What If You Only Drank Soda?

This is a must watch and it is going to completely upset the Slimming world and similar diet groups! 

This is a short summary of what drinking soda does to your body. Only drinking soda would be a little extreme, but I personally know some people who do this. A simple demonstration of worst case but the effects and problems are real, especially with people drinking more soda than water. 

Hormones in Food: Should You Worry?

A salmon that grows to market size twice as fast as normal. Dairy cows that produce 15% more milk. Beef cows that grow 20% faster. 

What do these hyper-productive animals have in common? Thanks to injections and implants (in the case of cows) or genetic engineering (in the case of salmon), they contain artificially high levels of sex or growth hormones. 

Are these hormones dangerous to the humans who eat the food or drink the milk? 

The food industry says no—and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) agrees, at least when it comes to cows. 

The FDA, which regulates the use of hormones in livestock, hasn't yet decided whether it will approve the sale of a genetically engineered salmon patented by the biotech company AquaBounty. If the salmon—which is wired to produce growth hormone year-round, instead of just in the spring and summer—gets an OK from the agency, it will be the first genetically engineered animal to wind up on your dinner plate. (Genetically engineered fruits and vegetables have been around for years.) 

The FDA's stamp of approval isn't likely to reassure those who worry that excess hormones in the food supply are contributing to cancer, early puberty in girls, and other health problems in humans. For years, consumer advocates and public health experts have fought to limit the use of hormones in cows, and some support a ban on the practice similar to the one in place in Europe, where food regulations are generally more stringent than in the U.S. 

But it's not clear if such hormones truly are bad for our health. Surprisingly little research has been done on the health effects of these hormones in humans, in part because it's difficult to separate the effects of added hormones from the mixture of natural hormones, proteins, and other components found in milk and meat. Buying organic may reassure shoppers, but there's little proof these products are indeed safer. 

Growth hormones 

In 1993, the FDA approved recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH), a synthetic cow hormone that spurs milk production when injected into dairy cows, and consumer groups have been concerned about it ever since. The manipulation of growth hormone in the AquaBounty salmon has sparked similar concerns.

By itself, rBGH has no discernible effect in humans and is of little concern to your health, and the growth hormone in AquaBounty's salmon is expected to be inconsequential to your health as well. The actual fear is that manipulating growth hormones in cows—or salmon—may increase another hormone, insulin-like growth factor (IGF), which could mimic the effects of human growth hormone in harmful ways. In fact, research has found that milk from rBGH-treated cows contains up to 10 times more IGF than other milk.

Higher blood levels of IGF (regardless of what causes them) have been associated with an increased risk of breast, prostate, and other cancers in humans. In a 2004 study, patients with above-average IGF levels had nearly a 50% higher risk of prostate cancer and a 65% higher risk of hormone-dependent premenopausal breast cancer than people with below-average levels. 

Many factors—including genes, smoking, and fat intake—contribute to these cancers, but "it's very likely that at least part of that [risk] is related to IGF levels," especially where prostate cancer is concerned, says Walter Willett, MD, chairman of the department of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health, in Boston.

While consuming lots of milk and other dairy has been shown to raise blood levels of human IGF, the increase is probably not a direct effect of the animal's IGF level or the IGF found in these foods. That's because the amount of IGF in dairy products—whether or not it's from rBGH-treated cows—pales in comparison to what is naturally in your body.

"Just [to get] the amount of IGF secreted in your saliva and digestive tract in a day, you'd have to drink about 95 quarts of milk," says Terry Etherton, PhD, a professor of dairy and animal science at Pennsylvania State University and the author of a blog about food biotechnology. 

And you'd have to eat at least 170 three-ounce servings of genetically modified salmon. (The IGF levels in the AquaBounty salmon and regular salmon are comparable, although consumer advocates say the studies that determined this are too small to be reliable.)

So if the amount of IGF in milk is negligible, how does milk consumption increase our IGF levels? Milk in general—and the proteins, sugar, minerals, and non-IGF hormones it contains—may somehow cause the human body to make more of its own IGF, Dr. Willett says. 

