Announced recently on Dr. Oz, pine nuts are showing a possible weight loss effect due to their main ingredient, pinolenic acid, wjocj helps suppress the appetite and eliminate cravings. While research has shown that a large amount of this acid is found in the pine nuts which helps people feel more full for a longer period of time, it’s still not something that should be applied broadly to pine nut species, as Dr. Oz is doing.

When experiencing hunger suppression, body weight can consequently be reduced by keeping people from overeating the daily recommended dose of calories. Studies show that the pinolenic acid found specifically in Korean pine nuts acts on two gut hormones that work to satisfy hunger. One hormone’s job is to slow the gastric process that is emptying and the other is in charge of absorption of food in the gut. Research participants who were given pine nut oil showed a rise in these hormones and proclaimed to be fuller.

The Dr. Oz crew received this information from iTrustNews.com, where many of the benefits of pine nuts and their weight loss effects are discussed. They say consumption of these nuts can be in several different forms, including raw, powdered and liquid, and people can still get the beneficial pinolenic essential acid ingredient by eating any of those.
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Certain diets can change a person’s lifestyle. For examples, vegans live by a moral code that they will not have any animal product in or on their body. A popular diet that has made headlines in the past years is the raw food diet, which is the process of eating only raw fruits, vegetables, and some meats. Raw food dieters can cook the fruits, vegetables, and meats but at temperatures below 115 degrees Fahrenheit.

The raw food diet has received praise for being an effective weight-loss diet. It is not very hard to understand why the raw food diet is an effective diet. Dieters are eating foods with few calories yet they are getting plenty of vitamins, minerals, and enzymes. But, sometimes cooking raw food can boost the number of nutrients in foods.

A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that those on a raw food diet could be starving their brain from much needed calories. Our resident dietitian, Mary Hartley, RD, shared her opinion on the study, saying it “was done to add support to the theory that speculates that the shift to cooked foods was responsible for the evolution of primitive creatures into modern humans.”
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By Mary Hartley, RD, MPH for Vidazorb Chewable Probiotics*

You have one big family of 100 trillion bacteria living in your gut. That’s ten times more bacteria than total human cells. So far scientists have identified more than 500 strains, each an independent organism with a unique set of genes and talents. It’s important to keep your big family happy.

The “friendly” bacteria in your gut help to digest your food and regulate your immune system. Most of those friends are members of the Lactobacillus or Bifidobacterium genera. We all share certain specific bacterial colonies, but there is wide variation in the overall balance. We each have different proportions of bacterial species in us, and bacterial imbalance may contribute to many diseases including allergies, infections, and autoimmune conditions, and now, obesity.

In studies, gut bacteria seem to influence weight. The mix of bacteria may play a role in the tendency to gain. Early research shows that morbidly obese people have different gut bacteria compared to healthy weight people. Obese people have more of the bacteria called Firmicutes and fewer Bifidobacteria spp and Bacteroidetes, and the reverse is true (1).  Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery shifts the microbe mix. Before surgery and the reduction of food intake, obese people have more Firmicutes, but after surgery, they develop more Bacteroidetes (2).

Mice can be made to gain weight – or not –  by manipulating their gut bacteria. When normal weight mice are colonized with bacteria from genetically obese mice they gain weight, but not so when the microbes come from mice of normal weight (3). Likewise, inoculating mice with Lactobacillus ingluviei changes their intestinal flora and increases their weight (4). The evidence is compelling and we’ve only just begun to look.
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We asked fans of the Wichita Prairie Fire Marathon Facebook page to post their biggest running questions. We received several great questions as these runners prepare for their half and full marathons on October 14. We have collected the best questions and better yet, gathered the best answers from our team of experts, which include Mary Hartley, RD for nutrition, Holly Perkins for fitness, Dr. Josh Umbehr for fitness and nutrition, and Jill Lawson for stretching.

These runner questions were so great and so common that any runner could benefit from hearing these expert answers.

Digestion issues, sore muscles, stretching inquiries, and diet conundrums were just a few of the topics we were able to cover. If you’ve ever had a running question, chances are it’s answered by clicking below.

We’ve all been there: It’s late, you’re scrolling through Pinterest and you see a sexy photo of an ice cream-topped brownie with a thick drizzle of fudge running down the side. On top? A hefty mound of fresh whipped cream and plenty of strawberries. Immediately, you’re sucked in: You need that brownie.

Whether this has happened to you or not, you’ve likely heard of the phenomenon that’s now commonly known as “food porn.”

As a food blogger and food gawker myself, food porn has affected me over and over again. Just this summer while visiting friends in Portland, I stumbled across a photo on Pinterest of a chocolate chip skillet cookie. In that moment, I decided I absolutely had to have some for myself. Hours later I was happy as a pig, mindlessly eating my own thick slice of ice cream-topped cookie pie.

Pinterest isn’t the only website pimping out its tantilizing food photos. In fact, it’s just the beginning. Dozens of other food sites like Foodgawker, Tastespotting and Dessert Stalking host a wide array of tempting food photos, with the cheesiest, gooey-est and most comforting shots often gaining the most attention. 
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