Science Confirms: The More Coffee You Drink, The Longer You Will Live

By Kris Gunnars, BSc

Coffee is one of the healthiest beverages on the planet.

It is more than just dark-colored liquid with caffeine… coffee actually contains hundreds of different compounds, some of which have important health benefits.

Several massive studies have now shown that the people who drink the most coffee live longer and have a reduced risk of diseases like Alzheimer’s and diabetes.

Coffee is a Major Source of Antioxidants

When hot water runs through the coffee grounds while brewing, the substances in the coffee beans mix with the water and become part of the drink.

Some of these substances are well known, including caffeine, but there arehundreds of other compounds in there as well, many of which science has yet to identify.

Many of these compounds are antioxidants that protect our bodies from oxidation, which involves free radicals that damage molecules in the body.

Without getting into complicated details, oxidation is believed to be one of the mechanisms behind ageing and common diseases like cancer and heart disease.

Coffee, believe it or not, happens to be the biggest source of antioxidants in the Western diet, outranking both fruits and vegetables… combined (1, 2, 3).

When you’re treating yourself with a cup of coffee, you’re not only getting caffeine but a whole bunch of other beneficial compounds, including powerful antioxidants.

Several Massive Studies Show That People Who Drink Coffee Live Longer Than Those Who Don’t

There are several studies showing that when people drink coffee, they have a lower risk of dying from a range of serious diseases.

A groundbreaking study, the largest of its kind, was published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2012:

Freedman ND, et al. Association of coffee drinking with total and cause-specific mortality. New England Journal of Medicine, 2012.

In this study, 402,260 individuals between 50 and 71 years of age were asked about their coffee consumption.

The results were fairly remarkable… after following the people for 12-13 years, those who drank the most coffee were significantly less likely to have died.

As you can see from the graph, the more coffee people drank, the lower their risk of death was.

The sweet spot seems to be at 4-5 cups per day, where men had a 12% reduced risk and women a 16% reduced risk. Drinking 6 or more cups per day provided no additional benefit.

However, even moderate consumption of coffee (1 cup per day) was associated with a 5-6% reduction in risk of death, showing that even a little bit is enough to have an effect.

Although these numbers may seem small… given how incredibly widespread coffee consumption really is, this could have implications for millions of people.

When they looked at particular causes of death, they found that the coffee drinkers were less likely to die from infections, injuries and accidents, respiratory disease, diabetes, stroke and heart disease.

The benefit does not appear to be attributable to the caffeine, because both decaf and regular coffee had the same effect.

Of course, this is a so-called observational study, which can not prove that coffeecaused the reduction in risk. But it is a good reassurance that coffee is, at the very least, NOT the villain it has been made out to be.

Many Other Studies Have Lead to Similar Results

The effects of coffee on health have actually been studied very thoroughly in the past few decades.

At least 2 other studies have shown that coffee drinkers have a lower risk of premature death (4, 5).

If we look at specific diseases, coffee drinkers have a much lower risk of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, type 2 diabetes and liver diseases… to name a few (6, 7, 8, 9)

There are also studies from Harvard showing that coffee may make you happier, reducing the risk of depression by by 20% and the risk of suicide by 53% (10, 11).

So… not only does coffee add years to your life, but it may also add life to your years.

Coffee is Super Healthy

Despite having been demonized in the past, coffee is one of the healthiest beverages on the planet. Period.

Source : http://authoritynutrition.com

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How Many Calories Should You Eat Per Day to Lose Weight?

By Kris Gunnars, BSc 

The Best Online Calorie Counters

Here is a list of free sites where you can insert the foods you are eating to keep track of your calorie intake:

• Cron-O-Meter (My Favorite).
• MyFitnessPal
• FitDay
• Lose It

All of them are available online and include apps for iPhone/iPad and Android devices.

It is highly recommended to use a calorie counter for at least a few days, to see how many calories, carbs, protein, fat, fiber, vitamins and minerals you are truly eating.

Seeing the numbers like this can often be an eye opener.

How to Reduce Calorie Intake Without Starving Yourself

Calories are simply a measure of energy.

