Healthy Andy

Is green tea a weight loss supplement?  A surprising number of studies suggest that there is evidence to belive this to be the case.

First off, a couple of side notes.  Green tea has a huge number of health benefits far beyond mere weight loss, from antioxidant and anti-cancer properties to helping you keep your teeth.  I’ve discussed a few of them on this site in the past.  So I consider it a good addition to your health routine irregardless of any weight loss effects.  However, I also feel the need to point out that no weight loss supplement ever invented will beat good old fashioned diet and exercise habits for turning your bulging belly into a flat one.

At best…. at BEST… you can hope for a supplement to enhance your diet and exercise changes by MAYBE 10%.  If you’re trying to get more than that out of a supplement, you’re probably doing a mildly glorified version of smoking crystal meth. 

In case you’re wondering, I do not advise smoking crystal meth for weight loss, or any other reason, really.

Okay, back to green tea and weight loss. A recent meta-analysis out of the University of Connecticut suggests that green tea catechins (these are the antioxidants in green tea) can indeed help with weight loss, but only if there’s caffeine involved.

First off, for those of you unfamiliar with the term “meta-analysis“, that just refers to taking a whole bunch of studies and sort of summing up their results into one bigger group study.  The researchers don’t actually perform a scientific study of their own; they just borrow other people’s data.

They’re nice because you get to pool data into a much larger pile than one study alone can hope to do.  And, they’re cheap and relatively easy, because hey, somebody else did all the hard work of finding subjects and measuring them and poking them with a pointy stick (okay, not that last one). 

The bad news is, they are really, really vulnerable to researcher bias, in that if I’m a researcher and I really, really feel strongly that green tea is a super-fantastic weight loss supplement, I might (consciously or subsconsciously) only select those studies which will support my opinion.  This happens a lot more than you might think, so be aware of this particular limitation.

The Green Tea Weight Loss Meta-Study

In this case, the researchers found 15 studies that compared the use of green tea catechins with caffeiene to the use of the same green tea stuff without caffeine.  Added together, this provided a total of over 1,200 subjects, and when it comes to scientific analysis, more subjects is more better-er, as my Pappy used to say (not really). 

What they found, was that you pretty much had to have green tea plus caffeine in order to see any effect.  Green tea catechins alone didn’t seem to do much, and while caffeiene had some effect, it worked far better if you had green tea added in.  The effects were measurable for body weight, BMI (body mass index), and waist circumference.

Here’s the bad news.  When you read the fine print, this study doesn’t seem quite as strong.  Not every study measured the same things.  The dosages varied (of green tea as well as caffeine), as did the length of time the subjects were followed.  Basically, this was a real patchwork quilt of studies that didn’t seem to fit well together into a meta-analysis.

Still, it gives a crude indication that there’s probably something going on in the whole green tea- weight loss arena.  So let’s look at some more evidence.

The Green Tea Air Chamber Study

One study measured acutal energy expenditure in ten subjects with either placebo, caffeiene, or green tea extract (with caffeine).  Each subject was tested on three seperate occasions under three different conditions.  The researchers found a 4% increase in energy expenditure in the green tea group.  

How did they measure energy expenditure, you ask?  By sealing the subjects in a “respiratory chamber” for 24 hrs and measuring the changes in oxygen and cardon dioxide levels, and then using a fancy-schmancy equation to indirectly guess at how much energy the subjects were burning off.  Frankly, I’m not very familiar with that technique, so I can’t tell you how accurate it is or isn’t.

If we take it as a given that this technique is accurate for estimating energy expenditure, this is a nifty study, but ten subjects is a really small sample size.  This alone put this research more in the “pilot study” category, which is kind of a mini-study that checks to see if we should bother to make a bigger, more expensive study on the subject.  But by itself, it’s not too convincing.

The Bigger, More Expensive Green Tea Weight Loss Study

Okay, here’s a really good one.  A study published in the Journal of Nutrition in 2009 took a bunch of people, had them keep their caloric intake consistent, and had them exercise for three hours a week (some of it supervised).  Half of them got a caffeiene only supplement, the other had a green tea extract/caffeiene mix (the caffeiene level was the same as the other group).  Twelve weeks later, they checked the results.

What they basically found was that the green tea extract enhanced the exercise-induced weight loss.  Not a lot, but since they had over a hundred subjects, it was enough to be noticed.  What was most interesting was the effect on abdominal fat distribution.

You see, they didn’t just weigh these people.  They used CT scans to find out exactly how fat their bellies were before and after.  While the effects of green tea on body weight were only mildly noticeable, there was a much more obvious effect in abdominal fat distribution.  Specifically, the caffeiene only group had an average total abdominal fat area decrease of 0.3%, while the green tea group had a total abdominal fat loss of 7.7% on average.

