Best Weight Loss Advice You've Never Heard - WebMD

Weight Loss Tip No. 1: Variety Is Overrated

Who hasn't heard the advice to "just take a bite of everything" if you're at a buffet?

But as it turns out, variety doesn't deserve its good reputation, says Dawn Jackson Blatner, RD, a Chicago dietitian and author of The Flexitarian Diet.

 "We know that variety makes you eat more," she says, citing several published studies and her own experience in counseling weight loss patients.

For example, researchers in France found that study participants ate more french fries when they were offered catsup and mayonnaise along with them. And when they were given the option of having cream or whipped cream with their brownies, they ate more than when the brownies were offered plain.

Other researchers have found that people who have been able to maintain weight loss tend to eat diets with limited variety.

Weight Loss Tip No. 2: Have Barley for Breakfast

"Barley is the new oatmeal," says Jackson Blatner.

Barley got its hunger-fighting reputation after Swedish researchers found that eating barley or rye kernels for breakfast kept blood sugar on an even keel. That's because the carbs in barley and rye kernels are "low glycemic index," meaning they raise blood sugar more slowly than some other carbohydrate foods. This helps you avoid a spike, and then a drop, in blood sugar, which can leave you feeling famished.

One caveat: "Buy hulled barely, not pearl barley," Jackson Blatner says. The Swedish researchers used minimally processed hull barley, and they can't vouch for the same effects for more processed forms, such as pearl barley.

Weight Loss Tip No. 3: Beef Up Your Lunch Salad

One of the most common mistakes dieters make is to eat a vegetable salad with little or no dressing for lunch, says Joan Salge Blake, RD, professor of nutrition at Boston University and a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. "Then they are starving by mid-afternoon," she says.

A salad is a great choice, she says, if you add some protein and a little fat to help keep you feeling full longer.

Top your greens with a 3 oz piece of chicken breast, and you've added about 26 grams of protein but just 140 calories. Add about two tablespoons of light salad dressing, and your salad may be filling enough to get you through the 3 p.m. hunger slump without hitting the vending machine.

Weight Loss Tip No. 4: Stock Up on Frozen Vegetables

Sure, fresh vegetables are delicious and nutritious. But faced with the need to scrape a carrot, wash and slice a zucchini, or cut broccoli into florets, many of us say, "Too much trouble!" and reach for chips  instead.

To make things easier, stock your freezer with frozen vegetables, Blake tells dieters.

"They are already clean, chopped and ready to cook in the microwave,"* she says. "It's like having Rachael Ray in the freezer."

An even better way to be sure you eat more vegetables: Cook the frozen veggies ahead of time. Microwave the whole bag of green beans, for instance. Then keep them in the refrigerator, ready to dump into canned soups, add to a salad, or just eat by the handful.

Weight Loss Tip No. 5: Make Yourself a Party Tray

The type of party tray Jackson Blatner is talking about is a big vegetable platter, maybe with some low-fat dip on the site -- the kind you put on the buffet for weight-conscious guests. 

But this one is just for you and any interested family members. Keep it in the fridge at eye level, encouraging you to snack healthy and avoid the higher-calorie contents of your refrigerator. 

Several studies have found that we tend to eat more when food is within easy reach. Secretaries who placed candy on their desks ate about 48% more than when the candy was 6 feet away, according to research by Brian Wansink, PhD, director of the Food and Brand Lab at Cornell University.

Weight Loss Tip No. 6: Turn Down the Thermostat

Spending time in a chilly house -- about 61 degrees Fahrenheit -- may boost the fat-burning power of the "brown fat" in your body.

Brown fat is considered "good" fat, as opposed to regular or white fat, which stores calories and tends to accumulate. Researchers believe that lean people have more of the brown type of fat, and that the amount of brown fat a person has declines with age.

Scandinavian researchers found that exposure to these chilly temperatures boosted the metabolic rate of brown fat 15-fold, helping burn more calories.

