Happy Holidays!
This week, read about the importance of overall nutrition quality vs isolated nutrients, how mental fatigue affects sports performance, 12 risks for Christmas, using the talk test to regulate exercise intensity, and more.
Focus on Overall Nutrition Quality
The recently published Omnicarb Trial suggested that the glycemic index may not influence cholesterol and other heart disease risk factors for people who are already following a healthful diet (the glycemic index is a way of measuring the effect of a food on blood sugar). Dr David Katz puts the findings of this research in perspective, urging people to focus on the overall nutrition quality of their diet, and offers these five guidelines for those wanting to improve their diet or lose weight (detailed further in his article – worth reading!).
“1. Know that overall nutritional quality trumps any isolated nutrient manipulation.”
“2. Resolve to get ready and set before resolving to go.”
“3. Trade up your choices, rather than giving up what you love”
“4. Rehabilitate your taste buds.”
“5. Take your family with you.”
How Does Mental Fatigue Affect Your Sports Performance?
Another great sports infographic by Yann LeMeur, explaining this study, showing that mental fatigue can impair running performance. This highlights that it’s important to find ways to reduce mental fatigue before competitions or high quality training sessions. Future areas of research may include using mental fatigue as training stimulus. (Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2014 Dec 9)
Twelve Risks for Christmas
Fun video putting risk in perspective and supporting science-informed decision making. (University of Michican’s Risk Science Center)
More Links of Interest This Week
- 3 Awesome Science/Health Books To Read This Holiday Season. This looks like a great list by Travis Saunders. (Obesity Panacea)
- Evidence that you can use the talk test to regulate exercise intensity. An easy and old school way to monitor training zones can be effective (J Strength Cond Res. 2014 Dec 22).
- How ambient temperature during a workout might affect your appetite (Gretchen Reynolds, New York Times).
- The demise of Dr. Oz. Nice account by Peter Janiszewski – I hope this is a sign that the public is becoming more science literate! (Peter Janiszewski, Obesity Panacea)
- 7-Day overload high intensity training improves performance & physiology in competitive cyclists. Study shows benefits of HIT training block on performance. (PLOS ONE December 18, 2014)
- The Cold-Medicine Racket. Good advice to figure out the 100’s of cold & flu products. (The Atlantic)
- When Statins Fail—and Where Diet Succeeds. How diet can help manage cholesterol (Dr. Micheal Joyner, Outside Magazine).
- 5 promising updates in sports science : sitting, antioxidants, low iron, running & knee pain (Alex Hutchinson, the Globe and Mail).
- The Bulletproof Diet is everything wrong with eating in America. (Vox.com)
- Growing stronger without weights: study finds improvement from pretending to move muscles. Fascinating research, but standing up/getting off the couch will get you much further! (Scientific American, reporting on J Neurophysiol October 2014)
- Confused about margarine vs butter, and saturated fat? Here is an excellent overview of the evidence. (We need more research, and keep in mind that just because some types of saturated fats are not as bad as once thought, this doesn’t mean saturated fat is good for us!). (Reijo Laatikainen, Diet Matters)
- What 2000 calories looks like – outstanding visuals here – it’s hard not to be surprised! Reinforces that home cooking is the best way to go. (New York Times)
Wishing everyone a happy and health holiday season!
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