Sex hormones and early puberty 

IGF isn't the only hormone found in the food supply. Ranchers have been fattening up cattle with sex hormones—most notably estrogen—since the 1950s. Today most beef cows in the U.S.—except those labeled "organic"—receive an implant in their ear that delivers a hormone, usually a form of estrogen (estradiol) in some combination with five other hormones. (These hormones are not given to chicken and pigs because they don't have the same growth-promoting effect in these animals, although antibiotics are given to all three species for similar growth-promoting reasons.)

One concern is that such hormones may spur earlier puberty in children, who are, on average, entering puberty at a younger age than they did a generation or two ago, for reasons that are unclear.

But Ann Macrina, PhD, a researcher in the Department of Dairy and Animal Science at Pennsylvania State University, says that the amount of estrogen found in meat is vanishingly small compared to the level in our bodies. A three-ounce serving of beef from an estrogen-treated cow contains less than a billionth of a gram of estrogen, a level around 400,000 times lower than estrogen in women and nearly 100,000 times lower than that in men.

However, even minuscule amounts of oestrogen could affect prepubescent girls and boys, says Dr. Willett. "[For] a girl who's not producing hormones herself, they could be quite substantial."

A 2009 study found that children who consumed the most protein from animal sources entered puberty about seven months earlier than those who consumed the least. "It doesn't matter so much if it's milk, cheese, or meat—all these animal proteins have a clear impact on [our] IGF system," says Thomas Remer, PhD, one of the authors of the study and a professor at the Research Institute of Child Nutrition, in Germany.

Still, hormones added to the food supply are probably not the biggest culprit behind early puberty. It's more likely that meat, milk, and similar foods help trigger earlier puberty because they are rich in protein, calories, and nutrients, says Marcia Herman-Giddens, an adjunct professor at the University of North Carolina School of Public Health, in Chapel Hill, and the lead author of an influential 1997 study on early puberty in girls.

However, Herman-Giddens cautions that more research is needed to untangle the many factors involved. For instance, she says, rising rates of overweight and obesity—and the processed foods, high-calorie drinks, and lack of exercise driving them—are "probably the biggest reason" for the trend toward earlier puberty. (Fat cells stimulate the body to produce estrogen.) Pesticides, flame-retardants, plastics, and other chemicals in the environment that can disrupt hormones may also be partly to blame.

Organic or no? 

Organic beef and dairy products certified by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) come with the guarantee that the cows were not treated with rBGH or sex hormones. They also come with a much heftier price. Is the peace of mind worth the extra cash?

Probably not, says Dr. Willett, who advocates cutting back on meat in general. Most people should eat no more than two servings of red meat per week, Dr. Willett says, and "if you're [only] having a couple of servings a week, it doesn't make much difference whether it's organic or not."

Dr. Willett offers similar advice regarding organic dairy. On the other hand, experts like Herman-Giddens urge consumers to stay away from rBGH-treated milk because of its potentially higher IGF levels, and the fact that it does not have any added health benefits over regular milk. Instead of switching to organic milk, Dr. Willett recommends cutting back on dairy altogether, despite USDA recommendations that call for three servings a day of dairy.

Bruce Chassy, PhD, a professor of food microbiology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, says "propaganda" from organic farming groups has created misconceptions about—and resistance to—rBGH among consumers. In fact, Chassy argues that manipulating growth hormones has benefits: rBGH-treated cows are better for the environment, not just the bottom line, since farmers can get the same amount of milk with fewer cows. Similarly, the AquaBounty salmon consumes 10% less feed during its lifecycle than a regular farmed salmon.

The most lasting effect of the fears surrounding hormones in the food supply may be the value of "organic" or "hormone free" as selling points, Chassy says. 

