The Skinny Kid

When a recent study showed no special weight loss benefit from low-glycemic diets relative to other diets, I said:

I’ve always been a believer in the “weight gain/loss = calories in - calories out” theory. Still, the concept of glycemic load has some intuitive appeal. For example, given the link between obesity and diabetes, and the need to control sugar absorption in the latter case, perhaps overweight people should pay attention to glycemic index even if they aren’t trying to lose weight.

As it turns out, not only was I on the right track with that question but other researchers were in the process of answering it.

Insidermedicine Video News : Low Glycemic Diet Lowers Cholesterol, Good for Weight Loss

Dieters who select a low-glycemic load diet my have more success at losing weight, than those following a low carbohydrate or low fat diet, say researchers in a report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.Three popular diets have recently received much attention – low fat, low carbohydrate, and low glycemic load. However, there is still no consensus on which diet yields the best results. Glycemic load refers to the increase in blood sugar that occurs following the consumption of a carbohydrate. Foods low on the glycemic index, such as certain fruits, nuts, and vegetables, release glucose gradually into the blood stream. Foods high on the glycemic index, such as breads and pasta, provoke an immediate response in the blood sugar levels and tend to result in increased hunger and overeating.

For people with tendency for high insulin levels 30 minutes after eating, the low-glycemic diet produced a five times greater decrease in weight than the low-fat diet at 18 months. The low-glycemic diet was also more effective in reducing body fat and improving cholesterol and trigyceride levels, while the low-fat diet improved low-density lipoprotein, or “bad” cholesterol.

Differences in insulin secretion among individuals may help predict the success of weight loss programs, and reducing glycemic load may be especially important for those who secrete insulin at a higher level.

Makes sense to me.

ScienceDaily: Tart Cherries Can Alter Factors Linked To Heart Disease And Diabetes, Animal Study Suggests

Tart cherries may be good for more than just making pie, according to new data from an animal study conducted by University of Michigan Health System researchers and presented recently at a major scientific meeting.

Tart cherries may be good for more than just making pie, according to new data from an animal study conducted by University of Michigan Health System researchers and presented recently at a major scientific meeting. (Credit: Photo by Brian Prechtel; Courtesy of USDA/Agricultural Research Service)
In a study involving rats, the researchers report that animals that received powdered tart cherries in their diet had lower total cholesterol, lower blood sugar, less fat storage in the liver, lower oxidative stress and increased production of a molecule that helps the body handle fat and sugar, compared with rats that didn’t receive cherries as part of an otherwise similar diet. All of the rats had a predisposition toward high cholesterol and pre-diabetes, but not obesity.

I have been getting some very tart freeze-dried cherries for my megamuffins recently. Wonder if they work?

Eggs Enhance Dieters’ Weight Loss - Associated Content

Overweight women lost more weight during the course of their diets eating eggs for breakfast than they did eating bagels, according to the report, released at the annual meeting of Experimental Biology and funded by the Egg Nutrition Center and the American Egg Board.Nikhil Dhurandhar, lead researcher for the study, said the eggs cause people to feel fuller longer, thus reducing the temptation to continue eating.

Study participants were put on a diet that reduced their recommended calories consumption by 1,000 calories a day. One group was given two eggs for breakfast, and another was given bagels with the same amount of calories.

After 8 weeks of this routine, Dhurandhar said the results were more than what he expected. Women on the egg diet lost 65 percent more weight and reported feeling more energetic than the women who ate bagels.

I certainly feel more satisfied if I get some protein at breakfast.

ScienceDaily: Statins Linked To Lower Risk Of Infection

Researchers at Johns Hopkins may have discovered an unintended benefit in the drugs millions of Americans take to lower their cholesterol: The medications, all statins, seem to lower the risk of a potentially lethal blood infection known as sepsis in patients on kidney dialysis.

Interesting. Wouldn’t be enough to get me on statins, certainly, but they do appear to have many benefits.

This profile says “no.”

