The link between nutrition and heart disease has been up for debate since the 1960s. We can attribute the beginnings of the major research behind this topic to Dr. Ancel Keys, a physiologist. He determined that arterial plaques contain cholesterol, cholesterol tends to be related to saturated fat, and that heart disease is related to saturatedRead More
weight loss
REAL News – December 2022
December 2022 Knee OA Does NOT Excuse You From Squats & Lunges For those who suffer with osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee(s), the often painful and sometimes threatening idea of a squat or lunge might stand in the way of both therapy and fitness training. We have covered this topic with respect to causes, effects,Read More
Part 1: The Diet-Obesity Debates Continue
There are two crises – other than political and covid-19 – that America, and maybe the modern, Westernized world in general, though also the rest of the world everywhere, must face that will destroy humankind: obesity and diet. And the fitness community, especially us professionals, has to accept our roles as potential solutions and causes.Read More
Bingeing at Night: A Hormonal Habit?
A recent article in the NY Times reviewed a scientific article in the December issue of the International Journal of Obesity that reinforced what many fitness and wellness professionals suspected: that nighttime binge eating may be more than habitual; it may be hormonal. The article suggested that obese people who binge eat – not all do, one mightRead More
The Real Fake News: Processed Food Is ‘Healthy’
The fitness field is replete with pseudo-science especially regarding diet, dieting and diets. While personal trainers may have some ‘expertise’ in nutrition based largely on what they learned in their certification prep courses or at professional conferences, they also have some serious biases often based on what’s worked for them. These could be appropriate forRead More
On Fatness, Genes and Real Life
A post-New Year article in Bloomberg Opinion addressed a topic that invariably arises in early January, in the US at least: how can I drop the holiday weight I’ve gained? It addressed the issue less from how to lose it than why some gain more of it. The article was based on the research of Dr.MaryRead More
REAL News April 2018
April 2018 New Thoughts on The Body’s Response to Exercise An Australian study published in Cell Metabolism (Jan. 2018) hypothesized that the cells communicate with each other in response to physical activity. Vesicles, tiny protein-filled packages, “contain genetic material and proteins that carry messages to other parts” of the body that all have connections toRead More
Not Again: Don’t Count Calories, but Calories Count
Weight management and weight loss (and, by association, weight gain) are two peas in a pod…but only eat one of them! I have written on this topic so many times in opinion pieces and in scientific reviews that I’m reluctant to do so again. But this most recent article in the NY Times has inspired meRead More