158 posts · 132,994 views
Two health physiology researchers discuss the latest obesity news, research, and weight loss products.
Travis Saunders, MSc
109 posts
Peter Janiszewski, PhD
4 posts
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- December 10, 2010
- 07:00 AM
- 2,741 views
Sedentary Physiology Part 5 – Future Directions
by Travis Saunders, MSc, CEP in Obesity Panacea
Image by kaibara87
Welcome to our 5-part series delving into the fascinating research being performed in the emerging field of sedentary physiology. In Part 1 we discussed the basics of sedentary physiology, in Part 2 and Part 3 we looked at the association of sedentary time with both death and disease, and in Part 4 we looked at the mechanisms underlying these relationships. Today we will look at where future work in the field of sedentary physiology is heading.
Given the research that we........ Read more »
Tremblay, MS, Colley, RC, Saunders, TJ, Healy, G, & Owen, N. (2010) Physiological and health implications of a sedentary lifestyle. Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism. info:/
- December 14, 2011
- 09:00 AM
- 2,303 views
Contributors to the Pediatric Obesity Epidemic Part 3: Sleep, Maternal Age, Pollution & Breastfeeding
by Travis Saunders, MSc in Obesity Panacea
In Part 1 we examined the impact of changes in physical activity and sedentary behaviour, and in Part 2 we looked at changes in food intake. Today we look at the evidence (or lack thereof) linking sleep, pollution, maternal age and breastfeeding with the pediatric obesity epidemic.... Read more »
Saunders, T. (2011) Potential Contributors to the Canadian Pediatric Obesity Epidemic. ISRN Pediatrics, 1-10. DOI: 10.5402/2011/917684
- September 1, 2010
- 01:00 PM
- 1,575 views
What Hurts Fitness More: 30 Years of Aging or 3 Weeks of Bed Rest?
by Travis Saunders, MSc, CEP in Obesity Panacea
I recently came across a very interesting study published in Circulation in 2001. In it, authors Darren McGuire and colleagues perform the 30-year follow-up on a group of 5 men who had taken part in the Dallas Bed Rest and Training Study (DBRTS). The DBRTS took place in 1966, when all 5 men were healthy 20 year-olds. They were assessed extensively at 3 different time points: baseline, following 3 months of bed rest, and following 8 weeks of physical training. In 1996 these same 5 men were as........ Read more »
McGuire DK, Levine BD, Williamson JW, Snell PG, Blomqvist CG, Saltin B, & Mitchell JH. (2001) A 30-year follow-up of the Dallas Bedrest and Training Study: I. Effect of age on the cardiovascular response to exercise. Circulation, 104(12), 1350-7. PMID: 11560849
- March 8, 2010
- 12:04 AM
- 1,513 views
Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (HCG) for Fat Loss: "Fallacy and Hazard"
by Travis Saunders, MSc in Obesity Panacea
Photo by Todd Huffman.
One of the great things about this site is that people often bring products or research to our attention that we otherwise might have missed. This occurred yesterday in the comments section of Peter's recent post on Acai berry scams, when one of our readers brought up the use of Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (HCG) in the treatment of obesity. The website that we were provided smacks of weight loss gimmickry - notably the promise of an obesity "cure" and "near 100% ........ Read more »
Lijesen GK, Theeuwen I, Assendelft WJ, & Van Der Wal G. (1995) The effect of human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) in the treatment of obesity by means of the Simeons therapy: a criteria-based meta-analysis. British journal of clinical pharmacology, 40(3), 237-43. PMID: 8527285
- March 8, 2010
- 10:05 AM
- 1,513 views
Exercise and Body Weight
by Travis Saunders, MSc in Obesity Panacea
Image by atomicjeep
I came across a very interesting article in the Ottawa Citizen this weekend, unpleasantly titled "For Canada's obese, exercise alone isn't going to cut it". The crux of the article is this - exercise will not help you lose weight. Every few months it seems that this issue pops up, including a cover article in TIME magazine last year, which Peter has previously dissected. This is a complicated issue, and given the sensational title, I wasn't expecting much from the Cit........ Read more »
Church, T., Earnest, C., Skinner, J., & Blair, S. (2007) Effects of Different Doses of Physical Activity on Cardiorespiratory Fitness Among Sedentary, Overweight or Obese Postmenopausal Women With Elevated Blood Pressure: A Randomized Controlled Trial. JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 297(19), 2081-2091. DOI: 10.1001/jama.297.19.2081