But Jackson Blatner cautions not to expect too much: "It's not going to be any kind of a miracle," she says. And beware if you're the type who eats more when you feel cold.

Weight Loss Tip No. 7: Downsize Your Dinnerware

Experts say they've seen it again and again: The larger your plate, the more you're likely to put on it. So serving your meals on smaller plates can help you eat less.

But don't throw out those dinner plates, Blake suggests. Use the smaller, lunch-size plates to serve dinner, and use the dinner plates for salads.

Weight Loss Tip No. 8: Go Out for Treats**

If you're the type who overdoes it on sweets and snacks, Jackson Blatner suggests, make yourself work a little for your favorite indulgences. Don't keep them in the house, but give yourself permission to go out and get them when you really need to.

Want a brownie? You have to go to the bakery. Craving a frozen yogurt? You must find the nearest frozen yogurt shop.

"The more hassle tasty treats are, the less likely you are to eat them," says Jackson Blatner, who does this herself and finds her sweets consumption has declined without making her feel deprived.

Weight Loss Tip No. 9: Try on Your Skinny Jeans Every Friday

Find a pair of pants that is tight, but not impossible to zip, Blake suggests to her weight loss patients.  "Every Friday morning, try them on," she says.

Why Friday? Weekends are typically a tougher time to stay on diets, she says. And the Friday morning try-on will motivate you to watch your eating during the weekend.

 "If they are loose, you will say to yourself 'I am making progress, I am staying on track during the weekend,''' she says.

And if they're snug? That will provide motivation to stick to your diet so they'll fit better next week, she says.

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* Personally, I wouldn't recommend cooking food in the microwave. I try to limit my usage of the microwave oven to just warming up foods and even than, to no more then one meal a day. In addition to that, what I would do is take it out of the fridge and let it sit in room temperature for about 15 minutes. This cuts down on the amount of time it spends in the microwave.

** On treats, the best thing you can do is not buy them. If you absolutely have to have them, by no more than you can eat in one seating. I've heard people say they can't live without eating certain foods, but when you have PCOS you just have to learn to know what you body NEEDS and what it can do without. It's all about maintaining that balance. 

What Do PCOS and Alzheimer's Disease Have in Common?

I'll bet the last thing you're thinking about is Alzheimer's Disease (also called "AD". After all, that's something for old people to worry about, not you.

There is a higher risk of sporadic AD in people with Type 2 diabetes, and AD patients are more prone to Type 2 diabetes.I've been mostly silent on this issue since 2008, when I wrote a couple of newsletter articles about it. I always feel a little uncomfortable when I go far out on a limb. But I'm going to speak out anyway. In doing my research for the upcoming hair loss prevention e-book, I've come across some evidence I hadn't seen before:

• Being obese or overweight in midlife is a possible risk factor of AD in later life.
• People with AD exhibit impaired glucose metabolism, abnormally high insulin levels and insulin resistance. (So do the majority of women with PCOS.)

OK, given there might be a future risk for you, what can you do to reduce it?

One thing you can do is review your diet. Are you being careful about the amount and types of fat you're consuming? In studies of mice, it appears that a high-fat diet induces insulin resistance, which in turn encourages the creation of a protein thought to be a probably cause of Alzheimer's.

Kings College in the UK has reported that 68% of women with PCOS consume a diet that is more than 35% fat calories. Roughly 1/3 of those fat calories come from saturated fat. Based on this research, it looks like there is some room for modifying your consumption of fats.

If you have a copy of the PCOS diet ebook, review the section on Fats & Oils. Supplemental fish oil is also highly advisable. And take a good, hard look at the amount of saturated fats you're consuming.

Second, eat at least five servings of vegetables every day. You're probably tired of hearing me say it. I only say it because there is convincing medical evidence showing that you can minimize ALL of your future risks if you do this.

And third, do anything you can to consistently exercise and be physically active. Imagine what it would be like if you were a physically fit person. Exercise is almost miraculous in terms of how it helps your body, your self-esteem, and ward off future degenerative diseases.

