Regular Exercise and More Protein

Exercise


Regular exercise reduces large number of health risks including dementia and some cancers, study finds

ScienceDaily (2010-11-16) -- Regular exercise can reduce around two dozen physical and mental health conditions and slow down how quickly the body ages, according to a research review summarizing the key findings of 40 papers published between 2006 and 2010. ... > read full article
 
 Health conditions covered by the review include: cancer, heart disease, dementia, stroke, type 2 diabetes, depression, obesity and high blood pressure.
 
Health benefits identified by the review include:

•Regular moderate to intense physical activity is associated with decreased risk of coronary heart disease and ischaemic and haemorrhagic stroke.

•A growing body of evidence suggests that increasing physical activity can also reduce the risk of certain types of cancers, osteoporosis, type 2 diabetes, depression, obesity and high blood pressure.

•Evidence of the beneficial effects of physical activity in the primary prevention and management of cancer is growing and there is an association between higher levels of physical activity and lower cancer death rates.

•Research has found that walking or cycling for at least an half-an-hour a day is associated with a reduction in cancer and that when this is increased to an hour cancer incidence falls by 16 per cent.

•Evidence is mixed when it comes to specific cancers. Research has shown a strong relationship between increased physical activity and reduced colon cancer in both sexes. And men who are more active at work -- not just sitting at a desk -- have lower rates of prostate cancer.

•Other cancer studies show that physical activity after diagnosis can aid recovery and improve outcomes.

•Studies have also shown that men who are physically active are less likely to experience erection problems.

•There is growing evidence that physical activity could decrease the risk of dementia in the elderly.

Diet


Eating mostly whole grains, few refined grains linked to lower body fat

ScienceDaily (2010-10-20) -- People who consume several servings of whole grains per day while limiting daily intake of refined grains appear to have less of a type of fat tissue thought to play a key role in triggering cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, a new study suggests. ... > read full article

More protein, less refined starch important for dieting, large study shows

ScienceDaily (2010-11-26) -- If you want to lose weight or avoid gaining weight, you should cut down on finely refined starch calories such as white bread and white rice and instead eat a diet that is high in proteins with more lean meat, low-fat dairy products and beans, large scale study suggests. ... > read full article

The five diet types:

The design comprised the following five diet types:
•A low-protein diet (13% of energy consumed) with a high glycemic index (GI)*

•A low-protein, low-GI diet

•A high-protein (25% of energy consumed), low-GI diet

•A high-protein, high-GI diet

•A control group which followed the current dietary recommendations without special instructions regarding glycemic index levels.

A high-protein, low-GI diet worked best.

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