Policosanol: Side Effects and Cholesterol » iFitandHealthy.com

Policosanol’s Side Effects: No side effects are known at this time.Cons: Those with dangerously high cholesterol levels might use it instead of an effective treatment.

Those seeking an effective over-the-counter treatment may have to look further (though we hear diet and exercise remains popular among some sects.)

Pomegranate Juice May Be Good For The Prostate And Heart, Reports The Harvard Men’s Health Watch

Two recent studies suggest that pomegranate juice may help fight prostate cancer. In one study, scientists grew cells from highly aggressive cases of human prostate cancer in tissue cultures. Pomegranate fruit extracts slowed the growth of the cultured cancer cells and promoted cell death. The researchers then implanted the cancer cells in mice. A group of mice that received water laced with pomegranate juice developed significantly smaller tumors than the untreated animals. In a preliminary study of men with prostate cancer, pomegranate juice lengthened patients’ PSA doubling time (the longer the doubling time, the slower the tumor is growing) from 15 months before treatment to 54 months on the juice.Preliminary results in test tubes, animals, and humans suggest that pomegranates may also have beneficial effects on cardiovascular disease. Studies show that pomegranate juice can protect LDL (bad) cholesterol from oxidative damage. The juice has also been shown to slow the progression of plaques in mice with atherosclerosis. Results from two small clinical studies are even more intriguing, showing that carotid artery thickness decreased and cardiac blood flow improved in pomegranate juice drinkers. However, preliminary research also suggests that pomegranate juice may interact with certain medications, much like grapefruit juice does.

I have been alternating between pomegranate and grapefruit juice with breakfast.

For those who thought eating more of anything would somehow lead to lower weight, you will be disappointed with this headline.

Eating extra soy may not promote weight loss | Science & Health | Reuters

Adding soy-protein-rich foods while cutting calories doesn’t accelerate weight loss, a new study shows.Overweight women who ate 500 fewer calories a day than normal while consuming an extra 18 grams of soy-rich food daily for 12 weeks didn’t lose any more weight than their peers who didn’t add the extra soy, Dr. Marie-Pierre St. Onge of St. Luke’s/Roosevelt Hospital in New York City and colleagues found.

You see, it is calories in versus calories out, more than the composition of those calories, that results in weight gain or loss. Still, the higher-soy diet (with equal calories) did lower insulin and bad cholesterol. And those are good things to lower.

For those who thought eating more of anything would somehow lead to lower weight, you will be disappointed with this headline.

Eating extra soy may not promote weight loss | Science & Health | Reuters

Adding soy-protein-rich foods while cutting calories doesn’t accelerate weight loss, a new study shows.Overweight women who ate 500 fewer calories a day than normal while consuming an extra 18 grams of soy-rich food daily for 12 weeks didn’t lose any more weight than their peers who didn’t add the extra soy, Dr. Marie-Pierre St. Onge of St. Luke’s/Roosevelt Hospital in New York City and colleagues found.

You see, it is calories in versus calories out, more than the composition of those calories, that results in weight gain or loss. Still, the higher-soy diet (with equal calories) did lower insulin and bad cholesterol. And those are good things to lower.

Disease Proof has a couple of recipes for Super Healthy Oatmeals

We have been making similar oatmeals since we started calorie restriction. Currants, flaxseed and berries are all very tasty and nutritious ways to supplement plain oatmeal - much better than the sugary variety packs sold as instant oatmeal.

Some interesting graphs over at Disease Proof: Animal Fat and Cancer

In preparation for this post I decided to sift through DiseaseProof’s archives for posts discussing the link between animal products and cancer. And in the end, even I was surprised by the number of them….

Now this brings me to these graphs, which I’ve been sitting on for a while now, and honestly I don’t know why. Dr. Fuhrman sent them over months ago with this batch of graphs that illustrate the relationship between animal and plant foods and heart disease. So, without any further ado, check out Dr. Fuhrman’s graphs on animal fat and cancer:

Obviously there could be other factors at play that affect cancer. But these graphs (there are several showing the regression for animal fat against specific forms of the disease) are pretty compelling visuals.