"I think there are a lot of farms that are not using [rBGH] because they perceive that consumers do not want [rBGH]-treated milk," he says. He predicts that the AquaBounty salmon will likely inspire "marketing campaigns for 'hormone-free' fish." It's a ridiculous claim, he argues, since all fish—and all meat and milk—has hormones.

By Carina Storrs

http://www.health.com/health/article/0,,20458816,00.html

The secret slimming effect of sweet potato waste

Proteins in wastewater from sweet potato processing reduce fat levels, weight in mice

The sweet potato pie you eat during the holidays might not be good for your waistline, but according to a new study published in the journal Heliyon, the starchy water left over from cooking the sweet potato could have slimming effects -- at least in mice.

In the new study, mice on a high fat diet had significantly lower body weight after one month if they were also fed sweet potato peptide, which was produced by enzyme digestion of proteins in the water wasted during processing. This suggests the peptide plays a role in digesting fats, but more research is needed to determine whether this also happens in humans.

More than 105 million metric tons of sweet potato are produced globally every year, according to the International Potato Center (CIP), making it the world's fifth most important crop. About 15 percent of sweet potato is used to produce starch materials, processed foods, and distilled spirits in Japan. The resulting wastewater is usually discarded, potentially causing serious environmental problems.

In the new study, Dr. Koji Ishiguro from National Agriculture and Food Research Organization in Japan and colleagues wanted to find a new way to use this waste, so they investigated the effect of proteins found in the water on digestion in mice.

"We throw out huge volumes of wastewater that contains sweet potato proteins -- we hypothesized that these could affect body weight, fat tissue and other factors," explained Dr. Ishiguro. "Finding alternative uses for the sweet potato proteins in wastewater could be good for the environment and industry, and also potentially for health."

The researchers fed three groups of mice high fat diets, giving one group the protein digest -- sweet potato peptide (SPP) -- at a high concentration and one group at a lower concentration. After 28 days they weighed the mice and measured their liver mass and fatty tissue. They also measured the levels of the fats cholesterol and triglyceride, as well as leptin, which controls hunger, and adiponectin, which regulates metabolic syndrome.

Mice that were given SPP had significantly lower body weight and liver mass. Mice fed SPP also had lower cholesterol and triglycerides, and higher levels of the hunger and lipid-controlling hormones. The results suggest that SPP helps activate appetite suppression and control lipid metabolism in mice fed high fat diets.

"We were surprised that SPP reduced the levels of fat molecules in the mice and that it appears to be involved controlling appetite suppression molecules," commented Dr. Ishiguro. "These results are very promising, providing new options for using this wastewater instead of discarding it. We hope SPP is used for the functional food material in future."

Story Source:

Materials provided by Elsevier. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. Koji Ishiguro, Rie Kurata, Yoshikazu Shimada, Yoto Sameshima, Takashi Kume. Effects of a sweetpotato protein digest on lipid metabolism in mice administered a high-fat diet. Heliyon, 2016; 2 (12): e00201 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2016.e00201

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/12/161207092944.htm

Why Aspartame May Prevent Weight Loss

Reaching for a diet soda may actually hinder weight loss efforts, a new study done in mice suggests.

In experiments, researchers found that the artificial sweetener aspartame, which is found in some diet drinks, may contribute to the development of a condition called "metabolic syndrome," which involves a cluster of symptoms, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels and a large waist size. People with metabolic syndrome face an increased risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

The researchers found how aspartame could be linked with metabolic syndrome: Aspartame may stop a key gut enzyme from performing its work in breaking down fat during digestion. [7 Biggest Diet Myths]

"This is the novel mechanistic insight," and it may explain why diet drinks can be ineffective at helping people to lose weight, Dr. Richard Hodin, senior author of the study and a professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School, told Live Science.

The study included three separate experiments. In the first, researchers added the gut enzyme to solutions of diet soda and regular soda. They found that the activity of the enzyme was significantly lower in the solutions of diet soda as compared to the solutions of regular soda.

