Understanding a person’s metabolism – the process in which the body converts food consumed into fuel to expend during all of its functions – is a key component to any successful weight/fat loss program. Resting metabolic rate (RMR) represents roughly 65% of all the calories a person expends during a day - keeping the heart beating, temperature control, breathing, and circulation activities.  Some people have a fast metabolism – one that effectively processes and converts the food you eat into...

The Journal of the American College of Cardiology reported on the results of a modeling study in August 2022 that concluded, “the association of CRF (cardiorespiratory fitness) and mortality risk across the age spectrum (including septuagenarians and octogenarians), men, women, and all races was inverse, independent, and graded. No increased risk was observed with extreme fitness.” The study – "Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Mortality Risk Across the Spectra of Age, Race, and Sex" – further...

Sarcopenia is the aging loss of lean muscle, resulting from a loss of strength – dynapenia – and a related anabolic resistance – the inability to regenerate lean muscle at the same rate, as a younger individual. This degenerative process can begin without interventions, such as increased protein intake and resistance training, in the fourth decade and accelerate after the age of sixty. New research – Dietary Protein Intake Is Positively Associated with Appendicular Lean Mass (ALM) and...

Dementia, which globally effected over 50 million people in 2019, is characterized by a progressive and unrelenting deterioration of mental capacity – compromising everyday activities.   Dementia is a symptom of underlying brain degeneration caused by vascular disease or traumatic brain injury, such as from accidents or contact sports like American football, brain tumors, and the list goes on. Dementia is classified into two distinct areas: Alzheimer disease and vascular dementia. Since a...

In August of 1985, I designed and implemented the performance nutrition and conditioning plan that transformed the former undisputed World Light Heavyweight Champion Michael Spinks from his light heavyweight weigh-in weight of 175 pounds to 200 pounds.  On September 21st, Spinks won a 15-round historic victory over the reining, undisputed World Heavyweight Champion Larry Holmes. Previously, no light heavyweight boxer had ever successfully moved up and beaten the world heavyweight champion....

Researchers from multiple departments of Boston University report in October 2021 in JAMA Network Open that a higher midlife estimated cardiorespiratory fitness level was associated with a lower burden of subclinical atherosclerosis and vascular stiffness, along with a lower risk of hypertension, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, and mortality.  Vascular stiffness refers to left ventricular afterload and the resulting coronary perfusion – leading to cardiovascular...

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is still the leading cause of death worldwide. The good news is that modifying CVD risk factors, such as an unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, not smoking, and limiting alcohol intake, can reduce the risk to complications, an early demise, or unnecessary risk to Covid-19 and its pervasive variants. A recent study – "Using an Erythrocyte Fatty Acid Fingerprint to Predict Risk of All-Cause Mortality: The Framingham Offspring Cohort "– appearing in the June 2021...

New research – "Mild Cognitive Impairment and Dementia Reported by Former Professional Football Players over 50 Years of Age,  An NFL-Long Study", which appeared in the March 2022 issue of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, reports on the increased risk that former NFL players over the age of 50 have for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) A diverse group of researchers from the Department of Exercise and Sports Science and Center for the Study of Retired Athletes, University of...

CDC.gov says that each year millions of people over 65 years of age fall – with one out of five causing serious injury, such as broken bones, or head injury, while three million older individuals are treated in emergency rooms for fall injuries. Over 800,000 older patients are hospitalized due to fall injury – most often head and hip trauma. Researchers from the faculty of Kinesiology, University of Regina and College of Kinesiology, University of Saskatchewan in Canada report that...

In light of the ongoing, world-wide death rate attributed to Covid-19, combining a healthy lifestyle with recognized medical interventions – vaccines and medications – is critical to address the current and future pandemics.  Healthy interventions include physical activity, following an anti-inflammatory eating plan – emphasizing fruits, vegetables, omega-3 fish (Mediterranean diet) - minimizing the effects of Covid-associated stress (diminished social interaction), and developing healthy...

The advent of wearable devices that track daily step count has provided not only population-based weight loss guidelines, but also recommendations for cardiovascular improvement.   Prior physical activity national guidelines recommended at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-to-vigorous-intensity exercise – which did not quantify stepping intensity with mortality risk. Until now, most research has been targeted to an older demographic versus a younger, racially diverse population....

Human beings possess an internal time management mechanism (circadian central clock) that coordinates dark and light activities, while managing such activities as, skeletal muscle preservation, liver health, and fat tissue (peripheral clock), that occur during fasting (especially night-time), activity, and the recovery-repair process that occurs during sleep. As we age or when we succumb to certain conditions and disease processes, like insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes, homeostasis...