It's all basic stuff…just good health practices. It's well proven that good health practices are the best health insurance you could possibly have.

SOURCE - http://www.ovarian-cysts-pcos.com/pcos-news159.html#sec2

The 7 foods experts won't eat

1. Canned Tomatoes

The expert: Fredrick vom Saal, PhD, an endocrinologist at the University of Missouri who studies bisphenol-A

The problem: The resin linings of tin cans contain bisphenol-A, a synthetic estrogen that has been linked to ailments ranging from reproductive problems to heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. Unfortunately, acidity (a prominent characteristic of tomatoes) causes BPA to leach into your food. Studies show that the BPA in most people's body exceeds the amount that suppresses sperm production or causes chromosomal damage to the eggs of animals. "You can get 50 mcg of BPA per liter out of a tomato can, and that's a level that is going to impact people, particularly the young," says vom Saal. "I won't go near canned tomatoes."

The solution: Choose tomatoes in glass bottles (which do not need resin linings), such as the brands Bionaturae and Coluccio. You can also get several types in Tetra Pak boxes, like Trader Joe's and Pomi.

2. Corn-Fed Beef

The expert: Joel Salatin, co-owner of Polyface Farms and author of half a dozen books on sustainable farming

The problem: Cattle evolved to eat grass, not grains. But farmers today feed their animals corn and soybeans, which fatten up the animals faster for slaughter. More money for cattle farmers (and lower prices at the grocery store) means a lot less nutrition for us. A recent comprehensive study conducted by the USDA and researchers from Clemson University found that compared with corn-fed beef, grass-fed beef is higher in beta-carotene, vitamin E, omega-3s, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), calcium, magnesium, and potassium; lower in inflammatory omega-6s; and lower in saturated fats that have been linked to heart disease. "We need to respect the fact that cows are herbivores, and that does not mean feeding them corn and chicken manure," says Salatin.

The solution: Buy grass-fed beef, which can be found at specialty grocers, farmers' markets, and nationally at Whole Foods. It's usually labeled because it demands a premium, but if you don't see it, ask your butcher.

3. Microwave Popcorn

The expert: Olga Naidenko, PhD, a senior scientist for the Environmental Working Group,

The problem: Chemicals, including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), in the lining of the bag, are part of a class of compounds that may be linked to infertility in humans, according to a recent study from UCLA. In animal testing, the chemicals cause liver, testicular, and pancreatic cancer. Studies show that microwaving causes the chemicals to vaporize-and migrate into your popcorn. "They stay in your body for years and accumulate there," says Naidenko, which is why researchers worry that levels in humans could approach the amounts causing cancers in laboratory animals. DuPont and other manufacturers have promised to phase out PFOA by 2015 under a voluntary EPA plan, but millions of bags of popcorn will be sold between now and then.

The solution: Pop natural kernels the old-fashioned way: in a skillet. For flavorings, you can add real butter or dried seasonings, such as dillweed, vegetable flakes, or soup mix.

4. Nonorganic Potatoes

The expert: Jeffrey Moyer, chair of the National Organic Standards Board

The problem: Root vegetables absorb herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides that wind up in soil. In the case of potatoes-the nation's most popular vegetable-they're treated with fungicides during the growing season, then sprayed with herbicides to kill off the fibrous vines before harvesting. After they're dug up, the potatoes are treated yet again to prevent them from sprouting. "Try this experiment: Buy a conventional potato in a store, and try to get it to sprout. It won't," says Moyer, who is also farm director of the Rodale Institute (also owned by Rodale Inc., the publisher ofPrevention). "I've talked with potato growers who say point-blank they would never eat the potatoes they sell. They have separate plots where they grow potatoes for themselves without all the chemicals."

The solution: Buy organic potatoes. Washing isn't good enough if you're trying to remove chemicals that have been absorbed into the flesh.

