Must Read: Is Sugar Toxic?

“High-fructose corn syrup, sugar — no difference. The point is they’re each bad — equally bad, equally poisonous.” – Robert Lustig, MD, Professor of Clinical Pediatrics, UC San Francisco

The New York Times Magazine has a remarkably in-depth piece on sugar called Is Sugar Toxic? We get a lot of information on the sweet stuff from the history of sweeteners to the differences between sucrose and high-fructose corn syrup (There seem to be no differences.) to some of the unique physiological effects of sugar. Dr. Robert Lustig of the University of California San Francisco is a source for much of the information of the article. He’s an endocrinologist who recently has focused on preventing obesity in children. He contends that sugar calories are different from other sources of calories, and that sugar is genuinely poisonous to human beings. (You can watch Lustig’s lecture,Sugar: the Bitter Truth on Youtube.)

Buyer beware...

Among the evils ascribed to sugar in the article: obesity, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and atherosclerosis caused by elevated blood triglycerides (fat) which often results in heart disease. This idea that sugar causes blocked arteries is somewhat controversial and runs counter to several decades of “conventional wisdom.” The article also suggest that in fact sugars may play a strong role in developing cancer. For years it’s been dietary fat that’s been the bad guy in the heart disease fight. And to this point, the article does a good job of dissecting the various theories and evidence either in support of and/or against both sugar and fat as the edible evils in our lives. I won’t go into all the fine details here but the discussion should remind us that one theory doesn’t necessarily cancel out another (Could be that both sugar AND dietary fat aren’t that great for us.), and that science is indeed a human endeavor which is subject to human emotion and judgment. The discussion on sugar and cancer is one that I’ve not heard before. There is evidence to suggest that chronically elevated insulin plays a strong role here much as it does with diabetes. Researcher Lewis Cantley, director of the Cancer Center at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center at Harvard Medical School, says:

“I have eliminated refined sugar from my diet and eat as little as I possibly can, because I believe ultimately it’s something I can do to decrease my risk of cancer.” Cantley put it this way: “Sugar scares me.”

That’s a strong statement by someone with what seems to be a thorough knowledge of his subject. It certainly has me thinking about this stuff more than I have. I love dessert and so does my wife. We devote just one day a week to indulging in something genuinely tasty and fantastic. I think that’s a fairly low level of consumption but now I wonder if sugar is like cocaine or meth. Perhaps there is no such thing as a “moderate” amount of sugar. What is clear to me is that less is best.

Avoid Cramping This Spring

The warm weather is trying to break through to us and we’re all itching to run and/or bike. You may be at particularly at risk for cramping at this time of year though. Why? First some background on salts, muscles and muscular contractions.

Salts (aka electrolytes) specifically potassium, sodium, and especially calcium are key components of muscular contractions. Without them we may either experience muscular weakness or uncontrolled muscular contractions–cramping. We get these salts through our food and drink. We tend to lose these salts through sweating. Prolonged exercise and/or exercise in the heat typically requires us to consume more salts than we would during short bouts of exercise or exercise in the cold. Now, on to the particulars of cold-to-warm weather issues.

As it turns from cold to warm weather, our bodies are also adjusting the degree to which we sweat out our salts. During the cold, our bodies will fork over the salt quite readily. We retain more salts during the warm weather. So let’s say we get a nice warm day and we decide to get in a long run or ride. We may be exercising like it’s warm but we may be sweating out salts like it’s cold. This is prime time for cramping.

Here are some ideas to avoid cramps:

Salt your food. You’re an exercising athlete and you need salt. Unless you have high blood pressure, you should be fine.
Keep a sports drink with you. Drink when thirsty and stop when you’re satiated.
Eat a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. These contain electrolytes.
Don’t overhydrate. Too much water will dilute the salts in your body.
Consume dairy products. Calcium is important for bones but it’s also massively important for muscular contractions. It’s rarely found in sports drinks though.
Ease into warm weather activities. Your body will adjust to retain salts if given some time.

