Lifting Weights: Increase Reps or Amount of Weight?

In weight training, is it better to increase the number of repetitions or the amount of weight over time?

A

If by “better,” you mean helps you gain muscle and strength without hurting yourself, then “the answer, to me, is pretty clear,” said Stuart Phillips, a professor of kinesiology at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada. “Lighter weights!”

In a 2012 study by Dr. Phillips and colleagues, published in PLoS ONE, college-aged young men were randomly assigned to a weight training program in which they repeatedly lifted either 30 percent of the maximum weight possible for them until their muscles were exhausted; or 80 percent of their maximum until, again, their arms or legs were noodle-y. Afterward, both groups developed cellular changes related to muscle growth, meaning either routine would add similar amounts of muscle.

But lifting the lighter weights, Dr. Phillips said, also builds muscular endurance, far more so than grunting through fewer repetitions with heavy weights, and results in less risk of muscular injury. As a bonus, completing more repetitions with lighter weights also results in “a greater amount of total work” per session, meaning more calories burned than fewer repetitions with heavier weights.

The key to determining just how much you should be lifting, he continued, is gauging your point of fatigue. To become stronger and leaner, you do need to lift weights until your muscles are exhausted. If you are using the “lighter” weight approach, fatigue should set in after 15 to 20 repetitions, Dr. Phillips said. If you can’t lift a weight that many times, then, in this scenario, it’s too heavy. If you can lift it more than 20 times, the weight is or has become too light for you and it is time to add some heft.

~Gretchen Reynolds, New York Times

9 Foods for Amazing Skin

Cucumber: Cucumber is a virtually a cure-all full of hydrating enzyme-filled water, and hydration is key for youthful, smooth skin. It also contains vitamins B and C, zinc, iron, folic acid, calcium, magnesium and potassium. And it has anti-inflammatory properties, which is why you put the chilled slices over your eyes for a DIY spa treatment - this really works!

Seaweed: Seaweed is rich in B vitamins and minerals such as iron, which helps with healthy blood flow to contribute to radiant skin. It is also naturally low in (bloating) sodium, but high in iodine, to help your thyroid and metabolism function at its peak. Order a seaweed salad when you go for sushi, make it yourself - or add spirulina to your smoothies or diet.

Kale: The sexy, good-for-you green is an excellent source of the beauty vitamins A, C, and E, which have potent anti-aging properties and help promote healthy new cell growth. Kale is also loaded with minerals, such as magnesium and calcium that healthy skin needs. Make a green juice or massage a kale salad stat.

Papaya: Papaya’s gorgeous reddish color is due to its high content of beta-carotene, which converts to vitamin A in the body, and acts like a mechanic of on-going skin repair. The enzyme papain is used in all kinds of exfoliating facial masks, but when you eat it, it contributes its cleansing properties to your digestion and promotes both bright skin and eyes.

Raw sauerkraut and other probiotic-rich foods: Probiotics are one of the biggest beauty secrets for clear, radiant skin. They encourage the growth of friendly gut flora that helps keep your digestion in check, so there's better nutrient delivery to the skin and entire body. And they help make B vitamins, critical for energy and beauty overall. How to eat more? Add a scoop of sauerkraut to a rice or quinoa bowl with steamed veggies for a zing.

Pumpkin seeds: A handful of these are like taking your B vitamins and biotin, an essential nutrient for strengthening hair, nails, and skin. Pumpkin seeds are also high in minerals, such as zinc, which in deficiency can lead to issues such as acne. Sprinkle them over anything from yogurt and salads to rice bowls and fish.

My personal favorite: chia seeds: They're an unbelievable source of essential fatty acids that nourish the skin and scalp. Chia seeds also contain skin-saving antioxidants (in the ballpark of blueberries) that fight free-radical damage. Be sure to soak them first before eating, or add them to a pudding or smoothie.


Cabbage: The humble cabbage is actually a wonderful beauty food. It's high in fiber and contains the compound sulforaphane, which promotes anti-aging antioxidant activity in the body. It's also high in vitamin C. How to eat more? Add sliced purple cabbage to your salads, add it to brown rice, soup, egg dishes, sandwiches.....anywhere!!

Lemon: I recommend starting each day with hot water with the juice of 1/2 a lemon. It gives you a boost of vitamin C, and this simple drink starts you off in the day hydrated, and with a perfectly balanced pH. Lemon’s enzymes have also been shown to help rejuvenate liver tissue and help support skin collagen.

