Tout dans la vie est une question d'équilibre d'où la nécessité de garder un esprit sain dans un corps sain.

Discipline-Volonté-Persévérance

Everything in life is a matter of balance therefore one needs to keep a healthy mind in a healthy body.

Discipline-Will-Perseverance.

E. do REGO

Friday, July 30, 2010

L'extrait de noix de cajou: un traitement prometteur contre le diabète?


L'extrait de noix de cajou: un traitement prometteur contre le diabète?

29 juillet 2010 – L’extrait de noix de cajou aurait des propriétés prometteuses pour traiter le diabète. Il stimulerait l’absorption du sucre sanguin, selon un essai préliminaire réalisé par des chercheurs québécois et camerounais1.
Les chercheurs ont voulu valider l’utilisation des produits de l’anacardier (cajou) dans la médecine traditionnelle pour traiter différentes maladies, dont le diabète. Ils ont analysé les effets antidiabétiques de l’écorce, des feuilles, des noix et des fruits de l’anacardier dans des cellules musculaires cultivées en laboratoire, c’est-à-dire au stade in vitro.
Résultats : seul l’extrait de noix de cajou a démontré des effets significatifs pour stimuler l’absorption de sucre sanguin par les cellules musculaires. Son activité s’apparenterait même à celui de la metformine qui est un glucophage qu’on utilise déjà dans le traitement du diabète.
« Bien que très préliminaire, l’impact des résultats de notre étude encourage fortement l’étude des composés de l’anacardier et l’extrait de noix de cajou pour développer de nouveaux traitements oraux », note Pierre S. Haddad2, un des auteurs de l’étude.
Même si les autres produits de l’anacardier n’ont pas eu d’effets significatifs dans les cellules musculaires en culture, il croit qu’il faut poursuivre l’étude sur d’autres organes, notamment le pancréas, les graisses et le foie.
« Il faut faire confiance à la médecine traditionnelle, car les gens n’auraient pas choisi la feuille ou l’écorce si ça n’avait pas d’effet bénéfique. Il est possible que ces parties n’aient pas eu d’effets sur les cellules musculaires en laboratoire, mais elles auront peut-être des effets ailleurs sur d’autres organes », estime le chercheur, qui est aussi professeur titulaire au Département de pharmacologie à l’Université de Montréal.
Pierre S. Haddad met en garde les gens qui seraient portés à croire qu’ils auront le même effet antidiabétique s’ils consomment des noix de cajou entières. L’extrait de la noix de cajou ne contient plus les protéines, les gras et les sucres et devient donc moins calorique qu’une noix de cajou entière, précise-t-il.

Carole Boulé – PasseportSanté.net

1. Tedong L, Madiraju P et alHydro-ethanolic extract of cashew tree (Anacardium occidentale) nut and its principal compound, anacardic acid, stimulate glucose uptake in C2C12 muscle cells, Mol Nutr Food Res. 2010 Jul 5.
2. Pierre S. Haddad est directeur de l’Équipe de recherche sur les médecines autochtones antidiabétiques des IRSC.

Wikio

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Fat on Fire!



by Bryan Krahn

For many of our contributors, Testosterone magazine is kind of like the Hotel California of bodybuilding, meaning that you can check out anytime, but you can never leave (unless we kick your miserable ass out).
Take a look at the Authors list under the magazine drop down. Some of those guys have been contributing to Testosterone for more than 10 years, alternating between periods of rapid-fire article productivity with dry-spells reminiscent of 1930's-Oklahoma.
Chad Waterbury introduced himself to Testosterone readers way back in 2001 with a cool grip training article and followed it up with game-changing programs like Anti-Bodybuilding Hypertrophy and Total Body Training that made him a favorite among readers. The groundbreaking article Everything is About to Change was like a bomb going off in strength training circles, and solidified Chad's place as a coach who wasn't afraid to question conventional strength training dogma to achieve better results, faster.
Recently, Chad's article contributions have dropped off as his career has taken him in two seemingly opposing directions: whipping Hollywood starlets and elite level Mixed Martial Arts fighters into their all-time best condition.
The O.C. meets the Octagon? Can you say, "career dichotomy"? We don't quite get it either. Although to have the kind of client list he has, Chad must know something about burning fat and building muscle.
We sat down with Chad to see if there's anything Testosterone readers can learn...