First Day on the Clean Program

This post isn’t about power cleans, hang cleans, kettlebell cleans or anything involving a weight of any sort. I’m spending a few days this week trying a dietary cleanse called the Clean Program. It’s typically a 3-week program but I’m only doing it for about four days. My wife is on her final week of the program and she loves the way she feels. I probably wouldn’t have given this thing a shot if she wasn’t a) trying it at all and b) feeling fantastic while doing it.

The idea of Clean is to detoxify the body and give the digestive system a rest. You eat one solid-meal food a day and drink two juices and/or smoothies per day. Clean has you eliminating a variety of foods–even a good number of fruits and vegetables: tomatoes, citrus fruits, soy products, dairy products, eggplant, raw fish, wheat, corn, barley, spelt, kamut, rye, couscous, oats, booze, sugar, and caffeine among other things. There’s also a minimum 12-hour fast between your evening meal and your morning meal. Sounds like a big party right?

Now, I’ve always been skeptical of these things. Sounds like a lot of gimmicky nonsense and shoddy science. That said, I’ve never actually done any research on this process. I do recognize there are health benefits to fasting from time to time and I absolutely understand that even those of us who eat a “healthy” diet are quite likely consuming some junk we shouldn’t be eating. The biggest motivation for my trying this program is what it’s done for my wife. It’s very strong anecdotal evidence that something good might come from it. We’ll see what happens…

Here are a few of the points on the scale that are used to determine if you have a food addiction. Does any of this sound familiar? If it does, you may be an “industrial food addict.”

Food Addiction

We’ve got several interesting fitness-related things in the news recently. First, from the Huffington Post comes Food Addiction: Could it Explain Why 79 Percent of Americans Are Obese? Here the food industry and its products are compared to the tobacco industry and their products. Turns out our junk food is skillfully crafted and manipulated by the food industry to make it highly palatable possibly to the point of being addictive. Key to the discussion is the following information from the article:

Researchers from Yale’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity validated a “food addiction” scale.(i) Here are a few of the points on the scale that are used to determine if you have a food addiction. Does any of this sound familiar? If it does, you may be an “industrial food addict.”

I find that when I start eating certain foods, I end up eating much more than I had planned. Not eating certain types of food or cutting down on certain types of food is something I worry about.

I spend a lot of time feeling sluggish or lethargic from overeating.
There have been times when I consumed certain foods so often or in such large quantities that I spent time dealing with negative feelings from overeating instead of working, spending time with my family or friends, or engaging in other important activities or recreational activities that I enjoy.
I kept consuming the same types of food or the same amount of food even though I was having emotional and/or physical problems.
Over time, I have found that I need to eat more and more to get the feeling I want, such as reduced negative emotions or increased pleasure.
I have had withdrawal symptoms when I cut down or stopped eating certain foods, including physical symptoms, agitation, or anxiety. (Please do not include withdrawal symptoms caused by cutting down on caffeinated beverages such as soda pop, coffee, tea, energy drinks, etc.)
My behavior with respect to food and eating causes significant distress.
I experience significant problems in my ability to function effectively (daily routine, job/school, social activities, family activities, health difficulties) because of food and eating.

Based on these criteria and others, many of us, including most obese children, are “addicted” to industrial food.