Normally, the enzyme — intestinal alkaline phosphatase, or IAP — works in the intestines to break down cholesterol and fatty acids. Previous studies by the researchers showed that levels of IAP may be linked with people's risk of obesity, diabetes and metabolic syndrome.

In the second experiment, researchers looked at the effects of aspartame in the small intestines of male mice. They injected either a solution containing aspartame or a placebo solution of salt water into the small intestines of the mice, and then measured the same gut enzyme's activity. They found that 3 hours later, the enzyme's activity was 50 percent lower in mice that were injected with the aspartame solution as compared to the mice injected with the salt water.

In the final experiment, the researchers looked at four groups of male mice over a period of 18 weeks: The mice were all allowed to eat as much food as they wanted, but two groups were given normal food and two groups were given high-fat food. Within each division, one group received water to drink that contained aspartame, while the other received regular water to drink. [5 Experts Answer: Is Diet Soda Bad for You?]

At the end of this experiment, the researchers found that the mice given the high-fat food and the aspartame-infused water gained more weight than the mice fed a high-fat food and the regular water.

However, the aspartame did not seem to make a difference for the mice on the normal diet: There was no difference in weight gain between the group given aspartame water and the group given regular water.

In addition to the difference in weight gain among the mice on the high-fat diet, the researchers also found that the mice on both diets that drank the aspartame-infused water had significantly higher levels of glucose intolerance than mice that drank the regular water. Glucose intolerance is a condition in which the body has trouble using the glucose in the bloodstream, leading to higher levels of glucose in the blood, and which may lead to diabetes.

Also, both of the groups of mice that drank the aspartame-infused water showed increased markers of inflammation, which previously has been linked to the development of the metabolic syndrome, the researchers said.

The new results should be confirmed in experiments with a larger sample size, the researchers said. In addition, only male mice were used in the experiment, which is significant because male and female mice tend to react differently to dietary changes; for example, male mice tend to have higher levels of diet-induced inflammation, and female mice have better insulin sensitivity.

It remains unclear whether the findings may apply to people.

The effects of aspartame may be more complicated in humans, due to a "number of factors related to human behavior," Hodin told Live Science. However, he said, all else being equal, "diet drinks are probably not a great alternative to sugary sodas. Water is probably better."

Original on Live Science. 

By Stephanie Bucklin, Live Science Contributor

http://www.livescience.com/57065-why-aspartame-may-prevent-weight-loss.html

Pumping iron: Lighter weights just as effective as heavier weights to gain muscle, build strength

New research from McMaster University is challenging traditional workout wisdom, suggesting that lifting lighter weights many times is as efficient as lifting heavy weights for fewer repetitions

It is the latest in a series of studies that started in 2010, contradicting the decades-old message that the best way to build muscle is to lift heavy weights.

"Fatigue is the great equalizer here," says Stuart Phillips, senior author on the study and professor in the Department of Kinesiology. "Lift to the point of exhaustion and it doesn't matter whether the weights are heavy or light."

Researchers recruited two groups of men for the study -- all of them experienced weight lifters -- who followed a 12-week, whole-body protocol. One group lifted lighter weights (up to 50 per cent of maximum strength) for sets ranging from 20 to 25 repetitions. The other group lifted heavier weights (up to 90 per cent of maximum strength) for eight to 12 repetitions. Both groups lifted to the point of failure.

Researchers analyzed muscle and blood samples and found gains in muscle mass and muscle fibre size, a key measure of strength, were virtually identical.

"At the point of fatigue, both groups would have been trying to maximally activate their muscle fibres to generate force," says Phillips, who conducted the work with graduate students and co-authors Rob Morton and Sara Oikawa.

While researchers stress that elite athletes are unlikely to adopt this training regime, it is an effective way to get stronger, put on muscle and generally improve health.

"For the 'mere mortal' who wants to get stronger, we've shown that you can take a break from lifting heavy weights and not compromise any gains," says Phillips. "It's also a new choice which could appeal to the masses and get people to take up something they should be doing for their health."

