I’ve written about my personal experience with soy overdosing here: Soy, My Nipples, And Your Health.

And a friend of mine just sent me this study on soy: Soy food and isoflavone intake in relation to semen quality parameters among men from an infertility clinic

Researchers looked at “subfertile couples” undergoing treatment at fertility clinics and found that there is an inverse relationship between soy intake and sperm concentration.

Translation: The more soy you eat, the lower your sperm count.

Uh-oh.

Soy’s natural defense against being eaten isn’t thorns or poison, it’s much more subtle than that.  When a soy plant is eaten, it makes the animal (humans in this case) sterile to prevent any future eating.

Diabolical, isn’t it!

So the take-home message for today is: Soy really messes up your health.

If you want to find more studies on soy, google any of the abstracts on this page: Survey Says… Soy Is Bad News!

Ok, today’s scien-tastic study will really appeal to you if you’re pressed for time to work out.  (And who isn’t?!?)

Researchers from McMaster University in Canada compared low volume sprint (interval) training to high volume aerobic (endurance) training.

Without bogging down in too many details (I’ll link to the study at the bottom of this post), the aerobics group worked out at 65% of their maximal oxygen uptake for 40-60 minutes, 5 days a week, for 6 weeks.

The interval training group did 4-6 “all out” 30 second sprints with 4.5 minutes rest between sprints, 3 days a week, for 6 weeks.

Total training time for the aerobic group was 4.5 hours per week.  Total for the interval training group was 1.5 hours per week (with 90% of that time being rest!!).

After the six weeks both groups showed the SAME metabolic changes!

Now, I would have expected the interval training group to be burning more fat, but even though the results were the same, look at the total training time!  90 minutes a week of interval training gave the same fat loss benefits as 270 minutes of aerobics training!

That’s pretty freakin’ cool

So, if you want to save time in the gym, start hitting some intervals.  Here’s a step-by-step plan to get you started: Interval Training For Fat Loss

Here’s the citation for today’s study:

J Physiol. 2008 January 1; 586(Pt 1): 151–160.
Published online 2007 November 8.
Similar metabolic adaptations during exercise after low volume sprint interval and traditional endurance training in humans
Kirsten A Burgomaster,1 Krista R Howarth,1 Stuart M Phillips,1 Mark Rakobowchuk,1 Maureen J MacDonald,1 Sean L McGee,2 and Martin J Gibala1

And here’s a link to the abstract: Similar metabolic adaptations during exercise after low volume sprint interval and traditional endurance training in humans

Pterostilbene is a chemical related to reservatol that is found in blueberries and grapes.

Reservatol is being heralded in the media as a magic health potion – that’s one of the reasons that red wine is good for you.

But is there something better than reservatol when it comes to preventing cancer?

A study from the National Kaohsiung Marine University in Taiwain says there is…

Researchers compared reservatol and pterostilbene’s effects on antioxidant signalling pathways for the purposes of cancer prevention.

Both chemicals “significantly enhanced expression of antioxidant enzymes.”

Both chemicals block cellular inflammation and and oxidative stress. (By the way, cellular inflammation and oxidation may be the cause of most modern diseases such as cancer, alzheimers, and obesity)

But pterostilbene is more effective than reservatol in reducing the formation of aberrant crypt foci, lymphoid nodules, and tumors, making it a pterostilbene your best choice for helping to prevent cancer.

Here is the study citation (for my fellow science geeks):

J Agric Food Chem. 2011 Mar 23;59(6):2725-33. Epub 2011 Feb 28.
Pterostilbene is more potent than resveratrol in preventing azoxymethane (AOM)-induced colon tumorigenesis via activation of the NF-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2)-mediated antioxidant signaling pathway.
Chiou YS, Tsai ML, Nagabhushanam K, Wang YJ, Wu CH, Ho CT, Pan MH.
Department of Seafood Science, National Kaohsiung Marine University, Kaohsiung 811, Taiwan.

I make sure to eat plenty of berries over the course of a week to make sure I’m getting some pterostilbene, but I really take my health-protection and cancer-prevention plan to the next level by taking a mega supplement.  The one I take is Genesis by Prograde Nutrition.

I have this greens drink every morning at 4:30am right after I have a mug of green tea.  Click the link below for more info:

Prograde Genesis

This is an interesting study that helps to highlight the difference between WEIGHT loss and FAT loss.

