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ARE HIGH PROTEIN DIETS DANGEROUS?

As discussed in my two previous posts it is clear that eating a diet that is high in animal protein is a great way to facilitate weight loss, decrease insulin resistance and provide key nutrients in the right quantities. However, many people have raised concerns about such diets, claiming they can damage our bones, cause heart disease and give rise to certain forms of cancer.

But do they?

Do High Protein Diets Cause Bone Loss?

When proteins are digested acids are produced. Because the body functions within a narrow range of acidity, excess acids produced in this way must be neutralized. One of the main ways your body neutralizes acids is by binding them to phosphate, a mineral that is contained in bone.

While this process solves the immediate problem of excess acidity, it also displaces calcium from the bone. This calcium is then lost in the urine. Over time, calcium lost in this manner can lead to the development of osteoporosis, a condition in which bones become fragile and easily fractured. This has led to the concern that high protein diets can cause or worsen osteoporosis. 35,36
However, this does not appear to be the case. Studies have shown that people on high protein diets do not have increased bone loss. 37-47
In fact, people on high protein diets appear to have stronger bones than those following low protein diets: Diets that are high in animal protein (but not vegetable protein) have been shown to reduce the incidence of fractures in older people. This would indicate that such diets actually protect against osteoporosis rather than help create it. 48,49

Cavemen Don’t Get Fractures

The archeological record has also shown that high protein diets are good for bones.

Our hunter-gather ancestors, who ate lots of meat, had very strong bones and teeth.
This changed, however, following the agricultural revolution and the introduction of a lower protein, grain-based diet.

Studies of the bones and teeth of ancient people who ate these reduced protein diets show that they had begun to develop bone disorders like osteoporosis and rickets as well as dental cavities. 62

Do High Protein Diets Cause Heart Disease?

Another concern regarding diets that are high in animal protein is that they tend to be high in saturated fat. This has led to the concern that these diets increase the risk of heart disease. But this does not appear to be the case, either!

While excessive saturated fat can easily be avoided by eating grass-fed rather than grain- fed animals, even those high protein diets that are very high in saturated fats like the Atkins diet do not appear to increase the risk of heart disease.

In fact, high protein, low carbohydrate diets improve blood lipid profiles. High protein diets have consistently been shown to lower triglyceride levels, to either not change or only slightly increase LDL (bad) cholesterol levels and to improve HDL (good) cholesterol levels.63

As mentioned in the previous chapter, high protein diets also improve blood sugar levels, reduce insulin resistance and lower circulating levels of insulin, all of which decrease the risk of developing coronary heart disease. 20,51,52

High protein diets also lower blood pressure: studies have shown that an inverse relationship exists between blood pressure and animal protein intake, reducing yet another major risk factor for heart disease. 52, 54
And this decreased risk of heart disease is not just theoretical: The Nurses Health Study, a large research study that tracked the dietary habits and medical histories of 127,000 nurses over 27 years found a 26% lower rate of cardiovascular disease in women who had the highest protein intake compared to those who had the lowest protein intake. 55

Is Protein Bad for Your Kidneys?

Another concern about high protein diets is that they may cause or worsen kidney disease.

When dietary protein is digested, protein waste products are created. If these waste products are allowed to accumulate in the blood they become toxic.

This normally does not occur because the kidneys filter these potentially toxic wastes out of the blood and excrete them in the urine. Normal kidneys can easily remove protein waste products even when very large amounts of protein are eaten. Several studies have shown that high protein diets do not have an adverse effect on normal kidney function, nor do they lead to kidney disease. 64-68

However, high protein diets may cause problems for people who already have kidney disease. Unhealthy kidneys lose their ability to remove protein waste, so these wastes begin to build up in the blood. Lowering the amount of protein in the diet reduces the amount of waste that is produced and helps keep these wastes from becoming toxic. Low protein diets may also slow the progression of kidney disease in some people. 69, 70

If you have kidney disease or have been told that you have an elevated blood urea nitrogen (BUN) or creatinine follow your doctor’s advice regarding the protein content of your diet.

Is Red Meat Bad Meat?

