SHR

Exercise is a core component of blood glucose management for individuals with type-2 diabetes (T2D). Of course, two questions anyone embarking on an exercise routine must ask are what type and what time. Recently, Terada et al compared several answers to these questions to determine if one answer may be more favorable than another. Specifically, 10 middle-aged adults with diagnosed T2D but no history of T2D-related complications were recruited to undergo a randomized, controlled crossover trial in which they completed five separate experimental conditions: fasted high-intensity interval exercise (HIIE), post-breakfast HIIE, fasted moderate-intensity continuous exercise (MICE), post-breakfast MICE, and no exercise (control). Each exercise session lasted 60 minutes on a treadmill. The HIIE consisted of 15 bouts of 3 minutes working at 40% VO2peak followed by 1 minute working at 100% VO2peak (average intensity over the 60 minutes was 55% VO2peak). The MICE consisted of continuous running at 55% VO2peak. The...

What defines healthy obesity? Observational studies have established that not all obese individuals display the same risk for developing cardiovascular disease or type-2 diabetes (T2DM). This phenotype has been called “metabolically healthy obesity.” The mechanism underlying the switch in phenotype from the metabolically healthy status to unhealthy status is still unclear.Thanks to a recent study by Pujia et al, we may be one-step closer to filling this knowledge gap. These researchers performed a cross-sectional analysis of 172 middle-aged, overweight-obese Caucasian subjects who were undergoing health-screening tests at their outpatient nutrition clinic.The participants were divided into three groups: healthy overweight-obese (max of two criteria for metabolic syndrome and no glucose intolerance); metabolic syndrome (three or more criteria without T2DM) and T2DM (only those with fasting glucose ≥126 mg/dL or antidiabetic treatment). The focus of this research was on differences in the respiratory quotient (RQ) between groups, whereby a lower value signifies increased...

Dr. Jose Antonio has put out some truly novel research looking at high-protein diets. I’m not talking about the arbitrary 30% of calories that can vary widely depending on energy intake. Rather, I’m talking about grams per unit of bodyweight – as it should be. Previous research by Dr. Antonio had shown that taking a group of healthy resistance-training men and women and having them increase their protein intake from 2.3 to 4.4 g/kg (1 to 2 g/lb) had no effect on body composition. This study was followed up with another study that showed that consuming 3.4 g/kg (1.5 g/lb) had a more favorable effect on body composition than consuming 2.3 g/kg (1 g/lb) when combined with a structured resistance training program. This latter study also showed no signs of harmful effects from a basic metabolic panel. Now, Antonio et al have published the third study digging into this rabbit hole....

There is a tremendous base of literature investigating the effects exercise and the effects of being active throughout the day on health.  Less well-researched is how these two forms of activity interact. Consider your own training program – how do you feel on the days you train and the days you don’t, and how does this translate into your activity levels outside the gym? Do you observe different effects with different types of exercise? These questions are what made Drenowatz et al’s recent pilot study catch my attention. It was a very small pilot study, so any results are going to be limited in scope. But that is the point of a pilot experiment – to venture into new territory and see if there is anything worth pursuing for subsequent, full-scale research. The researchers utilized a randomized, crossover design to observe the energy expenditure and physical activity levels of 5 White...

Pregnant ladies listen up; enjoy your cravings but don’t have seconds. Pregnancy demands weight gain; there is no logical reason that growing a fetus inside you should not result in weight gain. Indeed, too little weight gain increases the risk of having a preterm birth and low-birth-weight offspring. On the flip-side, there are individuals who use pregnancy as an excuse to get fat. Perhaps I’m being a tad vain, but it’s true. Yet, excessive gestational weight gain (GWG) is associated with gestational diabetes, cesarean delivery, giving birth to fat infants, and increased risk of chronic diseases later in life. Not surprisingly, a proper diet plays a central role in the pregnant mother-to-be’s health. Recently, Tielemans et al systematically reviewed the association between energy and macronutrient intakes and weight gain during pregnancy in both observational and intervention studies in low-, middle-, and high-income countries. In total, 56 studies with over 78,000 healthy...