The Claim: Eat Six Small Meals a Day Instead of Three Big Ones

It seems that the mainstream media is starting to finally catch on to some of the research about meals and metabolism: eating more meals does NOT speed up your metabolism (when calories and macronutrients are the same in a fewer number of meals). This “snack all day” mentality is probably making more people overeat in the first place, as they think they are doing the right thing to “speed up” their metabolism (which we know is not the case).

The notion behind eating smaller, more frequent meals is simple: spreading out one’s daily calories over six meals stimulates the metabolism, keeping it going at a faster pace and thereby burning more calories.

Some studies have found modest health benefits to eating smaller meals, but often the research involved extremes, like comparing the effects of two or three large daily meals with those of a dozen or more snacks. Six meals, according to some weight-loss books and fad diets, is a more realistic approach.

But don’t count on it. As long as total caloric and nutrient intake stays the same, then metabolism, at the end of the day, should stay the same as well. Read more

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Posted in: nutrition,Weight Loss

The Misguided War on Fat May Be Making Us Sicker

The misguided war on fat may be making us sicker, says Melinda Wenner Moyer.

Thirty years ago, America declared war against fat. The inaugural edition of Dietary Guidelines for Americans, published in 1980 and subsequently updated every five years, advised people to steer clear of "too much fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol," because of purported ties between fat intake and heart disease. The message has remained essentially the same ever since, with current guidelines recommending that Americans consume less than 10 percent of their daily calories from saturated fat.

But heart disease continues to devastate the country, and, as you may have noticed, we certainly haven't gotten any thinner. Ultimately, that's because fat should never have been our enemy. The big question is whether the 2010 Dietary Guidelines, due out at the end of the year, will finally announce retreat. Read more

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Posted in: nutrition,war on fat

Eating Processed Food Leads to Depression

Could diet be the cause of the epidemic of depression, Americans seem to be suffering from? A new study suggests that it might.

People who eat more processed foods are significantly more likely to suffer from depression, while those who eat more fruits and vegetables are significantly less likely to be depressed, according to a study conducted by researchers from University College London and published in the British Journal of Psychiatry.

"This study adds to an existing body of solid research that shows the strong links between what we eat and our mental health," said Andrew McCulloch of the Mental Health Foundation. "The U.K. population is consuming less nutritious, fresh produce and more saturated fats and sugars. We are particularly concerned about those who cannot access fresh produce easily or live in areas where there are a high number of fast food restaurants and takeaways." Read more

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Posted in: depression,nutrition,processed food

300 Rep Nightmare Workout

Got what it takes? This is a pretty demanding routine, but as the saying goes, no pain, no gain.

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Posted in: 300 Spartan Training,300 training method,300 workout

The Agony of Long-Distance Runners: Coronary Plaque

A group of elite distance runners had higher levels of coronary plaque than people tested for cardiac disease.

A group of elite long-distance runners had less body fat, better cholesterol and blood lipid profiles, and better heart rates than people being tested for cardiac disease. Paradoxically, however, the runners had more calcified plaque in their heart arteries, according to a study reported this week. Read more

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Posted in: coronary plaque,distance running,endurance exercise,heart disease

A Low-Tech Solution to the Health Care Crisis

Mark Sisson is a former world-class triathlete who decided to improve his health by substituting sprinting and strength training for long distance endurance training. In this article, he discusses a low-tech solution to the health care crisis.

As I watch the health care bill debate debacle tumble down the rat-hole of Congress, I have to shake my head at how absurd this has all become. The final version – in almost any iteration now – will surely bankrupt us in time. If you thought the bank bailout was excessive, wait until you see this final tab. And the bill will likely wind up such a twisted compromise that few of the major stakeholders (Reps, Dems, Docs, Insurers and patients) will be pleased. In fact, I’m guessing very few people will be truly positively impacted by it (except, ironically, those who have no coverage and could care less about taking care of themselves). Many of the rest of us will be hugely affected by it for years to come. Taxes and premiums will rise for the healthy among us who can pay (and even for many of those who can’t). The saddest part of all is that in a free-market economy, a bill like this ought to be entirely unnecessary, but for the fact that it is built upon that huge house of cards that consists of the faulty assumptions we as a nation seem to have made about personal responsibility and accountability. Having said all that, this post is not about ragging on ObamaCare. There are others far more qualified than I to do so. This is about the message that the universe is offering up to all of us as a result of this fiasco. That message is clear and concise: "When it comes to health, you’re on your own."

As one of my readers at Mark’s Daily Apple put it the other day, the problem isn’t lack of health insurance, it’s lack of health. If our collective diseases of civilization continue to mount as they appear to be doing, if the majority of us are headed toward near-certain serious degenerative disease as we are led to believe, then absolutely no insurance program or government aid will be able to pay for it. Read more

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Posted in: Mark Sisson,paleolithic diet,paleolithic lifestyle,primal diet,primal lifestyle

Prevent Balding and Grow Hair with Natural Foods

Does what you eat really have an effect on how well your hair grows? It certainly does. Healthy hair growth requires a wide variety of vitamins and minerals. Your hair reflects the general state of your health. If you're too busy to eat a healthy diet, your hair will show it.

