We are constantly bombarded with supplement companies pushing their new products on us. You cannot surf the internet without seeing the latest and greatest muscle building or weight loss pill advertisement. Through the use of fitness supermodels and outlandish claims regarding the effectiveness of their products the emotional effect that some of these products have on us can be very powerful. At times we can be so desperate for outside help regarding out fitness goals and weight loss dreams that we often believe all the hype surrounding a product. Because the supplement industry is not regulated, the consumer has a hard time distinguishing between the supplements that are all hype and which ones may potentially help your fitness or weight loss needs.

When making any decision regarding purchasing supplements, always be very skeptical regarding the outlandish claims that are made about them. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Even if the product has some scientific backing, no one product will be that magic bullet or pill that will substitute sound diet and training practices.

Many of us as we age have a harder time keeping unwanted pounds off. The hormonal changes within our bodies make it very tough to eat the things we used to and still keep as lean as we once were when we were in our 20’s and early 30’s. In addition, the lifestyle we lead as we age precludes us to eat less healthy. Raising children is very difficult when both parents are juggling work, family life, sporting events, etc. As a result of this and the fact that fast food and other very unhealthy food choices surround us, many of us have found ourselves at minimum overweight while others obese with complicated conditions such as heart disease and diabetes. Obesity can result in shortening one’s life span by 8 to 10 years while for every 33 extra pounds the risk of death increases by 30%.

As said earlier, there is no substitute for changing one’s lifestyle through proper exercise and diet when attempting to drop unwanted pounds however there may be a supplement that can accelerate positive changes within one’s body to decrease body fat. Much research has been done linking coffee consumption and its positive effects on the storage of fat and carbohydrate. Because research conducted with both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee have been positive, scientists have looked to the chlorogenic acid compound in coffee as the possible benefactor (Green Coffee Bean Extract).

Research within the last 10 years has found chorogenic acid’s positive effects on glucose uptake, lowering blood sugar, and inhibiting enzymes that break down starches into sugar. As importantly, it has also been found that ingestion of chorogenic acid reduces body weight, body mass and body fat in pre-obese, healthy subjects (Vinson et. al, 2012). This study used 16 subjects whose mean body fat was 28.1% and had a range in body mass index (BMI) between 25-30. What was important about this study was the fact that it was a crossover design. What that meant was that during the 22 weeks the same subjects who were on the high dose of chlorogenic acid (6 weeks) crossed over to the low dose (6 weeks) and placebo group (6 week) as well. As a result it could be determined which condition actually had an effect on the same subjects. During the high dose phase, subjects ingested 350mg of green coffee extract 3 times per day while the low dose group ingested 350mg of green coffee extract 2 times per day. There were no changes in caloric intake by the subjects during the 22 week study. Striking results were found for both the low and high dose groups:

a) Decrease in body weight of 17.6lbs (average)

b) Average BMI decrease of nearly 3%

c) Decrease in body fat by an average of over 4%

d) No significant changes while in the placebo group

It is important to note that all 16 subjects lost weight, decreased % body fat and reduced their BMI. In addition, there did not appear to be any side effects associated with the supplement.

It is important to note that even though there appears to be compelling research as to the efficacy of this product, it may not work for everyone. It is also not a substitute for proper diet and exercise. However, the combination of all may prove to be worth the effort and money (about $30.00/month) in significantly reducing body fat, weight and other important health markers.