Testosterone: Well Chad, it's been a while. What the heck have you been up to?
Chad Waterbury: First off, I want to say that it's great to be here. I haven't written much recently because I've been really busy training, as well as I've been designing a new system to boost athleticism while burning fat.
T: Isn't that like trying to ride two horses with one ass?
CW: Ha, no not necessarily. Boosting strength and speed, and getting lean, actually go hand-in-hand. That's because the key to getting super lean is to train with parameters that are more in sync with performance development, especially explosive strength endurance.
T: Interesting. So is this is the point where you try to convince us that everything we thought we knew about fat loss is wrong?
CW: Hardly. But I will say that the average Joe is making three typical mistakes when training for fat loss.
The first mistake people make is that they don't lift weights that are heavy enough to preserve their muscle mass. In the past, when bodybuilders needed to shed fat for a contest, it was typical for them to switch over to workouts with lighter weights and higher reps.
It's that old "train for the burn" dogma. If your muscles are burning, that must mean your body is burning fat, right? It was also typical for them to lose a significant amount of muscle in the process. That's why they'd bulk up to a massive body weight in the offseason.
T: So your average guy trying to get to single-digit bodyfat should train with doubles and triples?
CW: No, a 6-12 repetition maximum is heavy enough to get the job done. One of the most effective ways to keep all your muscle is to stimulate all your muscle fibers while training. Just accelerate each lift and you've tapped into the biggest, strongest muscle fibers that are the first to go with light, high rep training. It's like that old saying goes: if you don't use it, you lose it.
T: That's a classic saying I actually agree with. And mistake number two?
CW: The second mistake is with rest periods. People generally rest for too long between sets and this drastically reduces the cardiovascular demand of a workout. The fear is that they'll lose strength if they limit recovery. However, recent research by Alcaraz, et al., that strength gains between 35-second and 3-minute rest periods are similar when the load and exercises are right.
T: Really? 35 seconds is definitely not a long rest interval, especially compared to 3 minutes.
CW: Exactly. That is what's so exciting about this research. It basically says that by limiting rest intervals between sets, you can greatly enhance the cardiovascular demand of a weight-training workout and burn more calories without the fear of compromising strength gains to any significant degree.
This is great news for athletes and non-athletes because they can train for less time and still boost their strength and cardiovascular systems simultaneously.
T: I know a number of lifters who claimed to gain size and strength when they switched to shorter rest intervals. Maybe they weren't crazy after all. And mistake number three?
CW: The final mistake pertains to bodypart split training. Split training might be good for advanced bodybuilders but it falls short when the goal is to strip fat off your body.
T: But 99.9% of competitive bodybuilders follow some type of spilt routine....
CW: ...and bodybuilders are the most diligent dieters in the world, so their fat loss comes from an insanely restrictive diet. It's not a result of their training split. If you're someone who doesn't like to take dieting to such an extreme, you must boost the metabolic cost of a workout as high as possible to stimulate fat loss.
Metabolic cost is a measure exercise scientists use to determine how much your physiology is disrupted through exercise. This might sound grim, but it's not.
You see, it takes a lot of energy (calories) to restore your physiology back to normal after it's been challenged. So your body uses more calories after a full-body circuit than it does after a shoulder workout. The most effective ways I've found to boost the metabolic cost of a training session is with a hybrid style of training that consists of strength training circuits, dynamic cardio strength exercises, and short rest periods.
Then, you must adhere to a progression plan to ensure that your body is constantly challenged week after week.
T: Won't a more "traditional" approach (heavy weights + steady state cardio) still do the trick?
CW: It'll do the trick if you're not in any kind of hurry to get lean, if you can afford to lose some muscle mass, and if explosive athleticism isn't a priority. Let me also remind you that whether the athlete is natural or not has a huge impact on the effectiveness of the "traditional" steady state cardio bodybuilding approach. Not pointing fingers or anything, just stating a fact.
Heavy weight training is very effective for building muscle mass, and that's why bodybuilders do it. However, when they pair it up with low-intensity cardio they invariably eat up a lot of the muscle they've built.
When your muscles have to continuously contract for an hour that energy has to come from somewhere. It's very easy for your metabolism to break down muscle tissue for energy, and it usually does. Seriously, have you ever seen a marathon runner with big, muscular legs?
