How to lose weight and stay slim: Buy a mango and eat it all (even the skin you would normally throw away)

This appears to be a study in laboratory glassware only so is just theory

MANGOES could help you lose weight and stay slim – but only if you eat the skin you would normally throw away, a study suggests.  In tests, extracts from mango skin appeared to ‘inhibit the development of human fat cells’.

The secret is in phytochemicals that act as natural fat busters and are found only on the outside of the fruit, according to researchers in Australia.

Professor Mike Gidley, of the University of Queensland, said: ‘We know mangoes have many excellent nutritional properties but more work needs to be done to understand the complex natural compounds found in these and other fruits.

‘This research reminds us that we should be looking at the whole fruit when considering how to take advantage of natural goodness.’

The study could lead to the development of a supplement to fight obesity.

SOURCE






Meat and greet: modern hunger for caveman diet

There may be something in this.  It does seem to lead to weight loss

CLEAN-CUT, articulate and with minimal body hair, Nick Karp is no grunting Neanderthal. But his diet suggests otherwise.

He's one of a growing tribe of Melburnians who follow a "paleo diet", consisting only of foods a hunter-gatherer would eat. Cooked meat is a staple - paleolithic people had fire - and vegetables, fruit and nuts are permitted. Excluded are foods introduced after the agricultural revolution, such as dairy, grains, sugar and the Happy Meal. "It's about eating the way our ancestors did over millions of years," says Karp, 31.

The concept was popularised by US science professor Loren Cordain in his 2002 book The Paleo Diet. Converts now attend regular conferences in the US - including this weekend's paleo-centric "Low-Carb Cruise" of the Caribbean - while a Melbourne lecture series on sugar last month featured guests speaking about the benefits of a paleo diet.

A major source of paleo converts is the global chain of CrossFit gyms, which also advocate paleo exercises or "caveman training". This could include short bursts of running (catching prey), heavy lifting (carrying prey home) and various other high-intensity movements (dodging woolly mammoths).

Karp is a CrossFit trainer at a Caulfield gym and has converted dozens of clients to a paleo diet and exercise regimen. "It's a true, all-round fitness that prepares your body for anything," he says. He also sells "paleo snacks" made with almond meal and coconut online, and says a paleo lifestyle is not anti-modern, just sensible. "It's not like we're dragging our knuckles along the ground."

Paleo advocates are sensitive to Cro-Magnon comparisons. Sydney accountant Suzanne Crawt runs the Australian Paleo Network website, with about 20,000 monthly page views. "A paleo diet just makes sense, it is how we've eaten for millions of years. We've only been eating these other foods for 10,000 years … It's the modern diet that's the fad."

Crawt, 32, started a paleo diet in 2010, and lost 17 kilograms in three months. She says her asthma also disappeared. As well as the paleo diet, she advocates exercises based on heavy-lifting and sprinting - "and definitely not chronic cardio".

Melbourne has a "paleo meet-up" group with 60 members who attend regular dinners, barbecues and health seminars. They report benefits including more energy and relief from chronic gastric discomfort, or irritable bowel syndrome.

Software developer Adrian Wheat, 36, says his switch to a paleo diet two years ago has eliminated his eczema. "It's a simple diet, you can cook Jamie Oliver or Donna Hay - just leave the pasta and the grains out," he says.

Musician Mikaela Felstead had a "paleo-diet wedding", with snacks of vegie and meat sticks. As she is now five months pregnant, she makes "broth from meat bones for calcium, and other than that, all my dietary needs are covered".

Her friend Angelie O'Brien suffers from a strain of lupus and says the paleo diet has allowed her to drastically cut down on her medication. "It makes complete sense for me. Eating grains can compromise the health of your gut, and that triggers a chain reaction of problems," O'Brien says.

The Dietitians Association of Australia says the diet has its merits, but is still a "fad". "It's great that it advocates fresh fruit and vegetables and restricts food high in salt and sugar, but it excludes whole grains that contain protein, fibre and B-group vitamins, and are protective against bowel cancer and other chronic diseases," says spokeswoman Pip Golley.

But Professor Jennie Brand-Miller, at the University of Sydney, one of the pioneers and proponent of diets based on a low glycaemic index, says a paleo diet could be beneficial. "We've got very little research to go on regarding the paleo diet … but I've long been an advocate of eating more like our ancestors did," she says. "It does make sense - cereals are a two-edged sword for many people."

She says the benefits of a diet high in meat depend heavily on the quality of meat, and favours meat from pasture-fed, free-range animals.

SOURCE