Definition: "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance "
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02.08.2012 |
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Low-carb diet makes it easier to maintain weight loss
Once you've lost weight, it's easier to maintain your weight loss if you switch to a diet with a bit more protein and a lot fewer carbohydrates. Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston published their findings in the prestigious medical journal JAMA. Does it sound a bit too extreme? A diet consisting of slow-burning carbohydrates also works.
Long-term weight-loss
Study
In the second period, the subjects followed a diet of slow-burning carbohydrates [Low Glycemic Index] in which a number of the grain products were replaced by beans or fruit with little starch.
In the third period, the subjects followed a diet with a bit more protein and a very few carbohydrates [Very Low Carb], a diet inspired by the Atkins diet.
Results
The researchers found an increased concentration of the stress hormone cortisol in the subjects' urine when they followed the protein-rich diet. That came as no surprise. When obese people eat protein-rich food, the activity of the enzyme 11-beta-HSD1 increases and the activity of the enzymes 5-alpha and 5-beta reductase decreases. [J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2007 Nov;92(11):4480-4.] The first enzyme raises the concentration of cortisol in the body, and the other two lower it.
Conclusion
If you check the researchers' references on this, you might question their caution. They base their concern on a Dutch study in which the expectation of mortality among people 65 and older is higher when there is more cortisol in their urine. [J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2010 Nov;95(11):4959-64.]
The figure below, which comes from that study, shows the relation between the expectation of mortality, cardiovascular disease [CVD] and the amount of of cortisol in the urine. The quantity of cortisol at which the expectation of mortality rises is much higher than is the amount of cortisol in the subjects of the JAMA study. [Table]
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