Thursday, April 23, 2009

Get to bed young man!

Sleep plays a vital role in the overall health of our bodies. In a recent study published last month, researchers found strong correlations with too little sleep and (surprising to me) too much sleep with impaired glucose tolerance. They observed, "... that over this timespan, approximately 20% of those with long and short sleep duration developed type 2 diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance versus only 7% among subjects who were average duration sleepers." (h/t SD) They continue that the risk of developing type II diabetes doubles for people who sleep too little or too long.

Interestingly enough improper sleep habits also impacts your risks for cardiovascular disease, obesity and mortality. A general rule of thumb to follow is for adults to shoot for adults 7-8 hours of sleep. If you have problems getting to sleep, a potential remedy would be to use Melatonin.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Something to chew on...

Please disregard my hanging prepositions. A recent article points out some of the perils with nutritional supplements. My advice - do your due diligence. Take control and ask the questions you might have. It's your life and your body. Here at Unicity - we are available to answer your questions and address issues you might have. Don't hesitate to call us and ask for information. We have a great staff that is here for you.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Drop the soft drink and you'll drop some weight...

A research group (h/t Futurepundit) at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public health demonstrated in a recently published study that by limiting or cutting out the calories from liquids that there was a stonger association with weight loss than by limiting solid caloric intake.

A thought from the author, “Both liquid and solid calories were associated with weight change, however, only a reduction in liquid calorie intake was shown to significantly affect weight loss during the 6-month follow up,” said Benjamin Caballero MD, PhD, senior author of the study and a professor with the Bloomberg School’s Department of International Health.

More thoughts, “A reduction in liquid calorie intake was associated with a weight loss of 0.25 kg at 6 months and 0.24 kg at 18 months. Among sugar-sweetened beverages, a reduction of 1 serving was associated with a weight loss of 0.5 kg at 6 months and 0.7 kg at 18 months. Of the seven types of beverages examined, sugar-sweetened beverages were the only beverages significantly associated with weight change.”

Energy drinks are hot and have been for some time. However, the energy benefits come at a price - lots of sugar. A great drink mix to maintain proper electrolyte balance with low calories is Low-Oz. Also - look to some new products from Unicity in the coming months to address this issue.