Part III

Other Influences

As has been suggested by previous smaller studies, how long people slept each night

influenced their weight changes. In general, people who slept less than six hours or more than eight hours a night tended to gain the most. Among possible explanations are effects of short nights on satiety hormones, as well as an opportunity to eat more while awake, Dr. Hu said.

He was not surprised by the finding that the more television people watched, the more weight they gained, most likely because they are influenced by a barrage of food ads and snacking in front of the TV.

Alcohol intake had an interesting relationship to weight changes. No significant effect was found among those who increased their intake to one glass of wine a day, but increases in

other forms of alcohol were likely to bring added pounds.

As expected, changes in smoking habits also influenced weight changes. Compared with people who never smoked, those who had quit smoking within four previous years gained

an average of 5.17 pounds. Subsequent weight gain was minimal--0.14 pound for each four year period.

Those who continued smoking lost 0.7 pound in each four year period, which the researchers

surmised may have resulted from undiagnosed underlying disease, especially since those who took up smoking experience no change in weight.

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My take:

After reading this article I was more convinced of the validity of the Ideal Protein Protocol.

The article may help you understand what may be influencing your weight changes.

Anyway, food for thought!!

Part II

Little Things Mean a Lot

People don't become overweight overnight.

Rather, the pounds creep up slowly, often unnoticed, until one day nothing in the closet fits

the way it used to.

Even more important than it's effect on looks and wardrobe, this gradual weight gain harms health.

At least six prior studies have found that rising weight increases the risk in women of heart disease,

diabetes, stroke, and breast cancer, and the risk in men of heart disease, diabetes and colon cancer.

The beauty of the new study is it's ability to show, based on real-life experience, how small changes

in eating, exercise, and other habits can result in large changes in body weight over the years.

On average, study participants gained a pound a year, which added up to 20 pounds in 20 years.

Some gained much more, about four pounds a year, while few managed to stay the same or even lose weight.

Participants who were overweight at the study's start tended to gain the most weight, which seriously

raised their risk of obesity related diseases, Dr. Hu said. "People who are already overweight have to be particularly careful about what they eat," he said.

The foods that contributed to the greatest weight gain were not surprising. French fries led the list: and 

increased consumption of this food alone was linked to an average weight gain of 3.4 pounds in each four year period. Other important contributors were potato chips (1.7 pounds), sugar sweetened drinks 

(1pound), red meats and processed meats (0.95 and 0.93 pound, respectively), other forms of potatoes

(0.57 pound), sweets and desserts (0.41 pound), refined grains (0.39 pound), other fried foods

(0.32 pound), 100-percent fruit juice (0.31 pound), and butter (0.30 pound).

Also not too surprising were most of the foods that resulted in weight loss or no gain when consumed

in greater amounts during the study: fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Compared to those who gained the most weight, participants's in the Nurses Health Study who lost weight consumed 3.1 servings of vegetables each day.

But contrary to what many people believe, an increased intake of dairy products, whether low-fat 

(milk) or full-fat (milk and cheese), had a neutral effect on weight.

And despite conventional advice to eat less fat, weight loss was greatest among people who ate more yogurt and nuts, including peanut butter, over each four year period.

Nuts are high in vegetable fat, and previously small studies have shown eating peanut butter can help people lose weight and keep it off, probably because it slows the return of hunger.

That yogurt, among all foods, was most strongly linked to weight loss was the study's most surprising dietary finding, the researchers said. Participants who ate more yogurt lost an average of 0.82 pound per year.

Yogurt contains healthful bacteria that in animal studies increase the production of intestinal hormones that enhance satiety and decrease hunger, Dr. Hu said. The bacteria may also raise the body's metabolic rate, making weight control easier.

But, consistent with the study's findings, metabolism takes a hit from refined carbohydrates-suagrs and starches stripped of their fiber, like white flour. When Dr. david Ludwig of Children's Hospital Boston

compared the effects of whole grains in both animals and people, he found that metabolism, which determines how many calories are used at rest, slowed with the consumption of refined grains but stayed the same after consumption of whole grains.

(stay tuned)

Still Counting Calories?

