SuppVersity - Nutrition and Exercise Science for Everyone

Globe artichokes have the most highly polymerized inulin fibers. They can be served cooked or oven-roasted . The journal  Molecular Nutrition & Food Research  is probably food designers' favorite bedtime reading because the articles about various functional food ingredients inspire them to dream up ever-new [(dys-)functional)] food formulas you will soon find on the shelves at your local supermarket. With inulin, a fructose-based polysaccharide fiber, which is the object of several papers in the latest issue of said scientific journal, I want to address one of these ingredients that has already made it from bench to bedside... ah, I mean from bench to protein bars and other functional foods such as dairy products, frozen desserts, table spreads, baked goods and breads, breakfast cereals, fillings, dietetic products or chocolate for today's research update ... an update that focuses on beneficial effects, but won't conceal the potential issues people w/ FODMAP into...

Berberine is a yellow-colored alkaloid compound found in several different plants, including European barberry, goldenseal, goldthread, Oregon grape, Phellodendron, and tree turmeric. Eventually, neither of the two insights from a recent paper in the Journal of Dietary Supplements  can really surprise you: the majority of berberine supplements doesn't contain the amount of active ingredient that's on the label - 60% fail to land within the allowable margin of +/-10% and the more expensive "quality brands" are not better than the cheap ones, even if they had label claims of manufacturing under Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) conditions in Food and Drug Administration inspected facilities, and guarantees purity and potency! In the real world, theory and practice, or, rather, labelled and real berberine content seem to diverge... When timing matters, for berberine it's not well-researched, but... Caffeine - 45 Min B4 Workouts? Nutrient Timing for Gain...

I suspect changing what the subjects ate would have had additional benefits on top of the reduced energy intake. In the medical literature, there are two different interpretations of "intermittent fasting". While one of them refers more or less to what people from the fitness community will think of if you talk with them about "intermittent fasting" (i.e. eating only within a feeding window of 2-6h in 24h), most researchers use "intermittent fasting" as an umbrella-term for all sorts of time-restricted fasting regimens, including alternate-day fasting regimen and their clones, where you fast say 2, 3, or 4 days per week. Regimen such as the one scientists from the  University of Melbourne Department of Medicine  have recently compared to "classic dieting" (constant daily energy deficit) in 24 males 55–75 year-old war veterans with stable weight problems (body mass index (BMI) greater than or equal to 30 kg/m²). Learn more about fasting at...

You don't have to run/sprint or cycle, plyometrics, kettlebells, etc. there are dozens of ways to "HIIT it". Taken on their own, the following studies would probably not have made the SuppVersity  cut. They would have been in the Facebook News  (I hope you have already subscribed), but they would not have gotten their own article. Together, however, I thought it may be a good idea to pack all of them into a "research update" on high-intensity interval training aka HIIT.  An update that yields insights into the effects of HIIT on the central nervous system, shows that classic "cardio", but not HIIT messes with cortisol to an extent that diminishes its health benefits, and highlights that and why HIIT is an anti-diabetes tool for almost everyone. You can learn more about HIIT at the SuppVersity The Optimal HIIT Program for Your Individual Goals Tabata = 14.2kcal /min ≠ Fat Loss, Dietin' Necessary 30s Intervals + 2:1 Work/Rec. - Is T...

Editorial provides compelling evidence from meta-analyses, but their results are context-dependent ... "The story of fructose reflects the cyclic nature of much in nutrition." That's what John Sievenpiper writes in his latest editorial in  The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition ; and he's right. If you review the history of the science on fructose you will see that it went full circle - not once, but repeatedly. As Sievenpiper points out, the latest meta-analyses by Evans et al. (2017a,b) found (a) beneficial effects on blood glucose especially in people with already messed up glucose management, when sucrose (=sugar) was replaced with fructose, and (b) lowered fasting blood glucose and HbA1c, and triglycerides, plus body weight. Learn more about fructose at the SuppVersity Bad Fructose not so Bad, After All! Learn its Benefits. Fructose From Fruit is NOT the Problem Americans Don't Eat More Fructose Today An Apple A Day, Keeps... &...