Here are some of the scientific findings confirming that food can, indeed, be addictive(ii):

Sugar stimulates the brain’s reward centers through the neurotransmitter dopamine, exactly like other addictive drugs.
Brain imagining (PET scans) shows that high-sugar and high-fat foods work just like heroin, opium, or morphine in the brain.(iii)Brain imaging (PET scans) shows that obese people and drug addicts have lower numbers of dopamine receptors, making them more likely to crave things that boost dopamine.
Foods high in fat and sweets stimulate the release of the body’s own opioids (chemicals like morphine) in the brain.
Drugs we use to block the brain’s receptors for heroin and morphine (naltrexone) also reduce the consumption and preference for sweet, high-fat foods in both normal weight and obese binge eaters.
People (and rats) develop a tolerance to sugar — they need more and more of the substance to satisfy themselves — just like they do for drugs of abuse like alcohol or heroin.
Obese individuals continue to eat large amounts of unhealthy foods despite severe social and personal negative consequences, just like addicts or alcoholics.
Animals and humans experience “withdrawal” when suddenly cut off from sugar, just like addicts detoxifying from drugs.
Just like drugs, after an initial period of “enjoyment” of the food, the user no longer consumes them to get high but to feel normal.

Exercise & the Common Cold

“The most powerful weapon someone has during cold season “is to go out on a near-daily basis, and put in at least a 30-minute brisk walk.”
– Dr. David Nieman, director of the Human Performance Laboratory at Appalachian State University in North Carolina,

It’s always nice to see research that backs up something that we think is true. In this case, researchers at Appalachian St. University have evidence that exercise is possibly the best way to avoid colds. Read more in Regular Workouts Ward Off the Common Cold from MSNBC. The results of this study are in line with other studies discussed in the article.

There are all sorts of products out there such as Airborne, echinacea and zinc losenges that claim to shorten or prevent colds. The evidence on that stuff is spotty. The evidence on exercise and its preventative powers is far more solid. Exercise!

Rocker Shoes

An article from MSNBC, Do those funky shoes really promote fitness? discusses rocker or toning shoes, the increasingly popular shoes with a curved bottom. The claim by these shoe manufactures (Sketchers, Reebok, MBT) is that wearers will burn more calories when they walk around in these things.

A study by the American Council on Exercise suggests that these shoes do nothing of the sort. (Hard to believe? A magic shoe actually doesn’t lead to weight loss??) Participants walked all of five minutes on a treadmill while researchers monitored their heart rate, oxygen consumption and muscle usage (abdominals, butt, quadriceps, hamstrings and calves). (I don’t know that five minutes is an adequate amount of time in these things. Seems like participants should be monitored over the course of days or weeks). The article goes on to discuss the possible injurious effects of wearing these weird shoes as well as a a lawsuit brought by a woman who didn’t lose any weight wearing them. On the topic of the biomechanics and rocker shoes, this article by Denver-area chiropractor and gait specialist Dr. Ivo Waerlop, goes into deep detail as to why these shoes are a bad idea.

I see these shoes as the latest fitness fad pushed on people who are hoping and praying for a fitness magic bullet. (I love the fact that people are looking at their shoes and thinking about their calories! How about looking at your food???) This type of thing comes up frequently and the results of such stuff rarely lives up to the hype. I’ll be interested to see what happens to medium- and long-term wearers of these shoes. I think they’ll a) be disappointed in the weight they don’t lose and, b) possibly beset by chronic pain. If nothing else, they’ll be embarrassed that they ever put on those big clunky Frankenstein clodhoppers.

The Bad News on Fruits & Vegetables

It may not be a huge surprise that most of us in this country don’t eat a healthy diet. Now the data is in and according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2009, 67.5 percent of adults ate fruit less than two times daily and 73.7 percent ate vegetables less than three times per day. This information comes from an article in Business Week.

These numbers are in contrast to the goals of Healthy People 2010, a comprehensive set of health objectives set by the government. The goals of Healthy People 2010 were for 75 percent of people to eat at least two servings of fruit and 50 percent to eat at least three servings of vegetables every day. Despite these noble efforts, over the past decade there has been a two percent decrease in fruit consumption and no change in the vegetable consumption, researchers found. This program is failing. Why?

It’s hard to imagine that ignorance is driving our avoidance of produce. Who among us doesn’t know that fruits and vegetables are good for us? One issue is that low-income Americans are less likely to have access to fresh fruits and vegetables at affordable prices compared to affluent Americans. (For more on this issue, read about food deserts.)

