3 Ways Whey Protein Can Help You Lose Weight

You probably know that whey protein should be your top protein choice when you're trying to build muscle, but you may not know that it should actually be your top choice when looking to lose weight, too! Yes, this fast-digesting protein king actually packs a powerful appetite-suppressing punch, contrary to the fact that liquids (and whey in particular) digest quickly.

Whey protein has been shown to positively impact the hunger hormones in your gut, the appetite control center in your brain, and to have a helpful impact on blood glucose levels (which has a positive impact on appetite). It's even been shown to be a superior appetite suppressant compared to casein protein in the short term.[1]

1. Increases Appetite Suppressing Hormones

Whey protein is composed of several bioactive compounds, or small molecules that exert powerful effects in your body. Glycomacro protein (GMP) is one that may play a major role in suppressing your appetite. GMP has been shown to increase secretion of the gut hormone cholecystokinin (CCK).[2] CCK plays a major role in sending satiety signals to the brain, which may help encourage you to put your fork down.

A study in the journal Appetite found the presence of GMP in whey protein to have a major impact on keeping appetite at bay.[3] Researchers provided subjects with a regular whey protein or a GMP-depleted whey protein before they sat down to an all-you-can-eat meal. Subjects who drank the GMP-depleted whey ate significantly more than the traditional whey group, which researchers attributed to the appetite-suppressing impact of GMP.

2. Signals Fuel Availability In The Brain

Whey protein contains more leucine (a critical branched-chain amino acid) than any other protein source.[4] Beyond its muscle-building role, it's thought that leucine may have a direct impact on appetite, too. In a study published in Journal of Science, researchers injected one group of mice with supplemental leucine and another with a control, and then exposed them to unlimited food after a brief fasting period.[5] Both groups gained weight over the next 24 hours, but the mice injected with leucine gained one third of the weight of the control group!

There seems to be a complex relationship between leucine, mTOR (the master growth regulator within cells that plays a role in initiating muscle protein synthesis), and the hypothalamus (where the appetite control center in the brain is located). Researchers suspect that mTOR has a fuel-sensor role and helps to regulate appetite.

When you consume leucine-rich whey, the leucine serves as a signal of "fuel availability" to the mTOR complex. As a result, mTOR sends a signal to the hypothalamus to downregulate appetite, helping you feel full!

3. Stabilizes Blood Glucose

Hunger is one consequence of low blood-glucose levels. After a meal, particularly one rich in carbohydrates (especially simple carbohydrates), blood glucose levels spike; however, shortly after, insulin levels rise in order to keep blood glucose levels within a normal range. A rapid rise in blood glucose and the subsequent insulin response can lead to a dip in blood glucose shortly after. This sets the scene for hunger to take over.                                                

Whey protein can help to curb this response, ultimately promoting steady blood glucose and appetite for hours after eating. Whey has a profound effect on the release of two incretins: glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP).[6-8] Incretins work to enhance the insulin response to a meal to ensure proper blood glucose control.

Rather than a massive spike in blood glucose and insulin, followed by a spike in hunger soon after, whey helps you remain on an even keel in terms of both energy and appetite. Plus, GLP-1 and GIP both function to suppress appetite and slow gastric emptying.[9-10]

There's Another Whey

If the idea of chugging a liquid to fight hunger doesn't appeal to you, consider making protein pancakes, protein pizza crust, protein oatmeal, or homemade protein bars. They're all good—and delicious—options!

If you decide to take the liquid route, consider using a blender and adding ice to your shake. The blender will help incorporate air, which will add volume to the shake. The ice will further thicken your shake and help increase fullness.

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Not So Sweet: Cortisol and the Problem with Sugar

by Nina

Strawberry Donut by Natalie Gazul

Cookies, brownies, ice cream, candy bars, donuts, etc.—have you ever found yourself turning to sugar when you’re stressed out? It turns out there’s a good reason for this. Well, maybe not a good reason. But at least a very compelling reason. A recent study Excessive Sugar Consumption May Be a Difficult Habit to Break: A View From the Brain and Body in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology showed that eating sugar actually reduces your cortisol levels (cortisol is one of the stress hormones—see Cortisol and Good Health for information).

