An Australian study has determined that daily doses of fish oil  containing omega-3 fats can, when combined with exercise, act as an aid to weight loss.  

The study examined 68 overweight and obese people over a period of three months. They were divided into four groups: one that took fish oil but did no exercise,one that exercised (45-minute walks or running three days a week) but took no fish oil, one given both, and one given neither. 

Those who both took fish oil and exercised lost an average of 4.5 pounds over the course of the study, even though they were given no dietary restrictions. None of the other groups lost any weight at all. The combination worked because the omega-3s increased fat- burning ability by improving the flow of blood to muscles during exercise. 

Omega-3s have also been shown to boost brain functioning and cut the risk of stroke. 

Sources: 

  The Age July 31, 2006 

  News-Medical.net July 31, 2006 

  Reuters July 28, 2006 

As seen at Mercola.com

Date Cited: 11.05.09

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2006/08/17/fish-oil-exercise-keep-the-weight-off.aspx

I want to lose weight, When is the best time to go for a run? First thing in the morning?

Is it the evening? How long should I run for? How many days should I run?

These are some of the most regular questions that seem to be asked.

The answer to the question is that sprint training is one of the best ways to shed that unwanted body fat.

Why?

Rather than going for a ridiculous run for an hour, or jogging at a steady pace, sprint training will have a far more effective result. This is because sprinting creates a massive amount of lactic acid like other taxing exercises such as squats and dead lifts. The lactic acid secretion when released causes an increase in the release of growth hormone.

What is growth Hormone?

Growth hormone is a protein hormone made up of amino acids that are synthesized and secreted by cells in the anterior pituitary which is in the brain. It is secreted in short surges during the first hours of sleep and after exercise, and it only remains in the circulation for a few minutes. So how the whole thing works is that your fat cells have human growth hormone receptors and growth hormone stimulates them to break down triglycerides and suppresses their ability to take up and accumulate circulating lipids. This helps you to burn fat and keep it off! You also need to look after yourself by getting a good night’s sleep, ideally 8 hours. This is because the majority of our growth hormone is released at night. So sprinting during the day and having a good sleep is one of the fastest, most effective methods of fat loss.

This is also a great way to maximise fat loss because it doesn’t give you a negative effect on your strength. Low intensity cardio work such as running for long periods can also work for fat loss, will take twice as long, and at the same time can overstimulate your body and cause you to increase your cortisol, (the stress hormone). This hormone is catabolic, meaning it destroys muscle tissue, which slows down your metabolism!

Here’s an example you could follow.

Sprint 400m then rest for 2 minutes. Do this 4 times.

Then that’s your work out.

Then as the weeks for by decrease the rest period by 20 – 30 seconds. Then once you get down to a minutes rest, increase the sets.

Another option is to sprint 20 seconds flat out then rest 20 seconds. Repeat 6 times for a total of 4 minutes.

Fast Tube by Casper
This problem will quickly lead to weight gain and health problems, as the Hypothalamus gland will constantly send hunger signals and suppress metabolism. This leads to another two problems, insulin resistance and adrenaline resistance.
Insulin resistance is often thought of as the precursor to type II diabetes. What occurs in insulin resistance is that the tissues of the body become immune to insulin and no longer use fuel effectively. The fuel is then stored by the body in our body fat. This leads to a whole host of problems such as poor energy from food and weight gain around the hips and stomach.
Adrenaline resistance is the last problems in the triad of issues that lead to weight gain. What occurs in this phase is due to Leptin not communicating with the brain and giving the signal to burn fat, the fat cells are no longer responsive to Leptin. Adrenaline is the signal for the fat cells to release fat to be burned as fuel. This leads to more fat cells which increase circulating Leptin levels which further increases Leptin resistance which creates further problems.
The reasons that this cycle occurs in people are many and complex. The most common reason is that we eat too much food in general, particularly too many carbohydrates and processed foods. This is conjunction with people being told to snack leads to problems. Every time we eat we release Leptin so the more often we eat, the more resistant the brain becomes to Leptin. Also because we are eating carbohydrates we will release a huge surge of insulin which compounds the matter further.
Another interesting reason for the epidemic of obesity and weight problems that we see today is the birthing process. When we are born we are given a metabolic ‘set point’. What this means is when we are born we have no influence on Leptin. Leptin receives a signal and then activates what our preset body fat percentage will be. The signal that triggers this message from Leptin is a substance in the mother’s breast milk called colostrum. This needs to be received within 6 hours after the birthing event. It is also extremely important for the process of growing and temperature regulation.
What we will now look at is the ways we can rebalance Leptin and bring ourselves back to optimal health. These rules are taken from the book ‘Mastering Leptin’ which is written by Byron J. Richards.
• Never eat after dinner. Leave 11-12 hours between dinner and breakfast. Never go to bed on a full stomach – this is extremely important as Leptin levels peak at night which allows the body to access prime fat burning time. Eating before bed delays this and reduces the amount of fat burning time and alters the Leptin secretion for the next day leading to abnormal food cravings.

