Conditioning Research

Here is an interesting study that indicates that Intermittent Fasting - as prescribed in Brad Pilon's Eat Stop Eat - works well for fat loss. ( Interviewed Brad Pilon here ) There are some good thoughts on the study here from the researchers: The results defy the notion that fasting or dieting leads to gorging later; they also counter the idea that people have a genetically determined set point weight. However, the study suggests a new strategy for losing weight. Although chronic lifestyle changes (eating healthier foods and getting more exercise) are preferable ways to lose weight, Levitsky said, a weekly fast might be another way to go. Since it takes 10 to 14 days to recover the body tissue lost from a one-day fast, "Going without food for one day each week should produce a significant reduction in body weight over time," Levitsky said, now that we know that "fasting does not lead to overeating, and total recovery of body tissue does not occur within the week....

This is a concept that hovers around a few training programmes and dietary approaches: training when you have low muscle glycogen either through prior intense exercise to deplete the glycogen (this is the approach Rusty takes in his Treadmill Ninja course ) or via a low carb diet. Good to see a study to look at the concept. Training in a state of glycogen depletion limited performance but increased fat burning. It would be interesting to see this compared with Phinney's work on low carb and endurance training. Training with Low Muscle Glycogen Enhances Fat Metabolism in Well-Trained Cyclists. PURPOSE:: To determine the effects of training with low muscle glycogen on exercise performance, substrate metabolism, and skeletal muscle adaptation. METHODS:: Fourteen well-trained cyclists were pair-matched and randomly assigned to HIGH or LOW-glycogen training groups. Subjects performed 9 aerobic training (AT; 90 min at 70% VO2max) and 9 high-intensity interval-training sessions (HIT; ...

This study provides preliminary evidence that long-term weight loss with a very-low-carbohydrate diet does not adversely affect renal function compared with a high-carbohydrate diet in obese individuals with normal renal function. Renal Function Following Long-Term Weight Loss in Individuals with Abdominal Obesity on a Very-Low-Carbohydrate Diet vs High-Carbohydrate Diet .

See what you make of this : Dietary cholesterol and egg consumption were associated with increased CVD risk ONLY in those with type 2 diabetes. Comments?

the impact of the mind on your health is wildly underapprecited. I think many health problems are at root exacerbated by - if not caused by - psychological stress. It is not just our diet that is far divorced from what it should be, it is our psychological state. We are chronically stressed. Anyway typically, optimism is good for your immune system: Optimism boosts the immune system Feeling better about the future might help you feel better for real. In a new study, psychological scientists Suzanne Segerstrom of the University of Kentucky and Sandra Sephton of the University of Louisville studied how law students' expectations about the future affected their immune response. Their conclusions: Optimism may be good for your health. Other studies have found that people who are optimistic about their health tend to do better. For example, people who are optimistic about heart transplant surgery recover better from that grueling operation. But it's not clear how optimism affect...

Stephan mentioned this the other day and I just saw it pop across my regular pubcrawler search: A diet based on high-heat-treated foods promotes risk factors for diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular diseases. RESULTS: In comparison with the steamed diet, 1 mo consuming the high-heat-treated diet induced significantly lower insulin sensitivity and plasma concentrations of long-chain n-3 (omega-3) fatty acids and vitamins C and E [-17% (P

interesting idea from The Maxwell