I wanted to make today’s post about my passion, fashion but alas, I can’t keep the hands quiet about fitness/lifestyle…
Today I read this email blast from Scott Colby at AbsUncrunched.com because the subject line said “Want to Blast Belly Fat?” And immediately I’m, like “YEAH!” who doesn’t, right? He wrote on a study from the U of Virginia that said women who trained at a high intensity burned a greater percentage of fat because of the hormonal influences yaddityyaddahyaddah…and I’m thinking, wait a sec!
We learned [& I posted] that hormonal influences can cause some women to GAIN belly fat because of increased cortisol secretion. So I wanted so see what kind of study this was: how many women, what was their body predisposition, what training did they do, what training were they used to doing…was this a double blind control study…shut up! I’m NOT a nerd. Okay, yes I am.
Off to the internets I go! I immediately came across another U of V study that says “Bad carbs are not the enemy”. And man, oh man, does this appeal to me (I never met a carb I didn’t like). It’s a peer-reviewed research study meaning the guy (or gal…forgot) who did this didn’t do their OWN study, they reviewed many other published studies. If they had reviewed just a few or maybe some that had questionable statistics, I would’nt bother reading it much less posting it BUT lookie here:
In an article in the October issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, Gaesser analyzes peer-reviewed, scientific research on carbohydrate consumption, glycemic index and body weight and gives the first detailed review of the literature on the correlation between them. His findings run counter to the current consensus on the effects of “good” and “bad” carbohydrates.
Gaesser, author of “It’s the Calories, Not the Carbs” and other books, found that diets high in carbohydrates are almost universally associated with slimmer bodies. More importantly, Gaesser found that consuming lots of high-glycemic foods is not associated with higher body weights. In fact, several large studies in the United States revealed that high-glycemic diets were linked to better weight control. “There is no reason to be eating fewer carbs – they’re not the enemy,” says Gaesser, a professor of exercise physiology and director of the kinesiology program in the Curry School of Education.
The description of carbohydrates as “good” or “bad” is based on glycemic index, a measure of the quality of the carbohydrate in terms of how much it raises blood sugar. Foods having a high GI are generally thought to be “bad” because they raise blood sugar more than “good” carbs do. … Foods such as whole-grain breads are said to offer “good” carbs, because they have a lower GI than white bread, for example…
…After looking at hundreds of articles on large-scale studies using surveys or randomized, controlled trials, Gaesser says they show that “people who consume high-carb diets tend to be slimmer, and often healthier, than people who consume low-carb diets.” [THAT is the *A Ha* for me! "YMMV" but for me, this holds true.]Even high-glycemic foods have a place in the diet, he said, attributing that to the overall higher quality of a high-carb diet, which includes more fiber-rich and other nutritional foods. [This is also true, I believe.]
Gaesser also looked for a clear association between carbohydrate consumption and illnesses, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer. He found no compelling evidence that avoiding carbohydrates with a high GI helps prevent these diseases and others. People with diabetes, as well as very sedentary women who are obese, may benefit from lowering their consumption of foods with a high GI, Gaesser says.
Reducing any part of the diet — carbs or proteins or fats — will result in modest weight loss in the short term, if calorie consumption is reduced, he points out. But for long-term weight maintenance, a high-carb, low-fat diet is still the best bet, he said.
Source: University of Virginia
and here’s the other study :
Published: October 28, 2008
Any type of exercise is beneficial for health, but high-intensity exercise is likely necessary to achieve significant improvements in body composition, researchers at the University of Virginia have found.
The study involved 27 [that's it??!!] middle-age obese women with metabolic syndrome — a group of risk factors that includes abdominal obesity, unhealthy cholesterol levels, high blood pressure, elevated triglycerides and elevated fasting glucose. The study’s findings will be published in the November issue of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.
In the study, which did not involve diet intervention, the women were divided into three groups. Seven of the women did not change their activity levels, 11 performed low-intensity exercise five days per week, and nine performed low-intensity exercise two days per week and high-intensity exercise three days per week. [Again, doesn't say what the level of physical activity or conditioning was prior to this study but I'm assuming it was nil, or nothing.]
Low-intensity exercise involved walking, Arthur Weltman, a UVa education professor, said. High-intensity exercise was defined as walk-jogging and jogging. [<- That's it?!]
The high-intensity group reduced total abdominal fat, subcutaneous abdominal fat and visceral abdominal fat during the 16-week exercise period. Visceral fat surrounds the organs, and excessive amounts are associated with the development of diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure, Weltman said. [What about butts and thighs? Is this assuming that the women had big stomaches to begin with? How was this measured?]
“For obese women entering the middle and later stages of life, reducing internal abdominal fat or preventing too much of it forming is crucial,” Weltman said. “Exercise, especially vigorous exercise, may be the best way to do it.” Often, people think they cannot engage in high-intensity exercise because they associate it with what athletes are able to do, not what is high-intensity for them. It varies from person to person. he said.
However, simply starting an exercise program is important to begin working toward changing body composition, he said. [No sh*t]
Healthy adults 18 to 65 years old need moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity for at least 30 minutes five days each week, or vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity for at least 20 minutes three days each week, officials said. However, overweight and obese persons may need up to 300 minutes of exercise per week to lose weight.
(Source: The Daily Progress)
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