Over the past several years, red meat has been given a particularly bad rap as an unhealthy food. But is it?

Remember that when we question whether a food is good for us or not, we need to look at what our hunter-gather ancestors ate. If they ate it, then it’s part of our natural diet, and we can assume that it is a food that is good for us, not bad.

And our early ancestors not only ate a lot of meat, they ate a lot of red meat! 62

Red meat is nutrient dense. In addition to supplying all the essential amino acids, it is a rich source of the minerals iron and zinc, elements that many of us currently lack in our diets.

What may be bad about today’s red meat is not the fact that it is red but that it comes from artificially fattened, grain-fed animals.

Modern feeding practices not only produce meat that has too much fat, they also alter the composition of those fats. Fat from grain-fed animals consists of more inflammatory omega-6 fats and fewer anti-inflammatory omega-3 fats than meat from the wild animals our ancestors ate. This fat composition is not healthful - either for the animal or for you. But the solution is not to avoid red meat.

Instead, you want to eat red meat from animals raised on their natural diet which consists of grass, not grain. You also want to avoid meat from animals given antibiotics or hormones to artificially promote rapid weight gain, because some of these substances can accumulate in the animal’s tissues. Grass-fed beef as well meat and eggs from wild game and naturally or “range-fed” poultry are becoming increasingly available in local health food stores and are also available by internet mail order.

Does Red Meat Cause Heart Disease?

As previously mentioned, high protein diets do not appear to cause heart disease. But does that hold true when most of that protein comes from red meat?

In a word, yes!

In fact there is an increasing amount of evidence that eating red meat has a positive effect on cardiovascular health. Studies have shown that people who ate high protein diets in which the protein was supplied by red meat improved their triglyceride levels as well as their cholesterol, blood sugar and fasting insulin levels - all of which are associated with a decreased risk of cardiovascular disease.

For example one study that used red meat to increase the protein content of the diet from 17% to 34% found that those who ate the diet higher in red meat decreased their triglyceride levels by 22 % while those who ate the lower protein diet decreased their triglyceride levels by only 8%.71 *

And a study that compared the use of beef with chicken as the primary source of protein in a calorie- restricted diet showed no difference in their effect on cholesterol levels.

Does Red Meat Cause Cancer?

Several studies have supported a possible association between consumption of red meat and the development of cancers of the colon and rectum.

However, the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), the largest study of diet and health ever undertaken, found that an increased risk of intestinal cancers only occurred when people ate processed meats. 72 And other studies have shown that eating 28 grams a day of fiber along with the meat completely eliminates any increased risk of intestinal cancer.73

The risk of developing this type of cancer is also substantially reduced by weight loss – which is facilitated by eating a diet high in animal protein.

In Short...

It does not make sense that a food that formed such a large part of our natural evolutionary diet would cause cancer, heart disease or any other kind of disease process. When evaluating a study that suggests that red meat, or any meat has adverse health effects, always ask yourself if the meat the people in the study ate was processed or if it came from animals fed an unnatural diet of grain rather than grass.

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* Those who ate the diet that was high in red meat also increased their Vitamin B-12 levels by 9% while vitamin B12 levels of those who ate the lower protein diet decreased 13%.
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CHAPTER SUMMARY

1. High protein diets do not appear to be associated with the development of either osteoporosis or coronary heart disease (CHD). In fact, high protein diets appear to strengthen bone and to decrease the risk of developing CHD.

2. High protein diets do not cause kidney disease. However, they may be injurious for people who already have kidney disease. If you have kidney disease, follow your doctor’s advice regarding the amount of protein in your diet.

3. Some studies have associated the consumption of red meat with the development of intestinal cancers. However, this appears to be the case only when the meats in question are processed.

4. Most of the meat our hunter-gatherer ancestors ate was red meat. When you eat unprocessed red meat obtained from animals fed their natural diet the health effects are positive, not negative.

PROTEIN II: GOT BEEF?

Protein, Protein Everywhere – But What Exactly Should I Eat?

Now that you realize the importance of increasing the protein content of your diet in order to lose weight and improve your overall health (see previous post) you may be wondering how you should do that. The answer may surprise you!