Connie Diekman, director of university nutrition at Washington University in St Louis discusses the affordability of fresh produce:

“Another factor that seems to impact purchasing fresh produce that is not clear in this report is the cost of fresh produce,” Diekman said. “With economic changes the last several years, the slight differences in consumption based on household income might be an important factor for health-care providers to address.”

(I find it tragically laughable that fresh produce–food that’s plucked right off a tree or a vine; or pulled right out of the ground–can cost more per calorie than a highly complex, laboratory engineered food such as a Twinkie, frozen pizza, or a sugary soda. This is what our farm subsidies are doing to us.)

Most interesting to me are the neurological factors behind what we eat, and why even though we know what’s healthy and unhealthy we still make unhealthy choices. Samantha Heller, a dietitian, nutritionist, exercise physiologist and clinical nutrition coordinator at the Center for Cancer Care at Griffin Hospital in Derby, Connecticut says the following:

“It is easy to fill up on fast food, junk foods, sweets and sugar-sweetened beverages. In addition, by eating these highly palatable foods — those high in fat, sugar and sodium — we alter our taste and mental expectations about how a food is ‘supposed’ to taste.”

“We end up craving these foods and the healthier fare is ignored. Thus, a sweet ripe peach does not taste very sweet to someone who just chugged a 20-ounce soda or ate a bowl of ice cream. The same with vegetables. The delicious taste of many vegetable pales in comparison with high-fat, high-sodium cheese burgers and french fries.”

This is a tremendous uphill battle we face as a nation. It’s this very issue that’s at the heart and core of our health care system. We’ve had heated debate on what form of health care we’ll have and how to fund the system. Yet we avoid the most significant factor in our health care, that is what we chose to eat or not eat. It’s too tough an issue for politicians to discuss as pointing out our failings at personal responsibility tend to anger voters. (In contrast, Michelle Obama has done a very admirable job of bringing attention to the issue of nutrition and obesity.) No number of doctors, drugs, or high-tech medical devices can offset our personal habits. I’m not sure that there’s a light at the end of this tunnel.

The Role of Exercise in Weight Loss

Want to lose weight? The tried and true advice has always been “Exercise and eat right.” Hard to argue with that. Burn calories via exercise and eat less and/or eat better quality food. Done and done. Recently however, the role of exercise in this process has been questioned. Time magazine went so far as to tell us Why Exercise Won’t Make You Thin. Other research has suggested that the eating part of the equation is more powerful than the exercise part. Further, from experience as a personal trainer, I’ve seen many a gym member tell themselves “Hey, I’m exercising. I can eat whatever I want!” I have yet to see anyone succeed following that route. So what if any role does exercise play in shaping our physique?

The New York Times has weighed in with a very interesting, nuanced and informative article on the topic. Weighing the Evidence on Exercise tells us among other things that exercise alone may not make you lean, but that it will likely help keep you thin if and when you get there. Further, it seems exercise has a different effect on the appetites of men vs. women.

“When you look at the results in the National Weight Control Registry,” Harvard researcher Barry Braun says, “you see over and over that exercise is one constant among people who’ve maintained their weight loss.”

The article cites two studies to this effect One by the American College of Sports Medicine demonstrated that appetite was blunted in men who ran on a treadmill for 1.5 hrs. In another study by Harvard researchers reported in the American Journal of Physiology, men and women walked on treadmills and their appetites were monitored. The men showed similar results to the ACSM study. The women however showed increased appetite. It seems that female physiology is very favorably given over to storing energy (as fat–eeeeeeech!!!)

The Harvard study found other very valuable information which I’ll get to in a moment but first, more about who was studied. The weight-change history of 34,000 women was tracked for 13 years. (The large sample size and length of the study are two strengths.) The average age of the women at the start of the study was 54 years. Now the important information as reported by the Times:

“During that time, the women gained, on average, six pounds. Some packed on considerably more. But a small subset gained far less, coming close to maintaining the body size with which they started the study. Those were the women who reported exercising almost every day for an hour or so. (emphasis is mine) The exercise involved was not strenuous.”