The study was done at the University of California, Davis, Clinical and Translational Science Center’s Clinical Research Center and the University of California, Davis, Medical Center Imaging Research Center. The researchers tested 19 women (age range 18–40 y) with a body mass index (range 20–34 kg/m2). They had 11 of the test subjects drink a beverage containing 24 percent sucrose (table sugar) three times a day for two weeks. The control group of 8 drank identical beverages sweetened with aspartame, an artificial sweetener, on the same schedule. 

Before and after the experiment, the researchers measured the subject’s saliva cortisol levels and performed functional M.R.I. scans while they took arithmetic tests designed to be just beyond their abilities (a procedure “known to increase cortisol levels”). The researchers found no differences in the test results between the two groups before the two-week diet. But after the two-week diet, cortisol levels were lower in the sugar group and higher in the aspartame group. In addition, the M.R.I. scans showed increased activity in the areas of the brain controlling fear and stress in the sugar group, while the aspartame group showed decreased activity in those areas.

So eating sugar really does reduce your stress levels! No wonder some of us crave it. The problem is—well, I’m sure you guessed there is a problem here—that not only does sugar over-consumption cause obesity and related health problems, but as the study concluded:

"These experimental findings support a metabolic-brain-negative feedback pathway that is affected by sugar and may make some people under stress more hooked on sugar and possibly more vulnerable to obesity and its related conditions. Rodent studies suggest that sugar consumption may activate a glucocorticoid-metabolic-brain-negative feedback pathway, which may turn off the stress response and thereby reinforce habitual sugar overconsumption." 

So sugar’s ability to lower cortisol levels is one of the things that makes it so addictive, and that addiction leads to even more sugar consumption and then to health problems that result from the addiction. 

As Baxter wrote in Cortisol and Good Health, high cortisol levels on a regular basis aren’t a good thing. This can cause increased risk of stomach ulcers, increased risk of hypertension, heart disease and other vascular disorders, excess sugar in the blood stream, and more chance of developing diabetes. But eating sugar to lower cortisol levels isn’t—so sad—a good solution. So is there a better way to lower your cortisol levels? Why, yes, so glad you asked! It’s called yoga for stress management. Any form of conscious relaxation that switches you from Stress mode to Relaxation mode—and this includes meditation, breath awareness, supported inverted poses, restorative yoga, Savasana with a mental focus, and guided relaxation—will also reduce your cortisol levels. (See Stress, Your Health and Yoga and The Relaxation Response and Yoga.) 

And if you become addicted to yoga? Well, that’s actually a good thing. Practicing yoga for stress management on a regular basis will have a long-term benefit of re-patterning your nervous system so your overall stress levels are lower and you react less intensely to life's stressors. I will be writing more about this in the near future. 

In the meantime, see these related articles:

Yoga, Stress, and Weight Management 

Stress Eating and the Healthy Eating Meditation Practice

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Friday Q&A: Regaining Weight After Unwanted Weight Loss

Potatoes in Yellow Dish by Vincent van Gogh

Q: Is there anyway yoga can help one regain lost weight? I've recently lost weight post surgery. Not good; already thin... Normally I've always quickly regained any loss from things that come along such as a cold or flu... It's just never been an issue as I'm quite healthy, but this time very slow. I've only gained back 1-2 pounds. I'm eating normally, my usual good diet, but my weight seems to be settling, instead of popping back to normal... I've been rather over-worked lately, which is most likely the real issue... Need more yoga, including restorative, weights, dancing, & walking to build muscle along with a less demanding pace...

A: Well, where shall we begin? First off, weight loss after a significant surgery is not unexpected, especially if your daily activities and normal dietary intake decreased following surgery. The Mayo Clinic website puts it like this:

“Your body weight is determined by your calorie intake, overall health, age, nutrient absorption and other factors. After you reach middle adulthood, your weight should remain relatively stable from year to year, although a decrease of a few pounds is rarely cause for concern.”

