A female friend forwarded this to me…and although it was written for a female audience, the information was too accurate – for all genders – for me not to share.

In this month’s Glamour magazine (a good lesson to not judge a book by its cover!), Dr. Julie Holland suggests we take a page out of the book from our caveman and cavewomen ancestors in order to be our healthiest and happiest selves.  She suggests that we have ‘primal needs’ that get ignored in favor of prescription medicines, social media, and unnatural ingredients in foods.

So, Dr. Holland suggests 9 helpful ways to live like the cavemen did…and you may discover your healthiest self yet.

Here are her tips:

1.  Don’t Forget To Move!

Cavemen and women were quite active – from hunting, gathering, preparing meals, carrying water, to building shelters, and more.  Since we do not have to manually prepare for our own survival in the same way, we’ve gotten too comfortable.

So many of us claim to be too tired and too busy to go to the gym, but really, some form of cardio – every day – is necessary.  If you can’t hit the gym, take a walk around your office building at lunch, park your car further away from the store, or find a friend to help motivate you.

2.  Fluorescent Lights Don’t Count as Sun Light

Once in a while, leave the office and soak up some sun.  Vitamin D is produced naturally when you’re in real sun light – and without enough of it, you can become the victim of depression, headaches, chronic pain, and for women, PMS symptoms may also be stronger (and more uncomfortable).

We have covered the necessity of taking a 5 minute break outside before, and the good doctor just reaffirms this again.  If you can’t make it outside daily, bring a plant into your window-less office to mimic the benefits.

Our cave-people ancestors lived every moment of their lives outside, and we, like the cavemen, thrive outdoors.

In short: go outside.

3.  Eat Naturally

The best things for us to eat are the things that grow naturally – fruits, vegetables, and nuts.  This is a given.  Anything processed, fried, dyed, or made with artificial ingredients is simply that – artificial –  and not good for any part of you.

Dr. Holland has a mantra called the “junk-in, junk-out” analogy, which states that if you put bad fuel in your engine, it won’t run well.  Makes sense to me!

While we are talking about food, make sure to drink plenty of water.  You know this drill too – but it never hurts to repeat it.  Avoid beverages that can actually dehydrate your further, like juice and yes, even diet soda.

4.  Danger: Avoid “Sex Drive Predators”

Dr. Holland notes that in her private practice in New York, clients complain that they want to have sex, but the desire is gone.

There are more than a few triggers that can lower our sex drives… including lack of sleep, too much stress, anxiety, and, get this…possibly the biggest culprit to strip our desire to strip?  Prescription pills.

For women, birth control pills often lead to lower desire for women.  The Pill (and the shot, and others) lower testosterone in the body, which lowers desire.

For both sexes, taking anti-depressants also lowers the sex drive.  And, for a double whammy, there are plenty of women who take The Pill and an anti-depressant.  No wonder the desire has departed!

In general, some prescription drugs are necessary, but many do interfere with other bodily processes, so check to make sure you’re only taking pills you need.

5.  Bad Moods Are OK

It is perfectly normal to have a bad day, or hell, even a bad week.  And a blah mood that matches your bad day is normal, too.

For men and women, some bad moods may be hormonal, so you simply must accept the good with the bad.

If the bad tends to outweigh the good considerably, see your Doctor.  Don’t change or stop taking medications without seeing your Doctor, either.  Lastly, be wary of side effects (see # 4).

6.  Schedule Face Time

With more social media networks than one can imagine (or stalk their exes on), we often forget to schedule time to see one another in person.

Although we are still “connected” to one another virtually, Dr. Holland reminds us that mankind is a social creature by nature…our “primal needs” include the touch of another person, and eye contact, among other bonding elements.  Without planning some mandatory face to face time with those we love, we lose out on a lot, including sharpening our social skills.

Make sure to see your friends and family in person, not only through your Skype screen, at least once in a while.

7.  Sleep Enough

Sleeping long enough, and well enough, is just as important for us as it was for our cave-dwelling kin.   When we are overtired, we tend to reach for sugar foods or drinks loaded up with caffeine (or both, thank you, Red Bull) to get us through the day.

But in the long run, this may do more harm than good.  Drinking caffeinated beverages all day keeps us awake later at night, which makes it harder to fall asleep.  It can be a vicious cycle!

Dr. Holland suggests that in order to get a good night’s sleep, stop consuming caffeine after noon.  That way your body has long enough to metabolize the caffeine you’re giving to it.

