Dietician's Blog

Protein for Muscle Recovery and Growth

admin — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:56:14 +0000

Submitted by Fitness & Health with Dr. Gabe Mirkin Many athletes believe that they can grow larger muscles by taking protein supplements rather than by eating protein in ordinary foods. However, protein powders come from food, and extracts cannot be more efficient than the foods from which they are extracted. All athletes train by stressing and recovering. [...]

Hip Fracture Usually Requires Hip Replacement

admin — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 02:15:11 +0000

Submitted by Fitness & Health with Dr. Gabe Mirkin The most-feared injury among serious bicyclists is a broken hip. The femur hip bone is shaped like a shepherd’s crook. The blood supply to the ball at the top of the hip bone comes in through the neck just below the ball. If the neck or ball [...]

The Hygeine Hypothesis: Hot Debate

admin — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:03:12 +0000

Submitted by Fitness & Health with Dr. Gabe Mirkin The Hygiene Hypothesis proposes that you need to have certain infections to have a healthy immune system. If you are not infected with various common germs, your immunity does not have the chance to practice killing germs and learning the difference between invading organisms and your own [...]

Surgery for Blocked Arteries Questioned

admin — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 14:11:29 +0000

Submitted by Fitness & Health with Dr. Gabe Mirkin What should you do if your doctor tells you that you have blocked coronary arteries? A recent study shows that in people who have blocked arteries and diabetes, the chances of dying or having a major heart attack are the same whether they undergo surgical procedures (bypass [...]

What should you do if your doctor tells you that you have blocked coronary arteries?

admin — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 14:09:08 +0000

Burning During Exercise Differs from Muscle Pain After Exercise

admin — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 15:02:59 +0000

Submitted by Fitness & Health with Dr. Gabe Mirkin The burning you feel in muscles during intense exercise is different from the burning and pain you feel after exercising. Burning during intense exercise is caused by the acidity from accumulation of lactic acid. When your muscles cannot get all the oxygen they need to convert food [...]

Which Blood Pressure Number is More Important?

admin — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 13:45:39 +0000

Submitted by Fitness & Health with Dr. Gabe Mirkin The higher number (systolic) measures pressure when your heart contracts, and the lower (diastolic) reading measures the pressure when your heart relaxes. A recent study followed people with high blood pressure to see which people developed heart attacks (Hypertension, May 26, 2009). The authors found that the [...]

Older People Need More Sunshine

admin — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 16:38:16 +0000

Submitted by Fitness & Health with Dr. Gabe Mirkin A study from the University of Warwick in England shows that more time in the sun can help older people avoid diabetes and heart attacks (Diabetes Care, July 2009). They evaluated 3,262 people aged 50-70 years old in Beijing and Shanghai, China, and found that 94 percent [...]

Drop in Performance? Common Causes

admin — Sun, 31 May 2009 19:41:35 +0000

Submitted by Fitness & Health with Dr. Gabe Mirkin 1) The most common cause of a drop in performance in cycling, or any other sport, is overtraining: going hard when you should go easy. Hard-and- easy refers to intensity (speed and pressure on the pedals), not to total mileage. On one day, you ride very fast [...]

Muscle Soreness, Exercise Injuries and Vitamin D

admin — Thu, 14 May 2009 16:39:29 +0000

Submitted by Fitness & Health with Dr. Gabe Mirkin When doctors don’t know the cause of a patient’s problem, they often give it a fancy name so you will believe they are giving you a useful diagnosis. A perfect example of this is “idiopathic inflammatory myopathy”, which means you have chronic muscle soreness and your doctor [...]

Fructose More Likely than Glucose to Cause Diabetes

admin — Tue, 12 May 2009 05:23:28 +0000

Submitted by Fitness & Health with Dr. Gabe Mirkin Sugared drinks are fattening because the human brain does not recognize liquid sugar as calories to make you eat less food. We get our sugar in drinks in three forms: glucose, fructose and sucrose (glucose and fructose bound together in a single molecule). Now a report from [...]

Caffeine Reduces Muscle Burning During Intense Exercise

admin — Fri, 08 May 2009 12:16:16 +0000

Submitted by Fitness & Health with Dr. Gabe Mirkin Researchers at the University of Illinois report that 300 mg of caffeine (the amount in four cups of coffee) reduces muscle burning during intense exercise in both regular coffee drinkers and in those who do not drink coffee at all (International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise [...]

Why Meat from Mammals is Risky

admin — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 18:01:05 +0000

Submitted by Fitness & Health with Dr. Gabe Mirkin A study of more than 500,000 Americans over 40 shows that those who consume the equivalent of at least a hamburger a day have a 30 percent increased chance of dying during the next 10 years, mostly from heart disease and cancer. Cold cuts, sausage and other [...]

High Insulin = High Breast Cancer Risk

admin — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 02:35:43 +0000

Submitted by Fitness & Health with Dr. Gabe Mirkin Women who have high levels of insulin are at high risk for developing breast cancer (Journal of the National Cancer Institute, January 2009). Insulin stimulates breast cells to grow. Women who are most likely to have high levels of insulin are those who are obese, store fat [...]

Hard exercise should not reduce libido

admin — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 01:55:49 +0000

Submitted by Fitness & Health with Dr. Gabe Mirkin If hard exercise or training causes you to lose interest in making love, get a medical check-up. If your doctor finds nothing wrong with you, you may be training too much. Most endurance athletes have normal blood levels of the male hormones, testosterone and dihydro-testosterone, and lose [...]