All Protein is Not Created Equal

All proteins consist of a linear chain of molecules known as amino acids.

There are twenty different amino acids contained in human proteins. However, our bodies can only make twelve of these. The remaining eight which are known as the "essential" amino acids must be obtained from the diet.

While both plant and animal foods contain protein only animal proteins contain all the amino acids we need to make our own proteins. These proteins are known as “complete” proteins.

Unlike the animal proteins, plant proteins are usually “incomplete”. That is, they lack one or more essential amino acids. Corn protein, for example, lacks the amino acids lysine and tryptophan, while rice protein lacks the amino acids lysine and threonine. Even soy protein, which is one of the highest quality plant proteins, is low in the amino acid methionine.

How Much Is Enough?

While dieticians may tell you that it is possible to obtain all the essential amino acids you need by combining various plant foods, in truth, you may not be getting enough of these essential compounds unless you eat animal foods.

This is because, in addition to being the building blocks of proteins, several essential amino acids have important metabolic roles. The amino acid leucine, for example, is thought to play a role in the regulation of muscle synthesis and in insulin and glucose metabolism. But these metabolic actions require levels of leucine that are higher than those that are typically achieved on a vegetarian diet.

Now, you may be thinking that a lot of people have managed to live quite nicely on a vegetarian diet. But having an insufficient amount of key amino acids in your diet can adversely affect your health in ways that you may not be aware of.

For example, diets that are high in animal protein have been shown to reduce the incidence of hip fractures in the elderly. But this does not appear to be the case with diets that are high in vegetable protein. In fact, many studies have shown that vegans have an increased risk of hip fracture. This increased risk of fracture is thought to be due to the relative lack of the essential amino acids lysine and leucine in the vegan diet.

And it’s likely that subtle amino acid deficiencies can adversely affect our health in other ways as well.

Not By Amino Acids Alone

In addition to missing out on key amino acids, if you aren’t eating animal protein you may also be missing out on several other important nutrients.

Low protein diets typically fail to meet even the minimal recommended daily allowance (RDA) values for certain essential vitamins and minerals including calcium, iron, and vitamin B-12. High protein animal-based diets, on the other hand, generally exceed RDA requirements for these nutrients.

Like the amino acid deficiencies, shortages of these nutrients may not cause symptoms that are immediately apparent.61 But they are damaging.

A deficiency of B12, for example, is thought to be a major cause of DNA damage, a key step in the development of cancer. DNA damage is minimized when blood levels of B12 are greater than 300 pmol per liter – a concentration that can be achieved without supplementation by following an animal-based high protein diet, but not by following a vegetarian diet.

Chicken, Fish, or Steak?

Over the past several years we have come to view certain animal foods as being more or less healthful than others.

Fish, particularly the cold water varieties such as salmon, tuna, mackerel and herring have emerged as some of the most healthful foods because of their relatively high content of omega-3 fatty acids. These fatty acids help reduce inflammation and the risk of heart attack and stroke.

Unfortunately, many fish found in supermarkets today are farmed fish, whose fatty acid composition varies depending on what they have been fed. Some of these farmed fish have also been found to have unacceptably high levels of polychlorinated biphenyls or PCBs. PCBs have been linked to the development of several types of cancer. (US environmental protection agency http://www.epa.gov/pcb/ )

As a result, people have generally been advised to select wild-caught fish rather than farmed fish. However, thanks to the industrial pollution of our waterways, even wild fish pose potential health risks since they can contain unacceptably high levels of mercury. The American Heart Association currently recommends limiting consumption of fish to prevent the accumulation of these contaminants.

http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3013797

But here’s the good news. Beef, poultry and wild game that are fed their natural diets rather than grain have a healthier composition of fats with much higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids than grain-fed animals.

So, if you select meat and eggs from wild game, grass-fed cows and range-fed poultry you will also increase your consumption of these healthy fatty acids. Naturally-fed animals are also leaner than their grain-fed counterparts have less saturated fat and are generally raised without the use of hormones or antibiotics which can also accumulate in the animals' tissues.