I like this study because it directly measures what we really care about (does green tea make my big belly get smaller) rather than indirectly measuring something that maybe, kinda-sorta, somehow has something to do with what we want (like the energy expenditure air chamber thing).  Plus, they had a good sample size and simple-but-solid study design… the kind that’s harder to screw up.

And, they confirm what I told you up at the top of the page.  Supplements don’t do THAT much.  It’s the diet and exercise that will pull the heavy weight.  Even with large levels of green tea supplements (over 600 mg/day), there was only a small difference in fat loss over control… and these people were exercising, as well. 

So, in the great green tea weight loss supplement debate, remember that supplements only nudge you in the right direction… diet and exercise are going to do the real work in fat loss.

Article citations:

Meta-Study:

Effect of green tea catechins with or without caffeine on anthropometric measures: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Phung OJ, Baker WL, Matthews LJ, Lanosa M, Thorne A, Coleman CI.Am J Clin Nutr. 2010 Jan;91(1):73-81. Epub 2009 Nov 11. Review.

Itty-Bitty Respiratory Chamber Study:

Dulloo AG, Duret C, Rohrer D, et al Efficacy of green tea extract rich in catechin polyphenols and caffeine in increasing 24-h energy expenditure and fat oxidation in humans. Am J Clin Nutr 1999;70:1040–5

Green tea catechin consumption enhances exercise-induced abdominal fat loss in overweight and obese adults.Maki KC, Reeves MS, Farmer M, Yasunaga K, Matsuo N, Katsuragi Y, Komikado M, Tokimitsu I, Wilder D, Jones F, Blumberg JB, Cartwright Y.J Nutr. 2009 Feb;139(2):264-70. Epub 2008 Dec 11.

The normally-inept FDA stirred from its usual peaceful slumber to actually do its job and warn consumers about a shifty, shady weight loss supplement called Que She.

What’s that, you say?  A weight loss supplement that isn’t completely and utterly legit?  Say it isn’t so!

True story, my friends.  And while there are some supplements that can naturally aid in healthy weight loss, let me tell you, the crap that is out there can be downright terrifying.  Que she is a great example of one of these nightmares.

It calls itself a “supplement”, but really, it contains a number of PRESCIPTION DRUGS as its active ingredients.  If that sounds illegal, that’s because it is.  Horribly, horribly illegal. 

My favorite controlled substance in Que She is fenfluramine, a stimulant drug that isn’t even legal in the US, and hasn’t been since the ’90s.  Fan-tastic.  Not only are they illegally putting drugs into their supplements, but they’re using drugs that aren’t even legal in the first place.  What the heck, let’s just put some crack in there while we’re at it!

Fenfluramine was part of the stupid, ridiculous “Fen-Phen” medical weight loss extravaganza/fiasco that was all the rage back in the ’90s.  These stupid clinics popped up everywhere; as I like to say, you couldn’t swing a dead cat without hitting one of these Fen-Phen clinics.

They used a two drug combo, fenfluramine (also called “Redux”) and phentermine, to try yet again to create a magical situation where people could lose weight without actually changing their eating or exercise habits.  Brilliant.  Fen-Phen is supposed to reduce appetite and all that sort of thing by jacking up various neurotransmitter levels.  What it really did is, make people go really wacky and crazy in the head.  Trust me, I dated a girl on the stuff.  Scary.

Surprising, right?  That if you feed somebody handfuls of the chemicals regulating BRAIN FUNCTION, that maybe, just maybe, things might not go exactly as planned?  Maybe a side effect or two?  Mmmm? Maybe?

Bah!  Details, my friends, details!  So you go a little crazy, so what?  But then, people starting keeling over dead, and THAT caught somebody’s attention (mostly litigation attorneys).  Turns out, fenfluramine causes damage to the valves of the heart as well as pulmonary hypertension (increase in blood pressure leading to the lungs, bad stuff). 

Whoops.

So, Fen-Phen got pulled, and drug companies and clinics got the BeJesus sued out of them, and of course, nobody learned a damn thing, because they’re STILL trying to create a magic weight loss pill.  Jeeesh!

I digress.  We were discussing Que She.  Not only does it have the bad half of Fen-Phen in it, it’s also got a prescription beta blocker as an active ingredient.  That’s a drug used for cardiac arrhythmias (irregular heartbeat).  Pretty sweet, hunh?  Weight loss AND you don’t have to bother going to see your cardiologist!

What, were they TRYING to kill people? 

There’s more, of course, but you get the idea.  Bunch of prescription drugs, some not even legal with a prescription any longer, and the best part is, all mixed up in a cocktail that creates God Only Knows what sort of interactive effects?  Don’t forget, drugs tend to interact with each other and change how they work when mixed together, and the more you mix in, the more difficult it becomes to predict the outcome.

