Slim Fast : Weight Management E-newsletter

Vol. 3, No 1, February 2008

Antioxidants may fight fat, too?

Antioxidants have been shown to help prevent heart disease and improve the immune system, but a new study finds they may also help curb obesity. In test tubes, antioxidants called flavonoids and phenolic acids helped inhibit an enzyme that causes fat cells to produce triglycerides. Future studies will determine whether fat cells and antioxidants act similarly in the human body. The study was conducted at Taiwan’s National Chung Hsing University and appeared in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

Source:
WebMD Medical News
(November 2, 2007)


	Obese women experience more infertility?
	Source: WebMD Medical News (December 11, 2007)		Women who were severely obese were 43% less likely to become pregnant than normal-weight women or women who were considered overweight but not obese. This study, which appeared in the December issue of Human Reproduction, was among the first to examine the relationship between body weight and infertility in women who ovulate. During the one-year study, researchers at Amsterdam’s Academic Medical Center followed 3,029 couples having trouble conceiving on their own. They hypothesize that disruptions in the hormone leptin (which regulates appetite) may prevent successful fertilization.

Even moderate exercise reduces rate of
metabolic syndrome?

A modest amount of brisk weekly walking is enough to cut weight and the risk of metabolic syndrome, an increasingly frequent condition linked to obesity and a sedentary lifestyle.

Metabolic syndrome is a group of risk factors associated with a greater likelihood of developing cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Risk factors can include a large waist circumference, high blood pressure, high levels of triglycerides, decreased HDL (“good” cholesterol), and increased fasting blood sugar. The American Journal of Cardiology (December 15, 2007) reports that researchers at Duke Medical Center discovered that a person can lower his or her risk of metabolic syndrome by walking just 30 minutes a day, six days per week – without dietary changes.

Source:
Medical News Today (December 18, 2007)