It is known that in order to gain weight, more calories need to be entering your body than leaving it.

Conversely, if more calories leave your body than enter it, then you lose weight.

That being said, just cutting calories without regards to the foods you eat is usually not a sustainable way to lose weight.

Although it works for some people, the majority of people end up hungry and eventually give up on their diet.

For this reason, it is highly recommended to make a few other permanent changes to help you maintain a calorie deficit in the long term, without feeling starved.

Here are 5 evidence-based diet/lifestyle changes that have been shown to help people lose weight in numerous studies.

1. Eating More Protein Can Reduce Appetite, Cut Cravings by 60% and Increase The Amount of Calories You Burn

When it comes to losing weight, protein is the king of nutrients.

Adding protein to your diet is the simplest, most effective and most delicious way to lose weight with minimal effort.

Studies show that protein both increases your metabolic rate and helps reduce appetite (3).

Because protein requires energy to metabolize, a high protein diet can increase calories burned by up to 80 to 100 calories per day (4, 5, 6).

Protein is also the most fulfilling nutrient, by far. One study showed that people who ate 30% of calories as protein automatically ate 441 fewer calories per day (7).

In other words, you can easily increase calories out and reduce calories in… just byadding protein to your diet.

Protein can also help fight cravings, which are the dieter’s worst enemy.

In one study, 25% of calories as protein reduced obsessive thoughts about food by 60% and cut the desire for late-night snacking by 50% (8).

If you want to lose weight, sustainably, with minimal effort, then consider making apermanent increase in your protein intake.

Not only will it help you lose, it will also prevent or at least significantly reduce weightregain, in case you ever decide to abandon your weight loss efforts (9, 10).

2. Avoid Sugary Soft Drinks (and Fruit Juices), The Most Fattening Items in The Modern Diet

Another relatively easy change you can make, is to eliminate liquid sugar calories from your diet.

This includes sodas, fruit juices, chocolate milk and other beverages that have sugar in them.

These “foods” are probably the most fattening aspect of the modern diet, by far.

This is because liquid calories don’t get “registered” by the brain in the same way as solid calories.

For this reason, drinking sugary soda doesn’t make your brain automatically compensate by having you eat less of other things instead (11, 12).

Studies have shown that sugary drinks are strongly linked to an increased risk of obesity, with one study in children showing a 60% increased risk for each daily serving of a sugar-sweetened beverage (13).

Of course, the harmful effects of sugar go way beyond just weight gain. It can havedisastrous effects on metabolic health and raise your risk of all sorts of diseases (14).

Although small amounts of natural sugars from foods (like fruit) are absolutely fine, large amounts from added sugar and sugary drinks can be an absolute disaster.

There is absolutely NO physiological need for these beverages and the long-term benefits of avoiding them can be enormous.

3. Drinking More Water Can Help With Weight Loss

One very simple trick to increase weight loss is to drink more water.

This can increase the number of calories you burn for up to 90 minutes (15, 16).

Drinking about 2 liters (68 ounces, or 8 glasses) of water per day can make you burn about 96 more calories per day.

But when you drink water may be even more important, because having it before meals can help reduce hunger and make you automatically eat fewer calories (17).

In one study, drinking a half liter (17 ounces) of water a half hour before meals made people lose 44% more weight over a period of 12 weeks (18).

When combined with a healthy diet, drinking more water (especially before meals) does appear to be helpful if you need to lose weight.

4. Do Some Exercise and Lift Weights

When we eat fewer calories, our bodies compensate by making us burn less.

This is why long-term calorie restriction can significantly reduce metabolism.

Not only that, but it can also lead to loss of muscle mass. Muscle is metabolically active, so this can reduce metabolism even further.

Pretty much the only proven strategy to prevent this from happening is to exert your muscles by lifting weights.

This has been repeatedly shown to prevent muscle loss and prevent your metabolism from slowing down during long-term calorie restriction (21, 22).

Of course, we don’t want to just lose fat… we want to make sure that what is beneath also look good.