5. Farmed Salmon

The expert: David Carpenter, MD, director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at the University at Albany and publisher of a major study in the journal Science on contamination in fish.

The problem: Nature didn't intend for salmon to be crammed into pens and fed soy, poultry litter, and hydrolyzed chicken feathers. As a result, farmed salmon is lower in vitamin D and higher in contaminants, including carcinogens, PCBs, brominated flame retardants, and pesticides such as dioxin and DDT. According to Carpenter, the most contaminated fish come from Northern Europe, which can be found on American menus. "You can only safely eat one of these salmon dinners every 5 months without increasing your risk of cancer," says Carpenter, whose 2004 fish contamination study got broad media attention. "It's that bad." Preliminary science has also linked DDT to diabetes and obesity, but some nutritionists believe the benefits of omega-3s outweigh the risks. There is also concern about the high level of antibiotics and pesticides used to treat these fish. When you eat farmed salmon, you get dosed with the same drugs and chemicals.

The solution: Switch to wild-caught Alaska salmon. If the package says fresh Atlantic, it's farmed. There are no commercial fisheries left for wild Atlantic salmon.

6. Milk Produced with Artificial Hormones

The expert: Rick North, project director of the Campaign for Safe Food at the Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility and former CEO of the Oregon division of the American Cancer Society

The problem: Milk producers treat their dairy cattle with recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH or rBST, as it is also known) to boost milk production. But rBGH also increases udder infections and even pus in the milk. It also leads to higher levels of a hormone called insulin-like growth factor in milk. In people, high levels of IGF-1 may contribute to breast, prostate, and colon cancers. "When the government approved rBGH, it was thought that IGF-1 from milk would be broken down in the human digestive tract," says North. As it turns out, the casein in milk protects most of it, according to several independent studies. "There's not 100% proof that this is increasing cancer in humans," admits North. "However, it's banned in most industrialized countries."

The solution: Check labels for rBGH-free, rBST-free, produced without artificial hormones, ororganic milk. These phrases indicate rBGH-free products.

7. Conventional Apples

The expert: Mark Kastel, former executive for agribusiness and codirector of the Cornucopia Institute, a farm-policy research group that supports organic foods

The problem: If fall fruits held a "most doused in pesticides contest," apples would win. Why? They are individually grafted (descended from a single tree) so that each variety maintains its distinctive flavor. As such, apples don't develop resistance to pests and are sprayed frequently. The industry maintains that these residues are not harmful. But Kastel counters that it's just common sense to minimize exposure by avoiding the most doused produce, like apples. "Farm workers have higher rates of many cancers," he says. And increasing numbers of studies are starting to link a higher body burden of pesticides (from all sources) with Parkinson's disease.

The solution: Buy organic apples. If you can't afford organic, be sure to wash and peel them first.

SOURCE - http://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/the-7-foods-experts-wont-eat-547963.html

Nigerian Cysters and Tinned/Canned Tomatoes

Tinned/Canned Tomatoes

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I've blogged in the past about foods that should be avoided if you have PCOS and more so if you're trying to conceive. I thought I'd make this post to reiterate that point with particular regard to the Nigerian diet. 

We consume a lot of tomatoes in Nigerian cooking. Nowadays more and more people rely on tinned/canned tomatoes for convenience and to save time cooking. Looking back several years, it's occurred to me that one of the changes I made that may have caused my PCOS to flare up was consuming more tinned tomatoes. Stews and jollof rice were made using tinned tomatoes and I ate one or the other EVERY SINGLE DAY. 

Not just plum peeled tomatoes, or chopped tomatoes but tomato puree as well. Any form of canned/tinned tomatoes is bad because the acid in tomatoes causes the chemicals in the tin to leach into the tomatoes. BPA is a chemical commonly found in the plastics used to line the tins to create a barrier between the product and the tins to prevent rust. It is a well known and scientifically established hormone disruptor. It has been banned in baby bottles in some countries and has been said to be responsible for the escalation of metabolic syndrome. 

