Olive oil -- the unsaturated fat that’s great for your heart -- is making headlines again. But this time it’s for helping something a little lower down: your stomach. Research suggests that polyphenols in olive oil may inhibit the bacterium that causes most stomach ulcers. Heard of H. Pylori?Antibiotics are the treatment gold standard for Helicobacter (H.) pylori, the ulcer-causing bacterium that’s tough enough to survive the acidity of people’s stomachs. But resistant strains of H. pylori are now found worldwide. Fortunately, some researchers are seeking alternative therapies, and in recent studies, the polyphenols in olive oil showed tremendous potential. Not only could they withstand the harsh gastric juices of the stomach, but they also seemed to kill off H. pylori pretty handily -- even antibiotic-resistant strains. Find out how to tell the difference between the burn of a stomach ulcer and the heat of heartburn. Olive Oil Power BoostersTo protect the polyphenols in your olive oil and get the most out of the stuff, store it in a dark bottle away from sunlight, and don’t overheat it. (Check out how the YOU Docs suggest heating your olive oil.) Recipe CornerSqueeze more olive oil into your day with these simple-to-do EatingWell recipes:
Give sauteed veggies a lift with Herbed Extra-Virgin Olive Oil.
Kick up the flavor of salads with a quick homemade dressing. Try this easy Basic Vinaigrette.
Set out these 10-minute Garlic-Herb Marinated Olives at your next soiree.
RealAge Benefit: Eating a low-fat diet -- and eating healthful unsaturated fats when you do eat fat -- can make your RealAge as much as 6 years younger.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Monday, June 23, 2008
Changing Speeds to Go the Distance
By GRETCHEN REYNOLDS
SARA HALL experienced an instructive epiphany in 2006. In the fall, she’d won the national road-running championship for 5K (3.1 miles), a distance she specialized in at Stanford. At the time, she considered herself a 5K runner. So did everyone else.
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Axel Koester for The New York Times
Sara Hall, an aspiring Olympian runner, trains at UC Riverside by running speed drills around the lap.
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Axel Koester for The New York Times
Hall takes an ice bath after her daily exercise regimen to help with muscle recovery between training sessions.
A few weeks later, everything changed when she won the Fifth Avenue Mile in New York, a glamour event in American road racing. “Afterward, I thought, ‘That’s my distance,’ ” she said. “It plays to my strengths. I loved the fast pace. I’m not a patient runner.”
Today, Hall, 25, is laser-focused on training for the 1,500 meters (0.93 mile) in hopes of making the United States Olympic team in middle distance running.
She and her coach, Terrence Mahon, who also coaches Hall’s husband, Ryan Hall, the winner of the United States Olympic team men’s marathon trial, have increased her speed work and reconfigured how much she’s running and her intensity.
“Her work capacity has gone through the roof,” Mahon said, and she can run greater distances faster than ever before. Which makes her current regimen a good model for how recreational runners — not just the elite — can get swifter and sharper, and perhaps even decide that they have been racing the wrong distance all along.
SPEED THRILLS
“I’m not running as far these days,” Hall said, compared with the distances she ran in high school and college. That might come as a surprise to anyone who learns that her average weekly mileage remains 85 to 90 (compared with her husband’s 140-plus). A typical training week includes easy running on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday (usually twice a day). Hall, who can run almost a four-minute mile, lopes through these 30- or 50-minute workouts at a leisurely mile pace of 7 minutes. (To accurately figure her mile splits, she wears a watch equipped with G.P.S.) On Saturday, she takes a 14-mile run at a pace (5 minutes 45 seconds per mile) that is between what she runs in races and her easy days.
Then there are the fast, hard interval sessions at a track on Tuesdays and Thursdays. These hurt because they are supposed to. “You stress the body to get it to adapt” to the mechanical and physiological demands of speed, Mahon said. A typical Tuesday session includes two miles of warm-up, six miles of intervals and three miles of cool-down.
Anyone not aiming for an Olympic qualifying time should adjust speed-training mileage downward, Mahon said. “Go to a track and run a mile flat-out” and record your time, he said. Your ideal pace for a 5K race would be around 95 percent as fast per mile. Then implement what Mahon calls “over-speed and under-speed training.” In over-speed, you sprint through quarter-miles, 800 meters and other intervals at a speed faster than your 5K pace (close to your top mile time). Don’t run more than two fast miles.
For under-speed work, time your interval splits to be a little slower than your 5K pace, with shorter rest periods than those within the over-speed intervals. Total mileage can be four to six miles. Cool down with a gentle jog of about half your total interval distance.