Also, turn off your electronic devices at least a full hour before you turn in.  Bright lights from your electronics reduce the natural amount of melatonin you produce, which is a hormone that is necessary for a quality sleep cycle.

8.  Schedule Some R&R

This relates back to #2.  Unplug and go outside!  Take the time to sit still, even for a few moments, with no distractions, and to just reflect.

If we just run and run and forget to stop, we neglect our health!  We are more likely to remain indoors, to eat poorly, and to stay plugged in at all times, which pretty much covers this list.

Dr. Holland suggests spending your You-Time outdoors for maximum benefit.

9.  Have Fun!

Yes, you should have fun, but your party time should not involve binge drinking or excessive drug use.  Dr. Holland defines “binge-drinking” as having more than 4 drinks in a single setting – and this could be a huge reality check for some of us!

As far as drug use goes, Dr. Holland said it best already, so it is best to let her do so here:

“In some ancient groups, altered states enhanced communal rituals and gatherings.  They were infused with meaning and spirituality.  We should emulate that approach, rather than use substances to numb ourselves, zone out, and escape.”

Right.  So, you can drink in moderation, but you need to consume your drinks slowly, and always remember how many you’ve had.  (If you can’t remember, the answer is automatically “too many!”).

In conclusion, there is a lot to take away from this information.  You do not immediately have to switch your entire life around and live according to the caveman ways, but there is a lot here that can help you to have an enjoyable, productive, and healthy life.  Enjoy!

Source: Holland, Julie, M.D. “The Cavewoman’s Guide to Good Health.” Glamour Magazine. October 2010.

Anyone who has tried to lose weight has heard this before: instead of eating three big meals at specific times, eat 5-6 smaller meals, or ‘graze’ throughout the day.

The reasoning behind this is twofold:

1. So that your metabolism will continue burn high all day.  The argument being since your body is getting calories throughout the day, it will not go into starvation mode and store excess calories as fat.
2. So, that you don’t feel hungry and end up over-eating.

I can’t tell you how many diet experts swear by this, I have literally read this a thousand times and accepted it as gospel.

Sounds good…in theory…

However,  a new study recently published in the journal, Obesity, came up with some very different results.

The study took –place at Purdue University in Indiana, and 37 overweight or obese men took part in the study.

Stage One:  Establishing the Control

Subjects were divided randomly into two groups:

Group A received a high-protein diet plan (about 25% of total calories from protein)

Group B received a mid-level protein diet (about 14 percent protein)

All of the participants were expected to adhere to their new plans for 12 full weeks.

Both diet plans contained 750 fewer calories than the men needed to maintain their weights.  Therefore, feelings of hunger should’ve started up quickly and frequently in all of the testers.

No instructions were given as to the frequency of meals…

Stage Two:  Testing Meal Frequency

Starting at week seven, the men (who stayed on the same diet plans) were asked to change the frequency of eating.

Some participants were asked to eat three meals per day, with meals spaced five hours apart.

Others were asked to eat a small meal every two hours, for a total of six meals per day.  The participants stuck to one method for three consecutive days, then switched to the other plan for three days.

The men reported their results after the 12 week period had ended.

The Results

For the men on the high-level protein diet (25% – which a lot of weight loss experts would consider mid level), eating 3 meals a day kept them more satiated than eating 6 smaller meals a day.  They were actually less hungry during meal times, and they thought about food less…

More importantly, they had less of an urge to snack at night – a big deal.

However for men on the lower protein diet, the meal frequency did not seem to make any difference at all…

Another interesting result of the study is that overall the men on the higher protein diet felt less hungry between meal times than the lower protein group.

More Questions than Answers

Like most of our articles it brings up more questions than answers.

Just writing out loud here…

Did the lower protein diet simply not supply enough protein to cause satiation?  Making meal frequency irrelevant?  This is speculative, but makes some sense. Did the subjects on the higher protein diet who ate three meals a day actually lose more weight than the folks on the high frequency diet?  I think this may be important!!!

And obviously it would be interesting to see if the results were the same for women and for different types of diets…

And of course it would be nice to see a more long term approach.

The Battle Resumes:

This study is far from conclusive, but it does add new ripples to the 3 meals versus 6 meals debate.  I would love to hear what you think about this as I know there are a lot of strong opinions out there!  Please comment below.

Source: Heather J. Leidy, Minghua Tang, Cheryl L.H. Armstrong, Carmen B. Martin and Wayne W. Campbell, The Effects of Consuming Frequent, Higher Protein Meals on Appetite and Satiety During Weight Loss in Overweight/Obese Men, Obesity , (16 September 2010)

As health decreases and obesity increases, more people will look to drastic, alternative surgeries to drop pounds fast.

