Forzegps.com Blog

Exercise, Appetite, And Weight Management

admin — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 15:49:52 +0000

Last year a time magazine article argued that exercise is ineffective for weight loss. This contention flew in the face of conventional wisdom, which holds that, while exercise alone may not be sufficient reach and maintain the ideal body weight, it is necessary. The article’s argument is also false. According to a new review by British and Australian researchers publish in Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care, exercise works for some people and does not work for others as a means to lose weight. Genetic factors regulating the effect of exercise on appetite and eating behavior appear to be the main determinant in this regard. The review also reaffirms what even the Time article conceded: that exercise is indispensable to weight maintenance after weight loss.

New Support For Calcium-Weight Management Connection

admin — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 15:37:01 +0000

Researchers at Creighton University Medical Center are reporting new evidence that calcium supplementation helps prevent weight gain, at least in certain populations. The new study, published in the journal Nutrition & Metabolism, looked at the effects of daily calcium supplementation, with and without vitamin D, on 870 postmenopausal women. Over the course of the supplementation period, women receiving calcium supplementation gained significantly less trunk fat than women taking a placebo. The authors of this study believe that calcium supplementation may reduce appetite, or rather, that inadequate calcium intake may spur appetite because the brain can detect low calcium levels and may stimulate a drive to eat to compensate for it.

All Fats Are The Same For Purposes Of Fat Loading

admin — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 16:11:00 +0000

Some endurance athletes switch to a high-fat diet before competition as a way to increase their muscles’ fat-burning capacity during exercise and with it their endurance. Past research has shown that it works, but does the type of fat consumed matter? Researchers at Texas Tech University recently addressed this question in a study. Subjects were placed on a high-fat diet that was rich in either saturated or monounsaturated fat for five days. Some subjects exercised two hours per day during the treatment period while others did not exercise. The authors of the study, which was published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, found that fat burning increased significantly and equally in all of the exercising subjects, whether on the saturated fat-rich diet or the monounsaturated fat-rich diet. Fat burning did not increase in the non-exercising subjects.

Arginine Doesn’t Help Cyclists

admin — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 18:40:47 +0000

Arginine supplementation is known to increase the body’s capacity to produce nitric oxide, a biochemical that causes the blood vessels to dilate, increasing blood flow during exercise. Because of this effect, arginine supplementation is potentially beneficial to endurance performance. Researchers from Cal State University-Fresno recently investigated the effects of arginine supplementation on VO2max and ventilatory threshold in trained cyclists. Eighteen male cyclists completed graded exercise tests before and after a 28-day period during which half received arginine and the other half placebo. Arginine supplementation was found to have no effect on either VO2max or ventilatory threshold as measured in the graded exercise test. So it would appear that arginine supplementation is useless for cyclists.

Menthol Sprays To Keep Cool?

admin — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 15:14:05 +0000

What can you do to keep cool during exercise in hot weather? Drink Accelerade and, in races, throw cold water on your body and put ice under your hat. But there may be something else: spraying yourself with menthol. That’s right, there is some research evidence that spraying a menthol solution either on the tongue or on the body induces cooling sensations that reduce perceived effort and elevate exercise performance in the heat. Researchers from the University of Portsmouth, England, recently tested two menthol sprays designed for this use. Surprisingly, the researchers found that use of the spray during 45 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise in warm conditions actually increased core body temperature while reducing the perceived body temperature. This leaves open the question whether using menthol sprays during exercise is helpful or not.

Sports Drinks Make Men And Women More Alike

admin — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 20:26:39 +0000

That’s an intriguing headline. What the heck does it mean? I’ll tell you. It is a well-established fact that women rely more on fat and less on muscle glycogen than men do to provide energy for moderate-intensity exercise. But a new study in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise reports that this gender difference in fuel selection disappears when carbohydrate is consumed during exercise. During moderate-intensity exercise without carbohydrate intake, men were found to get 62 percent of their energy from carbohydrate, women 53 percent. But when they drank a sports drink during exercise, carbohydrate burning increased to 74 percent in men and 77 percent in women. The much larger jump in women was due to the fact that consuming carbs during exercise caused a much smaller decrease in the use of muscle glycogen in women than in men.

Cystine + Theanine Supplementation In Runners

admin — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 20:39:19 +0000

The amino acids cystine and theanine are involved in the body’s immune and inflammatory processes. Japanese researchers recently invetigated whether supplementation with these amino acids would reduce markers of immune suppression and inflammation in high-level runners engaging in heavy training. Sixteen runners received either daily theanine and cystine supplementation or placebo for the week preceding a nine-day training camp and throughout the training camp. The runners averaged 12.3 miles of running per day before the camp and 17.7 miles per day during the camp. The researchers found that supplementation attenuated both the inflammatory and immune responses to the increased training load on the first day of the training camp, but not on the last day. These findings suggest that cystine and theanine helped the runners to better handle the initial stress of the camp, but that adaptations occurred during the camp that made supplementation unnecessary.

Carb Burning Equal In Cycling And Running

admin — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 19:41:47 +0000

You may have heard the recommendation that athletes consume 30 to 60 grams of carbohydrate per hour during exercise. This recommendation is based on laboratory studies on the rate of ingested carbohydrate burning during exercise. But most such studies have involved cycling, and it’s not safe to assume that the body burns ingested carbs at the same rate in all forms of exercise. So researchers from the University of Birmingham, England, recently compared the rates of ingested carbohydrate burning in athletes during two hours of cycling and two hours of running at 60 percent VO2max. They found that the athletes burned the carbs supplied by a sports drink at the same rate in the two different exercise modalities. So it appears that you can apply the 30-60 g CHO/hr rule to running as well as cycling.

Popular Diets Are Nutrient Deficient

admin — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 22:22:11 +0000

According to a study newly published in the online Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, many of the popular weight-loss diets fail to provide enough vitamins and minerals to sustain optimal health. Holistic nutritionist Jayson Calton analyzed daily menus suggested by four diets: Atkins for Life, South Beach, DASH, and Best Life–for their vitamin and mineral composition. He found that all four diets failed to provide the minimum RDI of all 27 nutrients analyzed. Calton calculated that, on average, the diets would have to have provided roughly twice the 1,745 calories they did provide to supply adequate amounts of most of the essential vitamins and minerals. According to Calton, this means that persons who follow any one of these diets could see their health compromised even as they lose weight. Ironically, the nutrient deficiency of these popular diets could also make them less effective for weight loss, as there is some evidence that vitamin and mineral malnutrition encourages overeating.

No Effect Of Green Tea Extract On Cycling Time Trial Performance

admin — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 17:10:54 +0000

There is some evidence that antioxidant supplementation can have a positive effect on endurance performance. Swiss researchers recently studied whether three weeks of supplementation with antioxidant-rich green tea extract would enhance time trial performance in trained cyclists. Nine male subjects completed a test consisting of a two-hour ride at moderate intensity immediately followed by a 30-minute time trial on two occasions separated by three weeks. Between the tests the subjects were randomly assigned to receive either green tea extract or placebo daily. After the second time trial and a washout period, the entire experiment was repeated, with those subjects who had received the supplement the first time getting placebo the second time and those having received placebo the first time getting green tea extract the second time. The researchers found that green tea extract had no effect on time trial performance or on any of the metabolic measures taken. It did, however, reduce blood levels of the inflammatory marker C-reactive protein after exercise. For what that’s worth.