Try sprinting one week, and running slower the next or, if you’re an experienced racer, both in separate sessions in a week. Don’t, despite its discomforts, worm out of speed work. “The most common mistake” that recreational runners make, Mahon said, “is running the same pace all the time.” Occasionally making yourself run fast, he said, “is the only way to make yourself a fast runner.”
STRIDE RIGHT
Hall kicks like a mule when she runs. She’s trying to stop. “This year, we’ve been totally focused on my form,” she said. “I tend to lean forward and I have a big back kick.” This slightly toppling stance lessens the power of her strides, and also has made her prone to being tripped up from behind during races.
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Tuesday, June 03, 2008
The Six Habits for a Six-Pack
Losing belly flab is a boring process. It requires time, hard work, and most important, dedication. Take the right steps every single day, and you'll ultimately carve out your six-pack. But if you stray from your plan even a few times a week — which most men do — you'll probably never see your abs.
1. Wake up to water
Imagine not drinking all day at work — no coffee, no water, no diet soda. At the end of an 8-hour shift, you'd be pretty parched. Which is precisely why you should start rehydrating immediately after a full night's slumber. From now on, drink at least 16 ounces of chilledH2Oas soon as you rise in the morning. German scientists recently found that doing this boosts metabolism by 24 percent for 90 minutes afterward. (A smaller amount of water had no effect.) What's more, a previous study determined that muscle cells grow faster when they're well hydrated. A general rule of thumb: Guzzle at least a gallon of water over the course of a day.
2. Eat breakfast every day
A University of Massachusetts study showed that men who skip their morning meal are 4 1/2 times more likely to have bulging bellies than those who don't. So within an hour of waking, have a meal or protein shake with at least 250 calories. British researchers found that breakfast size was inversely related to waist size. That is, the larger the morning meal, the leaner the midsection. But keep the meal's size within reason: A 1,480-calorie smoked-sausage scramble at Denny's is really two breakfasts, so cap your intake at 500 calories. For a quick way to fuel up first thing, I like this recipe: Prepare a package of instant oatmeal and mix in a scoop of whey protein powder and 1/2 cup of blueberries.
3. As you eat, review your goals...
Don't worry, I'm not going all Tony Robbins on you. (I don't have enough teeth.) But it's important that you stay aware of your mission. University of Iowa scientists found that people who monitored their diet and exercise goals most frequently were more likely to achieve them than were goal setters who rarely reviewed their objectives.
4. ...and then pack your lunch
My personal Igloo cooler just celebrated its 19th anniversary. I started carrying it with me every day back in college. Of course, it often housed a six-pack of beer — until I decided to compete in the Purdue bodybuilding championship. (Second place, by the way.) Once I knew I'd have to don a banana hammock in public (the world's best motivator), I began to take the contents of my cooler seriously. And so should you. In fact, this habit should be as much a part of your morning ritual as showering. Here's what I recommend packing into your cooler:
— An apple (to eat as a morning snack)
— Two slices of cheese (to eat with the apple)
— A 500- to 600-calorie portion of leftovers (for your lunch)
— A premixed protein shake or a pint of milk (for your afternoon snack)
By using this approach, you'll keep your body well fed and satisfied throughout the day without overeating. You'll also provide your body with the nutrients it needs for your workout, no matter what time you exercise. Just as important, you'll be much less likely to be tempted by the office candy bowl. In fact, my personal rule is simple: I don't eat anything that's not in the cooler.
5. Exercise the right way
Everyone has abs, even if people can't always see them because they're hidden under a layer of flab. That means you don't need to do endless crunches to carve out a six-pack. Instead, you should spend most of your gym time burning off blubber.
The most effective strategy is a one-two approach of weight-lifting and high-intensity interval training. According to a recent University of Southern Maine study, half an hour of pumping iron burns as many calories as running at a 6-minute-per-mile pace for the same duration. (And it has the added benefit of helping you build muscle.) What's more, unlike aerobic exercise, lifting has been shown to boost metabolism for as long as 39 hours after the last repetition. Similar findings have been noted for intervals, which are short, all-out sprints interspersed with periods of rest.
For the best results, do a total-body weight-training workout 3 days a week, resting at least a day between sessions. Then do an interval-training session on the days in between. To make it easy on you, I've created the ultimate fat-burning plan, which appears on this month's workout poster.
