Cleanse Days Combat Weight Gain and Oxidative Stress

One or two days a week of Cleanse Day-style calorie reduction similar if not more beneficial than dieting for shedding weight and oxidative stress, study suggests.

Worried you might eat too much at Thanksgiving or during the holiday season? Following the festivities with a couple of Cleanse Days is an effective way to get back on track by compensating for the extra calories eaten. Results from a study published recently in theInternational Journal of Obesity show just that.

In a randomized trial on 107 middle-aged, overweight or obese women, researchers compared intermittent calorie restriction—similar to Cleanse Days on an Isagenix system—with continuous calorie restriction (regular dieting). It was one of the first human trials to ever compare the two weight-management strategies. Over the six-month study, researchers took measurements including weight, total body fat, blood pressure, and blood sampling to determine changes in weight and insulin resistance.

The study assigned the women to either consume a continuous calorie-restricted diet (25 percent below estimated requirements daily) or a diet that restricted calories by 75 percent for two days a week, the other five days followed the estimated requirements for weight maintenance.

The women in the calorie-restricted group followed a Mediterranean-type diet. The diet contained 30 percent calories from fat (most being monounsaturated fat like olive oil as found in IsaLean Shake), 45 percent calories from low-glycemic carbohydrates, and 25 percent calories from protein. The intermittent calorie-restriction group followed the same diet, but for two days consumed only about 492 to 541 calories each day—that’s not quite as low in calories as the average Cleanse Day of about 150 calories daily, but it’s pretty close.

At the end of the six months, the researchers found that both groups were comparable in total weight loss and improvements in several risk markers for type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and several cancers. However, the intermittent calorie restriction group appeared to have greater improvements in insulin sensitivity and oxidative stress markers.The increased insulin sensitivity from intermittent calorie restriction may be related to the significant decrease of insulin in the body during a one-or-two-day reduced intake in calories, which was followed by regular calorie intake. The authors called for future trials that look into the effects that intermittent calorie restriction has on insulin and glucose metabolism.

They wrote, intermittent calorie restriction “may be offered as an equivalent alternative to” dieting “for weight loss and reducing disease risk.”

Previously, research reviews have also speculated that intermittent calorie restriction might be linked to better disease prevention than continuous fasting because of increased resistance to oxidative stress—results from this study may support this assertion.

For those on an Isagenix system, these findings support the importance of Cleanse Days. They may offer similar if not more benefits than regular dieting for weight loss. Unlike normal intermittent calorie restriction, drinking Cleanse for Life also supports the body nutritionally, adds antioxidant protection, and promotes detoxification because of its content of herbs, vitamins, and minerals.

Obesity Is On The Rise!

Americans Are Fat, And Expected To Get Much Fatter

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Overweight guys will have even more company in a few years.

In case you haven't noticed, we're fat, and getting fatter.

If Americans stay on this path, 83 percent of men will be overweight or obese by 2020. Women are right behind them, with 72 percent projected to be overweight or obese by then.

The implications go far beyond tight pants and groaning sofas. Obesity is a big risk factor for cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

Imagining an America of overweight, unhealthy people gives public health officials the willies. And it should be frightening to us civilians, too.

 

The latest numbers come from Mark Huffman, an assistant professor of preventive medicine and cardiology at Northwestern University who presented them at the annual scientific meeting of the American Heart Asssociation this week.

He looked at current rates for cardiovascular risk factors including smoking, lack of exercise, diet, weight, blood pressure and cholesterol. He found that reductions in smoking, high cholesterol and high blood pressure since 1988 have been offset by weight gain, diabetes, and pre-diabetes.

Then he took the increases in weight, diabetes, and prediabetes, and predicted where they would go in the next two decades. That's how he came up with more than three-quarters of Americans becoming overweight.

"It's really striking," Huffman told Shots. "It, gosh, it makes you want to figure out solutions."

That's especially true because we aren't exemplars of healthy living right now. Right now, 32 percent of men and 34 percent of women are obese. Those numbers are projected to rise to 43 and 42 percent in 2020, nudging up toward half of all people.

The number of people who have diabetes or are pre-diabetic is also projected to increase, from 6.3 percent and 37 percent of women to 8.3 percent and 44 percent. Huffman said: "That's more than half of women, if current trends continue. It's not much better for men, as you would imagine."

Clearly we need some help. Just about everybody knows they need to eat well and exercise more, but just knowing that isn't doing the trick.

Doctors often avoid talking with patients about their weight, NPR's Patricia Neighmond reported this week. And patients will quit going to the doctor if they feel they're going to be told they're not doing enough to lose weight.

People need help on the individual level, Huffman says, but changes are also needed that affect large groups of people, like easier access to fresh fruits and vegetables, and more physical education classes in schools. "It's not one versus the other."