Healthy Living On The Move - Time Does Matter

 

Is your waistline affected by when you eat, or is a calorie always just a calorie whenever you eat it? A new study, published in The International Journal of Obesity, conducted by researchers at Harvard and elsewhere found that weight loss strategies should focus not just on calories and nutrients "but also the timing of food intake." They followed 420 overweight men and women in Spain in a 20-week weight loss program. Participants had a similar diet, got equivalent amounts of sleep and had similar caloric intakes and expenditures - except for one crucial difference - one group consistently ate before 3.00 p.m. daily, while the other did so after 3.00 p.m. What does the result say about healthy eating? Healthy eating facts - by the end of the study, the early eaters had lost significantly more weight. They also showed higher insulin sensitivity, which reduces the risk of diabetes. So, time the big munch early for a svelte waistline!

Healthy Living On The Move - Hello Sunshine

 

 

Vitamin D deficiency increases the risk of metabolic syndrome that is linked to diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Spending more time in the sun could help older people cut their risk, a study at Warwick University suggests. "As we get older our skin is less efficient at forming vitamin D and our diet may also become less varied," explains lead researcher Dr. Oscar Franco. Additionally, we may tend to dress more conservatively and cover ourselves up more.

 

Among 50 - 70 year-olds living in China that the scientists studied, 94 percent had a vitamin D deficiency and 42 percent also had metabolic syndrome. The results were replicated in British and American populations. Ed Yong of Cancer Research UK says the amount of sunlight it takes to make enough vitamin D is always less than the amounts that lead to an increase in the risk of skin cancer. He adds, "The elderly can also boost their vitamin D levels by eating foods like oily fish, or by using vitamin D supplements on the advice of their GP."