If you can’t get to a gym, then consider doing some body weight exercises like push ups, squats, sit ups, etc.

Doing some cardio like walking, swimming or jogging can also be important. Not so much for weight loss, but for optimal health and general wellbeing.

Of course, exercise also has a plethora of other benefits that go way beyond just weight loss… such as a longer life, lower risk of disease, more energy and feeling better every day (23, 24, 25).

5. Reduce Carbohydrate Intake, Especially Refined Carbs and Sugars

Cutting carbs is a very effective way to lose weight (26).

When people do that, their appetite tends to go down and they eat fewer calories automatically (27, 28).

Studies have shown that eating a low-carb diet until fullness can make you lose about 2-3 times as much weight as a calorie restricted low-fat diet (29, 30, 31).

Not only that, but low-carb diets also have all sorts of other benefits for health, especially for people with type 2 diabetes or metabolic syndrome.

But if you don’t want to go low-carb, then that’s fine too. Just make sure you eatquality, fiber-rich carbohydrate sources… from whole, single ingredient foods.

Source : http://authoritynutrition.com

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26 Weight Loss Tips That Are Actually Evidence-Based

By Kris Gunnars, BSc on http://authoritynutrition.com

The weight loss “industry” is full of myths.

People are being advised to do all sorts of crazy things, most of which have no evidence behind them.

Over the years, however, scientists have found a number of strategies that seem to be effective.

Here are 26 weight loss tips that are actually evidence-based.

1. Drink Water, Especially Before Meals

It is often claimed that drinking water can help with weight loss, and this is true.

Drinking water can boost metabolism by 24-30% over a period of 1-1.5 hours, helping you burn off a few more calories (1, 2).

One study showed that drinking a half liter (17 oz) of water about a half an hour before meals helped dieters eat fewer calories and lose 44% more weight (3).

2. Eat Eggs For Breakfast

Eating whole eggs can have all sorts of benefits, including helping you lose weight.

Studies show that replacing a grain-based breakfast with eggs can help you eat fewer calories for the next 36 hours, and lose more weight and more body fat (4, 5).

If you can’t eat eggs for some reason, then that’s fine. Any source of quality protein for breakfast should do the trick.

3. Drink Coffee (Preferably Black)

Coffee has been unfairly demonized. Quality coffee is loaded with antioxidants, and can have numerous health benefits.

Studies show that the caffeine in coffee can boost metabolism by 3-11%, and increase fat burning by up to 10-29% (6, 7, 8).

Just make sure NOT to add a bunch of sugar or other high-calorie ingredients to it. That will completely negate any benefit you get from the coffee.

4. Drink Green Tea

Like coffee, green tea also has many benefits, one of them being weight loss.

Green tea contains small amounts of caffeine, but it is also loaded with powerful antioxidants called catechins, which are also believed to work synergistically with the caffeine to enhance fat burning (9, 10).

Although the evidence is mixed, there are many studies showing that green tea (either as a beverage or a green tea extract supplement) can help you lose weight (11, 12).

5. Cook With Coconut Oil

Coconut oil is very healthy. It is high in special fats called medium chain triglycerides, which are metabolized differently than other fats.

These fats have been shown to boost metabolism by 120 calories per day, and also reduce your appetite so that you eat up to 256 fewer calories per day (13, 14).

Keep in mind that this is not about adding coconut oil on top of what you’re already eating, it is about replacing some of your current cooking fats with coconut oil.

6. Take a Glucomannan Supplement

A fiber called glucomannan has been shown to cause weight loss in several studies.

This is a type of fiber that absorbs water and “sits” in your gut for a while, making you feel more full and helping you eat fewer calories (15).

Studies have shown that people who supplement with glucomannan lose a bit more weight than those who don’t (16).

7. Cut Back on Added Sugar

Added sugar is the single worst ingredient in the modern diet, and most people are eating way too much of it.

Studies show that sugar (and high fructose corn syrup) consumption is strongly associated with the risk of obesity, as well as diseases like type 2 diabetes, heart disease and others (17, 18, 19).

