Tag: weight gain

How to Avoid Weight Gain When You Quit Smoking

by Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN

Q. I have a friend who just quit smoking. He’s started to gain the typical weight and went into his local GNC yesterday to get some supplement that’s supposed to speed up his metabolism. He already has a fairly good diet. I told him he might be better off just letting his metabolism balance itself out, rather than substituting one stimulant for another. Any ideas on how he can naturally adjust better?

A.  People who quit smoking do often gain a few pounds but changes in metabolism are the least likely culprit.   Nicotine does slightly increase one’s metabolic rate.  More significantly, however,  it acts as an appetite suppressant. Ex-smokers often eat more when they stop smoking because they have more appetite.  The mental and physical stress of nicotine withdrawal may also drive cravings for certain “comfort” foods.   Add to that the fact that ex-smokers need something to do with their hands (and mouths) to fill the time that they used to spend smoking and it’s easy to see why quitters often gain a few pounds.

But because a slower metabolism isn’t really the main issue here, a “metabolism booster” from the health food store probably isn’t going to be a very effective solution.   Here are some tips to help manage this transition. Continue reading “How to Avoid Weight Gain When You Quit Smoking” >

Is weight gain now beyond our control?

by Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN

portionsA new analysis of diet and exercise data from thousands of people across several decades has come to a shocking conclusion.

“The study concluded that a person in 2006 who consumed the same number of calories and exercised the same amount as someone in 1988, would have a BMI that was 2.3 points higher.” (quote is from CNN’s coverage)

What’s going on here? The researchers present several possible explanations. We’re more stressed and stress chemicals promote fat storage. We get less sleep, which elevates stress hormones, which promotes fat storage. We’re exposed to more chemicals and pollutants that could affect our metabolism. Continue reading “Is weight gain now beyond our control?” >

Nutrition Round-Up: carbs and weight gain, prebiotics, sports nutrition tips, and your questions answered

by Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN
Almonds lower in calories than previously thought
An almond tree in bloom

This week’s round-up is turbo-charged with two weeks’ worth of nutrition advice and commentary (due to the fact that I failed to post a round-up last week)!

Let’s start with the headliners: In last week’s Nutrition Diva podcast, I took a closer look at all the media buzz around the latest study on carbs and weight gain. As usual, there’s a little more to the story than the sound-bytes would suggest.   Also in the news, almonds turn out to be less caloric than we thought.

Speaking of nuts (and no, I am not referring to my dear readers!), a fan wrote in with a question about PB2, the new low-fat peanut butter(like) product taking calorie-counters by storm. Sometimes, less really is less. While we’re on the subject of calories, here’s a quick and dirty tip for a reader who wondered whether it makes more sense to focus on fat or calories when selecting non-dairy milk.

Over on the What’s Cooking blog, I have a post on selenium, what it does for you, and where you get it,  including some yum recipes.  You’ll find more great recipes in this post on starting the day off right with a vegetable-packed breakfast.

Wondering about the difference between prebiotics and probiotics? Check out this recent  episode of the Nutrition Diva podcast (which features a special guest appearance from Everyday Einstein!).   I got to pull out more fancy scientific terminology–words like ‘convective’ and ‘evaporative’–in this post on whether  drinking hot tea cools you down faster than a cold beverage.

And, finally(whew!), this month’s Smart Nutrition segment with Tom Hall on WYPR-FM in Baltimore focuses on sports nutrition tips for serious athletes as well as weekend warriors.

That should keep you busy until next week!

 

Nutrition Tips for Shift Workers

by Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN

Quick and Dirty Nutrition Tips from Monica ReinagelNight shift workers are more likely to suffer from insomnia, fatigue, accidents, ulcers, and even certain types of cancer than those who work during the day.   People also frequently gain weight when they work the night shift. Although it’s clearly not ideal, many people have no choice but to work nights.  In this week’s podcast, I have  some tips on how to keep shift work from sabotaging your nutrition or your health. Read or listen to it here.

