tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44472491235196583472024-03-16T08:08:59.659+01:00SuppVersity - Nutrition and Exercise Science for EveryoneWhere BRO- and PRO-Science Unite in the Spirit of True WisdomAdel Moussahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11282066708304898697noreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4447249123519658347.post-65407397225208195942018-09-16T02:23:00.000+02:002018-09-19T02:54:32.931+02:00MTHFR Mutations, Cardiovascular Disease, and Riboflavin (B2): Scientists Zone in on a Neglected Ménage à Trois
You can test your MTHFR gene either directly or by plugging your raw data from 23andme, or another provider into evaluation tools such as Genetic Genie.
If you have no idea what #MTHFR means, here's the Reader's Digest version: MTHFR is an enzyme that is affected by a mutation in the MTHFR gene. The latter encodes the enzyme methylene-tetrahydrofolate reductase aka MTHFR Adel Moussahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11282066708304898697noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4447249123519658347.post-47732859250560096742017-10-08T01:44:00.001+02:002017-10-08T01:53:07.902+02:0040+% Increase in Protein Synthesis W/ Whole Egg vs. Egg Whites (Both 18g Protein) PWO | Plus: Eggs and 'ur Risk of Diabetes, Obesity, CVD, Cancer (Choline → TMAO?)
Still throwing away the yolks? Bad idea... even your gains would benefit from the very part of the egg where most of the nutritional value is hidden.
You will have read it in the Facebook News already (if you didn't subscribe, yet, I can only recommend you head over to facebook.com/suppversity right away): whole eggs build more muscle than egg whites. If that's true, generations of Adel Moussahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11282066708304898697noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4447249123519658347.post-30319947996824568962016-11-15T04:02:00.000+01:002016-11-15T04:15:56.640+01:00Potassium: Your Heart and Vasculature Will Love it! Meta-Analyses Show: Supplements Work, but Ain't Necessary
Foods, not supplements should be your go-to potassium source.
You've read about the importance of adequate potassium intakes and the lack of potassium (esp. in relation to sodium, where only 10% of the US adults meet the Na:K ratio the WHO recommends to reduce your overall mortality risk) in our diets at the SuppVersity, before (read more about potassium deficits). You've also learned that Adel Moussahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11282066708304898697noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4447249123519658347.post-54491552907602199032016-10-11T04:32:00.000+02:002017-10-22T02:30:56.644+02:003-4 Egg Yolks per Day May Normalize Your Lipids, Reduce Liver & Abdominal Fat as Well as Your CVD & NAFLD Risk
Three whole eggs deliver the most effec-tive "dose" of egg yolk to improve your blood lipid levels - more specifically: triglycerides ↓ and LDL ↓ but HDL ↑
Because of their cholesterol content, eggs have long been touted as a driver of heart disease. As a SuppVersity reader, you know that there are multiple reasons why the notion that the consumption of eggs, or Adel Moussahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11282066708304898697noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4447249123519658347.post-58201559693901431052016-09-25T04:10:00.000+02:002016-09-25T04:15:19.369+02:00Garlic & Red Yeast Rice: Manage Your Blood Lipids W/Out Statins - 12+1 Natural Alternatives Reviewed (Part I)
Red yeast rice is the "+1" in this SuppVersity Mini-Series because it is actually a "statin". Similar effects, similar side effects and all that (probably) because of the similar structure of its lipid lowering active ingredient(s).
"Twelve + 1"? I know that sounds odd, but I have my reason to single one of the natural alternatives, two scientists from the Chulalongkorn University in Adel Moussahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11282066708304898697noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4447249123519658347.post-73891211803073500772015-07-31T17:33:00.000+02:002015-07-31T17:37:21.467+02:00Yogurts, Cheeses & Beyond - A Comprehensive Review of the Potential Health Benefits of Fermented Dairy Products
Yogurt does not have to be served this way to be healthy, but I bet many of your friends and relatives would be amazed and much more likely to pass on the cream cake or tiramisu if the option was an appetizing dessert like that.
