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Fructose Epimer D-Psicose Could Be First Sweetener to Actively Promote Weight Loss: Reduced Weight Gain and Direct Inhibitory Effect on Adipocyte Maturation in Rodent + Reduced Postprandial Glucose & Insulin in Human Trial

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Image 1: No, just a few grams of d-psicose won't turn these into a "health food", but it could help ameliorate the "damage" Good news for everyone with a sweet tooth! Right after stevia has finally made it to the European market, the next 1/2 natural sweetener is at the ready. It's called d-psicose and it is a cousin of fructose that is yet only 70% as sweet as sucrose (fructose is +20% sweeter than sugar) but has only 0.3% of its energy content. In other words on a per calorie base it is 233x sweeter than sugar. That alone would however hardly justify an individual blogpost. What is yet exciting about this molecule is that a recently published rodent study does suggest that it can inhibit adipocyte maturation and thusly exerts direct anti-obesity effects. The first sweetener that will actively help in weight loss? In the course of a 12-week trial, a group of Sprague-dawley rats was initially fed up with the standard laboratory "high fat diet...
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Adelfo Cerame: Wheelchair Nationals Wrap-Up. Plus: Blueprint to Look Your Best on a "Big Day" in Your Life

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Image 1: Adelfo Cerame Jr, 2nd at the Wheelchair Nationals in West Palm Beach, Florida, doing his posing routine. For most of you it is not really news that other than his prep, the contest in Florida did not really work out the way, Adelfo (I and everyone else!) had imagined. Adelfo took 2nd, certainly a good placing, but... ah, I'll just let Adelfo tell you the whole story and leave it up to you to take a closer look at the pictures ( gallery 1 ,  gallery 2 ) and let me and our common friend know, which number you would have had written on the score card, if it had been your decision as a judge. Personally I feel like there are one, maybe two poses (both from the back, cf. image 6 ), where you could arguably have him second, that's it... and yes, I know that I am biased ;-) Back from Florida and more motivated than ever! Before I begin with my write-up on the contest-prep, the traveling and the events at the show, I want to give thanks to the Lord for blessing me wi...
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Three is More Than One: Higher Volume Increases Strength Gains in Legs, and Satellite Cell Recruitment and Fiber Size in Legs & Traps. Plus: Data on Myostatin, IGF1, MGF & Co.

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Image 1: The green dots that are crowding left and right from the blue myonucleus are the satellite cells ( Hanssen. 2012 ) In case you are not really sure what a "satellite cell" is and why you should care abouts it's "recruitment", you have probably missed the Intermittent Thoughts on Building Muscle series and should get into detention. Otherwise, here is the news: In a study that has been published in the latest issue of the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine in Sports Science T.S. Hanssen et al. published a paper with the auspicious title "The effect of strength training volume on satellite cells, myogenic regulatory factors, and growth factors" ( Hanssen. 2012 ). Exactly that kind of study that would have the potential to take the mostly common or bro-sensical reasoning behind the current recommendations on training volume to the next, a scientific level, if it the scientists would finally realize that strength training noobs are ...
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Eat More, Burn More and Lose Fat Like on Crack with GLP-1!? Roux-en-y Bypass Study Sheds a Whole New Light on Satiety(Hormone)-Induced Weight Loss

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Image 1: A gastric bypass should always be the last option; with all the possible complications it is nothing to treat lightly (img medcenterone.com) Everyone who has read the Intermittent Thoughts on " Goal Setting and Programming Success " with the three somatypes, SuperSize Homer, Peter Griffin and Anorexic Stan, will be aware that I do acknowledge the oftentimes life-saving benefits of surgical anti-obesity interventions, when everything else fails. Until recently, I did however assume that"cutting off" a part of your stomach or using a sling or other devices to reduce its size would simply reduce a patients ability to overeat, thusly reduce hi caloric intake and help him to cut his weight back into a region that is no longer life-threatening. The recent publication of a study by scientists from the Harvard Medical School ( Nestoridi. 2012 ) does yet suggest that the effects of roux-en-y gastric bypasses are in fact way more far reaching than, at least I...
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Ursolic Acid and The Narrow Line Between Anabolism and Myotoxicity: +25% Increased Protein Accretion in In-Vitro Study, But Cell Death With 2x "Effective" Dose

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Image 1: "An apple a day keeps the doctor away!" And though the ursolic acid in its peel may be part of the underlying mechanism, this does not make it a "natural anabolic", but rather another item on the list of "healthy stuff from real food" The number of purported natural anabolics increases year by year. Against the background that most of these products are nothing but supplemental nonstarters in shiny bottles and boxes with "non-FDA approved" promises of "unparalleled muscle growth" on them, the recent release of a broad range of ursolic acid supplements must already be considered a "highlight". With a peer-reviewed rodent studies backing its anti-catabolic, pro-anabolic properties ( Kunkel. 2011 ), it appears as if ursolic acid could be more than another potent placebo. And if we put things into perspective, in the end its potential beneficial effects on skeletal muscle hypertrophy are rather negligible compared to...
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The (Over-)Motivational Roots of Orthorexia, Overtraining & Co - Plus: Symptoms, Recovery Times & Scientific Questionnaire to Recognize Early Signs of Overtraining

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Image 1: Does not look motivated, right? This kitty just knows about the value of carefully planned laziness! Originally I had planned another article for today, but after Adelfo's somewhat unexpected "2nd place victory", I do not just want to go back to business as usual and thusly decided to take a brief look at what science has to say about winning, losing, motivation and getting back on track. And lo and behold loosing due to the obviously subjective decision of judges and the subsequent "discouragement", which, in psychological terms, could be subsumed under "non-self determined amotivation", is something that is significantly more prevalent in high performing athletes (Bulgarian title and medal holders in this particular study) than in the 2nd row of top athletes ( Chantal. 1996 ). When it comes to motivation "over-" can be worse than "under-" And while the Bulgarian athletes in the 1990s certainly had other "amot...
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On Short Notice: Adelfo Places 2nd at the Wheelchair Nationals! Plus: The Contest Prep Series Continues

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Image 1: Adelfo Cerame Jr. right after the pre-judging at the Wheelchair Nationals. The judges must have been men, otherwise Adelfo would have made 1st place that's for sure ;-) Those of you who "are on Facebook" (whatever that may mean) will probably already have heard the news. Our mutual friend Adelfo took 2nd at the Wheelchair Nationals in Florida. "Congratulations, Adelfo! I know at the moment it may feel like a defeat, but look at what you have achieved in the past weeks! That is freakin' awesome - or 'disgusting', as you would say - and inspiring to others!" I have not yet seen the pics that were taken during the night show, but if we go by his popularity with the women (cf. image 1 ), it seems somewhat odd that Neil Picone bet him, although I must admit that Adelfo and I had both agreed that he would be the most dangerous competition. Not as shredded as our friend, yet somewhat more muscular and unfortunately - contrary to t...
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