So, it’s a good thing this crap has been identified and pulled off of the market.  But folks, there’s going to be more.  How many similar “supplements” are out there, flying under the FDA’s radar?  The real problem here, is people trying to take a magic pill to lose weight.

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again.  There is no magic in weight loss.  THERE IS NO MAGIC IN WEIGHT LOSS.  There’s just physics and biochemistry and various other natural laws.  Yes, there are some actual real healthy supplements that can aid you along the way, but even still, it’s re-tooling your diet and exercise habits that is going to do the majority of the work.

Everybody wants a short-cut.  I get it.  But there aren’t any.  Every thinks they can outsmart Nature, and it’s all fun and games at first, until your heart valves go boom and you can’t pump blood through your lungs anymore.  Trying to outsmart your body’s physiology is like trying to outsmart gravity.  You can’t do it.  Sooner or later, you’re going to get squashed.

Do it the smart way and switch to a whole foods diet, cut out the sugar, flour and processed foods, and get your butt off the couch and move around more.  That’s the long-term path to weight loss, and the only one that won’t put you in an early grave.

Stay healthy!

Source: http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm218427.htm

Since I’ll take any excuse to post more about the fantastic health benefits of fish oils, here’s some news on a study showing that women who take fish oils supplements are at a lower risk for breast cancer.

The study followed 35,000 women over the course of six years.  At the end of this time, the researchers found that those women taking fish oil supplements were 32% less likely to have breast cancer.

One of the interesting findings of this study is that the protective effects of fish oil seemed to be limited to a type of breast cancer called invasive ductal carcinoma.  IDC is the most common form of breast cancer and is maglinant in type.  About 55% of breast cancer is invasive ductal carcinoma.

The prognosis for this type of breast cancer is highly variable and depends on exactly how big the tumor is, how much the cancerous cells have travelled into the lymph nodes and bloodstream, and some other hormonal factors.  Of course, the bottom line is, like any other form of cancer, if you can avoid it, you don’t want it.

That ought to be the American Cancer Society’s T-shirt slogan:  Cancer.  You Don’t Want It.  Seriously.

Unfortunately, this study isn’t very specific and is based on self-report, which as I’ve mentioned in previous posts, is notoriously unreliable.  Plus, there wasn’t really any way to tell what sort of dosage these women were taking- any fish oil use was considered the same.

So, what this sort of study really tells us is that something’s going on, but we’re not sure what, and we need to take a closer look.  Fortunately, some Harvard researchers are going to do just that and study the effect of fish oils on cancer. 

In any case, fish oils are a supremely healthy addition to your wellness habits for many other reasons than cancer- just take a look in the categories section under “supplements” and you’ll see I have a whole section devoted to fish oils.  Remember, the basic wellness dose is between one and two grams a day total of EPA and DHA (the active ingredients in fish oils).

Stay healthy!

Source article: http://health.yahoo.net/news/s/hsn/fishoilsupplementslinkedtolowerriskofbreastcancerstudy

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is a condition affecting huge numbers of kids in the US, characterized by the inability to focus on a given task or situation.  Classically, it’s treated with Ritalin, a stimulant, but there’s some evidence that Omega-3 fatty acids could be a better solution.

So why are researchers leaning in that direction?  I mean, it’s not exactly intuitive: ADHD kids are responding to a stimulant, and Omega-3s are certainly NOT a stimulant, so what gives?

The first clue started cropping up a couple of decades ago, as ADHD started becoming a more and more popular diagnosis.  After a while, some big-brained folks started realizing that some symptoms exhibited by kids with ADHD were also shared by kids who had severe Omega-3 deficiency… stuff like increased thirst and urination, dry hair, and dry skin.

Plus, animal studies showed things like rats low in Omega-3s had a hard time learning in new environments.  Specifically, they were easily distractable- sound like ADHD to you?  This evidence was followed up with blood tests showing ADHD kids had lower levels of both the Omega-3 and Omega-6 Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs).

Why would this happen?  Well, it’s possible that the reason why ADHD kids have trouble focusing is an inability to block out inappropriate responses to anything and everything in the environment.  You see, learning isn’t just about what TO do, it’s also about learning what NOT to do.  This is true on a behavioral level as well as a physical level.

Think about it.  When you do something as simple as take a step, you need to coordinate the efforts of a number of different muscles, in just the right amounts, at just the right time.  But you also have to know which muscles to NOT contract…otherwise, you’d throw your own balance off if, while in mid-step, you suddenly kicked like you were going for a soccer goal.  Inhibiting inappropriate action is just as important to function as enabling proper action.

In fact, loads of neuroscience is suggesting that this inhibition of inappropriate response is far more important than anything else when it comes to learning!  That’s a pretty strong statement, so let’s just leave it at this: inhibition is important.  That inhibition is governed by neurotransmitters, which are chemical messengers in the brain.