Another key finding was that none of the strength or muscle growth were related to testosterone or growth hormone, which many believe are responsible for such gains.

"It's a complete falsehood that the short-lived rise in testosterone or growth hormone is a driver of muscle growth," says Morton. "It's just time to end that kind of thinking."

Researchers suggest, however, that more work remains to be done in this area, including what underlying mechanisms are at work and in what populations does this sort of program work.

The findings are published online in the Journal of Applied Physiology.

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Story Source:

Materials provided by McMaster University. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. Robert W. Morton, Sara Y. Oikawa, Christopher G. Wavell, Nicole Mazara, Chris McGlory, Joe Quadrilatero, Brittany L. Baechler, Steven K. Baker, Stuart M. Phillips. Neither load nor systemic hormones determine resistance training-mediated hypertrophy or strength gains in resistance-trained young men. Journal of Applied Physiology, 2016; 121 (1): 129 DOI: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00154.2016

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/07/160712094259.htm

Yo-yo dieting dangerous even if you're not overweight!

Repeatedly losing and regaining weight, known as weight cycling or yo-yo dieting, may increase the risk of death from heart disease among postmenopausal women who were of normal weight at the start of the study, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2016.

"Weight cycling is an emerging global health concern associated with attempts of weight loss, but there have been inconsistent results about the health hazards for those who experience weight cycling behavior," said Somwail Rasla, M.D., study lead author and internal medicine resident at Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island, Alpert Medical School, Brown University, in Providence, Rhode Island.

Researchers classified self-reported weight history from 158,063 post-menopausal women into four categories: stable weight, steady gain, maintained weight loss, and weight cycling. During a follow-up of 11.4 years, they found:

• Women considered "normal-weight" at the start of the study who lost and regained weight had about three and a half times higher risk for sudden cardiac death than women whose weight remained stable.
• Weight cycling in the normal-weight women was also associated with a 66 percent increased risk for coronary heart disease deaths.
  No increase in either type of death occurred among overweight or obese women reporting weight cycling.
• Similarly, no increase in death occurred among women who reported that they gained weight but did not lose it or, in the opposite scenario, that they lost weight without gaining it back.

Evidence indicates that being overweight in midlife increases the risk of dying from two types of heart disease. In the first type, coronary heart disease, the blood vessels to the heart become blocked by fat and other substances, decreasing blood flow to the heart. In the second type, sudden cardiac death, the heart's electrical system abruptly stops working, causing death. It is unclear whether losing and regaining weight in adulthood also increases the risk of death from these heart diseases, so the investigators looked at this relationship among postmenopausal women.

The study has several limitations. First, the study was observational, therefore it could only show association and not a cause and effect relationship. In addition, the study relied on self-reports, which could be inaccurate. Since sudden cardiac death occurred relatively infrequently, the cases that did occur could have resulted from chance. Finally, the study included only older women.

"More research is needed before any recommendations can be made for clinical care regarding the risks of weight cycling, since these results apply only to postmenopausal women and not to younger-aged women or men," Rasla said.

In the United States and worldwide, heart disease is the leading cause of death. Obesity is a major risk factor, along with high blood pressure and cholesterol, diabetes, physical inactivity, poor diet, and smoking. One way to lower your risk factors is by following the American Heart Association's Life's Simple 7 program, which recommends: (1) manage blood pressure; (2) control cholesterol; (3) reduce blood sugar; (4) get active; (5) eat better; (6) maintain normal weight; and (7) stop smoking.

Co-authors are Marina Garas, D.O.; Mary B. Roberts, M.S.; Molly E. Waring, Ph.D.; Christine M. Albert, M.D., M.P.H.; Deepika Laddu, Ph.D.; Marcia L Stefanick, Ph.D.; David K. Garas, M.B.A.; and Charles B. Eaton, M.D., M.S. Author disclosures are on the abstract.

This study is funded by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute.

Story Source:

Materials provided by American Heart Association. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/11/161115150829.htm

Scientific Weight Loss Tips

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