Sunday, August 15, 2010

Why do we measure fat loss success by inches lost?

Many people ask us, "Why do you measure inches lost as a metric of success with Bios Life Slim?" It's a great question. We have been ingrained that body weight is a key metric for health and appearance. This is calculateg taking body weight, in kilograms, and dividing it by height, in meters squared yielding a value known as body mass index (BMI). There are very good studies correlating lower BMI's with improved health. However, one of the key criticisms of the use of BMI is that it doesn't distinguish how weight is distributed. For example, a person in good health with lots of muscle mass will likely be penalized with a high BMI (this is usually the case for many athletes) even though there is very little health risk.

Recently, there were two articles which demonstrated the use of an alternative method for assessing body weight distribution as it relates to health risks and that is waist circumference. One of the reasons for using waist circumference is that it directly measures increased fat mass around your organs, fat known as visceral fat. Visceral fat is more metabolically active and secretes more hormones and inflammatory signals known as cytokines than non-visceral fat. Therefore - it's important to have a measure that accounts for the distribution of fat in the body.
Now, in one study - investigators from the American Cancer Society examined the relationship between increased waist circumferences (WC) and your risk for early death. They found that very high WC's (defined as > 47 inches (120cm) for men or >35 inches (90 cm) women) doubled your risk of death. They concluded that WC has a positive correlation with mortality.

In the second study, a group from Germany, wanted to see if there were differences between BMI and WC in terms of risks for developing type 2 diabetes. Through the results of their study - they determined that neither measurement by themselves is an appropriate measure for assaying the risk of diabetes. In other words - in order to accurately assess the risk for type 2 diabetes both parameters needed to be measured. Other results from this study is that individuals with a BMI >25 and large waist circumferences are at risk for developing type 2 diabetes. Interestingly - individuals with normal weight but large WC have the same risk as pre-obese folks with small WC's. The important point to take home is that WC matters! Start using waist circumference a measure for how you are doing in changing your body. Set your goals to be >40 inches for men and >35 inches for women. Track your Slim progress and see how Slim helps you get healthy by dropping inches off your waist.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

The roughage diet...

In the monthly newsletter for August sent by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) the feature was on fiber. Many of us know that fiber is good for us but most of us are simply not getting enough fiber in our diet. The most current guidelines for fiber intake are for men between 35-40 grams per day and for women between 25-30 grams per day. On average, Americans are only consuming 12-14 grams per day or only about half of the recommended amount. I'll speak more to how we can improve on that below.

One question that is frequently asked is what are the benefits of fiber. A quote from the newsletter states, "Fiber can relieve constipation and normalize your bowel movements. Some studies suggest that high-fiber diets might also help with weight loss and reduce the risk for cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer." We have the studies (go to http://www.unicityscience.org/ for reprints)!

Dr. Gertraud Maskarinec of the University of Hawaii is quoted stating the following about how fiber can slow the absorption of sugar in the intestines, "With diabetes, it's good to keep glucose levels from peaking too much," She continues, "We found that it's mostly the fiber from grains that protects against diabetes."

Another benefit of fiber is weight management - here's another money quote, "Weight loss is another area where fiber might help. High-fiber foods generally make you feel fuller for longer. Fiber adds bulk but few calories. "In studies where people are put on different types of diets, those on the high-fiber diets typically eat about 10% fewer calories," says Slavin. Other large studies have found that people with high fiber intake tend to weigh less."

So what can you do to increase the amount of fiber in your diet. Here are a few suggestions:

  • Add fruits, vegetables and nuts to your diet.


  • Switch to whole grains; substitute wheat bread for white bread or whole wheat pasta for traditional pasta


  • Slip in more beans - legumes are a good source of fiber and protein


  • Lastly - add Slim to your diet. Each serving of Slim contains 4 g of dietary fiber of which the majority is soluble fiber.

You can get all of benefits of fiber with Slim including improved blood sugar regulation, better portion control with your meals, regular bowel movements and normalized cholesterol levels. Get slim using Slim! Better yet - get slim using Slim and share Slim with a friend.