Once someone who has lost weight like our reader is back to normal daily activities and eating habits, you could expect gradual weight gain back to your preoperative weight. The presence of real or perceived stress can have the effect of causing some people to gain weight and others to loss weight depending on the constitution, so the presence of higher levels of stress could certainly be slowing down our reader’s progress to her goal. We have written exhaustively on the benefits of yoga and certain tools of yoga on improving stress management, and certainly a well balanced asana practice along with gentle and quieting practices, as the reader herself has suggested, could be helpful.

So that is a good first step, but I’d recommend that you don’t make your “treatment” worse than the stressful workload you are already dealing with, especially if you're feel like you don’t much free time. Keep it simple, starting with a nice restorative practice one day, trying a bit more activity the next at the gym or with a slightly more vigorous yoga session the next day. Exercise, in general, is known to stimulate your appetite, so take advantage of the increase in hunger and take in a few more healthy calories than you might normally.

Next, it turns out that strength training to build bigger, stronger muscles is another way to gain weight, usually in conjunction with eating more calorie-dense foods. Take a look at my post Yoga for Strength for some ideas on how to modify your yoga practice to save you a trip to the gym. And you might consider consulting with a good nutritionist about a healthy diet for you at this time, as he or she may have some recommendations that you haven’t considered.

Finally, if the weight loss persists or worsens despite your attempts to gain weight, it might be time to go in to see your family MD for a thorough check-up. The Mayo Clinic website points out:

“Unexplained weight loss or losing weight without trying — particularly if it's significant or persistent — can be a symptom of an underlying medical disorder. …. Unexplained weight loss of 10 pounds (4.5 kilograms) or more, weight loss of more than 5 percent of your body weight, or persistent weight loss should be investigated.”

And the list of possible underlying conditions that can lead to unexplained weight loss is long, so don’t delay getting this checked out by a professional if you fall into this situation.

However, the fact that our reader has been able to gain a bit a weight back already is a good sign, and putting some of the ideas above into play may add on those desired extra pounds!

—Baxter

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Stress Eating and the Healthy Eating Meditation Practice

by Baxter

Breakfast of Champions by Melina Meza

Recently I had the good fortune to present an all-day workshop on Yoga for Healthy Eating at the Yoga Journal Conference in San Francisco. The workshop was in many ways a distillation of all of the ideas and information we have presented here at YFHA over the last 2+ years. And as I prepared for the day, and while I was presenting the workshop, the stories my students and workshop attendees shared with me really brought home once again how powerful our daily modern stresses are in derailing our attempts at healthy eating.

As we have addressed here previously, the stress response, which usually is NOT to a true life-threatening emergency these days, causes an immediate impulse behavior that is essential in a true emergency, when you need to act, not mull over what to do. But because we are usually at the desk or behind the wheel and not actually fleeing or fighting and expending energy, the impulse tends to override our commitment and willpower to maintain healthy eating habits. So sometimes we grab a snack as our impulsive reaction.

On top of that, the stress reaction releases extra cortisol into our blood stream, which hangs around a lot longer than the fast acting adrenalin and CRH hormone. And cortisol tends to increase our appetite, even if it is nowhere near mealtime. So we have yet another urge to eat. And since the body releases energy-rich sugar molecules into our bloodstream in those first moments of our stress response - molecules that have been stored in the body for emergencies - we tend to be more likely to want to replace them by reaching for carbohydrates that are rich in similar sugar molecules when that post-event cortisol appetite strikes. So we make another unhealthy choice by going for the snack foods and sugar-rich soft drinks so readily available at work and at the store! What’s a determined yogi to do?

