An interesting article from Cooking Light offers some insight into a recent diet trend: Can intermittent fasting really boost your metabolism to help you lose weight?
Surprisingly, research suggests that the effect of intermittent fasting has the same or less negative effects on metabolism compared to traditional dieting. The reason why many think intermittent fasting improves metabolism is due to less loss of lean body mass and greater fat burning. It’s impossible to lose weight without losing a little lean body mass, but research suggests that a lower percentage of lean body mass is lost when losing weight with intermittent fasting than with traditional dieting. Preserving more lean body mass means the body’s calorie-burning slows less. At the same time, short fasting periods cause the body to tap into fat stores and burn a greater percentage of fat mass for energy. (Source: Cooking Light)
What is intermittent fasting? This diet requires you to have an alternating schedule between short periods of fasting (consuming 25% of daily calorie needs) and periods of regular food intake (consuming the regular required calories recommenced for your body type; not binging on these days).
The key to utilizing intermittent fasting for weight loss is the short fasting periods (not extending them as that will slow metabolism) and keeping regular/normal days of eating in the recommended range and not overeating.
I’ve been hearing lots of buzz about the principal ingredient (and the main coloring agent) in curry. I love curry. So, needless to say, I’m hoping there’s something to the turmeric midlife miracle and that it’s not just another health hype fad.
Long known as the ingredient that gives curry its golden hue, turmeric is now capturing attention for its medicinal qualities. That’s because it contains curcumin, a substance with potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. It’s been touted as a remedy for everything from everyday digestive ills like heartburn and indigestion to serious conditions like arthritis and cancer. But does this spice really measure up to its wunderkind reputation? (Source: FoodNetwork.com)
While turmeric is said to offer bountiful health benefits, more rigorous scientific studies are needed to better understand how the golden hued powder effects our health.
Recently TIME magazine researched turmeric but were unable to find “any double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials (the gold-standard of medical research) to support its myriad health claims. Many studies also involved conflicts of interest […] like researchers who owned supplement companies and could benefit from sales of curcumin extract.” (TIME)
However, using turmeric to assist in disease management does have a long history and is gaining popularity. Is it worth a try?
Turmeric Consumption Tips:
Is fresh turmeric or powdered turmeric better to use? Fresh turmeric, which looks similar to ginger, is becoming easier to find in grocery stores, but preparing it involved peeling, chopping, grinding, etc. and the dried version is much simpler to work with — also it takes a lot of fresh root to add up to the concentration of the dried powder so its more flavor (and therapeutic effects?) in a the powder than the root itself.
Combine turmeric with fat; it is fat-soluble and needs the fat to activate beneficial nutritional effects as well as flavors. You can combine with whatever fat you prefer: ghee, butter, oils, etc. and store for use when ready to cook.
Combine turmeric with other spices, black pepper specifically has been shown to assist in absorption.
Think outside the box: don’t only use it in curry, but try sprinkling the spice on eggs and roasted vegetables and meats and using it in smoothies and soups. Look online for recipes to try!
Traditionally turmeric has been said to soothe upset stomachs (in Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine). While not proven, it is an ingredient in Golden Milk, a popular warm beverage that seems to help solve at least psychosomatic stomach issues. You can make Golden Milk with any milk or a non-dairy equivalent and a mix of spices. Check out a variety of recipes: Golden Milk recipes.
It’s anti-inflammatory properties can also help with sore throats, try adding turmeric to a salt water gargle or tea.
Using Turmeric Supplements
Curcumin, the part of turmeric that has the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, is not easily absorbed by the body. So while adding turmeric to your cooking will give your dishes flavor and may assist in some therapeutic ways — as part of a complete diet utilizing other helpful healthy foods — your body will not be absorbing a lot of it. You may want to consider a supplement if you believe the benefits are worth it.
“Curcumin is a powerful anti-inflammatory. But to make a real difference, you’ll need to take it in supplement form,” recommends Maggie Ward MS, RD, LDN, Nutrition Director at the UltraWellness Center in Lenox, MA.”The general dosage recommendation is 500 mg, 1-3 times a day. Some brands are now using a formula that includes ingredients that have been shown to increase the absorption of curcumin, like black pepper, or liposomes, which are fat molecules that help the gut.” (Source: FoodNetwork.com)
Turmeric Risks
Even though turmeric may be good for digestion, some people can experience GI distress with it and high quantities have been linked to acid reflux, low blood sugar, and other unwanted side effects. If you want to try cooking with it use small amounts to start to test your reaction to it. If you want to attempt using supplements with curcumin talk with your doctor first!