Tremblay's research was groundbreaking because he taught us that we should think less about the metabolic changes that occur during a workout and focus more on what's happening after you stop training. He compared high intensity and low intensity protocols. The high intensity group burned fewer calories during the workout, but their reduction in skinfold measurements was nine times greater by the end of the study.
So yeah, regular cardio will burn fat but not nearly as fast as high intensity cardio. But it's not as simple as merely alternating between sprinting and jogging. There are more effective ways to get the job done.
T: Such as?
CW: Tabata's research shows that just a few minutes of high intensity cardio will boost your aerobic and anaerobic conditioning. This is important for fighters who are constantly toeing the line between fatigue and performance because of all the striking, grappling, and other forms of fighting they must constantly practice.
Not to mention their strength and conditioning sessions. Bottom line: with high intensity cardio you kill two birds with one stone.
T: But a big part of all this is diet. I mean, I think we can agree that an individual can lose fat on a number of different approaches if they're eating appropriately for fat loss?
CW: Sure, but that's a really big 'if'. To be honest, the vast majority of folks trying to lose fat that I consult with are completely dropping the ball in the kitchen as well as the gym. They typically make the same three nutrition mistakes when trying to eat for fat loss:
First, people cut too many calories, too fast. This is a big mistake that forces your body to release fat-storing hormones while your anabolic hormones plummet.
Getting ripped requires you to stimulate your metabolism to burn fat without breaking down muscle tissue. That's a no-brainer. But in reality, what most people instinctively do is the exact opposite of what the metabolism needs, so it shuts down. And when it does look for energy, it eats up your muscle.
Second, people just eat less of whatever they're currently eating. You see, the real problem with low calorie diets is not a lack of calories; it's a lack of nutrients. Vitamins, minerals, amino acids, omega-3s and other phytonutrients are what keep your metabolism running strong. Most people don't get enough of these nutrients, even when they're eating to bulk. So when they drastically cut calories, they end up giving their metabolism even fewer of the essential nutrients it needs. TheVelocity Diet works so well because it feeds your body plenty of nutrients in absence of calories.
T: But you still need an energy deficit to lose weight. How do you suggest people mitigate the drop in nutrients associated with reduced food intake?
CW: The solution is as simple as taking out low-quality carbs such as potatoes, rice, and pasta and replacing it with berries and vegetables from a farmer's market, because those foods are the most potent, nutritionally speaking.
For protein, you should eat organic beef, chicken, and wild fish because they contain the most nutrients while being void of many of the toxic byproducts that upregulate fat-storing hormones.
The third mistake I see relates to the peri-workout period. To lose fat at an optimal rate without sacrificing your hard-earned muscle size, you must take full advantage of workout nutrition. Biotest is definitely the leader in this race. Feeding your muscles branch chain amino acids, and beta-alanine before a workout offsets fatigue and catabolism so you can train at a higher intensity for longer. After a workout, you must take in plenty of amino acids along with some high-quality carbs.
T: People seem to associate pre and post-workout nutrition with the mega-calorie weight gainers of the 90's and think that they need to drop all forms of workout nutrition during fat loss phases.
CW: I agree, and it's a huge mistake. In fact, I would submit that peri-workout nutrition is even more important during fat loss phases, considering the propensity to lose muscle is so much higher.
T: Let's switch gears. I watched Ralek Gracie's impressive win over Sakuraba and noticed your name and logo on his banner. Tell us about that.
CW: Yeah, Ralek hired me to train him for that fight because he wanted to boost his strength, power, and endurance. In other words, he needed to get in incredible shape. I created a system called Body of F.I.R.E. that he uses for his strength and conditioning program.
Whether you want to build the explosive strength endurance of a professional fighter, or just burn off body fat quickly, I use a system composed of Full-Body, Intense, Resistance Exercise - hence the acronym.
T: So it's a system designed to shape up elite MMA fighters?
CW: No, it's a system designed for anyone who needs to get in shape fast. I live in Los Angeles, and I work with a lot of fighters who need to build combat strength endurance. I also work with some celebrities who need to burn fat, like, yesterday.
Those might seem like separate markets with different goals, but they're not. Since the quickest way to burn fat is to train more like an athlete, the two actually coalesce in many ways. Fighters can't afford to lose any size or strength when they prepare for a fight. And non-athletes can't afford to do so either, since losing muscle mass slows your metabolism.