• Eat three meals a day. Leave 5-6 hours between meals – This allows the hormones insulin and glucagon to work together optimally. After you eat insulin rises for about 2-3 hours putting you in a fat storage mode. After this time glucagon levels increase which puts us into fat burning mode. If we are snacking all the time we will not receive this message to burn fat from glucagon.

• Do not eat large meals. If overweight, always try to finish a meal when slightly less than full. The full signal will catch up in 10-20 minutes. If we eat large meals we will release too much insulin. This is not good. It will also keep the stomach in good shape as the stomach has to adapt to the size of the meals we put in it. The stomach is only about the size of our two fists put together and has incredible capacity to stretch.

• Eat a high protein breakfast – protein is the satiating of all the macronutrients. It also stimulates glucagon to burn fat and increase metabolic rate. When you eat protein for breakfast, what tends to occur is you do not get cravings throughout the day and you have better energy.

• Reduce the amount of carbohydrates eaten – this relates directly to the amount of insulin we secrete. The less carbohydrates we eat, particularly the processed carbohydrates the lower our insulin response will be. This is not an endorsement of very low carbohydrate diets as carbohydrates are the optimal fuel for the brain. Good carbohydrate sources include vegetables, fruit and legumes.

If these rules above are followed and there are still issues of Leptin resistance supplemental support may be considered. Please do this under the supervision of a qualified and knowledgeable health care professional as self medication can be dangerous and may not lead to the desired effect. Here are some useful supplements: B vitamins, malic acid, magnesium, coenzyme Q10, vitamins E and C.

- Fish oils – Reduces inflammation which suppresses growth hormone. Acts directly on adrenal adipose tissue. This is fat around the stomach
- Conjugated Linoleic Acid – can reduce Leptin production by up to 42% and increases the burning of fats as fuel.
- Zinc – increase testosterone in males – this is a very common issue
- Acetyl-l-carnitine – enhances the correct rhythmic release of growth hormone and prevents hormonal depletion from stress
- Chromium – helps calories enter cells to help lower insulin resistance.

If we can all take responsibility for our own health and make responsible decisions we will be rewarded with vitality, energy and an improved quality of life. If you need any help taking control of your health your DC Health practitioner can help you with any aspect you desire

The Chakra System

The Chakra system is a multi-faceted system that integrates our nervous system, endocrine system, circulatory system and emotional and spiritual development. It has been used for thousands of years in the Yogic disciplines as a system of total body personal development. It has relevance for us with weight loss as we can use it to identify blocks to a person’s success from a holistic view. We can see from where a person stores excess weight what hormones are out of balance and then we can link that back to what potential emotional and spiritual stressors can be blockages to success.

The Chakra system works in a hierarchical fashion. These rise in an ascending fashion with each level leading to a new level of consciousness. What is often seen is that the hormone that is inhibiting someone’s weight loss goals relates to that particular Chakra’s emotional and spiritual challenges. The correspondences are as follows:

Gland                                             Organs                                                                          Emotions
Base Adrenals                              Sex organs, Colon                                                       Safety, security, tribal alliance, financial stress
Sacral Testicles, Ovaries            Kidneys, Bladder                                                        Relationships, Creativity, Emotional balance, sexuality
Solar Pancreas,                            Digestive organs                                                         Self Esteem, Personal power and self will
Heart Thymus,                             Heart, lungs                                                                 Loving relationships, giving and recieving
Throat Thyroid,                           Esophagus                                                                    Expression, speaking your truth, Communication
Brow Anterior Pituarity,            Cerebral Cortex                                                           Intuition, learning, wisdom, creative intelligence
Crown Hypothalamus, Pineal  Brain                                                                              Transcendence, relationship to God, Spirituality

