Category Archives: Uncategorized

How Common Is Starvation Mode as an Explanation for Stalled Weight Loss?

Posted on March 31, 2013 | Comments Off on How Common Is Starvation Mode as an Explanation for Stalled Weight Loss?

Melanie Thomassian, RD, has a great post on the over-diagnosed “starvation mode” theory that many folks use as an explanation for a stall in their weight loss journey. Rather than a starvation-induced reduction in metabolic rate, there’s usually another issue, such as under-estimation of calorie consumption or poor compliance with the weight loss plan.

Read the rest.

Comments Off on How Common Is Starvation Mode as an Explanation for Stalled Weight Loss?

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , , ,

Wine Consumption Falling Precipitously in France

Posted on March 30, 2013 | Comments Off on Wine Consumption Falling Precipitously in France

…according to BBC News.

In 1980 more than half of adults were consuming wine on a near-daily basis. Today that figure has fallen to 17%.

The article quotes Denis Saverot, editor of La Revue des Vins de France magazine:

“Just look at the figures. In the 1960s, we were drinking 160 litres each a year and weren’t taking any pills. Today we consume 80 million packets of anti-depressants, and wine sales are collapsing. Wine is the subtlest, most civilised, most noble of anti-depressants. But look at our villages. The village bar has gone, replaced by a pharmacy.”

Read the rest.

 

Comments Off on Wine Consumption Falling Precipitously in France

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged ,

For Observant Jews, Is a Low-Carb Passover Possible?

Posted on March 21, 2013 | Comments Off on For Observant Jews, Is a Low-Carb Passover Possible?

It is, according to Laura Dolson at About.com.  Passover starts March 21.

Comments Off on For Observant Jews, Is a Low-Carb Passover Possible?

Posted in Uncategorized

Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Kill Almost 200,000 Annually

Posted on March 21, 2013 | Comments Off on Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Kill Almost 200,000 Annually

…according to a Harvard-affiliated Ph.D. How could that be?  SSBs contribute to obesity, which in turn leads to diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and some cancers.

Reducing consumption of SSBs was one of the major points in the American Heart Association’s 2010 guidelines for reducing heart disease.

Read the details at MedPageToday.

Comments Off on Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Kill Almost 200,000 Annually

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , ,

Do You Eat These 7 “Unhealthy” Foods?

Posted on March 20, 2013 | Comments Off on Do You Eat These 7 “Unhealthy” Foods?

PBS NewsHour has the details.

  • breakfast cereal
  • Subway sandwiches
  • Light yogurt
  • Protein bars
  • Reduced-fat peanut butter
  • Vitaminwater
  • Gluten-free snacks and baked goods

“Unhealthy” in this context is defined as Melanie Warner.

h/t Donald Sensing

Comments Off on Do You Eat These 7 “Unhealthy” Foods?

Posted in Uncategorized

High Adiponectin May Not Protect Against Stroke and Heart Disease After All

Posted on March 19, 2013 | Comments Off on High Adiponectin May Not Protect Against Stroke and Heart Disease After All

I’ve written in the past about adiponectin, a hormone-like protein that may help protect against disease.  Obese folks have less of it.  However, a new study published in Obesity Reviews found no protection against stroke and coronary heart disease (like heart attacks) in people with higher levels of adiponectin.

Read the abstract.

Comments Off on High Adiponectin May Not Protect Against Stroke and Heart Disease After All

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , , ,

Businesses May Have a Way to Escape Obamacare

Posted on March 18, 2013 | Comments Off on Businesses May Have a Way to Escape Obamacare

…through self-insurance according to an article at MedPageToday.  Many businesses are quite concerned about their ability to pay for the Affordable Care Act.  They’re looking for ways around it so they can stay in business, keep all their employees, without raising prices too high.  From the referenced article, here’s how self-insurance works:

To employees, medical self-insurance looks like a regular health plan. Self-insured employers pay for most worker health costs directly, though they contract with an insurer or other company to administer claims. The employers also buy coverage known as stop-loss for claims exceeding a certain amount. Brokers say a growing number of firms see such plans as low-cost alternatives to conventional coverage because they’re exempt from ACA requirements such as insurance taxes and specified benefits.

For example, if an employer doesn’t want to pay for sex-change operations, they could exclude that as a covered service.

Read the rest.

Comments Off on Businesses May Have a Way to Escape Obamacare

Posted in Uncategorized

High Calcium Intake Linked to Higher Risk of Death In Swedish Women

Posted on March 18, 2013 | Comments Off on High Calcium Intake Linked to Higher Risk of Death In Swedish Women

Six of every 10 middle-aged and older women in the U.S. are taking calcium supplements, hoping to keep their bones strong and thereby avoid osteoporotic fractures of the hip, spine, and wrist.  A new study in the British Medical Journal suggests that high calcium consumption, whether from food or supplements, increases the risk of death.

The researchers wrote: 

In this study of women in the Swedish mammography cohort, a high calcium intake (>1400 mg/day) was associated with an increased rate of mortality, including death from cardiovascular disease. The increase was moderate with a high dietary calcium intake without supplement use, but the combination of a high dietary calcium intake and calcium tablet use resulted in a more pronounced increase in mortality. For most women with lower intakes we observed only modest differences in risk.

 

 

Comments Off on High Calcium Intake Linked to Higher Risk of Death In Swedish Women

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , , , ,

The Ashley Goes Behind the Scenes at The Biggest Loser Show

Posted on March 16, 2013 | Comments Off on The Ashley Goes Behind the Scenes at The Biggest Loser Show

 …details are here.  What’s it like to be at the ranch for days?  Are there many injuries?

 

h/t Dr. Yoni Freedhoff

Comments Off on The Ashley Goes Behind the Scenes at The Biggest Loser Show

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged

Does Female Hormone Replacement Therapy Really Cause Breast Cancer?

Posted on March 15, 2013 | Comments Off on Does Female Hormone Replacement Therapy Really Cause Breast Cancer?

Hormone replacement therapy at the time of menopause fell out of favor a decade ago.  One of the concerns was that such therapy caused breast cancer.  Some investigators question the association.  Details are here.

Comments Off on Does Female Hormone Replacement Therapy Really Cause Breast Cancer?

Posted in Uncategorized