And when you lose strength you can't lift as explosively which limits the amount of fat and calories you'll burn while training.
Just look at recent research by McBride, et al. His team showed that getting stronger will boost your 10 and 40-yard sprint times.
The sequence goes like this: when you gain strength you can lift faster and this, in turn, increases the metabolic cost of an exercise which leads to greater fat burning. 
My client, Jon, is an excellent example of how dramatically you can transform your body when you follow this system. He lost over 40 pounds of fat without sacrificing any muscle or strength. I'll concede that he shaved, tanned, and lost his shoes, but the rest speaks for itself. I think he has a body that many Testosterone readers will appreciate. 
T: Makes sense. But to be honest, what you're talking about isn't really breaking news to anyone who reads Testosterone consistently. What's unique about the Body of F.I.R.E. system?
CW: I like the word you used there, system, cause that's exactly what Body of F.I.R.E is. It's not just a workout you follow four days a week; it's a system of metabolic workouts and targeted nutrition that builds performance without sacrificing strength or muscle in the process.
I think what Testosterone readers would be most interested in are my cardio strength parameters. These consist of exercise pairings or circuits that don't require as much load as maximal strength training, but the load is much higher than a typical cardio workout so it generates a higher metabolic cost.
T: Cardio strength? Is this in place of traditional cardiovascular exercise?
CW: Yes. Steady state cardio protocols like riding a stationary bike for 45-minutes are painfully obsolete. Let's face it, that kind of hamster work is boring, time consuming, and it makes athletes slower, less explosive, and they lose muscle. It's also completely unnecessary if you hit these cardio strength drills as hard as possible.
T: Got an example for Testosterone readers to try?
CW: Sure. If you're looking to get leaner, here's a sample cardio strength method you can do after your current workout in place of that endless treadmill walk to nowhere most people do after strength training.
One note: you must be able to perform at least 15 body weight pull-ups, and you need a kettlebell that you can swing for around 15 challenging reps.
Start with 10 pull-ups, then drop to the floor and do 10 clap push-ups, then do 10 kettlebell swings - all in a row without resting.
As soon as 10 reps of each are finished, do nine reps of each. Then do eight reps, seven reps, etc. until you work your way down to one rep of each exercise. Perform each rep as fast as possible and transition quickly between exercises. There's no room for rest.
Sets: 10
Reps: 10-1
Rest: zilch
1A) Pull-up
No rest
1B) Clap push-up
No rest
1C) Swing
No rest and repeat 1A-1C nine more times (drop a rep with each set)
Another example, if you're really short on time, is to pair up the clap push-ups with a kettlebell swing for descending reps.
To get stronger abs, perform the push-ups from suspended rings, since the University of Waterloo's research shows it drastically increases core activation. If you have a little more time, you can start with a higher number of reps, say, 15 and work your way down to one.
T: That sounds rough!
CW: It's a killer. In the last few weeks leading up to a fight I'll have my fighters start at 20 reps of a circuit of pull-ups and push-ups from rings with kettlebell swings, and they'll perform the entire circuit, all the way down to one rep of each exercise, without resting. That's how you build strength endurance!
T: Let's talk iron. If a guy is trying to lean out, you suggest sets of 6-12 reps but with a short rest interval?
CW: Not exactly. The strength-building portion of the workouts is composed of circuits, not straight sets, with short rest periods according to Alcaraz's findings mentioned earlier. But one of the ways Body of F.I.R.E is such a metabolic ass-kicker is the rep-target system, or lack thereof.
My "Huge in a Hurry" system was based around stopping your sets once your speed dramatically slows down to keep fatigue in check. Each exercise had a target number of reps, say, 25.
It's a little different, however, with my Body of F.I.R.E. system. All sets are performed for a maximum number of reps without regard for speed. Sure, I want you to accelerate every rep, but I don't care if the speed slows down. And there's not a target number of total reps for any exercise. You'll just rep out as many as you can with each set.
You'll start with a specific load, say, a load you can lift 12 times for the first set, and then you'll perform as many reps as you can for all subsequent sets. In other words, you'll push yourself a little farther in the sets.
T: That's a definite departure for you. Why the change?
CW: First and foremost, because fighters need more endurance than bodybuilders. Second, training this way increases the metabolic cost of a workout so you'll burn more fat. Since the Body of F.I.R.E. system has different goals than my Huge in a Hurry program, it requires a different approach. From there, the progression plan ensures that everything falls into place.
Importantly, the Body of F.I.R.E. program can be modified to suit anyone at any level of fitness. It's as simple as switching a few exercises, or modifying the rest periods.
It's...Time!

