You can see Dr. Aziz today on The Doctors, where he’s discussing The Perfect 10 Diet and how you can implement this into your own life to balance hormones and get your weight under control.

Some of the pros and cons of The Perfect 10 Diet include:

PRO

• Promotes the eating of real food
• Debunks popular diet myths and fad diets
• If followed correctly, weight loss and improved health can follow
• Focuses on a clean-eating meal plan that includes fresh and natural foods in their pure form
• Outlines a lifetime plan for eating
• Includes recipes
• Promotes exercise

CON

• Strict vegetarians may have a hard time following the diet
• Similar to other low-carb diets

You can learn more in our full review of The Perfect 10 Diet.

Post from: Diets in Review Blog

The Perfect 10 Diet and Dr. Michael Aziz on The Doctors

Manage Stress

Is it me or are most people pre-wired for high anxiety and the go-go-go mentality? Work pressures. The economy. Life drama. No matter what day it is, you can bet there’s something going on that is making your blood boil. You don’t see it, but it’s killing you.

Chronic stress is linked to six of the leading causes of death. The link between stress and diabetes is hormonal. Neuropeptide Y (NPY) is a stress hormone that increases with severe or prolonged stress. The main effect of the hormone is increased food intake, increased proportion of energy stored as fat, and decreased physical activity. Uh oh. If you read the post on preventing diabetes, you know that excess fat, especially in the belly area, significantly increases your diabetes risk.

Point well taken. So how the heck do you calm down? My quick tips for stress management are very basic.

1. Say “no.” Don’t put too much on your plate. The overcommitment increases stress levels, eats up valuable free time for nutrition and exercise, and frankly wears you out unnecessarily.
2. Just breath. When you feel the stress piling on, take five minutes and lie on your back in a quiet room only focusing on your breath. The drop in blood pressure also allows your crazed stress hormones to take a reprieve.
3. Sip on herbal tea. Teas like peppermint, ginger, or chamomile are very soothing and help you come down from that stress frazzle.

But there’s one more thing that can weigh down the risk for diabetes. Yes, sleep.

Sleep

Research shows that people who get less than six hours of sleep are 4.5 times more likely to have problems controlling their blood sugar – and that, my friends, leads to insulin resistance and eventually diabetes. What’s more, lack of sleep also throws your hungry/full hormones out of whack so when you don’t get sleep, you’re hormonally hungrier the next day thanks to higher levels of ghrelin (the “grow” hormone).

So, cheat yourself of sleep (maybe due to poor stress management) and now you’re hunger hormone is raging like a teenage boy at cheer camp. Of course you’re going to overeat and gain weight, which takes us back to our “top three” ways of preventing diabetes… eating healthy, exercising, and losing weight.

Behavior change starts with awareness. What can you do today to make yourself more aware of your behaviors?

Post from: Diets in Review Blog

Sleep and Relax to Prevent Diabetes

Tryptophan, Serotonin and Melatonin

Tryptophan is an essential amino acid (protein building block the body cannot make). It is high in many protein rich foods, like turkey. Tryptophan helps build muscle like other amino acids, but it is also a specific precursor of serotonin. Nearly all serotonin is in the gut where it regulates GI movement, but about 20% is actually dispersed in the central nervous system (CNS) where it regulates mood, appetite, sleep, muscle contraction, and some cognitive functions including memory and learning. Some serotonin can become melatonin, which regulates your sleep/wake cycles.

Besides turkey, your starchy foods like rolls, potatoes and stuffing have something to do with the “food coma” that ensues. The insulin your pancreas releases after eating carbs does its job, which is partially to pull essential amino acids into muscle (yay for muscle building), but there is one lonely amino acid that doesn’t go into cells…  tryptophan. This amino acid didn’t get an invite to the party, and so left alone in the blood it increases serotonin levels and sleep eventually comes along.

Perhaps the real question is “Who cares? What’s wrong with enjoying a hearty meal with family and napping yourself into a more relaxed and carefree state, at least for a day?” If you ask me, we don’t really rest enough and enjoy our families as we should. Our inability to slow down does more to wreck our weight management hormones than one gut-busting, coma-inducing turkey dinner. Nevertheless, your best bet is balance. Strike a “happy middle” with the desire to enjoy food and the urge to overeat.

Here’s are some Turkey Day Eating Tips:

• Most meals are 1000+ calories per plate! So stick to one plate, and that’s it. Include some green vegetables on that plate. Take a little of everything that looks good and enjoy each bite. You shouldn’t need a fork lift to lift your fork!

• Start with a healthy breakfast – stay full with oatmeal made with cranberries and walnuts and have a morning snack of a handful of nuts and low-fat cheese. Try this recipe for Simple Mashed Cranberries.

