Fitness Pudding - Where The Proof Is

Claims are made that radiofrequency, a form of high‐frequency electromagnetic energy, as from radios, cellphones and microwaves, can heat fat cells enough to activate lypolysis, or their breakdown into fatty acids and glycerol. If not consumed for energy, they will be converted back to storage or accumulate in the liver. Despite a recent research review that concluded there is “little evidence to prove [these] effects of [radiofrequency] on adipose tissue,” 1 the idea still persists that...

Psyllium is a source of viscous, gel-forming, water-soluble fiber. It is one of the most widely used fiber supplements all over the world. Traditionally, psyllium has been most recognized for regularity and bloating concerns, such as Edrolax a constipation relief aid in the early 1930s, not to be confused with Ed Rolax former forward for the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles. Since then, claims for weight loss range from improving regularity and feelings of fullness, helping crowd...

There are two types of ‘belly fat’. The type under our skin (subcutaneous), although maligned, likely holds little to no disease risk. The other type (visceral) hidden deep inside the belly holds high disease risk. It creeps into and around our organs, including our heart. Yikes. Studies have found that both exercise and dieting (typically restricting calories by 500 per day) help decrease both types of belly fat to about the same degree in adults classified...

This ad from the 1960s for Vel-X gum, makes some pretty strong claims, regarding chewing gum and fat or weight loss. Fast forward to 2018 we also see some claims regarding gum improving weight loss. Could there be any truth to these claims? Let’s think about how this would even work, assuming regular gum with no additives or stimulants, such as caffeine or nicotine. One possibility is by increasing energy expenditure. In other words, could chewing gum...

We have already established that waist trainers, wraps, sauna suits, or hot pants do not help with fat loss. Yet, there is still a persisting idea that the more you sweat the more fat that seeps out of your sweat glands. We do have some 2 to 4 million of these so-called eccrine glands, so that could be a lot of fat lost. But, back when Tone Loc was rocking Funky Cold Medina, some researchers were...

Bone Fat? Spot losing fat has been busted, but recommendations still persist that we can beat everything from belly fat to back fat with exercise. Now, we can possibly beat bone fat with exercise? Wait, our bones can be fat? We have already seen that our tongues can be fat, so maybe bone fat is a possibility. At first glance, it might appear that too much bone fat is related to the “big bone” myth, but...

 "Lose tongue fat with this one, weird old tip." "Burn tongue fat with this workout." "7 secrets to losing stubborn tongue fat." Unfortunately, I could see headlines such as these in the future, due to recent interest in and research on tongue fat. In this case, the concern for excessive tongue fat comes from its potential role in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) – sleep disorder characterized by brief and repeated pauses in breathing during sleep. OSA...

The classic brain teaser asks, “What weighs more, a ton of bricks or a ton of feathers?” Unfazed by this childish trickery, we would answer that they would weight the same – one ton. Using the same rationale, could we answer, “Does muscle weigh more than fat?” And this is our question for the day. Pound versus pound, sure, they would be the same. One pound of muscle weighs the same as one pound of fat....

This is how I got here. I first saw a post on Yahoo! News, "Beat Belly Fat With This 45-minute Running Workout," which brought me to another article by the same title. I noticed there had been 6,000 shares of this article in about 7 hours, and I know many would like to 'beat' belly fat, so I kept reading. The article details a 45-minute running with 19 different 1-5 min intervals workout ranging from 4.0-7.5...

Body mass index (BMI) has been getting slammed in the media. For example, this recent article from the LA Times claims that "BMI mislabels 54 million Americans as 'overweight' or 'obese,' study says." Or, as this article highlights, "more than 50 million 'quite healthy' Americans have been mislabeled as obese or overweight thanks to an over-reliance on BMI as a measurement of health..." What is BMI? BMI is simply a measure of body mass. More specifically,...