There are many different approaches you can take to burn fat or build muscle or improve athleticism, but to accomplish all three at the same time requires a much more specialized approach. Mixed martial artists train for these goals every day and it's not surprising that they're considered by many to be the greatest athletes in the world.
And for those casual fans of the sport: although you may never wish to step into the Octagon with the likes of a St. Pierre or a Gracie or a Lesnar, wouldn't you like to look like you could?
To order Body of FIRE by Chad Waterbury, just click here
Waterbury client Jon, an aspiring boxer, before the Body of F.I.R.E program.

Suspended Ring Push Ups
Suspended Ring Push Ups
You don't have to be crazy to enjoy running on the treadmill -
    but it sure helps.
You don't have to be crazy to enjoy running on the treadmill - but it sure helps.
Suspended Ring Push UpsSuspended Ring Push Ups

© 1998 — 2010 Testosterone, LLC. All Rights Reserved.


Wikio

Study: The longer you sit, the shorter your life

The more Americans engage in one of their favorite pastimes — sitting around — the shorter their average life span, a new study suggests.
The effect remained even after researchers factored out obesity or the level of daily physical activity people were engaged in, according to a study of more than 120,000 American adults.
It's just one more reason to "get up and walk," said Dr. Jay Brooks, chairman of hematology/oncology at Ochsner Health System in Baton Rouge "The message here is like everything in your life. People need to recognize that the things you do every day have consequences. And if you're in a job that does require sitting, that's fine, but any time you can expend energy is good. That's the key."
The salutary effect of exercise on being overweight or obese, rates of which are at an all-time high, have been well documented.
But according to background information in the study, which is published online July 22 in the American Journal of Epidemiology, the effects of sitting per se are less well-studied. Although several studies have found a link between sitting time and obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease risk, and unhealthy diets in children, few had examined sitting and "total mortality," researchers noted.
The authors of the study analyzed responses from questionnaires filled out by 123,216 people (53,440 men and 69,776 women) with no history of disease who were participating in the Cancer Prevention II study conducted by the American Cancer Society.
Participants were followed for 14 years, from 1993 to 2006.
In the study, people were more likely to die of heart disease than cancer. After adjusting for a number of risk factors, including body mass index (BMI) and smoking, women who spent six hours a day sitting had a 37% increased risk of dying versus those who spent less than three hours a day on their bottoms. For men the increased risk was 17%.
Exercise, even a little per day, did tend to lower the mortality risk tied to sitting, the team noted. However, sitting's influence on death risk remained significant even when activity was factored in.
On the other hand, people who sat a lot and did not exercise or stay active had an even higher mortality risk: 94% for women and 48% for men.
Study lead author Dr. Alpa Patel, an epidemiologist with the American Cancer Society, said that the obvious reason for the connection is that "the more time you spend sitting, the less total energy expended and you can have consequences such as weight gain and increased obesity." And that affects your metabolism as well as risk factors for various diseases, she said.
But there could be other biological factors beyond simply getting fatter that explain the link.
There's a burgeoning literature evolving around "inactivity physiology," Patel said. When muscles, especially those in the legs, are "sitting," they stimulate or suppress various hormones which then affect triglycerides, cholesterol and other markers for heart and other diseases, she explained.