Although most supermarkets do not carry meats from naturally-fed animals, they are becoming increasingly available from local farms and health food stores. You can also order them over the internet and have them shipped directly to you.

Fish oil supplements can also be used to increase the amount of omega-3 fats in your diet. You will want to be sure you are taking a supplement that is free of environmental pollutants.
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CHAPTER SUMMARY

1. If you are not eating animal protein you are probably not getting a sufficient amount of key amino acids and other important nutrients.

2. Whenever possible, eat meat from animals that have been fed their natural diet not grain.

What Is Good Nutrition

This post starts a series of chapters on eating to lose weight: future posts will focus specifically on protein, carbs and fats. Please take a look at previous posts on how to exercise to lose weight. Be sure to leave your comments and sign up for e-mail updates to this blog.

You and the Zoo

Not long ago, I had the pleasure of spending a day at a very famous zoo. This particular zoo had a section where you could purchase typical American-style “food” – hotdogs and hamburgers, tacos, popcorn, candy and sodas.

As you left the area set aside for human dining there was a large sign that read: “Please do not feed the animals. Your food is not a part of their natural diet and will make them sick”.

As I read this sign it occurred to me that the food that I had just eaten was not part of the natural human diet either, and was probably making us sick as well.

Eat Like A Caveman?

The question of what constitutes good human nutrition has been the subject of many scientific studies over the past several years and has led to some sharply divided opinions about which foods are good for us and which are not.

But, as with the animals in the zoo, the real key to understanding human dietary needs doesn’t lie in some scientific study filed away in the medical archives. It lies in our evolutionary history.

Like other animals, our physiology has evolved over millions of years in response to a particular diet.

In the case of humans this diet was that of a hunter-gatherer and consisted of meat (as well as organs and bone marrow) from wild game and a wide variety of wild plants that were extremely high in fiber and low in sugar.1,2,3 It is important to note that the animals our ancestors ate for most of our two million year evolutionary history were lean, free-roaming beasts that also fed on these wild plants.

Food Revolutions

Two major social “revolutions” have created radical changes in this original hunter-gatherer diet: the agricultural revolution saw the introduction of grains, domestic meats, and milk while the industrial revolution made refined sugar, flour and industrially modified fats affordable and widely available.

But these revolutionary changes have occurred in the recent past.

Agriculture made its debut just 10,000 years ago - a mere drop in the human evolutionary bucket. And the changes brought about by the industrial revolution began a mere 150 years ago. As a result, our bodies have had little time to adapt to these new foods.

Natural Nutrition

Our “natural” diet is the one that our hunter-gather ancestors ate. Whenever we question whether a food is good or bad for us or how much of a certain type of food we should eat, all we really need to do is ask whether our hunter gatherer -ancestors ate that type of food and, if so, how much of it they ate.

Fortunately, we don’t have to guess at this. Scientists like Dr S. Boyd Eaton of Emory University and Dr. Loren Cordain of Colorado State University have researched this diet extensively and published several scientific articles and popular books about it.* I will be referring to their findings in the chapters that follow.
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CHAPTER SUMMARY

1. The only good diet is our natural diet. This is the diet that our hunter-gatherer ancestors ate for millions of years.

2. Our natural diet consists of unprocessed meat and animal organs and wild plant foods

3. Unfortunately our diet has changed in recent years due to the introduction of agriculture and industry. These changes are largely responsible for the epidemic of degenerative disease that we are now experiencing, including the obesity epidemic.

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REFERENCES

1. Eaton 1992 : humans lipids and evolution Lipids 27, 814-820

2. Stanford and Bunn 1999. Meat eating and hominid evolution. Curr Anthrop 40, 726-728

3. Marean and Assefa 1999. Zoological evidence for the faunal exploitation behavior of neaderthals and early modern humans. Evol. Anthrop 8, 22-37

4. Cordain, Watkins, Florant Kelher Rogers and li “Fatty acid analysis of wild ruminant tissues: evolutionary implications for reducint deit-related chronic diseases. . European journal of Clin Nutr. (2002) 181-191

STRENGTH TRAINING

ANOTHER ESSENTIAL FAT BURNING EXERCISE

In addition to aerobic or cardiovascular training another form of exercise that has become popular in recent years is strength training: And with good reason.

