Soluble fibre boosts immune system

A recent study from the US claims that soluble fibre strengthens the immune system and reduces inflammation linked to obesity-related diseases.

Gregory Freund, a professor in the University of Illinois’ College of Medicine, said, ‘Soluble fibre changes the personality of immune cells -- they go from being pro-inflammatory, angry cells to anti-inflammatory, healing cells that help us recover faster from infection’.

This change occurs because soluble fibre (found in apples, oats and nuts among other foods) increases the production of interleukin-4, an anti-inflammatory protein.

The study comprised a six-week experiment in which laboratory mice were fed low-fat diets which differed only in their content of either soluble or insoluble fibre. At the end of the six weeks, the mice had significantly differing responses when the researchers introduced lipopolysaccharide, a substance that mimics a bacterial infection in the body.

Study researcher Christina Sherry, who also worked on the study, said; ‘Two hours after lipopolysaccharide injection, the mice fed soluble fibre were only half as sick as the other group, and they recovered 50 per cent sooner. And the differences between the groups continued to be pronounced all the way out to 24 hours. In only six weeks, these animals had profound, positive changes in their immune systems’.

Source: Brain, Behavior, and Immunity

Low-fat diet not a cholesterol smasher

Although they have confirmed, unsurprisingly, that low-fat diets are not bad for the heart, recently released trial results have also shown that such an eating regime may not have any significant effect on cholesterol levels.

Data was collected from the US Women’s Health Initiative (WHI), which provided a number of women across the US with intensive training and education on eating low-fat diets. Various health indicators were then compared with women whose dietary habits remained unchanged.

Low-fat diets didn’t lower ‘bad’ cholesterol, but they didn’t lower ‘good’ cholesterol (HDLs) either. Study author Barbara Howard, a professor of medicine at Georgetown University, said ‘This diet did not raise triglycerides and didn't lower HDL cholesterol. It didn't do any of the adverse things that high-fat people have claimed’.
Howard did note, however, that the women who decreased their intake of trans fatty acids and saturated fats did have a lower rate of heart disease. She also alluded to the increased ease of losing weight apparently brought about through consuming a low-fat diet.

‘If you start out eating too many calories and you cut fat, that automatically makes you eat a higher-carbohydrate diet. If a person wants to reduce weight and is comfortable with cutting fat, that is a good strategy’ Howard said; ‘The main message here is that if you want to lose weight and cut fat to do it, you do not have adverse effects. …in my opinion, if you have to cut calories to lose weight, it is easier to cut fat because fat is denser’.

Source: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

Exercise your stress away

The increased levels of anxiety often evident in people with illnesses could be reduced by exercising regularly.
The stress that accompanies illness can have the effect of making people stop following their treatment plans, thereby causing them to deteriorate further.

A new study by researchers at the University of Georgia analysed the results of 40 previous randomised clinical trials which collectively contained data gathered from nearly 3,000 patients with assorted medical conditions (including multiple sclerosis, chronic pain from arthritis, heart conditions and cancer). Individuals who exercised regularly reported an average 20 per cent lower level of anxiety symptoms than non-exercisers.

Lead author Matthew Herring, a doctoral student in the department of kinesiology, said, ‘Our findings add to the growing body of evidence that physical activities such as walking or weight lifting may turn out to be the best medicine that physicians can prescribe to help their patients feel less anxious’.

Although the usefulness of exercise in alleviating symptoms of depression has been studied previously, its effect on anxiety symptoms has had less focus on it.

Study co-author Pat O'Connor, professor and co-director of the UGA Exercise Psychology Laboratory, said, ‘We found that exercise seems to work with just about everybody under most situations. Exercise even helps people who are not very anxious to begin with become more calm’.

Source: Archives of Internal Medicine

Barefoot v shoes

With so many different issues being caused by running shoes, it's no wonder the barefoot v shoes debate is gaining momentum. This makes interesting reading. I still wonder how, if someone is suffering biomechanical issues and middle aged, this progression may work for them.

3rd Running Group session on Saturday

Hi all,
Just a reminder our next running session is on this Saturday.
7am - Bulli Surf Club car park (near old Rubys)

Bright eyed and bushy tailed!!

Coming back from ankle injury

If you've suffered an injury to your ankle, it's important that you carry out appropriate strengthening work to help get you back and running again. Click here for some great tips

5 Nutrition Tips for Fat Loss

By Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training

This is always tough to admit, but nutrition is more important than
your workouts when it comes to fat loss.

And since diet is more important than exercise, I've decided to
spend a lot time sharing nutrition tips this week, starting with
these 5 diet secrets:

1) Your nutrition program doesn't have to be extreme.

Hold up on making any extreme diet changes. Make sure the nutrition
plan you've chosen is sustainable. Simple diet changes go a lot
farther than you might think.

Why not just eat more whole, natural foods rather than trying to go
on an impossible-to-stick-to ultra-low carb extreme plan?

2) Get the junk out of the house.

If it's in your house, you'll eat it....

So whatever your weakness is, keep it out of your home.

Success is that simple.

3) Fill in the "diet-killing" gap.

For some folks, the diet-killing gap is between work and dinner.
For others, it's between dinner and bedtime, but for almost
everyone, there is a point in the day when we suffer from mindless
eating.

So make sure you have alternatives...as soon as you come home from
work, cut up vegetables and dip them into hummus. That will keep
you full on a small amount of calories.

After dinner, if you need something sweet, stir up chocolate
protein powder into a small bit of plain yogurt. That will satisfy
you.

4) Chew your food 5-10 times before swallowing.

Most people eat so fast they only about 1-2 times. You'll really
notice a difference and you'll slow your eating so you feel full.

5) Have a bowl of broth-based vegetable soup before a meal.

American researcher Barbara Roll has published a lot of studies
showing that this will help you reduce the food you eat.
Surprisingly, consuming just water doesn't seem to do the same
trick.

So those are just 5 of the diet secrets we have for you this year.

Stay tuned for proven secrets to help you lose fat in 2010.

Second Running Group session on this weekend

Hi all,
Just a reminder our 2nd instalment of our running group will be on this weekend. This weekend we will move up to the 3 minutes run/ 3 minutes walk section of the program.

We will be meeting at Sandon Point carpark at 7am.

Hope to see you all there!
Caroline

Losing Weight - the simple facts

There are no quick fixes. I'm glad to see that they are finally investigating that Lemon Detox rubbish diet. But, now on the back of Weight Watchers endorsing some McDonalds meals as healthy... the facts need to be told:

What you eat is 80% of the problem.

You CANNOT out exercise a bad diet.

If you can't get your nutrition right, then you're fighting a losing battle.

Eat properly (in the right proportions), exercise well and you will see great results.

If you don't eat properly, you can exercise your heart out and you may get some results, but nothing to write home about.


There endeth the lecture (or rant!)

Now, go plan your good meals, stick to the plan - have ONE cheat meal in the week, exercise hard and look fantastic.