In a world where being vegan is "the new sexy" and eating animal products "the new smoking", dairy has lost much of its former appeal. I mean, we all remember how the Adel Moussahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11282066708304898697noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4447249123519658347.post-32350530187238058372015-07-29T15:11:00.001+02:002015-07-29T15:44:41.907+02:00Olive Oil, a Health & Longevity Food | Plus: Frying With the Right Oils, Quickly + Discontinuously not Half as Hazardous for Your Heart, Pancreas & Waist as Previously Thought
If the frying time is short (2-5 min) and the heat not extreme, it's no problem to fry with virgin olive oil. If that's not the case there are better options.
You will probably remember my Facebook post about olive oil having recently become the first food that may officially call itself heart healthy in the European union. As María-Isabel Covas et al. point out in their latest paper, Adel Moussahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11282066708304898697noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4447249123519658347.post-89321923792939766052015-06-22T17:04:00.000+02:002015-06-22T17:27:49.573+02:00Four Obesity Paradoxes Exposed: Obesity Protects From Chronic Disease > Overweight is CVD Protective > Obesity is Not a Problem if You're Fit > Healthy Obesity is Real
Since scientists still judge obesity by BMI values, athletes contribute to the CVD / mortality "obesity paradox"
Alright, next to "I don't care, I feel good" you will probably have hear or even read statements like "Don't worry if you're obese. The extra fat is protective" or at least claims like "If you're fit, it doesn't matter if you're fat".
In today's SuppVersity Special I want toAdel Moussahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11282066708304898697noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4447249123519658347.post-51845586731900242412015-06-12T11:34:00.000+02:002015-06-12T11:42:51.154+02:00If Buttered (Bulletproof) Coffee Increased Your Cholesterol & Triglycerides, You May Have Forgotten the Coffee Filter
Bulletproof coffee is a bogus fad, but is it also bad for your blood lipids?
You will probably have heard about the (over-)hyped "bulletproof coffee" (=coffee with butter in it) triggering measurable (and in some cases) significant increases in total and LDL cholesterol in bulletproof addicts (case studies + Toklu. 2015).
Now, the most obvious trigger of the cholesterol increase is the butterAdel Moussahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11282066708304898697noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4447249123519658347.post-48205793159663602222014-10-05T14:53:00.001+02:002017-03-12T05:02:55.666+01:00Whey Beyond Brawn: 10+ Things You Probably Didn't Know Whey & Peptides That Form During its Digestion Can Do: From A as in Vitamin A Uptake to Z as in CanZer Protection
If you've got brawn and brain you will realize that whey is much more than a potent muscle builder.
As a SuppVersity reader, you are well familiar with the pluripotent benefits whey protein has to offer to the average and extra-ordinary gymrat. You will also be aware that it can promote weight loss and help you maintain lean muscle mass when you're dieting.
If you've read almost all ~2,000 Adel Moussahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11282066708304898697noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4447249123519658347.post-57237167352671371732014-05-28T19:40:00.000+02:002014-05-28T19:40:33.634+02:00Retinol (Vitamin A) - A Re-Discovered Weapon in the Battle Against Atherosclerosis: Reduced Progression in Patients, Protection For Healthy Subjects From 25,000IU/Day Retinol
No it's not fish oil that's going to save your a** from dying of heart attack. It's vitamin A! 25,000IU/day for those who are already suffering from atherosclerotic lesions and heard disease could do the trick.
600,000 people die of heart disease in the United States every year–that’s 1 in every 4 deaths; and at least some could have been prevented, if vitamin A had not been demonized as Adel Moussahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11282066708304898697noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4447249123519658347.post-21784444661166544492014-03-19T18:29:00.000+01:002014-03-19T18:29:27.792+01:00Pre-Hypertension Ain't Benign: Up to 80% Increased Risk of Cardiovascular Morbidity W/ "High Normal" Blood Pressure and Less! Plus: Foods & Supps to Reduce Your BP
"High normal" is misleading - there is no such thing as a "high normal" BP
"Ah, that's not so bad!" If that's what your doctor said, when he last measured your blood pressure and said "129/84" when he looked at the display of the Sphygmomanometer he must have been living beneath a rock for the past decades.
If that sounds familiar, it may be useful to show him a recent meta-analysis of Adel Moussahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11282066708304898697noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4447249123519658347.post-39667625284056456302014-02-07T16:13:00.000+01:002017-11-20T03:48:25.501+01:00True or False? Butter, Ghee, Lard & Tallow - Are Saturated Animals Fats the Kings and Queens of the Frying Pan?