If you’re bound and determined to experiment with curcumin medicinally, [consult] your doctor — especially if you are already on medication — because preclinical studies have indicated it might change how other medications you use are metabolized in your body. (NBC)
Suggested Reading
Check out the additional sources below for more tips on utilizing turmeric in your diet and for more information and opinions on how beneficial it really is for your health:
Vanity Fair‘s Editor on Travel, Michelle Jana Chan introduced the 2018 issue with her article, “Oh, the places you’ll go…” She highlights the reasons why someone would travel and extols the benefits of travelling for the person and society.
Through several short personal anecdotes Chan illuminates various people she has encountered in her travels throughout the world and implies how encountering these people of different countries and cultures has made them real in a way that simply hearing about them secondhand wouldn’t.
“I have a romantic belief that world peace can be achieved through travel (and that the emissions from plane travel can be offset by avoiding war and its massive carbon footprint). […]
Although empathy is the more whimsical benefit, travelling itself can make a life more interesting.
“…it’s also the most fun ever. If I had only a year left of life, I’d hit the road for 365 days. Without question. Travel slows down the perception of the passage of time. It magnifies the moment. I live more zestfully.” (“Oh, the places you’ll go…“)
“Loss of muscle begins in your 30s but gains momentum when you hit 50 and accelerates even more rapidly in your mid-70s. The good news is that muscle loss and loss of strength can be slowed considerably in most cases and even reversed in some, regardless of age or fitness level. A 1994 study even showed that people could gain muscle in their late 90s.” (CNN)
Although everyone faces deteriorating muscles as they age there are ways to fight that loss. The best ways to counteract aging’s effect on our body’s musculature include:
Strength Training: Be sure to train appropriately, which involves choosing the right weight/resistance levels, exercising different muscle groups, and allowing adequate rest time between sets and sessions. Do proper research and/or hire a trainer or physical therapist to help you start.
Eating enough protein: Protein provides the building blocks for muscle and stimulates its growth, and as one gets older the quality, quantity and distribution of protein throughout the day becomes more important.
Reducing sedentary behavior: Pursue hobbies/activities that involve movement, etc.
Regular cardiovascular exercise: This helps prevent weight gain, which can be detrimental to health in many ways.
Maintaining good vitamin D levels: Get checked by your doctor and take supplements if necessary. Vitamin D has been shown to aide muscles.
For more information and details about the right combination of diet and exercise described above that can assist in slowing muscle loss and diminishing strength read the full CNN article, “How to build muscle as age tears it down.”
Are you using a standing desk to improve wellness and longevity. It turns out that switching to a standing desk isn’t a silver bullet…
“A standing desk is not an automatic ticket to better health. As Joan Vernikos, author of Sitting Kills and a former NASA Life Sciences director, discovered in her research on the stresses imposed by microgravity environments, uninterrupted standing can be as bad as sitting. Ideally, you’d switch between the two…
The simplest thing you can do is place a footrest under your desk where you can prop one leg while you stand. Vernikos recommends switching legs often, because ‘”the body needs stimulation through a change signal.'”
So simply using a standing desk isn’t the solution to the body’s inactivity during that stationary work. One must become active periodically no matter if one is sitting in a chair or standing at a desk.
“Among a group of Swedish women, those with high cardiovascular fitness at middle age were 88% less likely to develop dementia decades later, compared with women with moderate cardiovascular fitness, researchers reported online in Neurology.”
This means that if cardiovascular fitness is improved or maintained during middle age that has the potential to delay or prevent dementia from developing in a person’s later years. However, this was a limited study and it does not prove causation, just association, which means that more research needs to be done to determine if there is a true link between cardiovascular fitness and the prevention of dementia and if so when exactly in a person’s lifetime a high fitness level most important (be it midlife or otherwise).
For many adults, weight gain is slow and steady, but new research suggests that even a few extra pounds can boost your risk of chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure.” […] On average, people gain about a half a pound to a pound per year. Most people gain weight all the way to 55 and up,” Hu said. “But once you cross the obesity threshold, it’s difficult to go back. This study provides very strong evidence that prevention of weight gain is very important.” (Source: US News)
Two large-scale studies in the United States focused on weight gain and its connection to health problems. The studies included almost 93,000 women whose health was followed for 18 years, and more than 25,000 men whose health was followed for 15 years. The researchers found that for every 11 pounds gained the risk of certain conditions increased, including:
30% higher risk of diabetes
14% higher risk of high blood pressure
8% higher risk of heart disease or stroke
6% increased risk of an obesity-related cancer
5% higher risk of dying prematurely
17% decrease in the odds of healthy aging
If you notice yourself gaining weight it is best to begin trying to modify the factors/behaviors that you believe are affecting your weight as soon as possible.
