Anti-Aging Developments

Anti-Aging Developments - July 2011

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Chewing More Could Help You Lose Weight

A new report published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggests that chewing your food more helps you lose weight by limiting your calorie intake, according to a report by Reuters sent to me recently by Newsmax.

Like several previous reports it suggests that chewing each mouthful up to 40 times instead of 15, which is more typical, can have an impact on weight loss.

Although this recent study, by Harbin Medical University in China, was only carried out on a very small group of 14 obese and 16 young male participants of normal weight, both Reuters and Healthmax found the results significant enough to circulate.

The group looked at whether chewing more would cause participants to eat less and the effect it would have on blood sugar levels and the hormones that regulate appetite. They compared their results with previous studies, some of which had found a connection between chewing more and obesity rates and others that had not. They concluded that there was a connection between the amount of chewing and levels of hormones that regulate appetite and suggested that these hormones might be useful for future obesity therapies.

To be more specific, the research found that "More chewing was associated with lower blood levels of ghrelin, a hormone that stimulates appetite, as well as higher levels of CCK, a hormone believed to reduce appetite", according to information given by the authors to Reuters Health. They found nothing to connect bite size with obesity and no links suggesting that chewing time would have an effect on blood sugar or insulin levels.

Due to the limitations of the study group, there is no conclusive evidence that these results would have the same effects on the general population. However, Jie Li and Shuran Wang group leaders and co-authors of the report emphasized that extending chewing would affect the calorie intake and that a 12 percent reduction in calories could translate into significant weight loss in the general population.

Reuters Health also cite statements by Adam Drewnowski, director of the University of Washington Center for Obesity Research in Seattle, which appear to support the fact that cutting calories can have a significant effect on weight loss, but are less conclusive when it comes to the possible effects of chewing more on calorie control and weight loss.

I think most of us have been told by our parents that eating more slowly and chewing more can have a positive effect on our health, help us get more from our food and possibly lose weight.

As obesity and its complications are an enormous drain on health resources, it is likely that research into this issue will continue, and age-well.org will endeavor to keep you up to date with any further news about this subject.

In the meantime, eating more slowly and chewing more is probably a good strategy for your health as well as a check on your calorie intake.

(Source: Reuters, Newsmax Health Alert, August 2, 2011)

Vitamin K2 for Healthy Bones

Dr. Sears writes in a recent newsletter that taking more calcium is not the answer to developing strong, healthy bones. But there’s more to ensuring that the calcium to take actually makes it into your bones, he insists.

With the number of people over 50 suffering from or at risk of developing osteoporosis set to rise to over 41 million by 2020, we thought it was a good idea to ask him what steps ordinary people can take to avoid developing this disease as they age.

Dr. Sears says that you can ensure that your bones remain strong throughout your entire life by boosting your intake of vitamin K2, which acts as a catalyze helping your body to use the calcium you ingest to grow stronger and denser bones. Your bones are composed of mineral crystals and cells bound together by matrix proteins, he explains, and Vitamin K2 enables the most important of these proteins known as osteocalcin to go through a process called carboxylation. Once carboxylated, they can create new bone tissue.

If you’re not getting enough K2, your body can’t undergo this process.

In order to make sure you are getting enough, include the following in your diet.

• Egg yolks
• Liver and other offal, preferably from grass-fed, free-range cattle
• Organic or raw whole milk
• Traditionally fermented cheeses( Two in particular – Swiss Emmental and Norwegian Jarlsberg – have high amounts of K2, according to the doctor)
• Dark leafy greens vegetables like spinach, kale, collard greens, Brussel Sprouts or broccoli are particularly high in K2. East at least one locally grown serving per day.

Besides increasing your intake of vitamin K2, Dr. Sears recommends that the following:

• Take a vitamin D supplement or enough sunshine to make adequate vitamin D.

• Eat foods rich in B-complex vitamins such as liver, eggs, lean meats, fish, raw nuts, asparagus, broccoli and bananas.

• Exercise Regularly
  Lack of physical activity leads to weaker bones. When you exercise, your muscles pull on your bones. This challenges your body to respond by increasing bone density.

  The best workout to increase bone density includes body-weight exercises such as his PACE program.

(Source: Dr. Sears Newsletter, July 2011)

Diet for an Overactive Thyroid

In her recent newsletter, Dr. Marilyn Glenville, specialist in women's health issues and author of "Fat Around the Middle", gives some diet advice for those suffering from an overactive thyroid.

She says nutrition can support the care you are getting from your healthcare professional and suggests eating foods that suppress thyroid function, like raw cruciferous vegetables. These include cabbage, cauliflower, radish,and rocket. Such vegetables can lower the thyroid’s intake of iodine, from which the thyroid hormones T3 and T4 are made. She advises informing your health care professional so that medication can be adjusted accordingly, if necessary. Cutting down on drinks containing caffein, that stimulated the thyroid and dairy products is also advisable, according to Dr. Glenville.

(Source: Dr. Marilyn Glenville's Newsletter, June 2011)

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