Needless to say, if you consume tinned tomatoes on a regular basis it will accumulate in the body and wreak havoc on your system. By extension, in my opinion, the same would go for other canned foods with high acidity, such as canned fruits. In addition to reducing - if not eliminating - the intake of canned foods, one should also avoid microwaving foods in plastic containers. 

The expert: Fredrick vom Saal, PhD, an endocrinologist at the University of Missouri who studies bisphenol-A

The problem: The resin linings of tin cans contain bisphenol-A, a synthetic estrogen that has been linked to ailments ranging from reproductive problems to heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. Unfortunately, acidity (a prominent characteristic of tomatoes) causes BPA to leach into your food. Studies show that the BPA in most people's body exceeds the amount that suppresses sperm production or causes chromosomal damage to the eggs of animals. "You can get 50 mcg of BPA per liter out of a tomato can, and that's a level that is going to impact people, particularly the young," says vom Saal. "I won't go near canned tomatoes."

The solution: Choose tomatoes in glass bottles (which do not need resin linings), such as the brands Bionaturae and Coluccio. You can also get several types in Tetra Pak boxes, like Trader Joe's and Pomi.

[Source]

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I'm not going to give a 'balanced' view on canned tomatoes. The fact that when I didn't eat it and was better off hormonal is sufficient for me to cut it off completely. Interestingly back then I opted for tomatoes packaged in tetra paks because they were cheaper without knowing they were relatively healthier. Even then I wasn't eating it on a daily basis. 

If you are looking for a BPA free alternative to tinned/canned tomatoes, look out for those packaged in tetra paks such as shown above.


Still worth further reading on the safety of tetra paks is the following article - http://www.greencradle.net/2009/11/are-tetra-paks-a-healthier-or-greener-container-for-organic-foods/

Bread: why it can be worse than pure sugar

 Most people are surprised when they first hear that a white bread has more of a sugar hit than sugar itself! Fluffy, soft white bread made with finely processed flour has long been considered a delicacy, and certainly tastes great! Unfortunately, it is very high GI – in the order of 70-100 depending on how it is processed, cooked, and how fresh it is, and also influenced by what it is eaten with.

However, bread doesn’t have to be bad for you. Finding yourself a good sourdough bakery that uses wholegrain flours is half the battle!

In NSW we love Morpeth sourdough bread, whose bakery and restaurant are located in Morpeth Village in the Hunter Valley region – and whose bread is stocked in most Harris Farm Markets stores in Sydney. We also enjoy Phillippa’s Bread and Irrewarra Sourdough in Melbourne (available at cafes and gourmet supermarkets).  Recently we found a wonderful sourdough bakery cafe in Melbourne – their bread is pictured above! The bakery is called Knead Bakers, in Burwood Road, Hawthorn. If you know any great sourdough bakeries, let us know and we will link them here for our other readers!

If you go to the GI data tables published by the Sydney University site dedicated to GI, glycemicindex.com and type bread, you will come up with a list of breads which have been tested for GI. When going through these tables, I have summarised for you what I take as the main principles in choosing bread that is lower GI. Remember, just because a fluffy white loaf has the label “sourdough” does not mean it is low GI. It may have a very small amount of sourdough added.

Jennie Brand Miller explains much better than I can some of the reasons why grain products prepared in different ways can have such different values, including particle size, starch gelatinisation, physical entrapment, quantity of amylose starch, and the type of fibre in the grain. In her article “going the WHOLE grain” she explains that just because something is labelled “wholegrain” it is not necessarily low GI. We encourage you to subscribe to the official GI websites GI News, which publishes monthly articles explaining GI principles.