It’s estimated in the U.S. that five million young athletes compete on high school swim teams – with an additional 336,000 competing on club teams. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), says between 2015-2016, 22,000 college swimmers were participating in competitive leagues. Master level swimmers, who may reenter to compete in the sport at an older age, number about 65,000. According to Swim-Training Volume and Shoulder Pain Across the Life Span of the Competitive Swimmer: A...

In 2018, the World Health Organization said the prevalence of a cancer diagnosis reached 18.1 million people – with 9.6 million cancer deaths.  Positive lifestyle – such as exercise and diet – reduce the risk to certain forms of cancer.  Adherence to a Mediterranean-style eating strategy – higher intake of fruit, vegetables, and whole grains, limited lean meat, fish, and olive oil - reduces the risk to colon and breast cancer. Research is still searching for the optimum plan once an...

With the surge of the Delta Covid-19 variant, the world has a new pathogen enemy among us—the hidden terrorist that spares no one, especially those unvaccinated. What began in Wuhan, China in December of 2019 and declared in March of 2020 a pandemic, Covid-19, the disease spawned by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, has transformed life as we know it. It’s here to stay in some form or another. The effects of lockdowns, the use of protective masks, social distancing, and more has had a direct impact on...

Covid-19—the infectious disease initiated by SARS-CoV-2—that primarily attacks respiratory (breathing) function—has not only spread rapidly over the prior year, but also has spawned more contagious variations, such as the current Delta variant. The human immune system—innate and adaptive—activates the body’s response to the Covid-19 antigen. Individuals with comorbidities, like obesity, hypertension, pulmonary dysfunction, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease, are at increased risk to adverse...

In 2007, my book, Lean & Hard – the body you’ve always wanted in 24 workouts, was published by John Wiley & Sons. L&H offered a comprehensive six week, four workouts per week diet, nutritional supplement schedule, resistive exercise, and sprint-interval program, all designed to increase lean muscle mass.  The L&H book was based on a research study of my concepts that followed a cross section of athletes and non-athletes over six weeks, when I was an Associate Professor in the...

Prior research has established that the consumption of green tea or coffee has been said to reduce the all-cause mortality in the general public. However, as to the similar effects in those with health challenges, such as diabetes, research is either controversial or devoid – until now. Japanese researchers publishing the “Additive Effects of Green Tea and Coffee on All-Cause Mortality in Patients with Type-2 Diabetes Mellitus: the Fukuoka Diabetes Registry”, which appeared in October 2020 in...

When the Covid-19 management strategy unfolded over 2020—which included assessment, treatment, prevention, and immunization—return to normal safety protocols became a complex, yet vital part, of preventing further devastation to human life and the world’s economy. As time and the control of the coronavirus disease unfolded, the major North American professional sports leagues were among the first to implement a return-to-play (RTP) scenario—with the appropriate prevention measures in...

Having been exposed to the medical, metabolic, and physiological gender-based factors associated with weight gain, weight loss, body composition changes, and the psychological aspects in a diverse cross-section of male and female participants in my prior hospital-affiliated wellness and weight management programs over the last thirty years, I can attest to the fact that what you eat, when you eat—along with age and health profile, account for many of the complex issues associate with weight...

As the saying goes, the key to longevity is to age gracefully. That includes our skin, the largest organ of the body. Skin aging is defined by its components: natural, heat, and photoaging—critical factors that cause skin aging damage. According to Boosting the Photoaged Skin: The Potential Role of Dietary Components, which appeared in the May 2021 online issue of the journal Nutrients, “skin photoaging is caused by long-term exposure to ultraviolet (UV), and manifests as rough, dry, and...

It’s no secret that being overweight or obese may predispose those individuals to associated diseases – particularly type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and cardiovascular disease.  It’s uncommon to find individuals, who follow plant-based diets in that cohort – due to the high-fiber, low-fat content of vegan-style eating strategies – in conjunction with the increased thermal effect of these diet plans, which accounts for approximately 10% of the total energy expenditure. Another feature of...

According to "Food Timing, Circadian Rhythm and Chrononutrition: A Systematic review of Time-Restricted Eating’s Effects on Human Health," which appeared in the December 2020 issue of the online, peer-reviewed journal Nutrients, “a recent systematic review and meta-analysis of 19 studies showed that TRE leads to weight loss and a reduction in fat mass with a preservation of fat-free mass and also has beneficials effects on cardiometabolic parameters, such as blood pressure, fasting glucose...

Prior research, which appeared in the British Journal of Sports Medicine in 2016, corroborates that physical activity has a protective effect against an individual’s overall cancer mortality risk, specifically, as it applies to colorectal and breast cancer. Current research, “Effect of Time of Day of Recreational and Household Physical Activity on Prostate and Breast Cancer Risk (MCC-Spain Study),” which appeared in the September 2020 issue of the International Journal of Cancer, said, “a...