(Losing fat will change your appearance and improve your health much more than just losing “weight”)

Scientists at the University of Rhode Island showed that weight training plus diet help seniors lose almost nine pounds of fat, while a diet-only group lost less than one pound of fat in the same time span.

For this study the researchers separated 27 overweight and obese seniors into two groups.  The first group followed the 10 week Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet.

The second group followed the DASH diet plus moderate intensity resistance training.

Now, I’m not a huge fan of the DASH diet – there are too many grains and modified dairy products, not enough healthy proteins, and too many fruits and not enough vegetables for weight loss and lowering heart disease risk.  That said, following ANY kind of structured diet will give you better results than just “winging it.”  On to the study results…

Even though the study says there was no significant difference in weight loss between the two groups, look at the numbers:

Diet only: 2 kg (4.4 pounds) lost

Diet plus strength training: 3.6 kg (7.92 pounds) lost

I’d say that losing almost twice as much weight is a “significant difference”!

Time for the body fat loss results:

Diet only: 0.2 kg (.44 pounds) lost

Diet plus strength training: 4.1 kg (9.02 pounds) lost

So… adding strength training to the diet resulted in eight and a half pounds more of FAT loss!

And finally, what were the differences in lean mass gains?

Diet only: 1.4 kg (3.08 pounds) of muscle LOST

Diet plus strength training: 0.8kg (1.76 pounds) of muscle GAINED

Since this study was done on seniors, I just want to point out that lean muscle is extremely important for a higher quality of life.  It is more independence, faster metabolism, less risk of injury, and greater protection from neural degeneration to have more lean muscle.

Oh, both groups improved their 400m (lap around a track) time, but the diet-only group got weaker while the diet+training group got stronger.

What we can see from this study is that purely focusing on diet and “weight loss” is not going to be as effective as diet, resistance training, and focusing on “fat loss.”

Here is the reference:

Eur J Appl Physiol. 2010 Feb 19. Effect of moderate intensity resistance training during weight loss on body composition and physical performance in overweight older adults. Avila JJ, Gutierres JA, Sheehy ME, Lofgren IE, Delmonico MJ.

I remember the morning clearly.  I called my little sister on the way home from the gym and said, “You know that sweet southern girl I was telling you about?  She said the F-WORD during her workout this morning!”

The sweet, slow-talking girl I was talking about is Deirdre Reid, one of my first clients in Carson City:

And the exercise that made her swear?  Negative Chin Ups:

Why do I bring this up?

Well, two reasons:

1. To tell an embarrassing story about Deirdre
2. I needed a way to introduce a study on swearing and exercise

If you exercise hard at all, you’ve probably at least felt like swearing (even if you didn’t out loud )

And here’s something cool: A study from last August showed that swearing helps you tolerate pain!

Stephens R, Atkins J, Kingston A. (2009). Swearing as a response to pain. Neuroreport. 2009 Aug 5;20(12):1056-60.

The pain from exercise comes from a build-up of lactic acid.  All this means is that you’re exercising and producing lactate faster than your body can remove it, and that’s a GOOD THING.

That lactic acid does make your muscles burn and prompt a few swear words, but it has some cool benefits for your body transformation, such as:

• Increased testosterone production (good for men and women)
• Increased Human Growth Hormone (burns fat and keeps you young!)
• Helps you use carbohydrates more efficiently
• Fuels your brain during exercise

The abstract from the swearing and pain study is, well…. abstract:

Although a common pain response, whether swearing alters individuals’ experience of pain has not been investigated. This study investigated whether swearing affects cold-pressor pain tolerance (the ability to withstand immersing the hand in icy water), pain perception and heart rate. In a repeated measures design, pain outcomes were assessed in participants asked to repeat a swear word versus a neutral word. In addition, sex differences and the roles of pain catastrophising, fear of pain and trait anxiety were explored. Swearing increased pain tolerance, increased heart rate and decreased perceived pain compared with not swearing. However, swearing did not increase pain tolerance in males with a tendency to catastrophise. The observed pain-lessening (hypoalgesic) effect may occur because swearing induces a fight-or-flight response and nullifies the link between fear of pain and pain perception.

Luke’s Take Home Message:

You should be working out so freaking hard that you feel like swearing to relieve the burn!

As a fitness expert, you know I’ll never promise you a pill is going to be the answer to that “jiggle in your wiggle.” If you want six pack abs you’re going to have to work for them.