Wikio

7 Skin care rules dermatologists swear by
















Want smooth, pretty, age-defying skin? We thought so. Who better to learn from than the pros who think about dermal health all day long? From what you eat to when you wash your face, here are 7 small changes that can make a big difference in tone, texture, and overall glow.
5 skincare rules you should forget

1. Suds up at night
"The most important time to wash your face is before you hit the sack," says Doris Day, MD, a New York City–based dermatologist. Dirt, bacteria, and makeup left on overnight can irritate skin, clog pores, and trigger breakouts. Remove this top layer of grime with a gentle face wash (skin should feel pleasantly tight for 10 to 15 minutes post-cleansing), which also allows anti-agers to penetrate deeper for better results. Because oil production dips with hormonal changes in your 40s, cleansing twice daily can dry out your complexion and make wrinkles look more pronounced. To refresh skin in the morning, splash with lukewarm water.
Best night creams for your skin

2. Be UV obsessed
Nothing is more important than wearing sunscreen (ideally, SPF 30) every day if you want younger-looking skin. Even 10 minutes of daily exposure to UVA "aging" rays can cause changes that lead to wrinkles and sunspots in as few as 12 weeks. If your moisturizer isn't formulated with a built-in broad-spectrum SPF 30 sunscreen, be sure to apply one daily to block both UVA and UVB rays.
6 easy-to-use sunscreens

3. Manage stress
Emotional upheavals can make your skin look 5 years older than your chronological age, says New York City dermatologist and psychiatrist Amy Wechsler, MD, author of The Mind-Beauty Connection. Constant anxiety increases the stress hormone cortisol, which causes inflammation that breaks down collagen. It also triggers a chain of responses that can lead to facial redness and acne flare-ups. To quell inflammation, eat antioxidant-rich foods such as berries, oranges, and asparagus. When you're feeling tense, Wechsler recommends a few minutes of deep breathing (inhale through your nose, hold for 3 counts, and release through your mouth).
Counter the top 5 signs of stressed-out skin

4. Use a retinoid
Research shows that these vitamin-A derivatives speed cell turnover and collagen growth to smooth fine lines and wrinkles and fade brown spots. Prescription-strength retinoids such as Renova provide the fastest results--you'll start to see changes in about a month. To help skin acclimate to any redness and peeling, apply just a pea-size drop to your face every third night, building up to nightly usage. Milder OTC versions (look for retinol) are gentler, although it can take up to 3 months to see noticeable results.
13 products derms love

5. Update your routine
Altering even one thing in your regimen every 6 to 12 months jump-starts more impressive improvements in tone and texture. "When you apply products consistently, your skin slides into maintenance mode after about a year," says New Orleans dermatologist Mary P. Lupo, MD. To keep your skin primed for rejuvenation, substitute a cream that contains alpha hydroxy acids for your prescription retinoid twice a week to boost the benefits. Or bump up your OTC retinoid to an Rx formula.
Tips to look less sleep-deprived

6. Eat omega-3s
These "good fats" in foods such as salmon, flaxseed, and almonds boost hydration, which keeps skin supple and firm. The same isn't true of the saturated fat in dairy products and meats, which increase free-radical damage that makes skin more susceptible to aging. Limit saturated fat intake to about 17 g daily.
11 foods for perfect skin

7. Exercise regularly
Studies find that women who work out regularly have firmer skin than similar nonexercisers. The reason: Exercise infuses skin with oxygen and nutrients needed for collagen production. To keep your skin toned, make time for at least three 30-minute heart-pumping workouts per week.



Wikio

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Boostez votre virilité grâce à la testostérone !