Muscles, Aging and Obesity

As we age we lose muscle mass. Unless we take action to prevent it, this loss of muscle can lead to a serious decrease in strength. Loss of muscle mass is the primary reason elderly people become frail, lose their ability to perform the activities of daily living and end up in nursing homes.

Loss of muscle mass also contributes heavily to the development of obesity. Muscle is a very metabolically active tissue, so when your muscle mass declines so does your metabolic rate. This means you burn fewer calories at rest and gain weight more easily.

Fortunately, you can reverse this situation. You can increase your muscle mass by strength training, that is, by stressing your muscles through the use of weights.

Does Strength Training Really Work?

If you haven’t engaged in strength training on a regular basis you may be wondering if it really does increase muscle mass and strength, particularly in older persons.

It does.

In fact, studies have shown that strength training can virtually stop the aging process as far as your muscles are concerned. In one study, for example, 70-year-olds who had done strength training since middle age were found to have as much muscle mass as 20-year-olds who did not strength train!

Even frail octogenarians have been able to increase their muscle mass and greatly increase their strength and mobility with just a few months of strength training. A study conducted by the Human Nutritional Research Center at Tufts University looked at the effect of strength training on those between the ages of 63 and 98 and found that, within 10 weeks of starting a strength training program, not only had participants increased their muscle mass, but many who had previously needed to use walkers or wheelchairs were able to walk without these devices.

Other Reasons to Strength Train

In addition to facilitating weight loss and improving functional strength, increasing your muscle mass has been shown to have other health benefits. The Evergreen project , a study that examined the effect of muscle mass on the aging process found that for people between the ages of 65 and 94 those who had more muscle also had better mental function, less chronic illness and lived longer.

How to Begin Strength Training

For strength training you can use either free weights or weight machines or you can switch between the two. Either way I usually recommend getting some professional assistance initially to make sure you are using the equipment properly and that you are using the correct amount of weight.

Generally you’ll want to start with about 70-80% of the maximum amount of weight that you can lift. Using this amount you should be able to complete 9 or 12 repetitions before feeling like you cannot complete another repetition. Lift slowly both as you lift the weight and as you release it.

Continue with this amount of weight until you can do about 20 repetitions before stopping, then increase the weight and start once again with 9 -12 repetitions. You want to exercise each of the major muscle groups, but you only need to do one set of each exercise since one set is almost as effective in building muscle mass and boosting metabolism as multiple sets.

(Exercising with heavy weights in this manner is particularly good for building fast twitch muscle fibers, which are the ones responsible for strength. If you are interested in also building build slow twitch fibers for increased endurance you would want to include weight sets that are lighter but use more repetition. In this case you would do your initial set as before, then mix in a set or two using 40-60% less weight)

As with aerobic activity you don’t need to schedule lengthy weight lifting sessions. Small increments of weight training will do the trick. Again, I suggest keeping a set of free weights or a weight training machine at home or in the office and doing your sets during your coffee breaks. For example, you might do some bicep curls, triceps and, shoulders and chest exercises during one break and then do lower legs, abdomen and back during your next break. Remember that your upper body only contains about 15% of your body’s musculature so you’ll want to focus more on the major muscles of your body – that is your quadriceps, hamstrings and butt muscles.

** TESTOSTERONE builds muscle: For older men and women, restoring your levels of the hormone testosterone will also help increase and maintain your muscle mass. The first several chapters of this book will focus on how to measure and restore your levels of several hormones, all of which play a critical role in weight loss. Be sure to sign up for e-mail updates so you will know when these chapters are posted.

More Exercise Tps:

Need a way to motivate yourself to exercise and to really begin to enjoy the process of exercising? Become involved in a sport or recreational activity that appeals to you. Then use your desire to improve in that activity as motivation to do your routine cardiovascular and strength training exercise.
I did this myself and it really does work! I live in area particular amenable to bicycle riding, so I decided I joined a bicycle riding club. As soon as I joined it became important to me to be able to keep up with others in group and to progress to longer and tougher rides. This provided the motivation I needed to stick to my cardiovascular and strength training routines, and the rides provided a lot of fun as well as some great additional exercise.