~thanks to Kimberly Snyder

Shopping Yourself Slim

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Turmeric Juice

In the spirit of spring cleaning, I'll be posting some  recipes this month for detoxification, focusing on foods that purify the digestive system - like antioxidant-rich turmeric. This first recipe is smoother than many bottled brands. Orange, carrot, coconut water and agave nectar balance the root’s natural bitterness, while lemon and ginger give it a lift. You might make it your daily “orange” juice, if not for turmeric’s anti-inflammatory and antibacterial benefits, then for its taste. INGREDIENTS 1 cold orange 1 cold lemon Six 2-inch-long knobs of fresh turmeric 2 medium carrots, ends trimmed One 2½-inch-long piece of fresh ginger ¾ cup cold coconut water, plus more for taste 1 teaspoon agave nectar, plus  DIRECTIONS

1. Slice the ends of the orange and the lemon so they stand upright. Working from top to bottom, slice away the rind and the bitter white pith. 2. Pass the orange, lemon, turmeric, carrots and ginger through a juicer, discarding the solids. 3. To the juice, add the coconut water and agave. Adjust with more agave or coconut water as needed for sweetness. Serve immediately. Calories per Serving: 140; Sodium: 60mg; Carbohydrate: 33g; Fiber: 5g; Fat: 2g ~from the Tasting Table

April 7 is World Health Day!

What can we do to improve World health? It begins with each of us: 1. Eat more vegetables and fruits Less than one in three Americans meets the minimum goal of eating two servings of fruit and three servings of vegetables each day, as recommended by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). However, eating less than the USDA’s ideal recommendation of three-to-four servings of fruit and four-to-six servings of vegetables every day, can result in getting 80 percent fewer nutrients than are needed to maintain a healthy diet. Failing to meet these guidelines increases the risk of heart attack, stroke, obesity, and some cancers. Veggies & fruits are high in nutrients, low in calories and contain no saturated fat. Kale, cabbage and carrots are excellent options, as are organic apples. 2. Strengthen soil with intercropping, agroforestry, and cover crops. Many essential nutrients come from the soil, making soil health critical to producing nutritious food. Intercropping with legumes, including alfalfa or peas, helps return nitrogen to the soil and support healthy plant growth. Using cover crops, which can be ploughed into fields after harvest and return nutrients to the soil helps increase the amount of nutrients in food. Planting trees on farms, agroforestry, also helps keep nutrients and water in the soil. Avoid fertilizer out of a bag unless it's chemical-free. 3. Know your nutrients! Many don’t know that kale, sesame seeds, dried figs, salmon and broccoli are excellent sources of calcium. Dark green, leafy vegetables are also rich in vitamin K, which is similar to vitamin D in the way it helps the human body make the most of the calcium in food. The Harvard School of Public Health website features a section called The Nutrition Source, which offers an easy to browse list of topics on specific nutrients in foods and the benefits of different products, such as coffee or fish oil. 4. Support family farmers Small and medium scale family farm are more likely than big farms to produce nutrient-rich crops, using practices that help keep nutrients in the soil. Family farmers also produce more more nutrient-dense foods, including fruits and vegetables. The United Nations declared 2014 the International Year of the Family Farmer to honor and support these individuals. Buying food at farmers markets and joining a CSA can be good ways to support family farms and help build the local economy. 5. Choose whole grains Whole grains still make up less than the recommended half of total grain use in the U.S. Whole grains are also low-cost sources of protein and fiber, and can  help reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer, type-2 diabetes, and other diseases.  When shopping, look for 100 percent whole wheat. Or opt for Gluten-Free grains, such as quinoa, millet and buckwheat. 6. Eat out less The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) reports that some American restaurants serve portions up to eight times those recommended by the USDA and U.S. Food and Drug Administration.Not only does this encourage overeating, but restaurant and take-away food is generally less healthy than food prepared at home. Eating home cooked meals is the best way to manage portion sizes and monitor intake of healthy carbs, proteins and fats. 7. Buy and grow organic The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine found that organic fruits and vegetables repeatedly had equal or greater nutrient content than the same conventional produce. The Environmental Working Group publishes an annual Shopper’s Guide assessing which fruits and vegetables have the most pesticides, the "Dirty Dozen". In 2012, apples, celery, and sweet bell peppers were in the top three; however, oranges, avocados and pineapples were among the safest foods to buy as conventional. 8. Choose grass-fed meat Lean meat can contain many valuable nutrients that support a healthy diet. Grass-fed meat has less saturated fat than conventional corn- and grain-fed meat products. The U.S. Mayo Clinic also reports that grass-fed meat has higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids, linoleic acid, and antioxidant vitamins, such as vitamin E. When choosing animal products, two of the best labels to look for are “organic” and “pasture-raised.” This will also avoid the intake of antibiotics and hormones used in conventional meat, poultry and dairy products. 9. Support indigenous, heritage, and heirloom A study from the University of Texas, Austin found that the amount of nutrients in forty-three different food crops have significantly decreased since 1950. The researchers concluded that the most likely causes were changes in the plants themselves. Since 1950, agriculture has focused on crop yields, but as crops grow bigger and faster they don't absorb and create nutrients at the equally faster rate. Heritage breeds of farm animals and heirloom plant varieties, which have not been bred for increased yields, maintain their nutritious qualities. Many indigenous vegetables, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, are also highly nutritious and well suited to local growing conditions. The Christensen Fund, Slow Food International, and other organizations are working in biologically diverse regions around the world to reignite an interest in--and a taste for--indigenous vegetables. In honor of World Health Day, Food Tank: The Food Think Tank is highlighting the importance of nutritious, environmentally sustainable food in combating hypertension, obesity, malnutrition, and other diseases every day on our website. There’s much that can be done to increase the nutritional quality of food, both at home and around the world! And know this is the first step in preventive medicine!

