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)

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Low-Fat Diets Improve Your Mood

A Mediterranean diet is rich in vegetables and whole grains. In a new Italian study the subjects ate the Mediterranean way, with 30 percent of their calories from fat (mostly olive oil). They were better able to manage their disease without diabetes medications than those people who ate a low-fat diet with no more than 30 percent of calories from fat (with less than 10 percent coming from saturated fat choices).

The study was thorough. After four years, researchers found that only 44 percent of people who were on the Mediterranean diet required diabetes medications to control their blood sugars, while 70 percent of those who followed the low-fat diet needed medications.

Katherine Esposito, MD, of the Second University of Naples, says the results “reinforce the message that benefits of lifestyle interventions should not be overlooked.” Which is a fancy way of saying your diet is a factor in managing your diabetes.

It’s not that the low-fat diet was unhealthy. In fact, it was based on the American Heart Association guidelines, which is rich in whole grains, limited sweets, with no more than 30 percent of calories from fat and 10 percent from saturated fats. The weight loss between the two groups was pretty much the same. But, the Mediterranean diet not only was more beneficial with diabetes issues, the people also experienced an improvement in additional heart disease risk factors.

(via: WebMD)

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Mediterranean Diet Helps Diabetics

Muscle tissue and fat tissue are two different types of tissue and you need to burn the fat tissue before you can see that six pack. Doing crunches alone will never get the results that you are looking for. You would have to perform millions of crunches to get the results that proper diet and cardio can achieve.

I have put together a few exercise tips that may help you achieve your desired goal:

1. Watch your carbohydrate and fat intake

2. Eat a high protein, low-fat and low-carb diet

3. Do thirty minutes to an hour of cardio each day for at least five days a week

4. Do the following ab workout as well (two sets of 20 to 30 repetitions each):

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The Truth About Abs

A few years ago, Madonna was introduced to the pint-sized trainer and former dancer, Tracy Anderson, through her best friend Gwyneth Paltrow. Anderson helped Gwyneth get in the best shape of her life following the birth of her second child, Moses, and now this ballerina-turned-trainer is a fixed presence within Madonna’s entourage of stylists, artists, chefs and dancers on her Sticky & Sweet Tour.

Anderson keeps her tiny body and many others in fabulous shape through her own signature method that revolves around variety. From cardio to strength-training, Anderson pushes her A-list clients, like Madonna, to the max by having them perform hundreds of repetitions of weight-based exercises that work muscles at different angles so that the muscle (and you) never becomes bored.

She was inspired to take her body into her own control when as a dancer, she was consistently told that yes, she could dance, but no she didn’t have the body for it. At five feet tall and very muscular, Anderson was not born with the lithe body that ballerinas have. Rather than giving up, she spent years researching how the body’s muscles function, move and grow. Out of this came her own specific method of exercise in which she created thousands of moves that isolate certain muscles and result in the dancer’s body that she also dreamed of having.

The good news is that Anderson has just launched 3 new DVDs that share some of the magic behind her intense workout programs that shaped her own body and Madonna’s: A mat workout, a dance workout and a post-pregnancy workout. In order to get a killer body, be prepared to workout hard for 30 minutes a day, six days a week.

And if you really want to go full-force, follow Anderson’s low-cal, low-carb and low-fat diet for a few weeks. Expect to eat no more than 3 small meals a day and a snack. A sample day includes, one cup of Kashi cereal for breakfast with low-fat soy or rice milk, 3 oz of chicken breast and 1 cup of raw veggies for lunch, mixed berries for a snack, and 3-5 ounces of grilled sea bass with a 1/2 cup of steamed spinach for dinner.

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Meet Tracy Anderson, Madonna’s Fitness Guru