NEED YOUR COMMENTS: Please leave comments on this post by clicking on the comments button at the bottom of the page! Thanks!

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CHAPTER SUMMARY

1. Strength training is needed to preserve muscle and bone mass as we age.
2. Because muscle is a very metabolically active tissue, adding muscle mass will facilitate weight loss and help prevent weight regain.
3. People who have more muscle also have better mental function less chronic illness and live longer.
3. It’s never too late to start strength training!

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REFERENCES

1. Fozard J. Epidemiologists try many ways to show that physical activity is good for seniors health and longevity. Review special issue of journal of Aging and Physical Activity: The Evergreen Project. Experimental Aging Research 1999 Apr-Jun 25(2):175-182

AEROBICS: Exercise LESS to Lose MORE

In researching my upcoming book, Stop the Diet Rollercoaster, I'm Getting Off!, I came across several papers claiming that, while exercise is essential for maintaining weight loss, it is neither effective nor necessary for achieving weight loss. According to the authors of these papers, the number of calories burned during exercise - even lengthy exercise - just isn’t enough to result in weight loss.

If you are one of the many people who have spent endless hours in the gym slogging through 30-60 minutes or more a day of medium-intensity workouts without any apparent effect on that roll of fat around your middle you’ll probably agree with this assessment.

But it’s wrong.

The Truth About Exercise and Weight Loss

The truth is that exercise is essential both for losing excess body fat and for retaining lean tissue including both muscle and bone. If your exercise routine hasn’t been effective it’s most likely because you’ve been exercising incorrectly and – this will probably come as a shock to you - because you’ve been exercising too much.

The Thirty Minute Myth

The often-cited recommendation for 30-60 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic workouts comes from the observation that the body burns the most fat when it is working at a moderate intensity. So, the thinking is that, to lose weight, you should work out for as long as possible at this level of intensity.

But, while it is true that your body burns more fat at a moderately intense level of exercise while you are exercising, your body doesn’t actually change during exercise. It changes after you exercise as it adapts to prepare for the next time you will stress it in the same fashion. And long-duration, moderately intense exercise actually encourages your body to store fat.

Remember, your body doesn’t know anything about weight loss. It only knows about survival. When you burn fat during exercise you are telling it that, to survive, it needs to maintain its fat stores so it will have enough to burn during the next exercise session. In this way, moderately intense endurance exercise actually encourages fat storage.

This adaptive mechanism is so strong that, when presented with frequent bouts of moderately intense, high endurance exercise your body will actually use its muscle for fuel so it can preserve fat!

Fortunately, there is a much more effective way to lose fat than by working out at moderate intensity for prolonged periods of time. That is to work out at high intensity for short periods of time. In other words, to do “interval” training.

Why Interval Training Works

To understand why short bursts of high-intensity exercise are more effective at reducing body fat than lengthier moderate-intensity workouts, you need to realize that your body stores energy in two different forms: fat and glycogen.

Glycogen is stored in the liver and in muscle tissue and is readily converted to glucose or blood sugar, whereas fat takes a while to metabolize. As a result, when you exercise intensely, but only for a brief period of time, glycogen is the fuel source that is used rather than fat.

Just as using fat for fuel during exercise sends a message to your body to conserve fat for its next exercise session, using glycogen to fuel your exercise session sends a signal to your body to store more of its energy as glycogen. In this way, short duration high intensity exercise encourages your body to burn its fat stores.

Supporting Studies

Several scientific studies have demonstrated the enhanced fat burning effect of interval training.1-4

One such study conducted at Colorado State University found that people who exercised 20 minutes in sets of 2-minute intervals with a minute of rest in between increased their resting metabolic rate by 4% and their resting fat oxidation - a measure of how much fat is being “burned” - by a whopping 62%! And these people were still burning fat 16 hours after their actual exercise session ended!