Stimulants like Ritalin seem to work by affecting neurotransmitters in the brain called dopamine and serotonin.  So it’s not that these kids need stimulants, it’s that these kids need neurotransmitters, and the stimulants help with the neurotransmitters.

Guess what?  Omega-3 deficiency is linked with deficiency issues in dopamine and serotonin, those very same neurotransmitters involved in ADHD.  So it stands to reason, you might be able to help out kids with ADHD through using Omega-3 supplements like fish oil.

Okay, theories are nice, but what’s the evidence?  Well, one study out of Australia shows that kids given an EFA supplement (one that had both Omega-3 and Omega-6 in it) showed significant improvement after 15 weeks.  One group that then was switched to placebo stayed stagnant, while the other group which took the supplements for another 15 weeks showed even more improvement. 

How much improvement?  The 30 weeks group actually improved more than on Ritalin!

That’s a pretty powerful finding, and I think it speaks for itself.

Do you think kids should take an Omega-3 supplement like fish oils?  Let me know below in the comment section!  And if you know some crazy, out of control kids, send this article to their parents and save yourself (and them) some aggravation!

Stay healthy!

Arthritis is a silent, ugly, painful scourge on our society. Something like 46 MILLION people suffer from some form of arthritis, with a million of them being hospitalized due to their condition.  It doesn’t get a lot of press, but it’s nasty and causes a ton of people a ton of pain.

There’s a lot of different kinds of arthritis- the term “arthritis” just means “inflammation of the joint”.  The two main types are osteoarthritis (OA), also called Degenerative Joint Disease or DJD, and rheumatoid arthritis (RA).  OA is wear and tear arthritis; it affects one joint at a time and is essentially caused by overuse.  Think of a marathon runner with no cartilage left in their knees.  That’s OA.

We’re going to talk about RA or rheumatoid arthritis in this post.  RA is a systemic disease, meaning it affects the entire body all at once, not just one joint. Actually, it doesn’t just affect the joints, but that’s where most people notice the symptoms.  The joints of the hands and wrists are commonly one of the most affected areas and can lead to severe deformity, leading to the fingers being twisted out of alignment.

The cause is autoimmune, which means that for some weird reason, the body’s immune system is attacking itself.  There’s a lot of autoimmune disorders out there, and all of them suck.  Seriously.  They’re extremely tough to deal with, mostly because Science and Medicine has pretty much no idea why this is going on in the first place.  Conventional medical treatments for RA are less than desirable; cortisone seems to work in the short-term, but has nasty long-term side effects.

Well, now that I’ve depressed you all, here’s some good news. A study done all the way back in the ’80s shows a dramatic improvement in symptoms when patients included 4.5 grams a day of fish oils along with their medications.  It took 14 weeks for this effect to kick in, but still, for anything to work on this nasty disease is fantastic.

There’s more. In the mid-90s, that same idea was tried again, except this time, they actually stopped the medications and switched to all fish oils.  Here’s how it worked.  They started people off with taking their meds and also taking a bunch of either fish oil capsules, or corn oil capsules (to use as a control group).  After about five months, the researchers then stopped giving people their meds, and gave them a fake sugar pill instead, those tricksters.

In the fish oil group, people felt a lot better… even after coming off of their medication!  The corn oil group… not so much.  The fish oil group’s improvements remained even after coming off of their medication for eight weeks, which is pretty incredible.

It wasn’t just symptoms.  RA has some chemical markers which you can objectively measure; the fish oil group had significantly decreased levels of these markers as well as reduced symptoms.  So it wasn’t just all in their heads.

Quick side note:  these people were taking MAJOR doses of fish oils, like nine or ten grams a day.  That’s a bunch.

Okay, so how the heck can this be?  How can fish oils make such a major dent in such an ugly disease?  Well, pull up a chair, kids, because Healthy Andy is going to lay it all out for you.

First, let’s go quickly over inflammation, since arthritis of all kinds is all about inflammation.  Remember from previous posts that inflammation is the very beginning process of healing, and so, it’s very necessary for your health.  It kick-starts not only the tissue repair part of healing, but also the immune response. 

After all, historically speaking, infections were the A Number One big killer of the human race.  Before antibiotics came along, if you got a cut, you were in serious trouble of dying from an infection.  So, your body is hard-wired to over-react when it comes to potential infectious threats.  Any sign of injury, and your immune response is on the scene, pronto, to make sure your body isn’t going to be over-run by any invading organisms.

Your Omega-3 to Omega-6 balance is a big part of how strong your inflammatory response is.  Remember, these are the two major kinds of Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs), fats that your body needs to do its business.  EFAs form some of the chemical messengers involved in the whole process of inflammation; Omega-6s create a strong inflammatory response, Omega-3s, a weak inflammatory response.