Ross R, Dagnone D, Jones PJ, Smith H, Paddags A, Hudson R, & Janssen I. (2000) Reduction in obesity and related comorbid conditions after diet-induced weight loss or exercise-induced weight loss in men. A randomized, controlled trial. Annals of internal medicine, 133(2), 92-103. PMID: 10896648
- May 18, 2010
- 11:32 AM
- 1,497 views
Canadian Health Authorities Release New Physical Activity Recommendations
by Travis Saunders, MSc in Obesity Panacea
Last week ParticipACTION and the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology (CSEP) released recommendations for updated Canadian Physical Activity Guidelines. The previous guidelines were released between 1998 and 2002, and although they were based on the best research available at the time, from what I understand there simply wasn't a tremendous amount of evidence to draw on in some situations. Since then there have been a number of advances in physical activity research, allowing for the........ Read more »
Janssen I, & Leblanc AG. (2010) Systematic review of the health benefits of physical activity and fitness in school-aged children and youth. The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity, 7(1), 40. PMID: 20459784
- June 4, 2010
- 11:45 AM
- 1,467 views
Increased Physical Activity Prevents the Accumulation of Abdominal Fat
by Travis Saunders, MSc in Obesity Panacea
One of the most interesting things about exercise is that it results in important health improvements even in the absence of weight loss. For example, just a single session of exercise can result in improved insulin sensitivity, increased levels of HDL cholesterol (aka the "good" cholesterol) and reductions in plasma triglyceride levels - all tremendously important markers of disease risk. In addition to these metabolic changes, new research by our friend and former labmate Lance Dav........ Read more »
Davidson, LE, Tucker, L, & Peterson, T. (2010) Physical Activity Changes Predict Abdominal Fat Change in Midlife Women. Journal of Physical Activity and Health. info:/
- March 30, 2010
- 11:50 AM
- 1,418 views
Are Probiotics the Cure for Abdominal Obesity?
by Peter Janiszewski, PhD in Obesity Panacea
Nope, not even close, although I doubt it will stop big food from marketing Activia yogurt and others as a solution for expanded waistlines.... Read more »
Kadooka, Y., Sato, M., Imaizumi, K., Ogawa, A., Ikuyama, K., Akai, Y., Okano, M., Kagoshima, M., & Tsuchida, T. (2010) Regulation of abdominal adiposity by probiotics (Lactobacillus gasseri SBT2055) in adults with obese tendencies in a randomized controlled trial. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. DOI: 10.1038/ejcn.2010.19
- March 24, 2010
- 11:31 AM
- 1,364 views
Physical Activity Reduces the Risk fo Childhood Fat Gain
by Travis Saunders, MSc in Obesity Panacea
Over the next few months, Peter and I will be re-posting some of our favourite posts from our Obesity Panacea archives. The following article was originally posted on December 2, 2009.
Image by Mike Baird.
There is a surprising amount of controversy about the ability of physical activity to prevent the development of obesity. Sure, obese individuals tend to perform less physical activity than their lean counterparts, but that doesn't prove causation. And almost every week it seems th........ Read more »
Riddoch, C., Leary, S., Ness, A., Blair, S., Deere, K., Mattocks, C., Griffiths, A., Davey Smith, G., & Tilling, K. (2009) Prospective associations between objective measures of physical activity and fat mass in 12-14 year old children: the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). BMJ, 339(nov26 2). DOI: 10.1136/bmj.b4544
- June 25, 2010
- 11:23 AM
- 1,360 views
Grow More Fat and Improve Metabolic Health: Insights from TZD Treatmen
by Travis Saunders, MSc in Obesity Panacea
By now, readers of Obesity Panacea have hopefully learned that excess weight is not directly predictive of health risk, and that excess fat mass is not in itself unhealthy. Recall that approximately 30% of individuals who are classified as obese by their body weight turn out to be metabolically healthy, and in fact seem not to get much metabolic benefit (or may even get worse) when they lose weight. Also consider that individuals who have NO fat tissue (e.g. lipodystrophy) have extremely elevat........ Read more »
McLaughlin, T., Liu, T., Yee, G., Abbasi, F., Lamendola, C., Reaven, G., Tsao, P., Cushman, S., & Sherman, A. (2009) Pioglitazone Increases the Proportion of Small Cells in Human Abdominal Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue. Obesity. DOI: 10.1038/oby.2009.380
- May 13, 2011
- 11:52 AM
- 1,359 views
The Science of Starvation: How long can humans survive without food or water?