If you want to lose weight, you should be cutting back on added sugars. Just make sure to read labels, because even so-called health foods can be loaded with sugar.

8. Eat Less Refined Carbs

Refined carbohydrates are usually sugar, or grains that have been stripped of their fibrous, nutritious parts (includes white bread and pasta).

Studies show that refined carbs can spike blood sugar rapidly, leading to hunger, cravings and increased food intake a few hours later. Eating refined carbs is strongly linked to obesity (20, 21, 22).

If you’re going to eat carbs, make sure to eat them with their natural fiber.

9. Go on a Low Carb Diet

If you want to get all the benefits of carb restriction, then consider taking this all the way and going on a low carb diet.

Numerous studies show that such a diet (or “way of eating”) can help you lose 2-3 times as much weight as a standard low-fat diet, while improving your health at the same time (23, 24, 25).

10. Use Smaller Plates

Using smaller plates has been shown to help people automatically eat fewer calories in some studies. Weird trick, but it seems to work (26).

11. Exercise Portion Control or Count Calories

Portion control (eating less) or counting calories can be very useful, for obvious reasons (27).

There are also studies showing that keeping a food diary and writing down what you eat, or taking pictures of all your meals, can help you lose weight (28, 29).

Anything that increases your awareness of what you are eating is likely to be useful.

12. Keep Healthy Food Around in Case You Get Hungry

Keeping healthy food close by can help prevent you from eating something unhealthy if you become excessively hungry.

A few snacks that are easily portable and simple to prepare include whole fruits, a handful of nuts, baby carrots, yogurt and a hardboiled egg (or two).

13. Brush Your Teeth After Dinner

Although I’m not aware of any studies on this, many people recommend brushing your teeth and/or flossing right after dinner. Then you won’t be as tempted to have a late-night snack.

14. Eat Spicy Foods

Spicy foods like Cayenne pepper contain Capsaicin, a compound that can boost metabolism and reduce your appetite slightly (30, 31).

15. Do Aerobic Exercise

Doing aerobic exercise (cardio) is an excellent way to burn calories and improve your physical and mental health.

It appears to be particularly effective to lose belly fat, the unhealthy fat that tends to build up around your organs and cause metabolic disease (32, 33).

16. Lift Weights

One of the worst side effects of dieting, is that it tends to cause muscle loss and metabolic slowdown, often referred to as starvation mode (34, 35).

The best way to prevent this from happening is to do some sort of resistance exercise, like lifting weights. Studies show that weight lifting can help keep your metabolism high, and prevent you from losing precious muscle mass (36, 37).

Of course, it’s not just important to lose fat. You also want to make sure that what is beneath looks good. Doing some sort of resistance exercise is critical for that.

17. Eat More Fiber

Fiber is often recommended for the purpose of weight loss. Although the evidence is mixed, some studies show that fiber (especially viscous fiber) can increase satiety and help you control your weight over the long term (38, 39).

18. Eat More Vegetables and Fruits

Vegetables and fruits have several properties that make them effective for weight loss.

They contain few calories, but a lot of fiber. They are also rich in water, which gives them a low energy density. They also take a while to chew, and are very filling.

Studies show that people who eat vegetables and fruits tend to weigh less (40). These foods are also super healthy and nutritious, so eating them is important for all sorts of reasons.

19. Chew More Slowly

It can take a while for the brain to “register” that you’ve had enough to eat. Some studies show that chewing more slowly can help you eat fewer calories and increase the production of hormones linked to weight loss (41, 42).

20. Get Good Sleep

Sleep is highly underrated, but it may be just as important as eating healthy and exercising.

Studies show that poor sleep is one of the strongest risk factors for obesity, being linked to an 89% increased risk of obesity in children, and 55% in adults (43).

21. Beat Your Food Addiction

A recent 2014 study of 196,211 individuals found that 19.9% of people fulfil the criteria for food addiction (44).

If you suffer from overpowering cravings and can’t seem to get your eating under control no matter how hard you try, then you may be a food addict.

In this case, get help. Trying to lose weight without dealing with this problem first is next to impossible.