One surgical procedure that has made its introduction in America only this year is pretty drastic, to say the least!  I really want to know what you think of this procedure, so please leave your comments below!

Please answer this question for me:

Would you consider sewing a mesh screen to your tongue to stop you from eating?

Could this even be a possibility?  Amazingly, yes, it is now a reality.

Here are the details:

A small mesh patch, about the size of a stamp, is sewn directly onto the tongue.

You can learn to talk comfortably with it installed, but eating is uncomfortable.

The Doctor who created it, Dr. Nikolas Chugay, claims you will be able to stick to a liquid diet for a full month, which will in turn cause drastic weight loss.  The good doctor claims that patients are losing about 20-30 pounds in a single month.

The good news is that the patch must be removed after 30 days, so that the patient can go back to a solid diet.

There are definitely a large amount of people who think this is not a good (read: very, very bad) idea, but Dr. Chugay defends his product against critics.  Comparing this surgery to other weight loss surgeries, like gastric bypass or the lap-band, Dr. Chugay says his procedure is cheaper, only around $1500.  He also notes that it is reversible, the procedure requires only local anesthesia, and the total surgery only takes about 10 minutes.

Is Drastic Surgery Necessary?

Worldwide reports prove that citizens in the world’s richest countries are getting fatter and fatter, and the United States has the fastest growing population of obese people.

The Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development released figures demonstrating that a full 75% of Americans will be considered obese (BMI=30+) in only 10 years from now.

Even with everything we know about how to lose weight effectively, people continue to get heavier and heavier…And instead of taking control of their bad eating habits, they are turning to drastic surgeries and gimmicks – which may not be helpful in the long-run.

This tongue surgery, only a matter of time…

The amount of people getting liposuction, gastric bypass, and stomach stapling has been steadily increasing every year as we seem to have given up on the idea of actually adhering to a healthy lifestyle on our own.

So, I guess tongue surgery only makes sense.  What about a shock collar that detects sugar… that would be fun.   Or they could just create a pill we could take that made us feel nauseous all the time.  Or why not just cut off our fingers… making it really hard to eat?

Back to the tongue surgery, this is no long term solution. This liquid diet may help with short term weight loss, but my bet is that people gain the weight back extremely quickly once they are able to eat without feeling excruciating tongue pain…

How about you?

What measures would you take to lose some quick pounds, aside from changing your eating habits and getting more exercise, of course?

Source: Keller, Greg. “Number of fat people in US to grow, report says.” Yahoo News September 30, 2010.

Men apologize less because they do fewer things wrong…according to a new study, anyway!

Karina Schumann and Michael Ross from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, were determined to find out if women do, in fact, apologize more than men, and if so, why?

To answer their questions, they created two studies.

Study One

In order to find out, once and for all, if women apologize more than men, the researchers recruited 33 college students, men and women, aged 18-44, and asked them to keep a journal for 12 straight days.

In their journals, the students were supposed to write down when and if they did something that was worthy of an apology.  They were also asked to keep track of when they felt someone owed them an apology for something, even if the apology was never verbally delivered.

Surprisingly, according to the study, both genders apologize at the same rate of 81% when they feel they have wronged someone.

So, why does it seem like women apologize so much more?

It is because women simply feel as if there are a lot more situations that call for an apology than men.

That math makes sense!

Study Two – Confirmation

Based on these responses, the researchers conducted a second study.  They wanted to find out what types of situations are reported as offensive enough to warrant an apology in the first place.

In order to test this, over 120 undergraduates of both genders were given scenarios that might warrant an apology. Subjects were then surveyed on whether they indeed thought the situation was apology worthy.

Across the board, though we do not have the actual figures for you, women rated offenses as more severe than men.  Also, women more often suggested an apology was in order for that specific offense.

Conclusions

Schumann concludes that because women are more emotional and nurturing by nature, the fact that they see more offenses as being worthy of an apology does make sense.

That may be the case, but more importantly, we now know the reason for lots of couple fights!

I know that knowing this earlier could have prevented some tension in my household for sure.  As a man, it will be helpful to know that what I think is no big deal – just might warrant an apology.  And for my wife, it might help her to know that my insensitivity is gender based.

Now this is a cop out that I can get behind!

Source: Schumann, Karina, and Michael Ross. September 2010. “Why Women Apologize More Than Men:  Gender Differences in Thresholds for Perceiving Offensive Behavior.” Journal of Psychological Science.Epublication ahead of print.