La testostérone, hormone mâle secrétée par les testicules, joue un rôle important dans le développement de notre corps et de notre sexualité. Il va donc sans dire qu’il est important, voire primordial, de la garder à un niveau élevé ! Mais comment faire pour que notre taux de testostérone crève le plafond ?
Vous faites bien de vous préoccuper de vos hormones mâles. En effet, un manque de testostérone peut vous couter la vie ! Comme si la perte de masse musculaire, de densité osseuse et de votre désir sexuel ne suffisait pas, des études scientifiquement montrent qu’un faible taux de testostérone peut également augmenter le risque d’avoir un cancer de la prostate, d’être touché par des maladies cardiaques, et peut même entraîner la mort...
Perdez vos kilos en trop
Quand votre tour de taille augmente, votre niveau de testostérone baisse. Prendre par exemple 15 kilos accélère l’âge du déclin de votre niveau de testostérone de 5 ans.
Musclez vos biceps
Des chercheurs finlandais viennent de découvrir que les hommes qui soulevaient des poids régulièrement augmentaient leur niveau de testostérone de 49%. Alors que vous renforcez vos muscles, le taux de testostérone produit par votre corps augmente. S’entrainer deux fois par semaine suffit pour en voir les bénéfices.
Consommez de la matière grasse
Vous perdez du poids pour garder un bon taux de testostérone mais éliminer toutes les matières grasses de votre alimentation peut aussi en provoquer la chute. Pour protéger votre cœur et préserver votre testostérone, mangez des aliments riches en graisses mono-insaturées que l’on trouve dans le poisson ou l’huile d’olive par exemple.
Éloignez vous du comptoir...
L’alcool peut faire des ravages sur les hormones mâles. Limitez votre consommation d’alcool à un ou deux verres de vin par jour afin d’éviter une baisse de testostérone.
Halte au stress !
Le stress peut rapidement faire chuter votre testostérone et faire monter votre taux de cortisol qui supprime la capacité de votre corps à produire de la testostérone et à l’utiliser dans les tissus. Faire de la course peut vous aider à maitriser votre stress. Les blessures et la fatigue sont des signes que votre entrainement est plus susceptible de faire baisser votre taux que de l’élever... Décidément, ce n’est pas toujours simple d’être un homme !




Wikio

Monday, July 26, 2010

Phys Ed: Your Brain on Exercise

JULY 7, 2010, 12:01 AM


Jim Wehtje/Getty Images
What goes on inside your brain when you exercise? That question has preoccupied a growing number of scientists in recent years, as well as many of us who exercise. In the late 1990s, Dr. Fred Gage and his colleagues at the Laboratory of Genetics at the Salk Institute in San Diego elegantly proved that human and animal brains produce new brain cells (a process called neurogenesis) and that exercise increases neurogenesis. The brains of mice and rats that were allowed to run on wheels pulsed with vigorous, newly born neurons, and those animals then breezed through mazes and other tests of rodent I.Q., showing that neurogenesis improves thinking.
But how, exactly, exercise affects the staggeringly intricate workings of the brain at a cellular level has remained largely mysterious. A number of new studies, though, including work published this month by Mr. Gage and his colleagues, have begun to tease out the specific mechanisms and, in the process, raised new questions about just how exercise remolds the brain.
Some of the most reverberant recent studies were performed at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. There, scientists have been manipulating the levels of bone-morphogenetic protein or BMP in the brains of laboratory mice. BMP, which is found in tissues throughout the body, affects cellular development in various ways, some of them deleterious. In the brain, BMP has been found to contribute to the control of stem cell divisions. Your brain, you will be pleased to learn, is packed with adult stem cells, which, given the right impetus, divide and differentiate into either additional stem cells or baby neurons. As we age, these stem cells tend to become less responsive. They don’t divide as readily and can slump into a kind of cellular sleep. It’s BMP that acts as the soporific, says Dr. Jack Kessler, the chairman of neurology at Northwestern and senior author of many of the recent studies. The more active BMP and its various signals are in your brain, the more inactive your stem cells become and the less neurogenesis you undergo. Your brain grows slower, less nimble, older.
But exercise countermands some of the numbing effects of BMP, Dr. Kessler says. In work at his lab, mice given access to running wheels had about 50 percent less BMP-related brain activity within a week. They also showed a notable increase in Noggin, a beautifully named brain protein that acts as a BMP antagonist. The more Noggin in your brain, the less BMP activity exists and the more stem cell divisions and neurogenesis you experience. Mice at Northwestern whose brains were infused directly with large doses of Noggin became, Dr. Kessler says, “little mouse geniuses, if there is such a thing.” They aced the mazes and other tests.
Whether exercise directly reduces BMP activity or increases production of Noggin isn’t yet known and may not matter. The results speak for themselves. “If ever exercise enthusiasts wanted a rationale for what they’re doing, this should be it,” Dr. Kessler says. Exercise, he says, through a complex interplay with Noggin and BMP, helps to ensure that neuronal stem cells stay lively and new brain cells are born.
But there are caveats and questions remaining, as the newest experiment from Dr. Gage’s lab makes clear. In that study, published in the most recent issue of Cell Stem Cell, BMP signaling was found to be playing a surprising, protective role for the brain’s stem cells. For the experiment, stem cells from mouse brains were transferred to petri dishes and infused with large doses of Noggin, hindering BMP activity. Without BMP signals to inhibit them, the stem cells began dividing rapidly, producing hordes of new neurons. But over time, they seemed unable to stop, dividing and dividing again until they effectively wore themselves out. The same reaction occurred within the brains of living (unexercised) mice given large doses of Noggin. Neurogenesis ramped way up, then, after several weeks, sputtered and slowed.  The “pool of active stem cells was depleted,” a news release accompanying the study reported. An overabundance of Noggin seemed to cause stem cells to wear themselves out, threatening their ability to make additional neurons in the future.
This finding raises the obvious and disturbing question: can you overdose on Noggin by, for instance, running for hours, amping up your production of the protein throughout? The answer, Dr. Gage says, is, almost certainly, no. “Many people have been looking into” that issue, he says. But so far, “there has not been any instance of a negative effect from voluntary running” on the brain health of mice. Instead, he says, it seems that the effects of exercise are constrained and soon plateau, causing enough change in the activity of Noggin and BMP to shake slumbering adult stem cells awake, but not enough to goose them into exhausting themselves.
Still, if there’s not yet any discernible ceiling on brain-healthy exercise, there is a floor. You have to do something. Walk, jog, swim, pedal — the exact amount or intensity of the exercise required has not been determined, although it appears that the minimum is blessedly low. In mice, Mr. Gage says, “even a fairly short period” of exercise “and a short distance seems to produce results.”