Nina has suggested that a regular stress-reduction asana practice—with an active portion (such as a few rounds of Sun Salutations to address held physical tension in the body), followed by several restorative poses or even a supported easy inversion—combined with meditation and breath awareness -- is a good option for beginning to deal with the overall stress in your life. And we have also talked about how the stress response causes that immediate impulsivity, which Kelly McGonigal, PhD says reduces your willpower in the moment of the stressful event. But she also notes that a regular meditation practice tends to build willpower, possibly offsetting the stress response impulsivity and getting you through those daily stressful bumps. According to one study, even 10 minutes a day starts to do the trick after you rack up as little as three hours of total meditation time over several weeks.

All of this made me think about the times when you return home from a stressful day, fatigued and not wanting to or having the energy to do your stress management practice. So I came up with a 20 minute practice to address the general effects of stress and to support our resolve and will power to eat more healthy, that just about anyone can do when you first get home.

Before I share this fairly simple practice, I want to reiterate our recommendations on what to do in the moment of the stress event. Consider any of the following:

• Get up and take a short, brisk walk.
• Try one of our short office yoga practices, which you can do at work or just about anywhere.
• Drink a big glass of water and sit quietly, observing your breath for five minutes before acting on the impulse to eat.
• If you really feel you need to eat something, be prepared with healthy whole-food snacks you bring to work each day, or have in your purse or backpack before you leave home for the day.

For the 20-minute practice, I’m proposing a two-part meditation. You can practice this when you get home or, honestly whenever it suits your schedule. But I suggest you do it every day (we’ve said before and I’ll say it again: your bad habits never change without work and practice!).

Part 1:  This is your Stress Reduction practice, a 10-minute simple, reclined meditation. Before practicing, set a timer so you don’t have to worry about what time it is, because that is not relaxing. For this practice, lie in Relaxation pose for 10 minutes, and simply focus on your easy, natural breath as it enters and exits your body. That’s it. Try to stay gently awake. You can use a blanket support under your spine and head, or just a pillow to lift the head slightly. The purpose of this first meditation is to trigger the Relaxation Response that Herbert Benson first described back in the 70’s.

Part 2: This is your Willpower Boosting practice, a 10-minute seated meditation practice. Come up from your reclining position and sit with or without support on the floor, or use a chair if you prefer. Set your timer again for 10 minutes. Now, establish a nice inner lift from your sitting bones up to the crown of your head. Then pick a simple word or phrase to use as your mental focus, and repeat it to yourself mentally on each exhalation. You might use the phrase “healthy eating” as your intention, or pick something that works better for you. When you notice that you’ve become distracted, immediately return to repeating your phrase. This second meditation is not about relaxing, but about staying focused and concentrated on your intention. That does not mean you might not still feel relaxed at the end, but that’s not the purpose. Remember, studies have shown that meditations like this not only make meditating easier over time, but also improve a wide range of self-control skills, which is what we are after!

So there you have it—the 20-minute, two-part Healthy Eating Meditation practice! Give it a go for the next month. And let us know what changes you notice. No time like the present to make the change you want to see in 2014!

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Meditation and Healthy Eating

by Nina

My friend Elizabeth told me that before I knew her she weighed 205 pounds, but that she was able to lose weight and keep it off by changing her eating habits. From my observations of people close to me who have weight problems and from what I’ve read, I understood how unusual this was. So I asked Elizabeth to share her story with us. Okay, fine, I admit it! I have an agenda. Because I know from our previous conversations that Elizabeth has a regular meditation practice as well as a regular yoga practice, and that she credits both with helping her stay focused on maintaining her healthy eating habits.

Cake and Photo by Brad Gibson (yeah, he bakes, too)

I also happen to be reading The Willpower Instinct by Kelley McGonigal, Ph.D. because I want to learn more about how to help people change their eating habits. That’s because, as I'm sure most of you know by now, maintaining a healthy weight and eating more nourishing foods is vital for healthy aging. And sure enough, in one of the early chapters in Dr. McGonigal’s book she tells us that one of the best ways to strengthen your self control (and don’t we all need that to help us resist the daily food temptations we’re exposed to, I mean, my own daughter is pastry chef!) is to meditate.