We think the best idea is to look for breads with a GI symbol on them, and keep in mind the following principles if no GI symbol is yet available:

Density

Denser bread (less air, more substance) will feel heavier when you hold it. If you tap the side of a loaf, it will also make a sound more like a “thud” (more solid). If you are buying it, feel it’s weight, and leave it on the shelf if it feels like a light, fluffy loaf. If you make your own bread, consider the following values published on the GI website:

White bread, prepared with a 10 min prove and a second 2 min proving (low loaf volume)
-GI:38, GL:5
White bread, prepared with a 30 min prove and a second 12 min proving (moderate loaf volume)
-GI:72, GL:9
White bread, prepared with a 60 min prove and a second 30 min proving (moderate loaf volume)
-GI:86, GL:11
White bread, prepared with a 40 min prove, a second 25 min proving and a third 50 min proving (large loaf volume) -GI:100, GL:13
Source: GI database, http://www.glycemicindex.com

It is clear that the longer the yeast is allowed to take effect prior to cooking, or the higher the loaf rises, the higher the GI value will be! My guess is that the science behind this involves the yeast spreading out, taking effect, and doing its work to make the bread easier for us to digest. Following these principles, un-leaven bread should also be lower in GI value.

Grains

Rye and barley breads have lower GI values than plain wheat bread, as do breads with seeds added, such as oat flakes, soy and linseed, and multigrain varieties. Stoneground wholewheat flour breads are also lower GI. The principle here to understand is that the more fibrous chunks there are in the bread (such as the larger, coarser grains of stoneground flour), the more work the body has to do to break down and access the starches.
Pumpernickel rye bread with coarse rye kernels has a particularly low GI of 41 with a GL of 5.

Additives

As well as grains, sourdough is the most well known additive to lower GI. Sourdough wheat bread has variable GI values, depending on other factors, but seems on average a GI value around 50-60, and a GL value of around 7-8.

People have also added other things to bread to see the effect on GI, such as insoluble fibre, or enzyme inhibitors. These both lower the GI quite significantly. Here an example of what happens to GI when fibre is added in the form of beans:

White bread with 3 g Sunfibre (Cyamoposis tetragonolobus) (Indian cluster guar beans), viscosity 1 (Taiyo Kagaku Co., Ltd, Yokaichi Mie, Japan) GI:53 GL:8
White bread with 5 g Sunfibre (Cyamoposis tetragonolobus) (Indian cluster guar beans), viscosity 1 (Taiyo Kagaku Co., Ltd, Yokaichi Mie, Japan) GI:49, GL:8
White bread with 10 g Sunfibre (Cyamoposis tetragonolobus) (Indian cluster guar beans), viscosity 1 (Taiyo Kagaku Co., Ltd, Yokaichi Mie, Japan) GI:47, GL:8
White bread with 15 g Sunfibre (Cyamoposis tetragonolobus) (Indian cluster guar beans), viscosity 1 (Taiyo Kagaku Co., Ltd, Yokaichi Mie, Japan) GI:37, GL:6
Source: GI database, http://www.glycemicindex.com

Cooking method

One of the interesting values I noticed among the various GI values for bread published was a comparison between barley bread made with 70% barley flour and 40% wheat flour cooked at different rates. The same bread mix had a lower GI when baked more slowly and at a low temperature. GI:70/GL:9 compared to GI:49/GL:6

What it is eaten with

The artificial thing about knowing the GI values of bread is that we don’t just eat bread, we eat it with things, usually in the form of sandwiches. Interestingly, an almond manufacturer measured the effect of consuming various amounts of almonds along with white bread. The GI values were dramatically reduced by consuming more almonds with the bread. If 60g of almonds was eaten, GI value dropped to 44, GL 23, whereas if 30g of almonds were eaten, GI value was 74, GL 37.

In summary…

There is no need to be obsessional, which is why we wanted to explain the principles to you. Overall, choose a heavier, denser loaf, multigrain or sourdough, and eat it with low GI foods. Have a lovely salad sandwich, and follow it with a handful of almonds, and you’ll know you are on the right track!!

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Source: http://lowgicooking.com (Please aubscribe to the blog feed or bookmark. Lots of great tips for low GI eating)