Monthly Archives: November 2013

trans Fats: Metabolic Dysfunction

Posted on November 10, 2013 by Robert Barrington

Hydrogenation is a process by which hydrogen gas is passed over polyunsaturated fatty acids in order to cause saturation of all carbon molecules. This process results in the production of a cheap source of saturated fatty acids that can be … Continue reading →

Posted in Cardiovascular Disease, Essential Fatty Acids, Trans Fatty Acids | Tagged | Comments Off on trans Fats: Metabolic Dysfunction

Tea and Gut Cancer

Posted on November 9, 2013 by Robert Barrington

Tea is a decoction of leaves from the plant Camellia sinensis. Steaming the leaves, as in green tea preparation, maintains much of the original flavonoid content of the plant, which includes high concentrations of catechins (flavan-3-ols). In contrast, black tea … Continue reading →

Posted in Cancer, Catechin, Epicatechin, Green Tea, Tea | Tagged , | Comments Off on Tea and Gut Cancer

Is Stress Making you Fat?

Posted on November 8, 2013 by Robert Barrington

Obesity is complex and not fully understood. However, recent advances in the nutritional sciences have shown that the ‘eat-too-much, do-too-little’ paradigm of weight gain is erroneous. The new paradigm suggests that abdominal obesity is the result of overloading the liver … Continue reading →

Posted in Brain, Cortisol, Insulin Resistance, Metabolic Syndrome, Obesity, Stress | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Is Stress Making you Fat?

More on Poverty and Nutritional Quality

Posted on November 7, 2013 by Robert Barrington

Research published recently in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition1 investigated the food intake of low income adults. Using data from the NHANES survey performed in the United States, the researchers analysed the associations between income levels and dietary intake … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on More on Poverty and Nutritional Quality

Palmitoleic Acid: de Novo Lipogenesis Marker?

Posted on November 6, 2013 by Robert Barrington

High intakes of fructose in the absence of adequate fibre are known to cause liver overload which stimulates the hepatic de novo lipogenesis pathway. Palmitic acid (PA, C16:0) is a 16 carbon saturated fatty acid that is the end product … Continue reading →

Posted in Abdominal Obesity, Adiponectin, Cardiovascular Disease, de Novo Lipogenesis, Fructose, Insulin Resistance, Metabolic Syndrome, Retinol Binding Protein 4 (RBP-4), Saturated Fatty Acids | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Palmitoleic Acid: de Novo Lipogenesis Marker?

‘Weight’ Loss Diets: Fat or Muscle?

Posted on November 5, 2013 by Robert Barrington

That forced calorie restriction diets cause short-term ‘weight’ loss in not contentious. Evidence from clinical trails shows that energy restriction causes weight loss for the first 6 to 12 months. However, that these diets are not effective at causing body … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy Expenditure, Weight Loss | Tagged | Comments Off on ‘Weight’ Loss Diets: Fat or Muscle?

Fish Oil: Keep it Cold, Keep it Dark

Posted on November 4, 2013 by Robert Barrington

Fish oil is beneficial to the health because of the long-chain trienoic, pentaenoic and hexaenoic polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) that it contains. In particular, the omega 3 fatty acids eicosapentanoic acid (EPA, C20:5 (n-3)) and docosahexanoic acid (DHA, C22:6 (n-3)) … Continue reading →

Posted in Alpha Linolenic Acid, Antioxidant, Docosahexaenoic Acid, Docosapentaenoic Acid, Eicosanoids, Eicosapentaenoic Acid, Eicosatraenoic Acid, Essential Fatty Acids, Fish, Fish Oils, Linoleic Acid | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Fish Oil: Keep it Cold, Keep it Dark

The Western Diets: No Plant Food Required

Posted on November 3, 2013 by Robert Barrington

Evidence suggests that sodium chloride is not responsible for the hypertension epidemic in developed nations. Studies investigating the effects of salt have found that while a small sub-population of individuals may be affected negatively by salt, normal healthy individuals can … Continue reading →

Posted in Blood Pressure, Calcium, Fibre, Magnesium, Micronutrients, Phosphorus, Potassium, Starch, Vitamin C | Tagged , | Comments Off on The Western Diets: No Plant Food Required

Forced Calorie Restriction Diets: More Evidence of Failure

Posted on November 2, 2013 by Robert Barrington

Many people believe that fat loss is only possible with forced calorie restriction. This is so ingrained in the psyche of the mainstream arena that to question the idea results in an incredulous response. That forced calorie restriction does not … Continue reading →

Posted in Body Fat, Insulin Resistance, Leptin, Weight Loss | Tagged | Comments Off on Forced Calorie Restriction Diets: More Evidence of Failure

Conjugated Linoleic Acid: Improves Body Composition

Posted on November 1, 2013 by Robert Barrington

Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is a group of structurally related isomers of the essential fatty acid linoleic acid (LA, C18:2 (n-6)) (figure 1 and 2). Conjugated linoleic acid is of interest to nutritional scientists and athletes because it may be … Continue reading →

Posted in Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA), Linoleic Acid, Weight Loss | Tagged , | Comments Off on Conjugated Linoleic Acid: Improves Body Composition