Finally, the Times article discusses a study from the University of Colorado. In this study, rats were fattened and allowed to be sedentary for a time. The rats’ diets were then switched to low-calorie fare and half of them were made to run on treadmills for about 30 minutes a day. (Strangely, Jillian Michaels was not involved.) The results of the study as reported by the Times are as follows:

“Then the fun began. For the final eight weeks of the experiment, the rats were allowed to relapse, to eat as much food as they wanted. The rats that had not been running on the treadmill fell upon the food eagerly. Most regained the weight they lost and then some.”

But the exercising rats metabolized calories differently. They tended to burn fat immediately after their meals, while the sedentary rats’ bodies preferentially burned carbohydrates and sent the fat off to be stored in fat cells. The running rats’ bodies, meanwhile, also produced signals suggesting that they were satiated and didn’t need more kibble. Although the treadmill exercisers regained some weight, their relapses were not as extreme. Exercise ‘re-established the homeostatic steady state between intake and expenditure to defend a lower body weight,’ the study authors concluded. Running had remade the rats’ bodies so that they ate less. (emphasis is mine)

To reinforce the message from all this, Science Daily reports on another study not mentioned in the Times article: Diet Alone Will Not Likely Lead to Significant Weight Loss, Study Suggests. Here, Oregon Health & Science University studied monkeys that were fed a high-fat diet for several years. They then were placed on a low-fat diet for a month. The important information is this:

“Surprisingly, there was no significant weight loss at the end of the month,” explained OHSU post-doctoral fellow Elinor Sullivan, Ph.D. “However, there was a significant change in the activity levels for these monkeys. Naturally occurring levels of physical activity for the animals began to diminish soon after the reduced-calorie diet began. When caloric intake was further reduced in a second month, physical activity in the monkeys diminished even further.”

So what’s the take-home message from all this? First, as a personal trainer, I find it highly interesting the actual role that exercise seems to play in weight loss. It’s not so much a direct influence as it is something that changes our bodies over the long haul, and sets the stage for us to stay trim. Beyond that, think of this evidence in light of research (here, and here for instance) showing that exercise alone won’t do the trick when it comes to weight loss and we have a very familiar message: To lose weight we must eat right and exercise.

Beating Obesity

The latest edition of the Atlantic features an excellent article on our nation’s struggle with obesity. Beating Obesity is written by Marc Ambinder and it’s a thoughtful, in-depth look at the political and social ramifications of this seemingly losing battle. We learn about the major players including First Lady Michelle Obama, the food industry and the insurance companies. (Ambinder himself struggled with obesity and eventually underwent bariatric surgery as a solution.) Ambinder does a very good job in discussing the issues of individual responsibility and the environmental challenges we face such as food at every checkout line (not just at the grocery store), ever growing portion sizes, and junk food that is cheaper than fresh fruits and vegetables.

Most importantly he examines the moral and demographic issues of obesity. He notes the following:

“Black children are more at peril of becoming obese than white children; black women are more than 50 percent more likely to be obese than white women. ‘At the current rate of increase,’ epidemiologists noted in a recent article in Obesity, ‘it will take less than 30 years for all black women to become overweight or obese.’ Obesity rates are above average among Mexican American boys, as they are among Hispanics generally. Obesity rates among young American Indians tend to be nearly twice the national average.

Please check out the article. It’s an excellent piece.

Compulsive Eating is Similar to Drug Addiction

Obesity-related eating issues are in the news again. This time new research indicates that the physiological dynamics of overeating are the same as drug addiction. Compulsive Eating Shares Addictive Biochemical Mechanism With Cocaine, Heroin Abuse, Study Shows comes from Science Daily. The article summarizes a Scripps Research Institute study that was published recently in the journal Nature Neuroscience.