22. Eat More Protein

Protein is the single most important nutrient when it comes to losing weight.

Eating a high protein diet has been shown to boost metabolism by 80 to 100 calories per day, while helping you feel so satiated that you eat up to 441 fewer calories per day (45, 46, 47).

One study also showed that protein at 25% of calories reduced obsessive thoughts about food by 60%, while cutting the desire for late night snacking in half (48).

This is the single most important tip in the article.

Simply adding protein to your diet (without restricting anything) is one of the easiest, most effective and most delicious ways to lose weight.

23. Supplement With Whey Protein

If you struggle to get enough protein in your diet, taking a supplement can help.

One study showed that replacing part of your calories with whey protein can cause weight loss of about 8 pounds, while increasing lean muscle mass (49).

24. Don’t Drink Calories, Including Sugary Soda and Fruit Juices

Sugar is bad, but sugar in liquid form is even worse (50). Studies show that liquid sugar calories may be the single most fattening aspect of the modern diet.

For example, one study showed that sugar-sweetened beverages are linked to a 60% increased risk of obesity in children, for each daily serving (51).

Keep in mind that this applies to fruit juice as well, which contains a similar amount of sugar as a soft drink like coke (52). Eat whole fruit, but use fruit juice with caution (or avoid it altogether).

25. Eat Whole, Single Ingredient Foods (Real Food)

If you want to be a leaner, healthier person, then one of the best things you can do for yourself is to eat whole, single ingredient foods.

These foods are naturally filling, and it’s very difficult to gain weight if the majority of your diet is based around them.

Keep in mind that real food doesn’t need a long list of ingredients, because real food IS the ingredient.

26. Don’t “Diet”, Eat Healthy Instead

One of the biggest problems with “diets,” is that they almost never work in the long term.

If anything, people who “diet” tend to gain more weight over time, and studies show that dieting is a consistent predictor of future weight gain (53).

Instead of going on a diet, make it your goal to become a healthier, happier and fitter person. Focus on nourishing your body, instead of depriving it.

Weight loss should follow as a natural side effect.

Source : http://authoritynutrition.com

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Winter Safety Tips

Whether winter brings severe storms, light dustings or just cold temperatures, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has some valuable tips on how to keep your children safe and warm.

What to Wear

• Dress infants and children warmly for outdoor activities.  Several thin layers will keep them dry and warm. Don’t forget warm boots, gloves or mittens, and a hat.
• The rule of thumb for older babies and young children is to dress them in one more layer of clothing than an adult would wear in the same conditions.
• Blankets, quilts, pillows, bumpers, sheepskins and other loose bedding should be kept out of an infant's sleeping enviroment because they are associated with suffocation dealths and may contribute to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Sleep clothing like one-piece sleepers or wearable blankets is preferred.
• If a blanket must be used to keep a sleeping infant warm, it should be thin and tucked under the crib mattress, reaching only as far as the baby’s chest, so the infant's face is less likely to become covered by bedding materials.

Hypothermia

• Hypothermia develops when a child's temperature falls below normal due to exposure to colder temperatures. It often happens when a youngster is playing outdoors in extremely cold weather without wearing proper clothing or when clothes get wet. It can occur more quickly in children than in adults.
• As hypothermia sets in, the child may shiver and become lethargic and clumsy.  Speech may become slurred and body temperature will decline in more severe cases.
• If you suspect your child is hypothermic, call 911 at once. Until help arrives, take the child indoors, remove any wet clothing, and wrap him in blankets or warm clothes.

Frostbite

• Frostbite happens when the skin and outer tissues become frozen.  This condition tends to happen on extremities like the fingers, toes, ears and nose. They may become pale, gray and blistered. At the same time, the child may complain that his/her skin burns or has become numb.
• If frostbite occurs, bring the child indoors and place the frostbitten parts of her body in warm (not hot) water. 104° Fahrenheit (about the temperature of most hot tubs) is recommended. Warm washcloths may be applied to frostbitten nose, ears and lips.
• Do not rub the frozen areas.
• After a few minutes, dry and cover the child with clothing or blankets. Give him/her something warm to drink.
• If the numbness continues for more than a few minutes, call your doctor.