• Don’t compete for the award for biggest plate and cleanest plate. Just enjoy the conversation and company. This is not about the food. It’s about people.

• Instead of seconds, have a cup of hot peppermint or ginger tea to aid in digestion and put off the dessert a couple hours.

• Make a “top crust” apple pie with thinly sliced apples. They bake crispy and people love the look and it has less guilt!

Post from: Diets in Review Blog

How to Avoid the Thanksgiving Food Coma

According to a new study, only low-fat diets will help with long-term mood improvement.

“This study looked at one factor, and prior studies haven’t focused on psychological factors,” says Dr. Ewald Horvath, interim chairman of psychiatry at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. “This is a great study focusing on something very important.”

The key difference between low-fat diets and low-carb diets is the long-term effect on mood. Studies have previously found short-term improvements in the mood of people who chose a wide variety of different diets. This new study reaffirmed the evidence of improvements over the first eight weeks of dieting on various plans. But it’s after the initial two months that low-carb dieters tended to return to their depressed moods.

“The exact mechanism for the observed effects on mood still remains largely unknown,” says study author Grant D. Brinkworth, a research scientist with the food and nutritional sciences division of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization in Adelaide, Australia.

But, it is known that carbs can increase serotonin concentrations in the brain, whereas added fat and protein can reduce it. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that is involved with controlling mood, anger, and aggression.

(via: Yahoo News)

Post from: Diets in Review Blog

Low-Fat Diets Improve Your Mood

What it is: HCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) is a hormone produced during pregnancy by the cells that form the placenta. This hormone is detected in the blood around 11 days after conception; it is detected in the urine around 12-14 days after conception. While it is most commonly associated with pregnancy, it is present in both genders.

What it does in the body: HCG signals the hypothalamus (area of the brain that affects metabolism) to mobilize fat stores. In pregnancy, this helps the body bring nutrients into the placenta, fueling the fetus with the energy to grow.

The weight loss claim: The HCG diet (using daily hcg injections) will help you lose 1-3 pounds per day.  The HCG-diet combines the daily injections with a very low-calorie diet (500 calories per day).

500-calories per day is severely restrictive! In fact, it is not enough calories to support normal brain function. Your body will compensate by using stores of glycogen, protein (muscle) and some fat, which lowers your resting metabolism. Before you can lose true weight, you will be so irritable, lightheaded, and cranky that you’ll reach for whatever food you can get your hands on and have a field day.

Scientific evidence: There is no scientific evidence supporting HCG injections as a weight loss strategy. In addition, these injections have not been approved by the FDA for use in weight loss. In fact, since 1975 the FDA has required all marketing and advertising of HCG to state the following: “HCG has not been demonstrated to be effective adjunctive therapy in the treatment of obesity. There is no substantial evidence that it increases weight loss beyond that resulting from caloric restriction, that it causes a more attractive or ‘normal’ distribution of fat, or that it decreases the hunger and discomfort associated with calorie-restricted diets.”

“HCG is a hormone extracted from urine of pregnant women. It is approved by FDA for treatment of certain problems of the male reproductive system and in stimulating ovulation in women who have had difficulty becoming pregnant. No evidence has been presented, however, to substantiate claims for HCG as a weight-loss aid.” via the FDA

HCG ban: The hormone was recently added to the list of “banned substances” in Major League Baseball, as it was becoming increasingly popular among steroid users. Athletes turned to this, among other “performance enhancing drugs” because it “mitigates the side effects of ending a cycle of steroids.”

Negative side effects: The common side effects include headaches, mood swings, depression, blood clots, confusion, and dizziness. Some women also develop a condition called Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHSS); symptoms of this include pelvic pain, swelling of the hands and legs, stomach pain, weight gain, shortness of breath, diarrhea, vomiting/nausea, and/or urinating less than normal.

Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Weight loss is hard work and it won’t come in a potion, pill, or injection. The most “dangerous” thing you should be doing to your body is trying a new exercise that intimidates you like rock climbing or completing a marathon.

Sources:

Banned in MLB
HCG Side Effects
FDA
CalorieLab : “Weight loss is hard, and human pregnancy hormone won’t change that”
Associated Content : “HCG Marketed by convicted fraud, Kevin Trudeau”
Diet Scam Watch : “HCG Worthless as a weight-loss aid”

Post from: Diets in Review Blog

HCG Diet: Look Elsewhere for Weight Loss

Today she told us that she even uses her own team of doctors for her contestants, not the Biggest Loser doctors who merely tell Bob and Jillian if they’re allowed to do something with a contestant. It was in using her own endocrinologist that she discovered an issue with season four’s Julie Haddon. Jillian recalls in Julie’s first weigh-in, usually one of the most substantial on the show, she had only lost two pounds. She didn’t understand it, but her endocrinologist did, and pointed out that Julie had PCOS and insulin resistance, two bio-chemical disorders affecting her metabolism.