The study examined the brain chemistry of rats that were fed high-fat, high-sugar diets similar to human junk food. The rats quickly became obese and at the same time their brain chemistry showed striking changes. Pleasure centers in their brains changed and became less responsive. The result was the rats had to eat more and more in order to stimulate these regions. These dynamics of food addiction mirror those of rats addicted to cocaine and heroin. Paul J. Kenny, one of the scientists who conducted the study said,

“It presents the most thorough and compelling evidence that drug addiction and obesity are based on the same underlying neurobiological mechanisms. In the study, the animals completely lost control over their eating behavior, the primary hallmark of addiction. They continued to overeat even when they anticipated receiving electric shocks, highlighting just how motivated they were to consume the palatable food.”

A fascinating development in the study came when researchers replaced the junk food with nutritious food: the rats refused to eat. They starved for nearly two weeks after the change.

What seems to be happening to these rats (and likely to obese humans) is that consumption of highly pleasurable food overstimulates and dulls the reward centers of the brain. More food (or drugs) are needed to stimulate feelings of reward and pleasure. Without getting too technical, the neurotransmitter dopamine and it’s receptors in the brain are the key elements here. Dopamine is released in the brain by pleasurable experiences such as drug or food consumption. Consume too much of either and the brain is flooded with dopamine which is essentially bad for dopamine receptors. Over time the brain actually undergoes physical changes and addictive behavior becomes normal and very difficult to change.

The big issue to me is that overeating and obesity are very complex and not at all simple matters of will power. Personal trainers and nutritionists must realize that the brain function of the obese person is very different from the non-obese person. Simply instructing someone to eat differently rarely works and now we know very specifically why.

To that point, I’m skeptical of our various efforts to educate the public on the caloric content in our food (first in NYC and most recently on a national level.) Similarly, it seems that small taxes on soda do little to curb consumption of the sugary junk. Simply putting the information in front of our eyes or enacting a slight monetary penalty isn’t enough and I don’t believe there are many ways government can affect our food choices. (I would be curious though to see the effects of eliminating subsidies for corn, wheat and soybeans. These subsidies keep the price of junk food–which is actually quite complex if you look at the ingredients–artificially low. So this addictive food is also dirt cheap. You and I are paying for this with our taxes!) That said, my hope is that those battling to lose weight won’t give up and resign themselves to poor health by saying “I’m addicted. There’s nothing I can do.”

From what I’ve seen of successful weight loss seems very similar to what I know of overcoming addiction. That is, the individual must decide to make a change for him or herself. Until the individual knowingly makes a firm decision to change no amount of preaching, pushing or cajoling by friends, a spouse, or parents will make the difference. And it is hard work. Perhaps now by recognizing the brain chemistry of over eating we can develop more effective strategies to slim down.

More Magical Fitness Nonsense: Part II

The first post of this series looked at a new weight loss pill being developed by General Nutrition Centers. It’s something containing caffeine, black pepper and an ingredient in hot peppers. Who knows? Maybe this thing actually is weight-loss in a pill. I doubt it though. Most likely this is just the latest version of fitness snake oil–and there’s plenty more out there.

If you’re any sort of follower of popular culture then you may know of the TV show the Biggest Loser. If so, then you know of Jillian Michaels, one of the show’s trainers. Michaels was sued in February by a fan of the show. The woman claims she bought a fat loss supplement sold by Michaels–and guess what!! It didn’t work. The suit further claims the product contains a tasty item called citrus aurantium (aka bitter orange). This substance contains amphetamine compounds which are similar to those found in ephedrine. These compounds are stimulants and they act to restrict blood vessels and to increase blood pressure and heart rate. This bitter orange stuff has been used to replace ephedra in many fat-loss products. Ephedra was linked to the 2003 death of Baltimore Orioles pitcher David Bechler.

