Windsor Star

NEW STUDY CHALLENGES METABOLISM MYTH.

FLEXIBLE EXERCISE REGIMEN FAVOURED

- Joseph Brean

Among the things that have been said to boost human metabolism and help control weight gain are green coffee beans, coconut oil, vinegar, cabbage, eggs, soup, blackberri­es, walnuts and hot chili peppers.

None have much scientific justificat­ion, and some — notably the peppers — are just as likely to cause painful or negative effects on digestion.

As the U.S. National Library of Medicine puts it, myths can backfire, and “there are more myths about boosting metabolism than tactics that work.” After about 30, metabolism does not really change, and certainly not in response to one single food, according to the common dietary wisdom.

Now, a scientific review of thousands of adult Americans tracked over more than six years suggests the gold standard solution to weight management — exercise — is just as beneficial whether done in intense bursts, such as a run or a fitness class, or in little bits throughout the day, such as walking and taking the stairs.

Exercise does affect metabolism. That much is well understood. But the novel discovery from the American team is that exercise affects metabolism just the same regardless of how it is distribute­d throughout the day, according to the study led by Pedro F. Saint- Maurice of the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda,Md.

By tracking nearly 5,000 Americans older than 40 over about six years until 2011, during which 700 of them died, the researcher­s concluded that reductions in mortality associated with moderate to vigorous exercise “are independen­t of how activity is accumulate­d.”

They suggest this insight should inform clinical practice, and steer doctors away from recommendi­ng only shorter, more intense, sweat-inducing bouts of physical activity. This sort of exercise “conferred little additional benefit,” they found. The key was simply to accumulate 150 minutes a week. The distributi­on did not matter.

They suggest this flexibilit­y might be particular­ly valuable for the treatment of people who are among the least physically active, and are therefore at higher risk of developing chronic illnesses.

“Despite the historical notion that physical activity needs to be performed for a minimum duration to elicit meaningful health benefits, we provide novel evidence that sporadic and bouted (moderate to vigorous physical activity) are similarly associated with substantia­lly reduced mortality,” the team writes in the research paper, published in the Journal of the American Medical Associatio­n. One Canadian expert sounded a note of skepticism to the suggestion that age related weight management should not take into account age related changes to metabolism. Metabolism does change with age. It slows down by roughly 10 pounds per decade past the age of 30, an effect that is compounded for women by menopause, said Yoni Freedhoff, an obesity expert, assistant professor of family medicine at the University of Ottawa, and medical director of the Bariatric Medical Institute. “So eat the same from 30 to 60 and you may well be 30 pounds heavier,” he said. He was also skeptical of the suggestion that less exercise necessaril­y leads to weight gain, or that more exercise necessaril­y leads to loss. The distributi­on of exercise might be irrelevant, as this research suggests, but it is not a panacea for obesity all on its own. “I’m not aware of any robust evidence to suggest decreasing activity with age leads to gain, nor that increasing activity with age will provide any remarkable benefits in preventing weight gain,” Freedhoff said.

THEREARE MORE MYTHS ABOUT BOOSTING METABOLISM THAN TACTICS THAT WORK.

 ?? GETTY IMAGES / ISTOCKPHOT­O ?? Hot chili peppers are just as likely to cause painful or negative effects on digestion as they are to boost the human body’s metabolism.
GETTY IMAGES / ISTOCKPHOT­O Hot chili peppers are just as likely to cause painful or negative effects on digestion as they are to boost the human body’s metabolism.

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