Women and Eye Health

It turns out that women and men really do see the world differently, in the most literal sense.  Not only are women more likely to suffer from eye diseases and conditions than men, new research suggests that there are differences in our basic visual function. The "Vision Problems in the U.S." study from Prevent Blindness America (PBA) and the National Eye Institute (NEI) shows that of the more than 3.6 million Americans age 40 and older who suffer from visual impairment, including blindness, 2.3 million are women. Dr. Janine Austin Clayton, the National Institute of Health's Director of the Office of Research on Women's Health, got her start in the field of ophthalmology, where she discovered specific eye diseases that affect women disproportionately. In an NPR Tell Me More segment entitled "Women's Health: More Than Bikini Medicine", host Michel Martin asked Clayton what prompted her to look at sex differences in ophthalmology. Clayton said it was because of "the preponderance of women that I was seeing as patients time after time; 9 out of 10 of the people I was seeing as patients were women." Why are women more likely to be afflicted by certain eye diseases and conditions? The answer lies mainly in the hormonal fluctuations that occur throughout the woman's life cycle. Hormones are chemicals that regulate important body functions that can affect the eyes, and when they change, so can your eyesight. From puberty to menopause, women are constantly subject to changing hormonal levels. Women on birth control pills, for example, may experience changes in eyesight, and women who are pregnant or menopausal often experience dry, irritated eyes.   Eye diseases and conditions that women are more prone to include:  Cataracts: A cataract is a clouding of the lens in the eye, caused by a buildup of protein, which prevents light from passing clearly through the eye and causes some loss of vision. The clouded vision caused by cataracts may make it difficult to do everyday activities such as driving a car or reading an expression on someone's face. If left untreated, cataracts can cause blindness. Diabetic Retinopathy: Diabetic retinopathy is a disease that affects some people with diabetes. It usually affects both eyes and occurs when insufficient oxygen is delivered to the retina, damaging retinal blood vessels, causing them to leak and the retina to swell. Let untreated, diabetic retinopathy can cause vision loss or blindness. Dry Eye Syndrome: Dry eye syndrome is a condition in which the eye produces an insufficient amount of natural tears. Symptoms range from mild to moderate, including ocular discomfort, burning, stinging, and tired eyes. Glaucoma: Glaucoma is a group of diseases that can harm the eye's optic nerve and cause vision loss and blindness. Peripheral vision is lost first and generally occurs slowly and gradually. Macular Degeneration: Macular degeneration is the destruction of the macular, which is the central retina of the eye. The more common "dry" macular degeneration is slow and gradual, while "wet" macular degeneration may occur more quickly. Unlike glaucoma, macular generation affects the center of the field vision first. Regarding the difference in basic visual function between women and men, a recent study in the journal Biology of Sex Differences suggests that men's eyes are more sensitive to small details and moving objects, while women are more sensitive to color changes.  Israel Abramov, a researcher at the City University of New York, and his team tested large groups of young adults (males and females over age 16) who had 20/20 sight (with or without the help of glasses or contacts) and normal color vision. A test designed to measure sense of contrast involved showing participants images made up of light and dark bars that varied in width and alternated in color, so they appeared to flicker. Results demonstrated that male volunteers were better than female at identifying the more rapidly changing images made up of thinner bars.  In another part of the study, researchers asked volunteers to describe the different colors displayed to them. Researchers found that female volunteers were better able than males at telling the difference between hues, and the men required a slightly longer wavelength of a color to experience the same shade as the women.      Now that we know that women are more likely to suffer from eye diseases and conditions, it is very important that we take steps to promote our eye health.  Take a look at some tips below! Sources:  http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/eyediagram/eyeimages3.asp   http://lighthouse.org/eye-health/womens-eye-health/ http://www.webmd.com/eye-health/good-eyesight http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/can-hormones-affect-my-eyesight http://www.livescience.com/22894-men-and-women-see-things- http://www.reviewjournal.com/life/health/women-suffer-eye-problems?submitted=y  http://nihseniorhealth.gov/   http://womenshealth.gov/  ~from the Women's Health Research Institute