When the two kinds of EFAs are in balance, all is well in the world and the degree of inflammatory response stays appropriate to the threat.  Weak threat?  Weak response.  Strong threat?  Strong response.

The problem arises when you have an imbalance, like pretty much everybody in Western society does.  We should have a 1:1 ratio of Omega-3 to Omega-6.  Of course, we don’t.  Not even close.  It’s more like 30:1 in favor of Omega-6.

Now, we have a situation where all we can do is over-react to every potential threat, because all we have is a strong response.  It’s kind of like having a tool chest but only owning a sledgehammer.  If you have to hang a picture on the wall, and you only own a sledgehammer, your interior decorating isn’t going to win any awards.

So, knowing this, it’s not to hard to see how taking Omega-3 supplements like fish oils can help with inflammatory conditions.  Now that we restore the balance between a strong Omega-6 response and weak Omega-3 response (or at least, get closer to balance), we put a whole assortment of tool in our body’s tool chest, from a tack hammer on up.  The inflammatory response now becomes more appropriate, either weak or strong or anywhere in between, and we don’t end up pounding holes in the drywall from trying to hang a picture with a sledgehammer.

Since an autoimmune condition like RA is basically inflammation on overdrive, all of the time, it’s going to respond to a return to balance like I just described.  Now, your immune system isn’t going to attack anything and everything in sight with crazed machine-gun fire, including you.  Instead, it’s more likely to respond appropriately, and leave your body tissues alone and stick to killing actual foreign invaders with a surgical sniper rifle shot.

By the way, that guy that did those two studies I was talking about earlier recommends dosing at three to six grams of EPA and DHA total (that’s the active ingredients of fish oil) a day for at least twelve weeks to see if this kind of supplementation will help rheumatoid arthritis.  I’d stick on the high side of that to be certain.  You’re going to need to work up to taking that much gradually, so start with a capsule or two and work your way up from there. 

Of course, if you’re considering any of this, be sure to do it under the supervision of your doctor.  More and more MDs are becoming open to the idea of natural therapies supplementing convential therapies, particularly if the condition is stubborn and nasty like rheumatoid arthritis is.

Hit me up with some comments or questions, and share this info with your friends… you never know who could benefit from it!

Stay healthy!

Constantly… and I mean CONSTANTLY… I get asked what kinds of supplements people should take in order to lose weight.  Sometimes I’m a smart-ass and say “an apple”, but in all seriousness, I get it.  You all want to be able to take something to make yourself a little lighter in the middle.

First off, I make that smart-alecky answer, “an apple”, for a reason.  There is no nutritional supplement that can possibly make the same level of difference in your waistline as having healthy diet and exercise habits.  I hammer on this point again and again, because it’s the simple truth.  I don’t want you swallowing a pill and expecting miracles.  There are no magic beans, or secret elixirs, that will let you eat fifteen birthday cakes a day while lying on the couch, and still stay thin.  Doesn’t exist.  Never will.

You gain or lose weight due to physics and biochemistry. So first, fix the diet and exercise habits.  Then, if you think you need a little extra, you follow the same rules for weight loss supplements as you do for any other supplements… what’s something that will increase my health (something missing that my body normally needs), that I can safely take for a lifetime?

Oh, sure, there’s crap out there you can take like Ephedra or medications that will make your heart go pitter-pat super fast.  But you might as well just smoke a bunch of crystal meth to lose weight.  That stuff is horrible, HORRIBLE for you, and frankly, no, you can’t take those kinds of supplements for a lifetime.  If you try, your lifetime will end up being a lot shorter than you’d like.

Listen.  You’re not overweight because your body is low on Ephedra or other stimulants.  You’re not replacing something your body actually uses normally.  And I don’t want to see any of you keeling over dead of a heart attack in your thirties because you wanted a quick fix. 

Okay, okay, okay, Healthy Andy, you’re all saying.  We get it.  No thinly-disguised crystal meth.  We replace something our body normally needs, that we aren’t getting enough of, that promotes a healthy weight.  What is it, already?

Fish oils.  Or, Omega-3 fatty acids, really.  I know, it sounds weird, that the best possible weight loss product is fish oils, but stick with me, and I’ll show you why.

Omega-3 fats belong to a class of fats called Essential Fatty Acids(EFAs), which are called that because your body can’t make them.  You have to get them in your diet.  And, most people are deficient in them.  So, they fit our classification of a healthy supplement that you can take for a lifetime… your body needs it for everyday use, and you probably are low in them.

Right, but what do they do when it comes to weight loss?  Well, the two main ways that fish oils will help you fit into your skinny jeans are first, helping reduce inflammation, and second, improving sugar metabolism.

Let’s start with the first one.  Inflammation.  I’ve posted before about how chronic inflammation throughout the body is a component of all kinds of dread diseases that plague our society.  Obesity is only one of them. 