People lose about one hundred hairs each day. Because hair is made of many nutrients, those nutrients need to be replenished in the body in order for hair to grow. Hair contains protein, fat, water, and carbohydrates. Foods to prevent hair loss can be found in oats, molasses, liver, and whole grains. Because water is comprised of water, it is important to stay hydrated to stimulate proper hair growth. Hair growth is conditioned on genetics. Hair loss increases with age, but proper nutrition can help prevent hair loss, thinning hair and balding. Read more

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Posted in: balding,hair regrowth,natural foods,nutrition,reverse hair loss

Short Bursts of Exercise as Good as Hours of Training

Staying in shape doesn't have to be a time-consuming affair. Less really can be more when it comes to exercise, scientists have discovered. Short bursts of exercise as good as hours of training.

The body can get as much benefit from a short but intensive bursts of exercise lasting ten minutes than it can from ten hours of moderate training.

The technique not only takes less time but also involves much less physical effort.

Researchers believe their findings "blow away" the belief that staying in shape is a time-consuming affair. Read more

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Posted in: aerobic exercise,exercise benefits,exercise intensity

Bodyweight Exercises for Size and Strength

Can bodyweight exercises build size and strength? They can if you do the right ones, says strength coach Mike Mahler.

I get a ton of emails every week regarding bodyweight exercises. People want to know what are the best bodyweight drills for size and strength.

While, lifting weights will always be the superior way to build brute strength and big muscles, there are several bodyweight exercises that you can choose from to add variety to your workouts or to keep you in shape on the road. My favorites are: Handstand Pushups, One-arm Pushups, Door Pull-ups, One-Legged Squats, Knee Jumps, Headstand Leg raises, and the Mahler Body Blaster.

Lets get into each exercise in more detail: Read more

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Posted in: bodyweight exercise,mass building,strength training

Green Tea Nutrients May Prevent Glaucoma

Glaucoma is a disease in which the optic nerve is damaged, leading to progressive, irreversible loss of vision. New research suggests that drinking green tea regularly may prevent glaucoma.

Glaucoma is one of the leading causes of blindness in the U.S., according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). It comes like a silent thief, gradually stealing sight and usually providing no warning symptoms in the early stages. But as the disease progresses, damage to the optic nerve grows worse and side vision can gradually fail until there's only tunnel vision left, and then no vision at all. Treatment with drugs and surgery may slow down the eyesight deterioration but there's no cure. However, new research provides evidence there's a natural way to prevent glaucoma from developing in the first place -- drink green tea regularly.

A study just published in the American Chemical Society's Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry concludes that phytochemicals found in green tea actually penetrate deeply into tissues of the eyes. This is the first report to document how the lens, retina and other parts of the eye absorb the powerful antioxidants and disease-fighting substances found in green tea and it strongly raises the possibility that green tea can prevent glaucoma as well as other eye diseases and conditions. Read more

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Posted in: glaucoma,green tea

Cancer: Can Garlic Help?

A new study suggests that the more garlic people consume, the lower their chances of developing cancer.

Researchers have designed a urine test that can simultaneously measure the extent of a potential carcinogenic process and a marker of garlic consumption in humans.

In a small pilot study, the test suggested that the more garlic people consumed, the lower the levels of the potential carcinogenic process were. Read more

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Posted in: cancer,garlic

Advanced Bodyweight Exercise Workout

This advanced workout by personal trainer Stephen Cabral is a quick workout using only your body weight.

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Posted in: advanced bodyweight workout,bodyweight exercise,bodyweight exercise routine

Become a Caveman for Better Health

The paleolithic diet is a e "hot" trends in natural health. From their workouts to their parenting styles,learn why some modern men (and women) are fanatical in their devotion to Stone Age life

We’re used to seeing the potato as a focal point of conflict and discord, the clichéd casualty of the carbohydrate wars. But hoopla over green beans, that healthiest of vegetables? There are lots of reasons why Loren Cordain wouldn’t touch a green bean. If you ask him, he might talk about how legumes can render a healthy gut “leaky.” Or he might rant about their “anti-nutrient” properties. But it would come down to this: green beans weren’t around tens of thousands of years ago, when our prehistoric ancestors ushered in the Paleolithic era with the first tools made of stone. And so we shouldn’t eat them today.

“It’s not rocket science,” Cordain insists. His book, The Paleo Diet: Lose Weight and Get Healthy by Eating the Food You Were Designed to Eat, now a bible to a small but growing subculture, is built around a simple premise: humans evolved over millions of years. Modern agriculture has been around for just 10,000, a blip on the evolutionary timeline. Because of this, humans are healthiest when eating as they did before agriculture came along—in other words, like cavemen. Read more

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Posted in: paleolithic diet,paleolithic lifestyle

The "Brief Workout" Trend: Are You Exercising Enough to Hit Your Goals?

As workout become more intense, they naturally become shorter, but can workouts become too brief? Rusty Moore says that if you're not hitting your fitness goals, you may not be devoting enough time to exercise.

I enjoy brief workouts, especially during the summer when I am active. I think this emerging trend of quick workouts is great, but how brief can you go before you aren't exercising enough? Can a few 30 minute workouts per week really give you the same results as 4-5 one-hour workouts per week? In my opinion, there is a time element involved to getting in peak condition. Even if you train hard, you can't expect to reach a high-level of conditioning just putting in a few 30 minute sessions per week. Perhaps the reason you haven't been able to lose those last 5 pounds or don't have defined abs is simply that you aren't devoting enough time to exercise. Read more

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Posted in: brief workouts,intense workouts