Even if animal fats were the best frying fats, this wouldn't turn doughnuts into "health food" and french fries into raw carrot sticks.
If you "liked" the SuppVersity on Facebook (www.facebook.com/SuppVersity) you will probably already have seen the controversies and questions my post "Scientists on the Quest for the Perfect Frying Oil" (read more) has triggered. Eventually, it all revolves Adel Moussahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11282066708304898697noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4447249123519658347.post-4789096205109896502014-02-02T16:53:00.000+01:002014-02-02T16:53:46.315+01:00Super Bowl, A Question of Life or Cardiovascular Death! ✰ Are Super BOWLs to Blame For the US Obesity Epidemic? ✰ By BMI Standards the Average NFL Player is "Obese"
Conundrum of the day: Is it really any wonder, that the average American has weight problems if their football stars are obese?
After reading the "Cultural Guide to the Super Bowl for People Who Don't Watch Football" (read it yourself) on Wire.com, I realized that I cannot simply ignore Super Bowl XLVIII and since I have absolutely no idea of how American Football works and how it came about Adel Moussahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11282066708304898697noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4447249123519658347.post-5505836951453273972014-01-12T15:37:00.000+01:002014-07-17T08:27:42.363+02:00Exercise Threesome: Heart Protective Effects of Lifelong Weight Training ✰ Cortisol Doping in High Intensity Sports ✰ Lifelong Exercise Normalizes CVD Risk of T2D Patients
Which of these news do you find more dubious? The fact that weight training is good for the heart or that cortisol doping can make the difference between victory and defeat in high intensity sports?
It's Sunday and I am still trying to figure out, if Sunday or Saturday is the day with the least visitors here at the SuppVersity. I am not sure what exactly you are doing on the weekend, but I Adel Moussahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11282066708304898697noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4447249123519658347.post-21017753716577919652014-01-03T15:26:00.000+01:002014-01-04T03:33:46.242+01:00Fructose - An Update: "Fructose Has Adverse Effects Only Insofar as It Contributes to Excess Calories" Plus: The Role of Exercise + Meta-Analyses on BP, Weight Gain & T2D
It's incredible... for some, but probably not unexpected for most of us that fructose becomes problematic in overfeeding scenarios, only.
Some of you will probably have seen the press release from the St. Michel's Hospital that made it onto all the major science outlets on the Internet and up on Alex' Facebook page, where he tagged me and thus got me interested in a study that claims to Adel Moussahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11282066708304898697noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4447249123519658347.post-67007581112790602652013-11-30T16:08:00.001+01:002013-11-30T16:10:48.779+01:00100-200ml Red Wine Per Day Improve HDL and the LDL/HDL Ratio With & Without Mediterranean Diet & Exercise
Good for him, good for her, good for everyone? Is it really possible that red wine can help even those who don't want to the necessary lifestyle changes?
You all know about the limitations of epidemiological studies and the fallacy of the over-generalization of associations between health parameters and red wine consumption in the mainstream media. For me this *bs* is so annoying that I Adel Moussahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11282066708304898697noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4447249123519658347.post-39310458062805256722013-11-15T17:48:00.001+01:002013-11-15T18:41:38.801+01:00LDL-P Drops by 27nmol/L With Every 1% Reduction in Trans Fat Intake. Plus: "Trans-Fat Free" Does Not Mean Risk Free!
In contrast to the message "trans fats = bad". The information that cookies and bakery, not cooking oil, margarine, chips & co are the main trans fat offenders in our diet has reached only a very small group of people.
There are only few 'nutritional wisdoms' out there that are actually 'wise'. One of them is the notion that "trans-fats are bad for you". By now that's something every Adel Moussahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11282066708304898697noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4447249123519658347.post-6670197384494361232013-11-07T19:57:00.001+01:002013-11-07T19:57:36.439+01:00Gene-ial or Dan-Gene-rous? Better Make Sure You Are Made For Every Other Day Fasting, If You Don't Want to Ruin Your Glucose + Lipid Metabolism and Become Viscerally Obese
Yes! I freely admit that I do have a problem with the subliminal "binge and starve" of the popular every other day fast, because it paves the not so royal road to binge eating disorders.