Here’s how it works.  The inflammatory process encourages the release of a substance called cortisol, a stress hormone. In short doses, cortisol is fine… in fact, it actually does helpful stuff for you.  But there’s something about long-term, chronic cortisol release that causes the body to retain fat.  I mean, retain it no matter what, regardless of whether you’re starving yourself on a low-calorie diet or not.  Rather than burn off fat, your body will consume muscle tissue or even just plain slow your metabolism to a crawl.

So, less inflammation means less cortisol, which removes a potential barrier to losing fat.  It won’t burn off calories all by itself; what it does is allows your diet and exercise program to actually work like it should.  If you’re one of those people frustrated because your diet and exercise habits are where they need to be, but you still can’t seem to shake off the muffin tops or love handles, it may be because of cortisol.

The other part of the fish oil-weight loss equation is an improvement in sugar metabolism.  Here’s what that means.  When you eat food, afterwards, there’s sugar floating around in your bloodstream.  Your body will use a chemical called insulin to pull that sugar out of the blood and put it into the cell, where it can be burned immediately for energy or stored for later use (that’s called glycogen and it’s in the muscle tissue, we’re not talking about fat here).

Omega-3s like fish oil are an important part of this equation.  The simplest way to explain it is, Omega-3s help to “anchor” the gate that insulin and sugar travel through in order to get into the cell.

You see, your cell has a wall around it to keep all the right stuff in and all the wrong stuff out.  There’s doorways or gates scattered all across the surface, so that the cell can (basically) get deliveries and take out the trash.  Each gate is locked so that no thieves can break in, which is nice, and these gates get unlocked by a doorman who escorts the delivery into the cell.  Each specific gate has a different doorman for a different kind of delivery.

When sugar is delivered to the cell, the doorman in question is insulin.  Insulin knocks on the door, says “open up”, and lets sugar in.  That gate is held in place (kind of) by Omega-3 fats.  So, if you’re deficient in Omega-3s, the gate isn’t going to open up as it should, and sugar won’t be able to get in, but will keep circulating around and causing all kinds of problems. 

This process ends up leading to insulin levels going haywire in the bloodstream- spiking up, dropping down, and generally not working right.  Those wild insulin swings end up having a similar effect to cortisol in promoting the storage and retention of body fat.  You can think of it as the doorman getting frustrated and telling the sugar to just shut up and go live in a fat cell.

So, enough Omega-3s means the gate works right, opens right up when the doorman knocks, and therefore, sugar is cleared from the bloodstream right on schedule.  Everybody’s happy, and insulin levels stay in a normal range so that your body doesn’t prioritize the storage of fat, and you get to lose weight just like you should.  Practically a story-book ending.

There’s another possible mechanism for Omega-3s and fat loss that I’ll mention breifly.  Some animal studies are showing that Omega-3s directly stimulate the genes that control fat metabolism, like a fat burning on/off switch.  This hasn’t been verified in humans, but it’s definitely worth being aware of. 

There’s all kinds of other health benefits that go along with Omega-3s, of course, which is why fish oils are my favorite weight loss supplement.  You need them to make your body work right.  When your body works right, you lose weight.  You can (and should) take them for a lifetime, and not only are there no ill side effects, there’s tons of beneficial side effects.

So skip the quick-fix Ephedra/crystal meth crap, and reach for something that will help keep you fit and healthy for a lifetime- Omega-3s.

If you liked this article, tell your friends about HealthyAndy.com!  It will help you lose weight!  Okay, that’s a lie.  But it will make me happy.  As always, any questions or comments, please feel free to post them below.

Stay healthy!

Omega-3 Week continues with a nifty little arena that I’ll bet most of you have never even considered when it comes to the health benefits of Omega-3 fatty acids… post-partum depression.

Actually, there’s a number of pregnancy issues that respond to Omega-3s, but I’m going to limit the discussion for today to post-partum depression in the interests of not creating a 47-page long post.

Okay, so how in the heck do Omega-3 supplements help with post-partum depression?  Well, first we have to talk a little bit about the importance of Essential Fatty Acids(EFAs) in the development of the fetus.

Remember, EFAs are called “essential” because we have to get them in our diet-we can’t make them ourselves.  The major EFAs are called Omega-6 and Omega-3.  Omega-6s aren’t usually a problem, because we eat tons of Omega-6 filled foods already.  Omega-3s…. not so much.

EFAs are used to build neural tissue and signalling hormones important to normal nerve interaction… in other words, it builds the brain and nervous system and makes it go vrrroom.  Want a great, slap-in-the-face sort of factoid about how important EFAs are to your nervous system?  How about this:  the two major Omega-3s are called EPA and DHA.  Your brain is about 22% DHA by weight.

