Aerobic exercise better for weight loss than high intensity interval training, research from the Charles Perkins Centre finds

Researchers find aerobic exercise has the best ‘fat furnace’ effect
High intensity training workouts not a magic bullet for weight loss

HIGH-INTENSITY interval training and Crossfit has been touted as the quickest way to get lean but according to new research, it’s no fast track to fat loss.

A world-first controlled trial has found regular continuous aerobic exercise yields better fat loss results than high-intensity interval training (HIIT) workouts for overweight people.

The trial was conducted by University of Sydney exercise physiologists Shelley Keating of the Faculty of Health Sciences eand Dr Nathan Johnson at the Charles Perkins Centre.

Forget the claims HIIT workouts can whip overweight people into shape in less time than regular aerobic exercise

Dr Keating said a growing number of people were substituting HIIT for regular aerobic workouts in their exercise routine.

“High-intensity burst training does deliver important benefits like increased fitness, but it doesn’t have a ‘fat furnace’ effect if you carry weight around the middle,” she said.

“The message is if you’re hitting the gym to lose weight and trim your waistline, stick with steady aerobic exercise to shift abdominal fat and see better results on the scales.”

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Tips on knowing what foods are actually healthy

Taking a trip to grocery store can be confusing at times, especially when you're trying to eat healthy.

While everything may look good, nutritionists say it’s easy to fall into a food trap if you don’t read the labels carefully.

“It's organic, it's healthy, it's GMO free, all that stuff, but the problem is, it just has way too many calories," nutrition specialist Ken Fujioka explained.

Fujioka said you need to read the labels to know exactly what you're getting these days. You can even get too much of a good thing.

"When you take things like fruit and you grind them up and concentrate them, you're actually making a high fructose syrup," Fujioka said.

Air-popped popcorn is one of the healthiest snacks around, full of fiber and low in calories.

"But the minute you soup it up, with sugar, with salt, with cheese, that's when you run into a problem and you take a healthy snack and you render it unhealthy," said Tod Marks with Consumer Reports.

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Can you get addicted to exercise?

You've probably heard of "runner's high" and "yoga bliss" -- feelings of euphoria that can come after periods of exercise. And maybe you've heard people talk about how they "have" to work out -- as though if they didn't exercise, they'd suffer severe physical or psychological repercussions.

But is exercise a potent enough "drug" that it can literally make a person an addict? Do some people really need to work out -- and will they suffer withdrawal symptoms if they don't?

The verdict: Exercise can be addictive for some people (but they're the exception)

Ask sports psychologists if exercise addiction is legitimate, and many will confirm that it is.

However, research suggests that so-called exercise addiction affects only a small subset of people -- those who push too hard and exercise when they're injured or exhausted, or to the point that it adversely affects their work and relationships.

So unless you're about to lose your job because of your gym habit (or are running marathons each morning despite having shin splints), you're probably not truly "addicted" to exercise.

People who exercise with fervor -- but responsibly -- aren't addicted; they're what sports scientists refer to as "committed exercisers."

Check out this GYM outfit

According to Andy Martin, a personal trainer at the Aria Athletic Club and Spa in Vail, Colorado, many people feel guilty after missing workouts, or notice negative changes in their body (such as tighter muscles and joints) when they don't exercise. These people make exercise a priority, but don't suffer from an exercise addiction.

here are a number of reasons people get hooked on exercise in this healthy way. "Runner's high is an actual 'high' in the literal sense of the word," explains Martin.

"During and upon completion of an intense workout -- whether it be an endurance race or a high-intensity weightlifting session -- endorphins flood the brain and can induce an emotional response that can range from satisfaction to euphoria, depending on the intensity of the activity."

For some, group exercise in particular can provide social support, which is a big need for most people.

Of course, becoming "hooked" on exercise requires an understanding of the value that physical activity inherently holds, says Martin.

Some people want to go to the gym because they don't want to suffer from heart disease or stroke. Others show up regularly because they want to maintain their appearance (or have their pants fit after they splurge on dessert). Still others want to be sure they can keep up with their kids.

Whatever your reason for working out, as long as you aren't skipping important meetings to get in a run or doing one-armed push-ups because your other arm is in a sling from overuse, you're more likely to be addicted to your morning coffee than to your treadmill.

Doctors Help Severe Obese Texas girl

Alexis Shapiro's liver was to large and doctors were forced to operate using sleeve gastrectomy. This will hopefully help 200-pound 12-year-old to lose weight. The Texas teen has  a rare  hypothalamic obesity that results for her to gain weight and makes her hungry every time.