Only 2 years ago, there was hardly anyone but the followers of Martin Berkhan's "Lean Gains" regimen who knew what intermittent fasting would be. Ironically, now that mainstream is catching on, the hype withinAdel Moussahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11282066708304898697noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4447249123519658347.post-61489983244563475752013-05-29T16:18:00.002+02:002013-05-29T16:31:14.273+02:00"Eggs" - 4-Letter Food Improves Both Cholesterol Particle & Phospholipid Profile + HDL-Driven Lipid Reverse-Transport
In addition to the previously reported improvements in cholesterol particle profile, the regular consumption of whole eggs increases HDL's ability to carry lipids out of the macrophages. If these accumulate, they will turn the macrophage into pro-atherogenic foam cells (cf. Eckardstein. 2001).
You will probably remember the long-boycotted(*) 2012 study by Blesso et al. which showed quite Adel Moussahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11282066708304898697noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4447249123519658347.post-28430016179113095272013-05-19T16:38:00.001+02:002013-05-19T16:38:14.979+02:00Detrimental Effects of Aerobic & High Oxygen Packaging on Meat Quality: 2x Higher Lipid & Cholesterol Oxidation, Less Tender, More Drip Loss, Less Juicy... but More Convenient!
Rosy, but rusty: "Fresh" meat packaged with 70% oxygen.
I don't know about the US, but most of the "fresh" meat, you buy at the Supermarket here in Germany is packaged in what the label calls a "Schutzatmosphäre". Literally translated this means nothing but a "protective atmosphere" and it refers to the supposedly bacteria-free high oxygen air that's pumped into the airtight packaging in whichAdel Moussahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11282066708304898697noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4447249123519658347.post-3014290337315278162013-05-06T16:24:00.003+02:002013-11-14T06:35:32.574+01:00Fish Oil Compromises, Fish Improves Adiponectin Levels in "Overweight, But Healthy" Individuals. Neither Promotes Weight or Fat Loss Within a 4-Week Study Period
Fish are smart, they tell you about the good things "omega-3" fatty acids will do, without pointing you to the fact that eating them will yield a more favorable DHA:EPA ratio than popping pills that are made from the same remnants of their deceased relatives the fishery industry has dumbed for decades.
With the vitamin D news the other day (go back), you are now probably thinking "hell, no Adel Moussahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11282066708304898697noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4447249123519658347.post-52927127074027049152013-04-30T18:28:00.000+02:002013-04-30T18:28:57.077+02:00Switch From Chicken to Lamb to Rid Yourself of Belly Fat, Reduce Your Triglyceride and Basal Insulin Levels
If you consider this, i.e. you suprailaic body fat (here measured by a caliper, just as it was done in the study at hand), ditching the chicken for some lamb, may be one of the myriad factors that could help you "solve" the problem.
Chicken, rice and broccoli. That is still the dietary paradigm, most people have on their minds, when average Joes and Janes are talking (often with some disdain) Adel Moussahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11282066708304898697noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4447249123519658347.post-67331396932689667422013-04-29T18:07:00.000+02:002013-04-29T19:24:54.121+02:00Dietary Zinc & Copper Improve Glucose & Lipid Metabolism. High Cortisol Amplitudes Counter Belly Fat. Hypoxic Hearts Love Creatine + Ribose. Apples Counter Cancer & Obesity
I guess this is about as close as we have hitherto gotten to understand why we got fat. Wrt to the hilarious pace at which we got fat and are still getting fatter, we are much better informed though.
After you've learned about the general importance of exercise for your health and a couple of tweaks that may or, as in the case of sugary "energy drink", may not help you maximize the benefits Adel Moussahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11282066708304898697noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4447249123519658347.post-88980156733343987572013-01-25T18:21:00.000+01:002013-01-25T18:23:59.952+01:00Science Round-Up Seconds: Optimal Health & Fitness Best Promoted W/ Intense Exercise. News on PUFAs & Thyroid Metabolism. Manganese the Anti-Sugar Glue Mineral!?
There may be a hitherto overlooked "enzymatic connection" between low thyroid function (spec. "low T3 syndrome" or starvation-/overtraining-induced reductions in thyroid levels) and "insufficient" levels of the long-chain varieties of both, omega-3 (EPA, DHA), as well as omega-6 (GLA, ARA) fatty acids.
I must admit that Carl & I did much to my own surprise cover more ground than I thought Adel Moussahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11282066708304898697noreply@blogger.com