More news on this topic came out in January of this year when the Abbott Laboratories’ weight-loss drug sibutramine was cited by European offiicials as being potentially harmful to heart disease patients. The F. D. A. added a warning to the drug, known as the products Reductil, Meridia and Sibutrex. (Wow, take a look at the contraindications and side effects of this stuff! Doesn’t look fun.)

What other kooky chemicals are in the news? The article F. D. A. Finds ‘Natural’ Diet Pills Laced With Drugs appeared in the New York Times Business section back in February of 2009. The story discusses a product called StarCaps. StarCaps were promoted by celebrities and touted as a “natural” weight loss product that used papaya as an active ingredient. Seems perhaps the true active ingredient was something called bumetanide, a diuretic that can cause all sorts of ugly side effects. The article further states:

“In a continuing investigation that has prompted consumer warnings and recalls by some distributors, the F.D.A. has determined that dozens of weight-loss supplements, most of them imported from China, contain hidden and potentially harmful drugs.”

These stories remind me of the Fen-phen episode of several years ago. Fen-phen was a combination of two weight-loss drugs marketed and sold by Wyeth. The drug combination was very popular and seemingly effective. Problem was Fen-phen caused heart conditions such as valvular heart disease, severe hypertension and even death in some users. The product is no longer available and as of 2005, there were about 50,000 liability cases still to be resolved with an estimated total of $14 billion in liability. Seems that we may be eager to repeat history.

So what is the big picture? Americans want to lose weight and there’s big money in that concept. We’re not too good at exercising and eating right though. If weight loss can come in a pill then a lot of us are very likely to spend plenty of cash on the product–nevermind the idea of “too-good-to-be-true” plays prominently in the background. Thanks to the supplement industry-friendly DSHEA act of 1994 these supplements live in a gray area between food and drugs, and they don’t undergo the same scrutiny. (Quackwatch gives a good commentary.) Therefore some supplements may be just as powerful and potentially dangerous to many users as any other prescription drug. (In fact, the risks posed by these weight-loss formulas may be more dangerous than simply being overweight!) As in the case of StarCaps, the ingredient label may not tell us everything that’s in a supplement. These are murky waters for the consumer.

Should these products be banned outright? I’m not sure. Can these products be used safely? Maybe. Clearly for some people these products are dangerous and possibly deadly. This stuff must be seen through the same lens as any other medication. Don’t let a label like “all-natural” fool you (BTW, black widow venom is all-natural too) and don’t let a celebrity face make you a sucker. A healthy lifestyle has yet to come in a pill and it never will. Get up, go walk around, and eat something that grew in the ground.

More Magic Fitness Nonsense: Part I

I love this stuff! From somewhat questionable vitamins, to goofy “health” food, to the out-and-out fantasy Cookie Diet, we continue to search for a way around eating right and exercising. The latest magic potion to come out of Fantasy Fitness Land is a pill which has been developed by General Nutrition Centers (GNC) and tested by Oklahoma University. (I’m glad the Sooners took on this strange project instead of the University of Texas.) You can read all about it at Science Daily in an article titled Weight-loss supplement has potential to burn fair amount of calories.

It seems this substance contains three things: black pepper, caffeine, and capsaicin–the stuff that makes hot peppers hot.

(Now, as it turns out, I actually created this combination some years ago and I’ve been consuming it roughly once a week in the form of a morning meal known as breakfast. I eat an omlette, sprinkle on some black pepper, splash on some hot sauce, and drink two cups of coffee. Too bad I didn’t patent the whole process. )

The article is fairly brief and doesn’t give much information but I can forsee this new weight loss pill flying off the shelves into the hands of people who desperately want to lose weight but who refuse to take on the tried-and-true guaranteed methods to healthy weight loss–that is eating right most of the time and working hard often. I’ll post more information on this type of snake oil.

Denver Fitness Journal

All Things Health and Fitness by Kyle Norman, MS, CSCS, FMS, RRCA Running Coach

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