Want to avoid weight gain? Boost your metabolism to burn more calories

Does metabolism matter in weight loss? It is a widely debatable topic as slow metabolism is sometime blamed for excess weight gain. Metabolism is the process by which your body converts what you eat and drink into energy. It is a complex biochemical process, wherein calories in food and beverages are combined with oxygen to release the energy that your body needs to function. And health experts say more than your metabolism, it is how much you eat and drink along with how much physical activity you do that ultimately determine your weight.But in rare cases, such as when you have a medical problem that slows metabolism, you may get excessive weight gain. Some people inherit genes that promote a faster metabolism. When you have high metabolism, you'll may require more calories to maintain your weight. This is a reason why some people can eat more than others without gaining weight. However, a person with a low (or slow) metabolism will burn fewer calories and so s/he should eat less to avoid becoming overweight.Given the benefits, you may want to boost your metabolism. Here are five tricks to improve your metabolism every morning.

Chocolate Chips
Joy to the world, for studies have suggested that having 1.6 ounces of high-quality dark chocolate a day can help reduce your BMI by one whole point (approximately 5-7 pounds). The cocoa-filled chocolate has a compound called epicatechin, which burns calories and improves muscle function.Joy to the world, for studies have suggested that having 1.6 ounces of high-quality dark chocolate a day can help reduce your BMI by one whole point (approximately 5-7 pounds). The cocoa-filled chocolate has a compound called epicatechin, which burns calories and improves muscle function.

Eat Two Eggs
A morning meal that is high in protein will keep you feeling full, well until lunch time. While eggs for breakfast will load you up on nutrients and curb your cravings, stick to eating just two; over-indulging could increase your cholesterol, especially if you lead a sedentary lifestyle.

Lemon Water
One lemon in 6 ounces of warm water is the perfect morning elixir. It reduces food cravings, increases body heat, breaks fat down and helps the digestion and detoxification processes in our system.

Light Therapy
Basking in the morning glory of the sun can lower your BMI. It is most effective before 8 am, and 20 minutes of sunshine is all you need to synchronize your internal clock, get on the ideal sleeping schedule and regulate your energy balance.

Stretch 
Flexing and relaxing your muscles stimulates body heat, accelerates blood circulation and takes your body from slumber mode to cruise control for the rest of the day. Energize your body in the morning with these stretches.

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Key chocolate ingredient may help combat diabetes

Scientists have discovered certain compounds found in cocoa — the key ingredient of chocolates — can help the body release more insulin and respond to increased blood glucose better, an advance that may lead to new therapies to treat diabetes. When a person has diabetes, their body either does not produce enough insulin or does not process blood sugar properly. At the root of that is the failure of beta cells,whose job it is to produce insulin.

The new study, finds beta cells work better and remain stronger with an increased presence of epicatechin monomers, compounds found naturally in cocoa. However, rather than stocking up on the sugar-rich chocolate bars, researchers believe that they need to look for ways to take the compound out of cocoa, make more of it and then use it as a potential treatment for current diabetes patients.

“You probably have to eat a lot of cocoa, and you probably don’t want it to have a lot of sugar in it. It’s the compound in cocoa you’re after,” said an assistant professor. Researchers fed the cocoa compound to animals on a high-fat diet. They found that by adding it to the high-fat diet,the compound would decrease the level of obesity in the animals and would increase their ability to deal with increased blood glucose levels. The team then dove in and dissected what was happening on the cellular level — specifically, the beta cell level. They found that cocoa compounds named epicatechin monomers enhanced beta cells’ ability to secrete insulin.

“What happens is it’s protecting the cells, it’s increasing their ability to deal with oxidative stress,” Tessem said. “The epicatechin monomers are making the mitochondria in the beta cells stronger, which produces more ATP (a cell’s energy source), which then results in more insulin being released,” he said.
While there has been a lot of research on similar compounds over the past decade, no one has been able to pinpoint which ones are the most beneficial or how exactly they bring about any benefit—until now. 

