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The HCA Diet, The Human Conjugated Collagen Diet, is an effective and fast-acting weight loss program that is combined with moderate calorie restriction with the administration of human choroidal gonadotropin (HCA). The aim of the HCA Diet is to reduce body fat and improve insulin sensitivity while increasing lean body mass and decreasing total cholesterol. For this reason, many people who are overweight or obese choose to use the HCA Diet to meet their weight loss goals.

Roast them, or sprinkle them on your green salad - pumpkin seeds are not only delicious, but are good for you too!

Reinehr T, de Sousa G, Alexy U, Kersting M, Andler W. Vitamin D status and parathyroid hormone in obese children before and after weight loss. Eur J Endocrinol. 2007 Aug;157(2):225-32. PMID: 17656603 [PubMed - in process]

Zittermann A. Vitamin D and disease prevention with special reference to cardiovascular disease. Prog Biophys Mol Biol. 2006 Sep;92(1):39-48. Epub 2006 Feb 28. Review. PMID: 16600341 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Avocados may hold a key to longer, better health

Inositols prevent and reverse endothelial dysfunction in diabetic rat and rabbit vasculature metabolically and by scavenging superoxide. Nascimento NR, Lessa LM, Kerntopf MR, Sousa CM, Alves RS, Queiroz MG, Price J, Heimark DB, Larner J, Du X, Brownlee M, Gow A, Davis C, Fonteles MC. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006 Jan 3;103(1):218-23. Epub 2005 Dec 22. PMID: 16373499 doi: 10.1073/pnas.0509779103

Antioxidants prevent health-promoting effects of physical exercise in humans. Ristow M, Zarse K, Oberbach A, Klöting N, Birringer M, Kiehntopf M, Stumvoll M, Kahn CR, Blüher M. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 May 26;106(21):8665-70. Epub 2009 May 11. PMID: 19433800 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0903485106

Wednesday, November 19, 2008 The Fructose Index is the New Glycemic Index I stumbled upon an interesting editorial recently in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition from Dr. Richard Johnson's group, entitled "How Safe is Fructose for Persons With or Without Diabetes?" It was a response to a meta-analysis in the same journal pronouncing fructose safe up to 90 grams per day. That's the amount in eight apples or four cans of soda. Not quite what our hunter-gatherer ancestors were eating! The editorial outlined the case against excessive fructose, which I feel is quite strong. That led me to another, more comprehensive paper from Dr. Johnson's group, which argues that the amount of fructose found in a food, which they call the "fructose index", is more relevant to health than the food's glycemic index.

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have identified a gene that plays a critical regulatory role in the process of converting dietary carbohydrates to fat. In a new study, they disabled this gene in mice, which consequently had lower levels of body fat than their normal counterparts, despite being fed the equivalent of an all-you-can-eat pasta buffet. The authors of the study, to be published in the March 20 issue of the journal Cell, say the gene, called DNA-PK, could potentially play a role in the prevention of obesity related to the over-consumption of high-carbohydrate foods, such as pasta, rice, soda and sugary snacks..

Westman EC, Feinman RD, Mavropoulos JC, Vernon MC, Volek JS, Wortman JA, Yancy WS, Phinney SD. Low-carbohydrate nutrition and metabolism.

"Summer vs Winter Mode: Explaining AMPK Last year I read an article which made a statement that has not left my mind. The statement went as follows: "You are only good as your mitochondria." In fact, the more a dwell into the details of human metabolism, the more I sense that this is true - especially with the metabolic syndrome. For those who are not familiar with the concept of mitochondria, they are the tiny energy factories within the cells that produce cellular energy through aerobic means (meaning oxygen). Mitochondria utilize oxygen to ultimately produce Adenosine Triphosphate or simply ATP. ATP relays energy by donating a phosphate bond resulting in Adenosine Diphosphate (ADP). Another phosphate release would entail Adenosine Monophosphate or AMP. ATP is one of the main sources of cellular energy in the body

The carnivore connection: dietary carbohydrate in the evolution of NIDDM. Miller JC, Colagiuri S. Diabetologia. 1994 Dec;37(12):1280-6. PMID: 7895958

For years we've been told that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. In fact, it's widely believed that skipping breakfast is bad for your health and causes weight gain. But recent research has a different perspective on breakfast. New studies claim that skipping breakfast can help you lose weight and improve insulin sensitivity.