BUT…

There is some very promising research out there in regards to a dietary supplement you’ve probably been hearing a lot about.

Yes, I’m talking about Essential Fatty Acids. You probably have heard them called something like Fish Oil pills.

How’s this for good news?!

*University of Georgia researchers have found something pretty amazing about Essential Fatty Acid supplements containing DHA. Get this: The actually help STOP the conversion of pre-fat cells into fat cells by causing them to die out before they can mature.

Once a pre-fat cell becomes a fat cell, well, there’s no turning back. You’ve got that fat cell for life. Imagine, actually decreasing the accumulation of fat by taking an Essential Fatty Acid supplement containing DHA!

Now let me do my best infomercial voice for you…

But wait, there’s more!

Seriously, that’s not the only benefit of Essential Fatty Acid supplements containing DHA.

According to studies** done at the University of South Australia people that combined exercise with Essential Fatty Acid supplements containing DHA saw greater fat loss than the test group that only exercised and did not take the supplement.

How can you not be excited by these research studies??

Now, personally, I don’t like Fish Oil pills because they cause you to burp like crazy. If you’ve ever taken them you know exactly what I mean. And they aren’t always the highest quality.

I prefer EFA Icon from Prograde Nutrition because they use Krill Oil. It’s been found to be a superior source of Essential Fatty Acids containing DHA. Plus, with EFA Icon there are NO fish burps. And I haven’t even mentioned all the amazing health benefits from this dietary supplement.

If you’re looking to accelerate your fat loss results than I really recommend you go with Prograde Nutrition’s EFA Icon.

You can try it here => Best Essential Fatty Acid

Yours in rapid fat loss,

Luke Wold

PS – Remember, EFA Icon is NOT a miracle solution. You will need sound nutrition and exercise. BUT the research is there. It’s definitely a supplement with powerful fat loss properties. http:/yourprogradename.getprograde.com/icon

References:
* Journal of Nutrition, Vol. 136:2965-2969

** American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 85:1267-1274

A Canadian study undertook to evaluate the effects of krill oil on C-reactive protein in patients with chronic inflammation and also to look at the effects of krill oil on arthritis.

C-reactive protein is a protein found in your blood. Levels rise in response to inflammation, so doctors prescribe a blood test and if you have high C-reactive protein, you have high inflammation.

Inflammation is part of the complex biological response of vascular (blood vessel) tissues to harmful stimuli, such as pathogens, damaged cells, or irritants. Inflammation is a protective attempt by your body to remove the bad stuff and to start the healing process.

So anything that can naturally lower inflammation does so by reducing the amount of damaged cells and irritants in your body.

This study used 90 patients with cardiovascular disease, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, or any mix of the three AND with three consecutive weekly C-reactive protein tests scoring high.

The study group received krill oil and the control group received a placebo. C-reactive protein and osteoarthritis were the study and on days 7, 14, and 30.

After 7 days of treatment C-reactive protein was reduced by 19.3% in the krill oil group, compared to an increase of 15.7% observed in the placebo group.

After 14 and 30 days of treatment krill oil further decreased C-reactive protein by 29.7% and 30.9% respectively.

The C-reactive protein levels in the placebo group increased to 32.1% after 14 days and then lowered to 25.1% at day 30.

Krill oil significantly reduced all of the osteoarthritis scores. After 7 days krill reduced pain scores by 28.9%, reduced stiffness by 20.3%, and reduced functional impairment by 22.8%.

The study concluded that krill oil at a “daily dose of 300 mg significantly inhibits inflammation and reduces arthritic symptoms within a short treatment period of 7 and 14 days.”

I take 1000 mg of krill oil daily as insurance against inflammatory diseases and joint breakdown.

==> Click Here For More Info On Krill Oil Benefits <==

Here’s the study info:

J Am Coll Nutr February 2007 vol. 26 no. 1 39-48.
Evaluation of the Effect of Krill Oil on Chronic Inflammation and Arthritic Symptoms.
Luisa Deutsch, MD.

In this weight loss study published by the American Journal Of Clinical Nutrition, researchers took 16 obese subjects (4 men, 12 women) and had them complete a 10 week diet experiment.

In the first two weeks, the subjects followed a control diet.  This was to eliminate any variables before the experiment.

In weeks three through six, the test subjects followed an Alternate Day Fasting protocol where they ate 25% of their energy needs on their fasting day, then as much food as they wanted the next day.  For this four weeks, the fasting day food was controlled by the researchers.