Spending A Lot of Time in Facebook can Lead to Eating Problems

A new study shows that young women who invest a lot of time on Facebook are more conscious on how they look and their body image looks like which  can help   raise the risk of eating problems.

This study  was conducted on 960 college students and how much time they spent on social media sites, how relevant are the "LIKES"  to them and if they have "UNTAGGED" pictures of themselves.

The study also reveals that above 95% of the subjects spends almost 20 minutes on the site per visit and an hour each day. Women who spends time on Facebook are more likely stressed about their weight and body shape that can lead to eating disorders. These women  give value on received  comments and likes on Facebook, and constantly UNTAGGED themselves from photos and observe their photos with pictures of friends.


 Its not all bad for Facebook according to researchers.

 Facebook can also help women about the ethical ways to maximize social media sites that can lead to better self image and prevent eating problems.

 According to study author Pamela Keel, of the Department of Psychology at Florida State University "Facebook merges powerful peer influences with broader societal messages that focus on the importance of women's appearance into a single platform that women carry with them throughout the day," 

 "As researchers and clinicians attempt to understand and address risk factors for eating disorders, greater attention is needed to the emerging role of social media in young people's lives," Keel said. The study was published online recently in the International Journal of Eating Disorders.

Google Contact Lens Help Patients with Diabetes

Good news for diabetics everywhere! At this time, a new technology is offered by Google.

A convenient contact lens was developed to help diabetics monitor their blood sugar levels.


The prototype was revealed last January 16 and has much potential. It has the promise to replace the skin implants that continuously records the blood sugar levels. Doctors even hopes to dispose of the glucometer and many patients will be happy that they will not undergo anymore the agonizing and cumbersome blood extractions and finger pricks.

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The device has a small computer chip that contains a glucose sensor and a very thin antenna. This is implanted between the soft wearable contact lens. This so called “smart lens” is powered by tapping into radio waves in the air and sends data to a smart phone or other related devices.

 We all know that blood sugar levels change every minute depending on the activity and food intake of an individual. Especially for elderly and sick patients, sudden spike and drop of blood sugar is dangerous and may even be fatal! A regular monitoring is a must for those who have labile diabetes.

Continuous, regular monitoring of capillary blood glucose levels by finger pricking is doable but most of us really hate needles. The pain and difficulty in doing finger pricks is the most common cause of discontinuing blood sugar monitoring at home.

According to Google cofounders Brian Otis and Babak Parviz, miniaturized electronics might be the way to solve this problem. This very small chips and sensor might solve the enigma of tear glucose and measure glucose precisely.

Random blood glucose testing is generally measured by obtaining a sample of capillary blood and the ideal method is of determining blood sugar is by venipuncture after an overnight fast.

However, it should be known that glucose can also found and measured in other body fluids such as the tears in the eyes. However, there might be a gap in the detection of sugar levels between the blood and the tears due to the continuous change in sugar levels. Thus, further studies are needed to determine the time interval in the detection and also to determine the factors that may affect glucose levels in the tears.

The idea is remarkable if it can be done said Dr Gerald Bernstein. It should be identified whether the device measures the glucose levels only in the tears outside of the eye or the aqueous humor.

The aqueous humor is the fluid that fills the space between the cornea and iris and it may be a much closer association with the blood sugar than the human tears. However, it is just a body fluid and has a different composition than blood.

Measuring aqueous humor glucose has been studied before and ghave found statistically significant corelatuon with blood glucose. The researchers measured the glucose level by using a low level laser that can send light through the fluid in the chamber of the eye. This was done in the intraoperative blood sugar monitoring of patients undergoing surgery.

 Bernstein said that Google’s revolutionary device is not that easy and may not be what everyone hopes for. However, it may be beneficial in the sense that it is more worthwhile than the current practice of blood glucose determination and monitoring.

 Type 1 diabetes is usually diagnosed in the young hence the term juvenile diabetes. An estimated 3 million of Americans have Diabetes mellitus Type 1. This is an insulin requiring type of diabetes since the body does not produce insulin completely.

Dr Alvin Powers understood the enthusiasm behind the Google lens. A novel device will get much attention. He said that 99% of diabetics suffers and monitors their blood sugar levels by finger pricks because subcutaneous measuring devices are very costly and has to be adjusted regularly. The smart lens needs also to be calibrated on a regular basis for it to be beneficial.