wants to challenge you. Their National Body Challenge is a free way to hold your feet to the fire, and get yourself into shape. The challenge provides tools and inspiration, not only online but also on television.
Here are some of the valuable tools that will make the Discovery Health Challenge worth a look (and remember, it’s free):
- Customized meal plans with more than 1,000 kitchen-tested, nutritionist-approved recipes
I’m still new to some of the worries surrounding the LA Weight Loss centers. In my preliminary research, it seems that closings have been going on for at least a year, and customer complaints for at least that long. (During 2008, it closed 400 Pure Weight Loss sites, its sister brand.)
There are franchises across the country that are closing down. According to WCNC in North Carolina, all 10 LA Weight Loss Centers in the Charlotte area just closed. The suspicious part of it all is that it’s happening without warning to their paying clients.
The sign on one business door blamed the closing on the bad economy and indicated that the centers will soon contact clients.
“We have some that are out of a couple thousand dollars between what they’ve paid for membership, in annual membership and then what they purchased in food that they haven’t received in food yet,” said Tom Bartholomy, President of the Better Business Bureau of Southern Piedmont, North Carolina.
Bartholomy says there is no legal recourse according to state law in North Carolina. The Better Business Bureau suspects hundreds of people will be out of money.
Jim Richards. (Photo by Wade Payne of AP.)
Jim Richards of Knoxville, Tennessee, 51, attributes his 20-pound weight loss to commuting to work on bicycle. Richards commutes every day to work and back. That’s 40 minutes of exercise every day, before he even steps into a gym.
He’s one of the healthy success stories that can be tied to what’s referred to as active transportation: people who leave the car keys at home and commute to work by foot or pedal. Or maybe it’s just taking that quick trip to the grocery store on your bike instead behind the wheel.
There’s a new study that came up with results that aren’t exactly shocking: Countries that have the highest rate of citizens who walk, bike, or even use public transportation to get around town have the lowest rates of obesity.
Breakfast is often touted as the most important meal of the day. And while it’s not a good idea to play down any of your daily meals, there could be some truth to it, according to new research.
But the importance of breakfast is tied to how healthy the meal is.
Researchers analyzed data from a national health survey and found that people who ate lower-calorie foods for breakfast tended to have a higher-quality diet overall.
Encouraging youth sports is obviously a good thing for a number of reasons. It not only helps keep your kids fit, but they are put in social situations that help build character.
The benefits may be long lasting for young ladies who take part in weight-bearing activities (running, tennis, volleyball, etc.). A new study shows that older women who participated in weight-bearing activities in their youth now have stronger bones than those who didn’t.
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