In weeks seven through ten, the test subjects followed an Alternate Day Fasting protocol where they ate 25% of their energy needs on their fasting day, then as much food as they wanted the next day. For this four weeks, the fasting day food was controlled by the subjects themselves.

The test subjects stuck their diets remarkably well – 86 to 89% on plan.

Subjects lost an average of 1.5 pounds per week while on the Alternate Day Fasting Plan – and that’s with every other day being an “eat whatever you want” day!!

In total, the average subject lost 12.3 pounds in the eight weeks of Alternate Day Fasting and dropped body fat percentage from 45% to 42%.

Triglycerides and cholesterol levels were lowered as well, meaning a healthier cardiovascular system.

The study authors concluded: These findings suggest that ADF is a viable diet option to help obese individuals lose weight and decrease CAD risk. (ADF – Alternate Day Fasting.  CAD – Coronary Artery Disease)

Here is the citation for the study:

Short-term modified alternate-day fasting: a novel dietary strategy for weight loss and cardioprotection in obese adults. Krista A Varady, Surabhi Bhutani, Emily C Church, and Monica C Klempel. Am J Clin Nutr November 2009 vol. 90 no. 5 1138-1143

All of my Carson City bootcamp clients know that I’m constantly on the lookout for new research that can make my Unstoppable Fitness Formula even MORE effective.

For example, I noticed that a certain type of workout was getting clients better weight loss results in less time.  When I went looking for the reason why, I found out research has proven that training in a certain way can elevate your metabolism for 39 hours AFTER your workout.

And that’s only one tiny piece of what I do to get your body changing.  For instance, adding interval training greatly improves your results, as does the correct exercise choices and set/rep scheme.

Well… I was looking through some newly published studies (in preparation for my next seminar) and I found this…

McKay et al.
Effect of short-term high-intensity interval training vs. continuous training on O2 uptake kinetics, muscle deoxygenation, and exercise performance.J Appl Physiol. 2009 Jul;107(1):128-38. Epub 2009 May 14.

This study used 8 sessions of 8-12 intervals. The intervals were one minute hard, then one minute easy, repeat.

The “cardio” group did 8 sessions of 90-120 minutes steady-state exercise (like going on a treadmill or elliptical at an even pace)

To compare times: The interval group exercised 80 minutes over the 19 day study. The steady-state group exercised for 825 minutes.

As it turns out, the subjects had the SAME adaptations despite the interval group exercising for only a tenth of the time as the steady-state group.

If you know what you’re doing you can cut down your workout time by 90%!

Let me repeat: YOU CAN CUT YOUR WORKOUT TIME BY:

This proves the importance of following the right training program!

In my seminars I share studies that show:

• How one type of interval training burns 900% MORE abdominal fat than regular training…
• How ONE simple change in your eating makes the difference between losing thirteen pounds of fat or thirteen pounds of toned muscle…
• How endurance training makes NO change in your resting metabolism (where you burn most of your calories)
• That the addition of 45 minutes of hard aerobic training, 5 times a week for twelve weeks – has NO effect on fat loss!

Those are just a few of the things that my research and experience has shown me.

If you train with me, you’re great!  You’re following a proven, research-backed system that delivers incomparable results.

If you’re training in your own, don’t just “wing it”.  Do some research in publications that don’t have glossy covers and find out what REALLY works.

Here’s one of my favorite free research tools: http://www.PubMed.gov

All right, I’m going to get back to geeking out over some new studies, talk to you soon!

Today’s study is pretty darn cool: Researchers did a two week study on 524 men and women.

The subjects were supposed to estimate how many calories they ate each day and this number was compared to their actual calorie intake.

And the result?  On average, the subject under-reported their calorie intake by 11% each day.

What’s this mean for you?

Well… if you’re thinking that you are eating 2200 Calories, you are probably taking in closer to 2442 Calories instead.

The extra 11% each day can completely halt your fat loss.

My recommendation is that every few months you go through a period where you weigh and measure all of your food, as a kind of “reset” button where you re-train your brain to recognize proper food serving portions.

Other than that, make sure you’re eating all healthy and nutrient-dense foods, so if you do get any extra calories, they’ll all be from good stuff.

Here’s the reference for the study above:

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 88, No. 2, 324-332, August 2008. The US Department of Agriculture Automated Multiple-Pass Method reduces bias in the collection of energy intakes.