This research shows the epicatechin monomers, the smallest of the compounds, are the most effective. “These results will help us get closer to using these compounds more effectively in foods or supplements to maintain normal blood glucose control and potentially even delay or prevent the onset of type-2 diabetes,” said  the assistant professor.

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.



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Cinnamon may prevent Alzheimer's according to a study.

The common baking spice cinnamon may hold the key to delaying the onset of - or warding off - the effects of Alzheimer's disease, scientists have found.

Scientists  found that two compounds in cinnamon - cinnamaldehyde and epicatechin - show some promise in the effort to fight the disease.

According to them, the compounds have been shown to prevent the development of the filamentous "tangles" found in the brain cells that characterise Alzheimer's.

Responsible for the assembly of micro-tubules in a cell, a protein called tau plays a large role in the structure of the neurons, as well as their function.

"The problem with tau in Alzheimer's is that it starts aggregating," said  a researcher.

When for the protein does not bind properly to the microtubules that form the cell's structure, it has a tendency to clump together, she explained, forming insoluble fibres in the neuron.

The older we get the more susceptible we are to these twists and tangles, Alzheimer's patients develop them more often and in larger amounts.

The use of cinnamaldehyde, the compound responsible for the bright, sweet smell of cinnamon, has proven effective in preventing the tau knots.

By protecting tau from oxidative stress, the compound, an oil, could inhibit the protein's aggregation. To do this, cinnamaldehyde binds to two residues of an amino acid called cysteine on the tau protein.

The cysteine residues are vulnerable to modifications, a factor that contributes to the development of Alzheimer's.
Previous research indicates that there is a high correlation between Type 2 diabetes and the incidence of Alzheimer's disease.
The elevated glucose levels typical of diabetes lead to the overproduction of reactive oxygen species, resulting in oxidative stress, which is a common factor in both diabetes and Alzheimer's disease.

Other research has shown cinnamon's beneficial effects in managing blood glucose and other problems associated with diabetes.

"Since tau is vulnerable to oxidative stress, this study then asks whether Alzheimer's disease could benefit from cinnamon, especially looking at the potential of small compounds," said a researcher.

Although this research shows promise, a researcher said, they are "still a long way from knowing whether this will work in human beings."

The researchers caution against ingesting more than the typical amounts of cinnamon already used in cooking.

'Green tea can improve brain function in HIV patients'

Green tea and chocolates may help reduce neurological complications linked to HIV, paving way for effective treatment of HIV-related brain disorders, a new study has found.

Research  found that a group of plant polyphenols known as catechins, which naturally occur in green tea and the seed of the cacao tree, may help in the prevention of these neurological complications.

Current drug therapy for patients with HIV is unable to control the complete replication of the virus in the brain, and, therefore, is ineffective in the complications associated with neurocognitive impairment in HIV patients.

Previous research has established the critical role of a protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in supporting the survival and growth of neurons in the brain.

This protein is active in areas of the brain vital to learning, memory and higher thinking. Patients with HIV have been found to have lower levels of BDNF in their brains than healthy individuals suggesting that this could be directly responsible for the cognitive impairment suffered.

Researchers analysed the effects of 2000 compounds, containing both natural substances and FDA-approved drugs, on brain cells in the laboratory. They identified a series of compounds, which had the potential to help protect neurons in the brain. Nine of these were related to epicatechin, which is found in cocoa and green tea leaves.

Further screening and comparison with resveratrol, the antioxidant found in red wine, specifically identified epicatechin and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) as being the most effective at helping protect neurons by inducing production of BDNF.

The fact that these compounds readily cross the blood-brain barrier further increases their therapeutic potential, as this is often a major stumbling block in the development of therapies directed at the brain.

This provides hope for patients with HIV, as there is currently no neuroprotective therapy available for patients with HIV-associated cognitive impairment.