Weight Maven Beth Mazur summarizes results of the phase III trial needed for FDA approval. Contrave is a combo of naltrexone and bupropion.
Beth’s not very impressed with the drug, and neither am i.
Instead, check out The Advanced Mediterranean Diet.
…according to an article at MedPageToday. Use it or lose it?
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Was Hippocrates the dude that said something about “make food your medicine”?
Bodo Melnik has an article in DermatoEndocrinology regarding the dietary causes of acne. He also comments on the role of Western foods in obesity, cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, and neurodegenerative disorders. These are our old friends, the “diseases of civilization.” Melnik mentions the Paleolithic diet favorably.
Melnik says it’s all tied in with mTORC1: mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1.
A snippet:
These new insights into Western diet-mediated mTORC1-hyperactivity provide a rational basis for dietary intervention in acne by attenuating mTORC1 signaling by reducing (1) total energy intake, (2) hyperglycemic carbohydrates, (3) insulinotropic dairy proteins and (4) leucine-rich meat and dairy proteins. The necessary dietary changes are opposed to the evolution of industrialized food and fast food distribution of Westernized countries. An attenuation of mTORC1 signaling is only possible by increasing the consumption of vegetables and fruit, the major components of vegan or Paleolithic diets. The dermatologist bears a tremendous responsibility for his young acne patients who should be advised to modify their dietary habits in order to reduce activating stimuli of mTORC1, not only to improve acne but to prevent the harmful and expensive march to other mTORC1-related chronic diseases later in life.
You sciencey types can read the rest. Our new friend mTOR also seems to be involved with growth of muscle induced by resistance exercise.
h/t Mangan
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Tagged acne, Bodo Melnik, cancer, diabetes, diseases of civilization, mTOR, obesity, Paleolithic diet
…at The Guy Can Cook. Volume and weight measuring devices, thermometers, etc. Well worth a read if you’re new to cooking. If you’re trying to lose excess weight and keep it off, you need to be cooking at home more than the average person. Darrin writes:
It’s easy to romanticize the image of the chef who does every thing by instinct.
He knows just how much ingredients to add, how long to cook it, and the exact moment that it’s done.
But we mere mortals are different, and there’s no need to bash our heads against the wall while we consistently ruin dishes that could have been saved with just a bit of science.
In this context, “science” means measuring devices.
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…according to an article in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. In addition, mitochondrial content fell by 4.5% over the 12-week course of exercise. Mitochondria are the power plants of our body cells.
h/t David Mendosa
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“The Heritage Foundation recently launched an informational campaign to raise awareness of overprosecution and regulatory overreach, appropriately called “USA vs. You” (www.heritage.org/usavsyou). Heritage reports there are now more than 4,500 federal criminal laws on the books, and a whopping 300,000 federal criminal regulations. Throw in state statutes and local ordinances, and our governments have criminalized everyday life to the point that everyone is breakin’ the law — and subject to egregious abuses of authority.
Take the 2011 case of 11-year-old Virginia resident Skylar Capo. She rescued a baby woodpecker from a cat and brought the bird inside a home improvement store, so it wouldn’t suffer in the heat of her mother’s car. A U.S. Fish and Wildlife agent also was at the store, Heritage reported, and read the riot act to Ms. Capo and her mother for violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The Capos released the bird upon returning home and notified the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Yet that same agent, with a Virginia state trooper as backup, showed up at their house two weeks later to serve notice of a $535 federal fine and possible jail time. Public backlash led to all charges being rescinded.
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Whitecoat has the details, calling flip flops the orthopedist’s favorite footwear. They’re good for business.
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Perhaps the biggest single change in the new document is the adoption of a single systolic blood pressure target for almost all patients: 140 mmHg, This replaces the previous, more complicated target, which included both systolic and diastolic recommendations for different levels of risk (140/90 mmHg for moderate to low risk patients and 130/80 mmHg target for high risk patients). One of the authors, Robert Fagard, commented: “there was not enough evidence to justify two targets.”
Thirty or 40% of Europeans have high blood pressure, a risk factor for heart attacks, strokes, kidney failure, and premature death.
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The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
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…I’d reconsider. According to an article a MedPageToday:
Soccer players who repeatedly “head” the ball had changes in brain microstructure and performance on neurocognitive testing, suggesting that this popular maneuver may lead to long-term subconcussive brain injury, researchers reported.
That doesn’t sound good.
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Click the pic to purchase at Amazon.com. E-book versions also available at Smashwords.com.
Advanced Mediterranean Diet 