So, pretty important.  And if you’re building a little tiny person, also known as a fetus, from the ground up, you’re going to need tons and tons of these EFAs to build their brain, spinal cord, and all the nerves travelling to each and every bit of their tiny little body.  Plus, you’ll need EFAs to make sure all of that neurology works right once it’s built.

Like every other nutrient the developing fetus needs, it draws these EFAs from the blood supply of the mother.  So, Mom is eating EFAs for two: her needs and the needs of her growing baby.

You know what?  The body prioritizes the developing fetus so much, that if there isn’t enough EFAs to go around, it will let the mother’s EFA levels drop in order to give that little baby what it needs.  So Moms who aren’t getting a lot of Omega-3 fatty acids to begin with (and there’s a bunch of you out there) are now REALLY deficient once Junior takes his share.

This actually continues after the baby is born.  Breast milk is very high in EFAs and therefore Omega-3s.  Hey, that little baby is still growing like crazy and needs to be able to build up its rapidly growing and responding brain and nervous system (amongst other things).  In fact, you can measure the difference in a mom’s DHA levels within about eight weeks after birth due to lactation (breast feeding).

Again, if the mother’s diet can’t supply enough EFAs for the child, some will be siphoned off from her own stores of EFA that are in her body’s tissues to make up the difference.  All of this adds up to, a lot of mothers get seriously depleted in EFAs… particularly, Omega-3 fatty acids. 

Heck, most of us are deficient in Omega-3s to begin with, and now add in the rigors of pregnancy drawing off huge supplies of this vital nutrient… I think  you can see how this can lead to a massive, sudden drop on Omega-3s for mothers.

Right, so now we know pregnancy can lead to massive Omega-3 deficiency.  So what does that have to do with post-partum depression?

Remember when I said that EFAs had a lot to do with building brain and nerve tissue, and also for the signalling hormones used in that system?  Well, this has to do with that last part.  Omega-3s are used to help regulate and mediate mood and emotion, amongst other things.

How exactly that works isn’t 100% clear.  It may have to do with Omega-3′s role in the actual transmission of the nerve signals themselves.  It may have to do with how EPA makes hormones called eicosanoids (you can forget that name), which help to regulate mood. 

It may also have to do with how EPA essentially “competes” with its opposite Omega-6 counterpart to reduce cytokines (forget that name too), which can add with inflammation to negatively affect mood and emotion.  It’s sort of like something needs to fill the hole, either Omega-3 or Omega-6, so whichever you’ve got more of, gets the spot.  So EPA acts as a blocker to depressing chemicals.

Here’s what we do know.  Countries where people eat more fish (which have a lot of Omega-3s in them) have the lowest levels of post-partum depression.  This, to me, is the most obvious indicator that there’s something to the theory that Omega-3s and post-partum depression are linked. 

Those of you who have read my guide on nutritional supplements know that I think you’re nuts if you’re not taking Omega-3 supplements already.  If you’re pregnant, that goes double… for you, and your baby.

Questions?  Comments?  Did you find this article helpful?  Please post below!  And as always, if you like what you see here, spread the word to your friends and family about HealthyAndy.com!

Stay healthy!

Antioxidant Information Week rolls on!  Today, it’s a video describing how taking the acai berry, a popular antioxidant supplement often promoted for weight loss,  actually works as far as fat loss is concerned.  Really, it’s not just the acai berry, it’s any highly potent antioxidant of the polyphenol type, but I singled out acai because lots of people ask about it.

I sure hope you read yesterday’s post on antioxidants and inflammation, because our old friend NF-kB is back and causing more problems in our lives!  If not, well, I still explain how it all works, but you might want to check out yesterday’s post when you’re done watching the video for a little more insight on how inflammation is triggered in the body… and how antioxidants help.

So, antioxidants aren’t going to make us lose weight all by themselves, but they will help remove a significant block to losing weight- cortisol.  Don’t discount the importance of this.  We’re surrounded by all kinds of industrial toxins dumped into our water and air, pesticides and other chemicals added to our foods, and all kinds of crap we haven’t even discovered yet.  All of those chemical stressors activate the inflammatory cascade, leading to cortisol and therefore more fat (even if you’re low on calories!).

Let me put it to you this way.  How many of you out there DON’T think  your life is stressful?

Right.  So better help yourself out a bit.

So, one more point in the Win column for antioxidants.  Any questions or comments, please feel free to add them below, and if you found this article helpful, spread the word throughout the land via facebook, twitter, or just plain old telling your friends face-to-face about Healthy Andy!

Thanks for stopping by and stay healthy!

Antioxidant Info Week continues with a fantastic study showing just how powerful and far-reaching the effects of antioxidants can be.  In this study, levels of NF-kB (Nuclear Factor- “kappa” B; sorry, I don’t have Greek symbols at my disposal) were significantly reduced within five days of supplementing with pycnogenol.

Levels of who, were what, by hunh?  Let me explain.