Although it’s never too late to gain health benefits from losing weight, it becomes much harder to take weight off and keep it off the heavier you get. (Source: US News)
“There are… no truly healthy centenarians; you can’t put 100 points on the board without getting worn out and banged up along the way. But there are independent centenarians and happy centenarians and centenarians who have had a rollicking good ride. The same is true for people who will never reach the 100-year mark but make the very most of the time they do get. The end of life is a nonnegotiable thing. The quality and exact length of that life, however, is something we very much have the power to shape.” (Source: The Surprising Secrets to Living Longer — And Better)
Time magazine published an article on February 15, 2018 written by Jeffrey Kluger and Alexandra Sifferlin entitled “The Surprising Secrets to Living Longer — And Better.” The article takes into account numerous studies done concerning possible factors that can lead to longevity of human life.
The studies focused on different facets of a person’s life from personality traits, diet & exercise, to having friends, and it noted what effect those factors had on length and quality of life. Here are some of the findings discussed:
There is a gene variant linked to dementia, and a study determined that those with it who had positive attitudes about aging were 50% less likely to develop dementia than those who faced aging with more pessimism or fear.
Both family and friends are associated with happiness and better health, but as people aged the health link remained only for people with strong friendships.
Cities increasingly rank high on both doctors’ and seniors’ lists of the best places to age gracefully as they often have better access to potential friends, health facilities, and potential activities the elder can partake in than rural areas (which can be isolating).
There is no correlation pointing to cheerful/outgoing people living longer than those who are more serious/introverted.
Healthy eating may not need to be completely strict and is an issue of moderation.
While some exercise is beneficial it’s not as strenuous as one would fear; and it’s better to remain a healthy weight rather than be diet obsessive and repeatedly fluctuate the body’s weight.
Sex has also been linked to healthy longevity — although aged sex partners should not be strenuous and focus more on intimacy and pleasure rather than culminating in orgasm.
Light to moderate alcohol use is associated with a lower risk of death compared to people who don’t drink at all. (Though that’s not a reason to start if you choose not to partake.)
“Humans are not alone in facing the ultimate reckoning, but we’re the only species–as far as we know–who spends its whole life knowing death is coming.”
“Excess fat around the heart, in both men and women, is an evolving risk factor for heart disease. But how can clinicians see it at a regular physical? They can’t without a special heart scan,” said senior author Samar El Khoudary, Ph.D., M.P.H., associate professor of epidemiology at Pitt Public Health.
In August 2017, a study was published in the Menopause journal that discovered a heart disease risk factor in women that did not require special testing, but was a simple characteristic that a patient could discuss with their doctor: midlife weight gain. Although the location of that weight gain differed between races; it is midlife weight gain in the midsection that can be a fatty heart risk for black women, while for white women the risk is higher when they add weight all over their bodies.
“This study, coupled with our previous study in men, gives doctors another tool to evaluate their patients and get a better sense of their heart disease risk. It also may lead to suggestions for lifestyle modifications to help patients lessen that risk.”
Have you heard of “encore careers?” Shifting from the trends of the past where once a person retired they were finished working, it is now becoming more and more popular (due to both necessity and desire) for retirees to begin second occupations.
While most retirees plan to spend their post-work years traveling, volunteering, spending time with grandchildren, or improving their golf game, many are energized by discussing their “next act” in terms of work – their encore career…nearly 60 percent of workers who are age 60 or older anticipate looking for a new job after retiring. Whether it’s out of a necessity to supplement retirement income or a desire to simply to stay active, intellectually engaged, or inspired, working in retirement is quickly becoming the norm. (Source: Forbes)
Four reasons why the “encore career” has become more and more mainstream:
Financial Advantages: postponing drawdown of savings and social security while continuing to increase net worth is enticing to many, especially when life expectancy continues to rise.
Bridging the Gap: if contemplating the inevitable work-to-retirement transition spikes your anxiety, a more gradual change may prove more fulfilling for you.
Health Benefits: more and more evidence suggest cognitive, psychological, and social benefits to working…
Intrinsic Rewards: pivoting from the stable, lucrative, career path that sustained you and your family to a more philanthropic, creatively stimulating, or simply a riskier occupation may revitalize you…
Are you a retiree already involved in an encore career? Or someone who is considering it? Please share your insight and thoughts!
“Excess fat around the heart, in both men and women, is an evolving risk factor for heart disease. But how can clinicians see it at a regular physical? They can’t without a special heart scan,” said senior author Samar El Khoudary, Ph.D., M.P.H., associate professor of epidemiology at Pitt Public Health.