More after the jump

“I didn’t understand it until that moment,” says Jillian, who used that knowledge to help Julie become the second place contestant on season four. Jillian began working with those doctors to better understand her own metabolism. In her new book, “Master Your Metabolism,” which releases April 7, she shares the culmination of 17 years of fitness knowledge, with revelations about her own health and experience with weight loss. Her doctors told her that she had hypothyroid, estrogen dominance and low testosterone. Years of eating “frankenfoods” (her name for fake, preservative-filled, chemical foods), yo-yo dieting and what she calls treating her body “like a lab rat” had harmed her natural biochemistry.

“Oh my god! This is the key to the kingdom. I have to understand this,” she says. She worked with medical professionals, and co-writer Mariska Van Aalst, to break down the information to make it digestible and understandable for everyone. Much moreso than the work of say Diana Schwarzbein, whose book on a similar topic Jillian says will make your head hurt to read. “It was like reading quantum physics!,” she says.

In “Master Your Metabolism,” Jillian outlines a smart and approachable plan to remove all the fake foods from your diet and replace them with whole, natural foods. “You’ve got to start taking processed foods out of your diet,” she declares, explaining that those foods do cause diseases like cancer or diabetes, they disrupt your body’s biochemistry and attach the growth hormones. For some, these will be drastic dietary changes, but she says she can either “appeal to your mortality or your vanity,” and when you follow her three-step plan for diet and fitness, you’ll likely win on both sides. The plan also pays moderate attention to fitness, requiring about four-to-five hours per week in the gym, using both strength and cardio training.

If you’re ready to understand your metabolism and how you can work with it to attain healthy weight loss, then cracking open “Master Your Metabolism” is worth your time. Be prepared to change your eating habits for the better, and get fit under Jillian’s expert tutelage.

See part two of our interview, as Jillian discusses her future on The Biggest Loser.

Tweet to win a Jillian Michaels Prize Pack. Learn more!

Post from: Diets in Review Blog

Interview with Jillian Michaels Introducing Master Your Metabolism

In Master Your Metabolism, Jillian will help you understand how to work with your hormones in a three-phase plan.

1. Remove “anti-nutrients” from your diet
2. Restore foods that speak directly to fat-burning genes
3. Rebalance energy and your hormones for effortless weight loss

The book releases April 7, and will include shopping resources, food charts that trigger hormones, how to buy “power nutrients” on a budget, dining out guides, healthy recipes, and how to regulate hormone-related health concerns like PMS, PCOS, menopause and metabolic syndrome.

Learn more about Jillian Michaels’ Fitness Empire.

Post from: Diets in Review Blog

Jillian Michaels Announces New Book, Master Your Metabolism

Why do so many people gain weight in midlife?

- Hormones, although will only contribute for about 2-5 extra pounds.

- Poor lifestyle choices, overeating, reduced amount of exercise, and stress are the remaining factors that contribute the most to that weight gain.

What can I do to avoid this weight gain?

- Control your stress. This needs to be done by controlling your mind and doing various things to promote good mental health. Try meditation or practice your breathing. Also, remember to try to minimize stressful occurrences, i.e. if you’re going for a walk and everything around you is stressful (traffic, barking dogs, etc.) throw on some headphones or walk early in the morning before things start getting hectic.

- Examine your nutrition habits. Look at the quality, quantity, and frequency of your eating.

• Quality – plenty of fresh fruits and veggies, whole grain/whole wheat products, lean protein sources, low fat/fat-free dairy, minimize empty calories, processed foods, and sugar.

• Quantity – remember to practice portion control and how many calories, fat, and sodium you are taking in. Have an idea of how many calories you need. Although it varies for several reasons and the amount of muscle you have, but the average woman, not an athlete, in her mid 40s or 50s, needs about 1,500 to 1,600 calories a day, on average, if she is exercising. Where as a middle-aged man, average height and not an athlete but exercising, needs about 1,800 to 2,000.

• Frequency – it is much healthier to eat several small, nutritious meals a day rather then binging and eating only two or three times a day.

- Remember to exercise! Doing workouts that incorporate large muscles and multiple muscle groups will help you burn the most calories. Try to do cardio in which you are burning 400-500 calories a day (you can do it all in one setting or accrue it throughout your day!) And don’t forget to lift some weights!

Post from: Diets in Review Blog

Fighting Midlife Weight Gain