6. Skip the late shows
You need sleep to unveil your six-pack. That's because lack of shut-eye may disrupt the hormones that control your ability to burn fat. For instance, University of Chicago scientists recently found that just 3 nights of poor sleep may cause your muscle cells to become resistant to the hormone insulin. Over time, this leads to fat storage around your belly.
To achieve a better night's sleep, review your goals again 15 minutes before bedtime. And while you're at it, write down your plans for the next day's work schedule, as well as any personal chores you need to accomplish. This can help prevent you from lying awake worrying about tomorrow ("I have to remember to e-mail Johnson"), which can cut into quality snooze time.
By Bill Hartman, P.T., C.S.C.S., Men's Health
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
4 Ways to Baby Your Liver
It can be as simple as living clean, adding crunch, and eyeing your supplements. Here’s what we mean by that.
Vital Parts
Your liver isn't just a place to filter out tequila shots. All of the blood that has visited your small intestine flows through the liver, where it gets detoxified. A big job, but something has to do it. Michael Roizen, MD, and Mehmet Oz, MD, RealAge experts and authors of the best-selling, newly expanded YOU: The Owner's Manual,
have four tips for helping your liver help you. - Live clean. Reduce your personal pollution so there's less to filter out. Drink filtered water, eat unprocessed foods, choose veggie protein over red meat, and practice safe sex. And yes, keep the mojitos to a minimum. (For a teetotaler drink that's just as festive and tasty, try this Green Tea and Mango Splash.)
- Add crunchy veggies. Cruciferous produce (like broccoli and cabbage), B-rich foods (like whole grains), and high C items (like citrus fruit and leafy greens) assist the liver's detoxifying process. (Here's what else cruciferous veggies do for your health.)
- Consider a supplement. Lecithin (egg yolks and soybeans are good sources) and zinc (look up food sources here) support liver function, and you may want to consider supplementing your diet with them if you don't get much naturally. Herbs like milk thistle and dandelion may help liver function, too, but consult your doctor before taking them.
- Don't take too much vitamin A. If you do, you risk liver problems, including cirrhosis. (Learn more about the dangers of vitamin A overload.)
Monday, February 18, 2008
Energy Bars 101
Energy bars, granola bars, snack bars, nutrition bars, diet bars, protein bars, meal-replacement bars . . . whatever you call them, the bar you want depends on what you want it to do for you. The ingredients, calorie counts, fat grams, and vitamin and mineral values are all over the map, so to get what you need, you have to know what to look for. Here's a cheat sheet.
Fuel a Long Workout: Energy bars were originally invented to deliver a massive concentration of carbs to fuel marathoners during a run or replenish them afterward. Yes, you could carry a potato in your pocket, but a bar that's high in complex carbs and fiber (at least 3 grams) will wreak less havoc with your blood sugar, and the benefits will last longer. Look for one like the Oatmeal Raisin Walnut Clif Bar, which has about 70% of its 240 calories coming from carbs. Plus, it has 8 grams of fiber.
Help Build Muscle: First, look for 15 to 35 grams of high-quality protein -- from whey, soy, casein, and/or egg whites -- to give your body the building material needed to repair muscle fibers. Skip bars containing "hydrolyzed proteins" made from mysterious animal parts. Next, check the fat, especially the saturated fat. You want the least sat fat possible, and definitely no more than 3 grams. One good choice: Trim Advantage Protein Bar -- Mixed Berry Smoothie, with 21 grams of protein but only 1 gram of saturated fat.
Replace a Meal: The built-in calorie and portion control of meal-replacement and diet bars can help you lose weight, say researchers . . . as long as you really do replace one meal with one bar. As for nutrients, most meal bars have plenty of carbs and are usually low in fat, but check their protein: You need 50 grams or more a day, depending on how active you are. Some low-cal meal bars don't have much protein. For instance, Slim-Fast Meal Options Breakfast & Lunch Bars (140 and 150 calories, depending on flavor) have only 5 or 6 grams of protein. For about 100 more calories, you can get three times the protein (15 grams) in a Trim Advantage Meal Replacement Bar.
Have a Healthy Snack: Think "small is beautiful." A snack bar should be smaller than a meal-replacement bar, and you need to watch the fat and sugar (stay below 18 grams). Steer clear of those made with high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), which brings with it all sorts of health and weight-gain issues. Some snack bars are as calorie-packed as a candy bar, so it's worth searching out a truly low-cal one like PowerBar Pria 110 Plus. The various flavors weigh in at only 110 calories.
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