Hitting the gym for better weight control? Try thinking about it as “fun and pleasurable” and not “exercise” for best results. In an intriguing series of two separate experiments, researchers from Cornell’s famed Food and Brand Lab found that we eat significantly more after physical activity perceived as “exercise” vs. the same activity perceived as “a pleasurable pastime”. In the […]
Exercise is simply stellar for weight control. Check out all the different ways exercise can help you stay lean! Exercise burns calories. Exercise enhances insulin sensitivity (insulin action) which boosts calorie burning potential. Exercise builds lean body mass (muscle). The more muscle mass you have, the more calories you burn. Muscles burn fat very effectively […]
Based on the latest science, the single most powerful predictor of functionality in older age is strength capacity. Let me repeat – as we age, maintaining muscular strength is the most important factor in maintaining independence. Unfortunately, the average person becomes more sedentary with age which accelerates the loss of muscles mass and strength that […]
Regular exercise has a rock-solid reputation for slowing the aging process and a new study points to HIT as the most effective of all. HIT stands for “high-intensity interval training” and is defined by very brief, but very vigorous bouts of aerobic activity alternating with longer intervals of light activity. For example, pedaling on a […]
Rejoice! Just a single minute of intense movement results in health benefits on par with much, much longer periods of continuous exercise. That was the conclusion of a report that is fantastic news for the millions of Americans who claim they “do not have enough time to exercise.” For this evaluation scientists assigned 27 sedentary […]
As the wife of an ophthalmologist, I have a special appreciation for the value of good eyesight, and a study suggests that lifestyle factors under our direct control may help protect our vision. For the evaluation, researchers tracked vision and lifestyle factors in nearly 5,000 US adults over a 20-year period. Study subjects who […]
Midlife weight gain is one of the most predictable and unhealthy accompaniments of aging with most people gaining at least a pound or two a year. Unfortunately, midlife comes with a convergence of many different forces that bear on our waistlines – tipping the scales in the positive direction. The six primary drivers of midlife […]
Loss of muscle mass, known as sarcopenia, is a common and potentially deadly accompaniment to aging and good nutrition proves to be a powerful ally to help counter this debilitating state. Maintaining muscle mass is fundamental to ensuring a healthy metabolism and plays a defining role in maintaining functionality in old age. In fact, muscular […]
Thankfully great news on exercise is always forthcoming and here are three notable headlines: An analysis involving a total of 218,000 study subjects found that regular physical activity can stifle the effects of the powerful FTO gene. The FTO gene is one of the most common and well-documented genetic markers for obesity risk. (Another remarkable […]
If burning fat is one of your goals for working out, you may want to skip your post-workout snack. Reporting in the Journal of Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism (2007), investigators found that after a 1-hour walk on the treadmill, study subjects experienced a 40% boost in insulin efficiency (which translates to a faster metabolism […]
Perhaps one of the most eye-popping and important scientific developments on the health front has been the recognition that prolonged sitting is definitely hazardous to our health. Regardless of the amount of “exercise” you get over the course of the day – sitting for long segments of time comes with a host of adverse metabolic […]
Rejoice! Obesity genes do not have the final word-you do! In a highly encouraging report, scientists concluded that regular physical activity can dramatically diminish the activity of the FTO gene, the most common and powerful obesity gene. For this study, researchers carefully monitored the activity levels of over 17,000 multiethnic adults from 17 different countries for three […]