Winter Health

• If your child suffers from winter nosebleeds, try using a cold air humidifier in the child's room at night. Saline nose drops or petrolatum jelly may help keep nasal tissues moist. If bleeding is severe or recurrent, consult your pediatrician.
• Many pediatricians feel that bathing two or three times a week is enough for an infant’s first year. More frequent baths may dry out the skin, especially during the winter.
• Cold weather does not cause colds or flu. But the viruses that cause colds and flu tend to be more common in the winter, when children are in school and are in closer contact with each other. Frequent hand washing and teaching your child to sneeze or cough into the bend of her elbow may help reduce the spread of colds and flu.
• Children 6 months of age and up should get the influenza vaccine to reduce their risk of catching the flu. It's not too late to get the vaccine! Around 80% of all influenza illness generally occurs in January, February, and March. 

Winter Sports and Activities

• Set reasonable time limits on outdoor play to prevent hypothermia and frostbite. Have children come inside periodically to warm up.
• Using alcohol or drugs before any winter activity, like snowmobiling or skiing, is dangerous and should not be permitted in any situation.

Ice Skating

• Allow children to skate only on approved surfaces. Check for signs posted by local police or recreation departments, or call your local police department to find out which areas have been approved.
• Advise your child to:
• Skate in the same direction as the crowd
• Avoid darting across the ice
• Never skate alone
• Not chew gum or eat candy while skating.
• Consider having your child wear a helmet, knee pads and elbow pads, especially while learning to skate.

Sledding

• Keep sledders away from motor vehicles.
• Children should be supervised while sledding.
• Keep young children separated from older children.
• Sledding feet first or sitting up, instead of lying down head-first, may prevent head injuries.
• Consider having your child wear a helmet while sledding.
• Use steerable sleds, not snow disks or inner tubes.
• Sleds should be structurally sound and free of sharp edges and splinters, and the steering mechanism should be well lubricated.
• Sled slopes should be free of obstructions like trees or fences, be covered in snow not ice, not be too steep (slope of less than 30º), and end with a flat runoff.
• Avoid sledding in crowded areas.

Snow Skiing and Snowboarding

• Children should be taught to ski or snowboard by a qualified instructor in a program designed for children.
• Never ski or snowboard alone.
• Young children should always be supervised by an adult.  Older children’s need for adult supervision depends on their maturity and skill.  If older children are not with an adult, they should always at least be accompanied by a friend.
• All skiers and snowboarders should wear helmets. Ski facilities should require helmet use, but if they do not, parents should enforce the requirement for their children.
• Equipment should fit the child. Skiers should wear safety bindings that are adjusted at least every year. Snowboarders should wear gloves with built-in wrist guards. Eye protection or goggles should also be used.
• Slopes should fit the ability and experience of the skier or snowboarder. Avoid crowded slopes.
• Avoid skiing in areas with trees and other obstacles.

Snowmobiling

• The AAP recommends that children under age 16 not operate snowmobiles and that children under age 6 never ride on snowmobiles.
• Do not use a snowmobile to pull a sled or skiers.
• Wear goggles and a safety helmet approved for use on motorized vehicles like motorcycles.
• Travel at safe speeds.
• Never snowmobile alone or at night.
• Stay on marked trails, away from roads, water, railroads and pedestrians.

Sun Protection

• The sun’s rays can still cause sunburn in the winter, especially when they reflect off snow. Make sure to cover your child’s exposed skin with sunscreen and consider using sunglasses.

Fire Protection

Winter is a time when household fires occur. It is a good time to remember to:

• Buy and install smoke alarms on every floor of your home
• Test smoke alarms monthly
• Practice fire drills with your children
• Install a carbon monoxide detector outside bedrooms
• Keep space heaters at least 3 feet away from anything that could burn, and turn them off when leaving the room or sleeping.

Published

 

1/14/2015 2:00 PM

Source : https://www.healthychildren.org

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