This system is absolutely amazing in it accuracy for identifying peoples emotionally issues. What we need to next look at is where some of these glands store excess fat if they are dysfunctional.
Gland                                                            Storage place
Base – Adrenals                                          Belly button, stomach
Sacral – Testicles, Ovaries                        Upper thighs, Back of arms
Solar – Pancreas                                         Hips, back of shoulder blades
Heart – Thymus                                           None but can influence base
Throat – Thyroid                                        Mid axilla, Throat, face, cheeks
Brow – Anterior Pituarity                         None but influence others
Crown – Hypothalamus, Pineal               None but influence others

This tells us a lot of information about why people have problems losing weight. If someone is storing weight around their belly button it can often tell us that they have emotional issues related to the base Chakra. This means that any security issue will negatively impact on the adrenal glands. Most people with weight issues also have issues with the adrenal glands. To fully lose weight from this area addressing these issues is essential (for more detailed information on the physiology of the Adrenal glands and a multi-disciplined approach to treating the adrenal glands please see Adrenal Stress, building muscle, losing weight and your health available on this website).

The second Chakra or Sacral Chakra relates to relationships, emotional balance and sexuality. The hormones involved store fat on the back of the arms and the thighs respectively. These hormones can be impacted positively by resistance training and creating high levels of lactic acid. However, if the person is in a negative relationship that is causing stress efforts with training may be hampered. Many of our clients will be in stressful relationships so helping them through their emotional issues can be extremely useful.

The third Chakra or Solar plexus controls our Pancreas. Our Pancreas governs our blood sugar regulation. Our blood sugar regulation is absolutely critical to our health and weight management. The two hormones glucagon and insulin operate antagonistically to each other, with glucagon helping to burn fat and energy and insulin stores energy as adipose tissue or fat. When we are emotionally stressed we will generally overproduce insulin in an effort to conserve energy for survival purposes. This will store fat on our hips and back of shoulder blades. These emotions which relate to self esteem and self will affect a lot of people. In western culture we are defined very much by what we do not who we are and this leads to a lot of self esteem issues. This can often lead to seeking solace in the form of food which is most commonly sugar, which again negatively affects blood sugar balance.

The heart Chakra relates to the Thymus gland. It related to our immunity and is our fourth Chakra. It has to do with loving relationships, giving and receiving. The Thymus gland does not really store fat in any particular region of the body. It does however, relate to our immunity. Anytime our immunity is lowered, it negatively affects our adrenal glands. This means if someone is holding onto Adrenal related fat but they do not have issues with their Base Chakra the heart Chakra could be negatively affecting it. Another good indication is if someone has a lowered immune system and is susceptible to lots of colds and flu’s.

The throat Chakra relates to our ability to communicate and speak our truth. If we do not speak our truth this can cause stress in the Thyroid gland. The Thyroid is the throttle on our metabolic rate. It governs how fast or slow our metabolic rate is and how much fat we burn. This gland is very dependent on our Adrenals. If the adrenals are stressed what you will see is the metabolic rate dropping. If a person has a lot of Adrenal issues and have been told they have a sluggish Thyroid the Base Chakra may be driving the Throat Chakra. What you will see is that by addressing issues from the foundation, the Base up you will resolve a lot of other issues.
The next two Chakras are the Brow and Crown. The hormones released by these two chakras do not store fat in any particular place in the body but influence other glands. The two glands of these Chakras are the Hypothalamus and the Anterior Pituarity. These glands control all glands via feedback systems that regulate how much the other glands secrete their hormones. Their influence is generally limited and in rare cases is the cause of the problem. If the base levels of the Chakra system are integrated and taken care of, the higher levels will take care of themselves. The main issue people will have is their relationship to God being a stress on their system. This is generally due to conditioning from society and can manifest as Thyroid, Estrogen, Adrenal and Testosterone issues due to the connections.

So as we can see the Chakra System is a brilliant system for identifying underlying issues affecting people’s weight. What we need to see is a truly holistic approach to weight loss addressing our clients as a physical, emotional, mental and spiritual beings.

References: Chek, P. How to Eat, Move and Be Healthy, C.H.E.K Institute 2004