Tips for Healthy Weight Gain

by Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN

Avocados for Healthy Weight GainQ. I’m a 30-year-old man and I’m struggling to gain weight. I exercise 5-7 hours a week. My health is good. I really enjoy vegetables and other healthy foods, but it’s hard to get enough calories without adding soda and dessert to my meal of chicken salad, for example. I know sugar causes a host of bad health effects, but what alternatives are there? How can I get more calories without causing collateral damage?

A.  You’re absolutely right: You don’t want to get those extra calories by loading up on soda and dessert!

Fortunately, I can think of lots of ways to add calories without resorting to foods that undermine your health and nutrition. Continue reading “Tips for Healthy Weight Gain” >

Let’s Put This New Fructose Study In Perspective

by Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN

A recently published study is going to fuel the hysteria over high-fructose corn syrup. It’s a terrific study. But, contrary to the headlines you are sure to see over the next days and weeks, it does NOT prove that high fructose corn (HFCS) syrup is the cause of the obesity epidemic. Let’s take a closer look.

Researchers at the University of Florida found that rats who were fed a diet that was very high in fructose eventually became resistant to the hormone leptin.  Leptin is a hormone that regulates your appetite and disposition toward weight gain.  In the second half of the study, they switched the leptin-resistant rats to a high-calorie (high-fat) diet. The rats ate a lot more and gained a lot more weight than rats who had not been on a high-fructose diet. (Read more about the study: “Fructose hampers hormone that controls appetite.“)

Now, what does this tell us about the effects of high-fructose corn syrup on humans? Very little.

Aside from the obvious issue (the study was done in rats, not humans), the study had absolutely nothing to do with high fructose corn syrup. The diet that brought about leptin resistance was about 60% fructose, and contained no other form of sugar.  The typical (awful) American diet contains about 35% sugar, about half of which (roughly 17%) is in the form of fructose.

Incidentally, if every bit of HFCS in the food supply was replaced by regular old cane sugar, our fructose intake would still be around 17%.  That’s because high fructose corn syrup contains about the same amount of fructose as sugar.

Like the best research studies, this one poses far more questions than it answers. For example, I’m dying to know whether you’d get the same results at 50% fructose. Or 40% or 30%. What’s the threshold at which the effect starts to set in?

Secondly, I’d love to know whether you’d get leptin resistance with similar amounts of glucose or sucrose?  In other words, how much of this effect is specific to fructose and how much is just sugar? What’s more significant: the amount of total sugar in the diet or the amount of fructose? How does dietary fat affect things? (In the study, the rats ate an extremely low-fat (5%) diet and the fat was lard.)

I imagine that researchers are queuing up to design studies that will answer these questions and more. (And we’re still only talking about rats…)

Those who read this blog (or listen to my podcast) know that I think the hysteria over high-fructose corn syrup is misplaced. We should be alarmed by the amount of sugar in the American diet and what it is doing to our health. I think it probably is directly connected to our rising rates of obesity, whether through leptin resistance or other means. But I don’t think it’s worth worrying about high-fructose corn syrup, per se, while we’re still getting 35% of our calories as sugar.

This whole thing reminds me a little of people who are freaking out about gas prices and dependency on foreign oil.  They’re trading in their cars for models that will improve their gas mileage from 27 to 30 mpg.  But it never occurs to them to drive fewer miles.

Here’s what we all agree on

I am sure that large quantities of fructose will cause health problems in rats and humans. I’m pretty sure that large quantities of any form of sugar will do that. Of course, the specific problems that develop will vary depending on what type of sugar you’re over-consuming. Fructose is hard on the liver while glucose is more challenging to the pancreas.

But rather than argue about which form is more dangerous, what about working the problem from the other end of the equation? I”m talking about the “large quantities” part of the sentence.

Eat less sugar and you probably don’t need to worry about HFCS

The World Health Organization recommends that you limit your intake of added sugars to 10% of calories.  They’re not talking about sugars that are found naturally in whole foods, like fruit or milk. They’re talking about refined sugars in things like candy, baked goods, soft drinks, and condiments.

For most Americans, this would mean cutting their sugar intake by two-thirds.  Whether or not HFCS is really that much worse than other forms of sugar (I’m still not convinced it is), I’m pretty sure that if we simply cut our consumption to a reasonable level, it simply wouldn’t matter.

Call me crazy.