by Peter Janiszewski, Ph.D. in Obesity Panacea
Rita Chretien, a Canadian woman survived being stranded inside a vehicle in Nevada for 48 days, by eating only some trail mix and candy, and drinking water from a stream. Apparently, she and her husband were following their GPS instructions on their way to Las Vegas from British Columbia when they took a rural road that essentially turns to a bog in the winter months. Their van eventually got stuck in the mud in the middle of nowhere, and they both waited for help for 3 days without sighting a........ Read more »
Peel M. (1997) Hunger strikes. BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 315(7112), 829-30. PMID: 9353494
- February 25, 2011
- 10:48 AM
- 1,346 views
Turn down your thermostat to lose weight, suggests new study! (Dripping with sarcasm)
by Peter Janiszewski, Ph.D. in Obesity Panacea
So now that I’ve got your attention, let me tell you off the bat that making your home cold is not the most viable weight-loss strategy - despite what the headlines might suggest.
A recent study was published in the International Journal of Obesity which looked at a number of uncommonly explored potential contributors to obesity, including sleep restriction, house temperature, television watching, consumption of restaurant meals , use of air conditioning and use of antidepressant/antipsych........ Read more »
Bo, S., Ciccone, G., Durazzo, M., Ghinamo, L., Villois, P., Canil, S., Gambino, R., Cassader, M., Gentile, L., & Cavallo-Perin, P. (2011) Contributors to the obesity and hyperglycemia epidemics. A prospective study in a population-based cohort. International Journal of Obesity. DOI: 10.1038/ijo.2011.5
- September 6, 2010
- 11:02 AM
- 1,317 views
Nintendo Wii – Is It Really Physical Activity?
by Travis Saunders, MSc, CEP in Obesity Panacea
http://www.flickr.com/photos/abbynormy/ / CC BY 2.0
Earlier this year, Peter wrote a post about Wii-related injuries which generated some interesting discussion. Essentially, some readers felt that we were being too hard on the Wii, with one commenter going so far as to suggest that the post was “anti-Wii” (hard to dispute, given that the post was focused on Wii-related injuries!). Although we’ve mentioned the Wii in passing on Obesity Panacea before, we’ve never ........ Read more »
Graves, L., Stratton, G., Ridgers, N., & Cable, N. (2007) Comparison of energy expenditure in adolescents when playing new generation and sedentary computer games: cross sectional study. BMJ, 335(7633), 1282-1284. DOI: 10.1136/bmj.39415.632951.80
Daley, A. (2009) Can Exergaming Contribute to Improving Physical Activity Levels and Health Outcomes in Children?. PEDIATRICS, 124(2), 763-771. DOI: 10.1542/peds.2008-2357
- June 23, 2010
- 12:20 PM
- 1,310 views
Are High Glycemic Index Carbs Worse Than Saturated Fat?
by Travis Saunders, MSc in Obesity Panacea
Most people know that consuming too much fat, and especially saturated fat, is bad for your health. That's why there has been a concerted push for several decades to get people to reduce the amount of saturated fat that they consume, and to replace it with complex carbohydrates. Now unfortunately people often misinterpret that to mean that fat is evil, but carbs are ok. This is problematic since consuming too many simple carbs is also likely to increase the risk of obesity, diabetes, and ........ Read more »
Hu FB. (2010) Are refined carbohydrates worse than saturated fat?. The American journal of clinical nutrition, 91(6), 1541-2. PMID: 20410095
Jakobsen MU, Dethlefsen C, Joensen AM, Stegger J, Tjønneland A, Schmidt EB, & Overvad K. (2010) Intake of carbohydrates compared with intake of saturated fatty acids and risk of myocardial infarction: importance of the glycemic index. The American journal of clinical nutrition, 91(6), 1764-8. PMID: 20375186
- December 20, 2010
- 08:04 AM
- 1,306 views
Sneezing your way to a big belly: Do allergy medications make you fat?
by Peter Janiszewski, Ph.D. in Obesity Panacea
“Achoo!!”
Some folks have seasonal allergies.
But if you’re like me, battling your allergies is a year-round affair.
Some days are certainly better than others, but overall, I have been a chronic user of anti-histamines since my teens. Cleratin, Reactine, Aerius, and Life Brand versions thereof have all at one point or another helped me breathe.