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Friday, July 23, 2010

Risk factors for obesity


Here are some of the things that make it more likely that you'll get obese. It's probably a combination of these that lead to obesity in most people. 1 2
Your parents and your genes
You're at risk of obesity if one or both of your parents is overweight or obese. This might be because you share the same genes as your parents. Or it could be because family members tend to eat the same things and have a similar lifestyle. 3
The ob gene
Genes are in every cell in your body. They tell cells how to grow and what to do. The ob genetells the cells in your body that store fat to make a chemical called leptin. Leptin tells the brain how hungry or how full you feel. It also helps your body burn the food you eat to keep you warm.
Researchers think that some people who are obese might have a faulty ob gene. So these people don't make enough leptin. This makes it harder for them to control how much they eat because they don't sense when they feel hungry or full. This makes them more likely to be obese. 4
But this problem is rare. Most people with obesity don't have this problem.
Comfort eating
You might eat too much as a way of dealing with painful or difficult emotions. Perhaps you eat when you feel unhappy or bored, even when you don't feel hungry. This is often called comfort eating. It can be hard to break this habit.
You might also eat too much if you have a mental health condition, such as depression oranxiety disorder, or if you feel bad about yourself (have low self-esteem).
Other risk factors
Many things make it more likely that you'll gain too much weight. If you're overweight, there's a risk you might get obese.
  • Your sex: Women are slightly more likely to be overweight than men are.
  • Your ethnic group: Women who are Mexican American or African-American are particularly at risk.
  • Age: Men and women are most likely to gain weight between the ages of 20 and 40.
  • Menopause: The changes in levels of hormones during menopause can make it easier to gain weight.
  • Drinking too much alcohol: Alcoholic beverages are high in calories.
  • Quitting smoking: Quitting smoking is good for your health, but you might gain weight afterward.
  • Being married: Married people are more likely to be overweight than those who stay single.
  • Having children: Women are likely to gain about 2 pounds each time they have a baby.
  • Poor education: People who do less well at school are more likely to get obese later in life.
Sources for the information on this page:
  1. Kopelman PG.Obesity as a medical problem.Nature. 2000; 404: 635-643.
  2. Hughes D, McGuire A.A review of the economic analysis of obesity.British Medical Bulletin. 1997; 53: 253-263.
  3. Flier JS, Foster DW.Eating disorders: obesity, anorexia nervosa, and bulimia nervosa.In: Wilson JD, Foster DW, Kronenberg HM, et al (editors). Williams textbook of endocrinology. 9th edition. WB Saunders, Philadelphia, U.S.A.; 1998.
  4. Flier JS.Obesity.In: Braunwald E, Hauser SL, Fauci AS, et al (editors). Harrison's principles of internal medicine. 15th edition. McGraw Hill, New York, U.S.A.; 2001.


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