In another study comparing long-duration exercise with short-duration interval training, researchers at the University of Quebec found that, while the long-duration exercisers burned more calories, those who engaged in short-duration interval training lost more fat. In fact, for every calorie burned, the interval training group lost nine times more fat!

And, for those of us who aren’t into marathon exercise sessions, here’s the really good news: it takes very little time to get the fat burning effect of interval training. A study at Stanford University showed that a mere 10 minutes of exercise was enough to do the trick!

Improve Your Cardio Fitness: Your Heart on Interval Training

In case you’re thinking that you need those lengthy “cardio” workouts for heart health, you should know that studies have shown that short-duration high-intensity interval training is actually better for your heart and improves cardiovascular endurance more rapidly than long-duration exercise.

In one such study, college-aged men and women were asked to perform interval training consisting of 30 second sprints interspersed with 4 minutes of rest. After just two weeks, 75% of the participants had doubled their endurance. This effect on endurance was particularly impressive because the participants were young and already quite fit.

In another study conducted at Harvard University, people who performed high-intensity exercise had a lower risk of death than those who performed low-intensity exercise.5

How To Start Interval Training

To burn the most fat and improve your cardiovascular health you want to do interval training. This type of training consists of short bouts of high intensity exercise followed by periods of recovery. You don’t want to stop exercising completely during the recovery periods, just slow down and allow your heart rate to return to more normal levels, and then increase the intensity of your exercise again.

Because your sessions will be short, I recommend purchasing a piece of aerobic exercise equipment such as a strider, stationary bike or treadmill and having it in your home and or office. (I prefer a strider because it involves the upper as well as the lower body which helps raise the intensity level.)

If you dislike formal exercise, you might also consider investing in a mini-trampoline. Then just put on some music, hop on the trampoline - and dance! You can increase the intensity of your dance workout either by adding some light hand weights, or by stepping up your tempo.

Begin your exercise program slowly with a 5 minute session once or twice a day. During those 5 minute session, try to do two or three 30-second intervals of high intensity exercise and then drop back down to a moderate intensity to recover. After a week or so, you can begin increasing your sessions from 5 to 10 minutes and then increase the high intensity intervals from 30 seconds to 1 minute, and so on. Do these sessions on a daily basis or intersperse them with strength training.

For a more formal schedule of progressive interval training see “The Doctor’s Heart Cure: Beyond the Modern Myths of Diet and Exercise” by Al Sears M.D. (See below)

NOTE: Intense exercise can precipitate heart attacks in those who have coronary arterial disease. If you have heart disease, chest pain or are over 50 years of age, by all means check with your physician before starting an interval training program!

PLEASE let me know what you think about this posting. Leave your comments on this site by clicking on the comments button at the bottom of this page or E-MAIL your comments to videophonerep@hotmail.com

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SUMMARY

1. Exercise is essential for both weight loss and weight maintenance.

2. To burn the most fat, you should engage in interval training - that is, in short periods of intense exercise interspersed with rest periods.

3. In addition to causing greater fat loss than long-duration, moderate-intensity exercise, interval training is also better for cardiovascular conditioning.

4. Ten to fifteen minutes a day of interval training is enough to get both the fat-burning and cardiovascular benefits of this type of exercise.

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REFERENCES

1. Osterberg KL. Effect of Acute Resistance Exercise on Post Exercise Oxygen Consumption and Resting Metabolic Rate in Young Women. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism 200 Mar;10(1):71-81

2. Tremblay A. Impact of Exercise Intensity on Body Fitness and Skeletal Muscle Metabolisms. Metabolism 1994 July; 43 (7):814-818)

3. DeBusk RF. Training Effects of Long Versus Short Bouts of Exercise in Healthy Subjects. American Journal of Cardiology 1990 Apr 15;65(15):1010-1013)

4. Talanian JL. Two Weeks of High Intensity Aerobic Interval Training Increases the Capacity for Fat Oxidation During Exercise in Women. Journal of Applied Physiology Vol 102 No 4 April 2007 1439-1447.

5. Lee IM. Exercise Intensity and Longevity in Men. The Harvard Alumni Health Study. Journal of the American Medical Association 1998; 129:286-293