References:

Vinson et al. (2012). Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, linear dose, crossover study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of green coffee bean extract in overweight subjects. Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity: Targets and Therapy, 5, 21-27

This current season, although shortened because of the lockout, has still produced plenty of changes on the Capitals’ bench. So here, yearbook style, are a few observations about the 2012-2013 roster:

• Most Competitive: Jay Beagle: I struggled with this, since you’ll likely find a good amount of overachievers on any professional sports roster, but I honestly think the most competitive guy in the Caps’ locker room is Beagle. Getting a permanent spot on an NHL roster did not come easy for him, and you can tell he takes his opportunity seriously.
• Mr. Congeniality: Nicklas Backstrom. A few years ago, when Backstrom signed a huge contract extension with the franchise, Mike Vogel reported the forward gave iPads to his teammates that next season. How do you top that? (You don’t.)
• Most Likely to Be a Sportscaster: Brooks Laich. He’s one of the best at communicating hockey to laypeople. Actually, I’m pretty sure he’d hate the idea of being in the media at first, but I’d consider this similar to his Twitter evolution: he once declared himself the least likely Capital to join, and he’s now addicted to hashtags.
• Funniest: I could go with the obvious (Matt Hendricks), but I’m going to be unpredictable and select Troy Brouwer. His Twitter feed has some comedy gold, with a few gems directed at his teammates (he’s played paparazzi to Joel Ward several times).
• Best Hair: Jason Chimera.
• Best Conversationalist: Karl Alzner. I’d also label him the most observant.
• Best Dressed: Joel Ward. No discussion. Not that NHL players usually set the bar high.
• Best Smile: John Erskine.
• Worst Driver: It’s gotta be Alex Ovechkin, right?
• Biggest Team Player: Matt Hendricks. If you’re willing to bleed for your teammates, that says a lot about how little you value your individual accolades compared to the team as a whole.

Of course, there’s a lot personality-related that we’ll never know, unless we petition HBO 24/7 to come back and transform into HBO 365/24/7. But I find as a journalist that it’s still valuable to observe and be aware of each player’s unique contribution to the personality melting pot in the locker room. I believe the more you know of a player’s personality, motivation and drive, the better the picture you’ll be able to paint for fans of the team.

Three ways to enter:

Follow the official Scarlet Caps Twitter handle: @ScarletCaps Take a photo of yourself or a photo with friends rocking the red and showing your Caps spirit! Tweet the photo including the hashtag #ScarletRocksTheRed Tweet anytime between the dates listed above using the hashtag

If you don’t have tickets to the game then stick around and cheer on the Caps at Iron Horse. We will be announcing the winner of the Fan Appreciation Day contest, raffling off autographed Caps items and a pair of tickets to the game for that night. Come out and talk hockey and mingle with other Club Scarlet members.

You must RSVP by Monday, April 22, space is limited so click here to RSVP today. We hope to see you there!
Thank you and Let’s Go Caps!

Iron Horse (one block away from Verizon Center):
507 7th St. NW
Washington, DC 20004

** You must be over 21 to attend this event
**You must be a Club Scarlet member, not a member click here to sign up

The happy hour will take place from 6-7 p.m. and will include light appetizers and beverages (beer, wine and soda). Check-in will begin at 5:45 p.m. We will be raffling off autographed Caps items along with a pair of lower level tickets for the game. There will also be an alumni in attendance to sign autographs. You must have purchased the package to attend the happy hour.

We hope to see you there! Let’s Go Caps!

Essential in our human diet are the need for Omega-3 fatty acids. The reason that Omega-3’s are essential is because we cannot naturally produce it in our bodies and thus need to ingest it through our diet. Foods that are rich in Omega-3’s are: salmon, halibut, sardines, flaxseeds, and walnuts.

Typically our North American diet is deficient in Omega-3 fatty acids. In fact, our diet consists of foods that have a much higher concentration of Omega-6 fatty acids. Foods that have the highest concentration of Omega-6 fatty acids are: vegetable oil, nuts, and seeds. Because many foods have vegetable oil in or on them, we tend to get plenty of Omega-6 fatty acids in our diet. And while there are many health benefits to Omega-6’s, striking a healthy balance between them and Omega-3’s are crucial to your health and possibly recovery from your training workouts.