NF-kB is basically a chemical on/off switch for inflammation inside the cell.  If this stuff gets activated by something, pow, you get inflammation. 

Inflammation is pretty important business.  It kicks off the healing and immune response in the body; without it, you’d never fix yourself when you got hurt. I don’t just mean that in the sense of, if something is inflamed and painful, you’ll avoid using it and let it rest and heal.  While that’s true, it goes way beyond that.

The inflammatory response actually physically signals and kicks off the chemical changes in the body that we call healing and the immune system.  So as a short-term response to injury, inflammation is absolutely vital. 

The problem arises when inflammation becomes chronic.  Now we run into situations where we’re getting all inflamed over nothing.  Arthritis?  Chronically inflamed joints.  Crohn’s Disease?  Chronically inflamed intestines.  Asthma?  Chronically inflamed breathing tubes.  The list goes on and on, but the bottom line is, you don’t want to have All Inflammation, All the Time.

How does NF-kB fit in?  Think of NF-kB as a trigger, that sets off inflammation, just like the trigger of a gun, sets off… well, the gun.  Something bumps against the trigger of a gun, and boom, you get a discharge.  Something “bumps” into NF-kB, chemically speaking, and boom, you get inflammation.

Just like any other trigger, NF-kB varies in how sensitive it’s going to be (how easily it’s “activated”).  Ever hear of a hair trigger?  That’s a gun trigger that is so sensitive, the tiniest bump sets it off.  Guess what?  Same thing can happen in your cells.

If NF-kB is super-sensitive, the tiniest little jolt from the surroundings will set it off, and start up the inflammatory process.  So over-active NF-kB, is like the hair trigger of a gun for you to swell up and get inflamed.

Can you see how that could lead to chronic inflammatory diseases like asthma?  If the cells lining your respiratory system get all excited and inflamed at the drop of a hat (chemically speaking), the littlest bit of pollen or mold or dust or whatever is going to set off the hair trigger, time and time again.

Chronic inflammation has other consequences, too (I’ll be posting a video on its role in weight problems tomorrow), and NF-kB does more than just regulate inflammation (it’s involved in cancer too) but I don’t want this post to turn into an 800 page textbook on biochemistry, so let’s just stick with this:  NF-kB is the trigger for inflammation, and if it’s too sensitive, it “goes off” super-easy and leads to chronic inflammatory diseases.

So, it stands to reason that we want to keep NF-kB under control, right?  Not TOO much, mind you… if we can’t EVER pull the trigger, we’d have no inflammation at all, and remember, we do need SOME inflammation to stay alive and healthy.  We just don’t want a hair trigger.

Well, a really cool study shows that antioxidants can help keep NF-kB from becoming overly sensitive.  Actually, there’s a bunch of studies showing this, but this one is my favorite.  The researchers took some folks and measured how active their NF-kB levels were, before and after five days’ worth of supplementation with pycnogenol, which is a pine bark extract and super-duper antioxidant.  After only five days, the average inhibition of the trigger NF-kB was 15.8%.

Remember, we don’t want 100%!  That would be a complete immunosuppressant worse than HIV!  We just want to dial it down a notch, which is exactly what pycnogenol supplementation did.  And after only five days!

Imagine what the effects of this would be for someone suffering from asthma or allergies!  This is just one of the many, many reasons I advise anyone with a pulse to take antioxidants.  They offer so many powerful, far-reaching benefits, it’s literally staggering. 

If you want to know more, I discuss more about antioxidants in my free guide to choosing supplements, which you can download if you take a look at the upper right hand sidebar on this page.

Oh, and the article citation for this reference is “Grimm et al., J Inflamm 3:1-15, 2006″ in case you have a burning desire to look it up.

Did you find this article helpful?  Spread the word and send it to your friends!  Questions or comments?  Post them below!

Stay healthy!

So, for absolutely no reason, I have declared this week “Antioxidant Information Week”.  Which basically means, all of my posts this week are about antioxidants.

Today, it’s a video about Co-Q10, an antioxidant you probably haven’t heard too much about, but is absolutely vital to your health.  This information is particularly important to those taking statin drugs… so if you or one of your loved ones are on those cholesterol-lowering medications, be extra sure to watch!

Co-Q10 is oil-based, so mostly you’ll find it in gelcap form.  It’s also a little on the expensive side, but for those taking statins, it’s a must-have.

Don’t forget that there’s a free report on choosing nutritional supplements available on this site… check the top of the right sidebar.  There’s a ton of info in there, including the mechanism of how antioxidants work, so check it out (did I mention it’s free?)

Questions?  Comments?  Random thoughts that are Co-Q10 related?  Add them below, and be sure to spread the word by using the social media buttons below this post (be EXTRA sure to tell friends/relatives/other people you care about that are taking statins… they HAVE to know this stuff!).

Stay Healthy!