Part I

This is a copy of New York Times Article

Dated July 18, 2011

By Jane E. Brody

It's no secret that Americans are fatter today than ever before, and not just those unlucky people who are genetically inclined to gain weight or have been overweight all their lives. Many who are lean as young adults have put on lots 

of unhealthy pounds as they pass through middle age and beyond.

It's no secret that the long-reommended advice to eat less and exercise more has done little to curb the inexorable

rise in weight. No one likes to feel deprived or leave the table hungry, and the notion that one generally must eat less to control body weight really doesn't cut it for the typical American.

So the newest findings on what specific foods people should eat less often---and more importantly, more often--to 

keep from gaining pounds as they age should be of great interest to tens of millions of Americans.

The new research, by five nutrition and public health experts at Harvard University, is by far the most detailed long-term 

analysis of the factors that influence weight gain, involving 120,877 well-educated men and women who were healthy

and not obese at the start of the study. In addition to diet, it has important things to say about exercise, sleep, watching television, smoking and alcohol intake.

The study participants--nurses, doctors, dentists and veterinarians in the Nurses' Health Study, Nurses Health Study II

and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study--were followed for 12 to 20 years. Every two years, they completed very detailed questionnaires about there eating habits and current weight. The fascinating results were published in June in

The New England Journal of Medicine.

The analysis examined how an array of factors influenced weight gain or loss during each four-year period of the study.

The average participant gained 3.35 pounds every four years, for a total weight gain of 16.8 pounds in 20 years.

"This study shows that conventional wisdom--eat everything in moderation,  eat fewer calories and avoid fatty foods--

isn't the best approach," Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, a cardiologist and epidemiologist at the Harvard School of Public Health and lead author of the study, said in an interview.  "What you eat makes quite a difference. Just counting calories won't matter much unless you look at the kinds of calories you're eating. 

Dr. Frank B. Hu, a nutrition expert at the Harvard School of Public Health and co author of the new analysis, said: "In

the past, too much emphasis has been put on single factors in the diet. But looking a magic bullet hasn't solved the problem of obesity."

Also untrue, Dr. Mozzaffarian said, is the food industry's claim that there's no such thing as a bad food.

"There are good foods and bad foods, and advice should be to eat the foods more and bad foods less," he said.

"The notion that it's O.K. to eat everything in moderation is just an excuse to eat whatever you want."

The study showed physical activity had the benefits for weight control. Those who exercised less over the course of the study tended to gain weight, while those who increased their activity didn't. Those with the greatest increase in physical

activity gained 1.76 fewer pounds than the rest of the participants within each four year period.

But the researchers found that the kinds of food people ate had a larger effect over all than changes in physical activity.

"Both physical activity and diet are important to weight control, but are fairly active and ignore diet, you can still gain weight," said Dr. Walter Willett, chairman of the nutrition department of the Harvard School of Public Health and co-author of the study.

As Dr. Mozzaffarian observed, "Physical Activity in the United States is poor, but diet is even worse."

Understanding Ketosis

What does ketosis mean? Ketosis means the state when the 

body starts turning to fat for energy.  When a person is overweight, the state

of ketosis can be a speedy and effective route to burning up excess fat.

1. Reduces cholesterol levels in the body  Dieting on low carbohydrate foods

helps reduce high cholesterol levels. Eating less sugar lowers production of  glucose. Lowering cholesterol and carbohydrate levels help slow down age related diseases.

2. Aids in weight loss A substance known as ketone is produced when fats are

broken down to release energy. Initially, the ketones formed during this process

are excreted by the body in the form of urine. However, ketones often accumulate in the body leading to a condition known as ketosis. The common

side effects associated to this condition include loss of appetite, thereby is beneficial to people seeking to shed pounds.

3. Reduce hunger cravings Ketosis happens when your body is deprived of carbohydrates. It uses stored fat as energy and hence is beneficial if you are dieting. Low carb nutrition combined with regular protein intake help to keep

your muscles lean. Also, low carb nutrition greatly helps reduce the rate of 

metabolism in your body, which in turn reduces hunger cravings.