A typical North American diet that is heavily weighted to Omega-6 fatty acid consumption can lead to a variety of health problems and typically create inflammatory conditions within the body: heart attacks, atherosclerosis, thrombosis, arrhythmia, stroke, immune-inflamatory disorders, asthma, arthritis, cancer proliferation, obesity, psychiatric disorders, and depression (Lands, 2012). You can imagine the associated health care costs of all these conditions. On the other hand, when the balance between Omega-6 and Omega-3’s are in check, a variety of positive effects on the body occurs. In a perfect world we need to strive for a 1:1 or 2:1 ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3 fatty acids in our cells. However, most North Americans are more in the 4-6:1 ratio. It is very hard to eat enough food containing Omega-3’s to balance out the Omega-6’s we ingest. As a result, supplementation of Omega-3’s is recommended. Omega-3 supplementation has been found effective for treating rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and psoriasis. In addition, a very recent study (Jouris et al., 2011) also found that Omega-3 supplementation may also have a positive effect on the inflammatory responses to exercise.

Health and disease is a combination of genetic predispositions, the environment we live in, and the conditions we create within our bodies through our diets and exercise or lack thereof. As a result, there are many negative health conditions that can be prevented if we paid more attention to diet and exercise. More specifically, identifying the imbalanced ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3 fatty acids is a first step in the right direction to determining if diet modification and supplementation is required to improve your quality of life in the immediate and near future. If your balance between the two fatty acids is negatively skewed towards Omega-6’s, then you should take steps to changing or at least modifying your diet.

One of the advantages of the world we currently live in is the abundance of information that is at our fingertips. There is a great website (www.fastlearner.org) that has information on the Omega 3-6 balance scores of over 5000 food choices. The information can be downloaded as an app to help you make better choices when shopping for food. The website makes things very easy in determining which foods are in better balance for your health. Traditional Japanese diets have an average daily balance near +1 (weighting Omega-3’s on the positive side) whereas the typical North American diet is closer to -6 or -7. A higher negative balance score is more correlated to higher incidence of cardiovascular disease.

Another possible advantage of having a more balanced Omega-3 diet is its effects on recovery from intense exercise (Phillips et al, 2003). Jouris et al. (2011) found that when subjects were supplemented daily with 3 grams of Omega-3’s the soreness associated with eccentric exercise (the lowering phase of a repetition when the muscle lengthens under tension) was reduced. This study also found that those subjects who were supplemented with Omega-3’s demonstrated a greater number of eccentric contractions thus suggesting increased strength when compared with controls. Beneficial effects were seen with only seven days of supplementation! As a result, for those of you who lift weights on a regular basis, you may see greater gains with the right amount of Omega-3’s in your diet, not to mention the other beneficial effects to your health.

References:
Lands, Bill (2012). Consequences of Essential Fatty Acids. Nutrients, 4, 1338-1357.

Jouris et al. (2011). The effect of omega-3 fatty acid supplementation on the inflammatory response to eccentric strength exercise. Journal of Sports Science & Medicine, 10, 432-438.

Phillips et al. (2003). A dietary supplement attenuates IL-6 and CPR after eccentric exercise in untrained males. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 35, 2032-2037.

This year female fans learned about hockey from players through five sessions. Two on-ice sessions featured instruction on shooting with forwards Joey Crabb and Wojtek Wolski along with assistant coach Tim Hunter and alumnus Paul Mulvey. Defenseman Tomas Kundratek and alumnus Craig Laughlin instructed attendees on passing in a third session, while assistant coach Calle Johansson led a demonstration on face-offs during a fourth session. Attendees also had the opportunity to take a photo with forward Jay Beagle during the event. “It was great having some of our female fans out to Kettler for an evening of Caps hockey,” said Crabb. “I enjoyed teaching them how to shoot the puck and hope they learned more about the game.”

Also during the event strength and conditioning coach Mark Nemish led the women through the team’s workout routine during a session on player fitness, while head equipment manager Brock Myles led an equipment session in the Caps locker room on gear used by the team.

During a film session video coach Brett Leonhardt taught women how to break down film to understand and analyze different aspects of the game as well as how he prepares the team and coaching staff for each game.

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