So you may imagine my concern when I came across a recent paper published in the journal Obesity discussing a possible link between the us........ Read more »
Ratliff, J., Barber, J., Palmese, L., Reutenauer, E., & Tek, C. (2010) Association of Prescription H1 Antihistamine Use With Obesity: Results From the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Obesity, 18(12), 2398-2400. DOI: 10.1038/oby.2010.176
- March 26, 2010
- 11:55 AM
- 1,298 views
Is Jesus Making You Overeat?
by Peter Janiszewski, PhD in Obesity Panacea
Well, in fairness, Jesus' twelve Apostles should also share in the blame.
An incredibly quirky and yet fascinating study was just published in the International Journal of Obesity which investigated the size of the food and plates that have been depicted in paintings of Jesus' Last Supper over the last 1000 years.
... Read more »
Wansink, B., & Wansink, C. (2010) The largest Last Supper: depictions of food portions and plate size increased over the millennium. International Journal of Obesity. DOI: 10.1038/ijo.2010.37
- March 19, 2010
- 12:15 PM
- 1,293 views
Not enough, rather than too much fat, causes metabolic problems of obesity
by Travis Saunders, MSc in Obesity Panacea
That's right - contrary to what many religiously believe, it is the inability to grow more fat during times of energy surpluss, rather than the excess of fat which appears to directly contribute to the metabolic consequence often associated with obesity.
A recent article in the New Scientist shines some light on this issue;
Obesity kills, everyone knows that. But is it possible that we've been looking at the problem in the wrong way? It seems getting fatter may be part of........ Read more »
Bays, H., & Dujovne, C. (2006) Adiposopathy is a more rational treatment target for metabolic disease than obesity alone. Current Atherosclerosis Reports, 8(2), 144-156. DOI: 10.1007/s11883-006-0052-6
- April 1, 2010
- 11:25 AM
- 1,293 views
Junk Food Tax or Health Food Subsidy - Which Results in Healthier Food Purchases?
by Travis Saunders, MSc in Obesity Panacea
In the past few years several prominent researchers have argued for the adoption of taxes on junk food as a means of reducing their consumption. Often, as in a recent editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine, the argument is made that money collected through the tax could then be used to subsidize healthier foods. This is an idea that I've found very appealing - we make the bad foods more expensive, the good foods less expensive, and people will probably shift at least some of their p........ Read more »
Epstein, L., Dearing, K., Roba, L., & Finkelstein, E. (2010) The Influence of Taxes and Subsidies on Energy Purchased in an Experimental Purchasing Study. Psychological Science, 21(3), 406-414. DOI: 10.1177/0956797610361446
- March 7, 2010
- 11:59 PM
- 1,286 views
Ten Simple Ways to Increase Your Physical Activity
by Travis Saunders, MSc in Obesity Panacea
Photo by pugetsoundphotowalks.
Regardless of your shape or size, physical activity has been shown to add years to your life, and life to your years. But believe it or not, the benefits of physical activity are not restricted to exercise performed in the gym. In fact, one of the easiest ways to improve your health may be through increasing the amount of low intensity physical activity you perform throughout the day. For example, simply increasing the number of steps that you take each day is ........ Read more »
Ekelund, U., Brage, S., Froberg, K., Harro, M., Anderssen, S., Sardinha, L., Riddoch, C., & Andersen, L. (2006) TV Viewing and Physical Activity Are Independently Associated with Metabolic Risk in Children: The European Youth Heart Study. PLoS Medicine, 3(12). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.0030488
Lachapelle, U., & Frank, L. (2009) Transit and Health: Mode of Transport, Employer-Sponsored Public Transit Pass Programs, and Physical Activity. Journal of Public Health Policy. DOI: 10.1057/jphp.2008.52
- March 17, 2010
- 12:05 PM
- 1,280 views
Painting lines on the playground - easiest physical activity intervention. EVER.
by Travis Saunders, MSc in Obesity Panacea
In most developed nations, kids get far less physical activity than they did just a few generations ago. Given the strong links between physical inactivity and health risk (and given that we're now seeing "adult" diseases like heart disease and type 2 diabetes in children and teenagers), this has become a very real public health concern. Unfortunately, when it comes to increasing childhood physical activity levels, people often want to reinvent the wheel. For example, many peop........ Read more »
STRATTON, G., & MULLAN, E. (2005) The effect of multicolor playground markings on children's physical activity level during recess. Preventive Medicine, 41(5-6), 828-833. DOI: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2005.07.009
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