Soul-Satisfying Snacks

Do your food habits make you cranky? Longing for a mid-afternoon nap? Or craving sweet, caffeinated treats? If you answered “yes” to any of the questions above, you’re in need of a snack overhaul. Healthy snacks are part of a healthy diet because they help you maintain stable blood sugar levels throughout the day, which helps stave off irritability, midday sleepiness, and the sudden, intense desire for sweets.

The ideal snack (like any healthy meal) consists of lean protein, healthy fat, and fiber-rich carbohydrate. When you eat a snack with each of these components–P, F, and C–your body makes use of each appropriately, slowly converting small amounts of the food into sugar to give you the energy you need. Conversely, in the absence of PFC your body tends to convert the food to sugar more rapidly. As this sugar surges into your bloodstream, it triggers the release of insulin from your pancreas, which in turn causes your sugar level to crash precipitously shortly thereafter. These swings in blood sugar are exactly what you’re trying to avoid. 

Consider keeping any of the following healthy snacks on hand when you’re in the office or for days when you’re on the go:

Nuts and Seeds + Fruits and Veggies

Quick tips: Stick with raw, unsalted nuts. If berries are out of season, buy frozen organic berries (with nothing else added) and defrost them, a cup at a time, so they’re ready whenever you need them.

In the Office
2 tablespoons (tbsp) almond butter +  an apple
2 tbsp almond butter +  raspberries/cherries
2 tbsp sunflower seed butter +  pomegranate arils on a brown rice cracker
2 tbsp sunflower seed butter +  blueberries
2 tbsp peanut butter +  celery sticks

On the Go
Trail mix with dried coconut and dark chocolate chips (be wary of trail mixes with lots of dried fruit, and/or M&Ms, etc.)
1 small handful of walnuts & 2 dried apricots chopped into small pieces
1 small handful of pecans & 2 tbsp dried goji berries
1 small handful of pistachios

Vegetables + Whole Grains + Legumes

Quick tip: Tired of humdrum hummus? Try a garlic, roasted red pepper, or eggplant variety. For hummus and white bean spread recipes, just google - these are very easy to make!

In the Office
Vegetable crudités + whole grain crackers  + 3 to 4 tbsp hummus
Vegetable crudités + brown rice crackers + 3 to 4 tbsp white bean spread

On the Go
1 small handful GMO-free edamame

Dairy + Fruit + Whole Grains

Quick tips: Beware of granola that’s loaded with sugar: Divide the number of grams of sugar by four to get the number of teaspoons in one serving.  (For example, 12g sugar = 3 tsp of sugar).  Ideally sugar should account for less than 10% of your total daily caloric intake. Also, be sure that the sugar is from a recognizable source such as honey, maple syrup, brown rice syrup, agave,  raw cane sugar, stevia.

In the Office
1/4 to 1/2 cup unsweetened Greek yogurt + a handful of berries
1/4 to 1/2 cup unsweetened Greek yogurt + 1-2 tbsp minimally and naturally sweetened granola
Half an avocado with a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic or a squeeze of fresh lime (Enjoy this on a whole wheat/brown rice cracker or on its own.)

On the Go
3  to 4 slices of goat cheese + 1 apple or pear
Cherry tomatoes (when in season) with olives + feta cheese (about the size of 2-3 dice)
Hard boiled egg with a sprinkling of sea salt (on a cracker or on its own)

Size Matters

All too often snacks are misconstrued as full meals. If you’re really hungry, know that choosing nutrient-dense foods with lower caloric values, such as fruits and vegetables mixed with a little healthy fat and protein (such as the aforementioned) will help you achieve satiety, and avoid blood sugar swings.  Calories can be a helpful gauge here: Do your best to keep snacks within the 100 to 250 calorie range.

Last but not least, remember that variety truly is the spice of life.  Rotation is a vital part of any diet, and that applies to snacks, too— the more you rotate your diet, the greater your intake of a broader variety of nutrients, and the less likely you are to develop of food sensitivities. So, keep it interesting by trying different snacks!

~thanks to Karyn Duggan