Here is what she says:

“Neuroscientists have discovered that when you ask the brain to meditate, it gets better not just at meditating, but at a wide range of self-control skills, including attention, focus, stress management, impulse control, and self awareness. People who meditate regularly aren’t just better at these things. Over time, their brains become finely tuned willpower machines. Regular meditators have more gray matter in the prefrontal cortex, as well as regions of the brain that support self-awareness."

And the good news is that it doesn’t take a lifetime of meditation to change the brain. Here’s another quote from The Willpower Instinct:

"One study found that just three hours of meditation practice led to improved attention and self control. The new meditators had increased neural connections between regions of the brain important for staying focused, ignoring distractions, and controlling impulses. Another study found that eight weeks of daily meditation practice led to increased self-awareness in everyday life, as well as increased gray matter in corresponding areas of the brain.

"It may seem incredible that incredible that our brains can reshape themselves so quickly, but meditation increases blood flow to the prefrontal cortex, in much the same way that lifting weights increases blood flow to your muscles The brain appears to adapt to exercise in the same way that muscles do, getting both bigger and faster in order to get better at what you ask of it."

I don’t know about you, but I find these results fascinating. Because while self control is important for healthy eating, it’s also helpful for many other ways of fostering of healthy aging, whether it is something you need to stop doing, such as smoking, or something you need to start, like exercising.

But enough about science! Let’s hear what Elizabeth says about putting theory into practice:

Nina: Can you tell us something about why you needed to change your eating habits?

Elizabeth: I was overweight (205 lbs) and unhealthy at 32. I also had Crohn's disease. The change started when I moved to California in 1999. Eventually, I lost 50 lbs and have kept it off for 12 years.

Nina: What changes were you able to make that led to the weight loss and helped you maintain it?

Elizabeth: I started by making small, realistic changes that I knew would be easy to maintain. For dietary changes, I started with milk. I went from regular to 2%, then 1%. If I had fat-I tried to make it a healthy one such as avocado or olive oil. I also created a cookbook of my favorite recipes, and revamped them so they are still flavorful but healthy. I'm a genius at the 30-minute healthy dinner. My favorite is Cuban Black Bean soup. I try to always make time in my day for exercise. If I couldn't go to the gym, I would make a point of taking the stairs or walking on my lunch break. I also changed my perspective by viewing eating healthy and exercising as a way to do something positive for myself, not something to dread. I have a nice variety of yoga and exercise DVDs at home, which is also very convenient.

Nina: What is your meditation practice like and how do you think it helps you maintain healthy eating habits?

Elizabeth: I practice Transcendental Meditation, which is typically done twice daily, for 20 minutes. I meditate in the morning—I feel it's a great start to my day. It helps me to get the rest and focus that I need. It also manages stress and helps me to be checked in with what's going on in my life. I'm more likely to defer my unhealthy snacks once I've checked in with myself.

Nina: What you said about meditation helping you get focus is very interesting. Kelly McGonigal says, “Meditation is not about getting rid of your thoughts; it’s learning not to get so lost in them you forget what your goal is.” So meditation is supposed to help you stay “focused” on your goals.

I know that you also practice yoga asana. Has this helped with you maintain healthy eating habits? If so, how?

Elizabeth: Yoga has been wonderful in many ways. I am more relaxed, have less back pain, and I am more aware of how I'm feeling. For example, for most of the time, when I'm hungry, I'm actually dehydrated or have low potassium. I'll have a glass of water and a banana and I'm fine. Yoga helps me to be quiet through an uncomfortable situation (there are many of those in my practice!). I've learned to just pay attention to my breath and it usually moves me through a situation feeling very safe and grounded.

Nina: What you just said is so important! I think self-awareness is vital for healthy eating. You need to learn, as you said, when you’re just dehydrated rather than hungry, when you’re full and should stop eating, and which foods make feel good rather than just tasting good. And the relationship between stress management and healthy eating is so key that you’ve given me an idea for a future post. Thank you so much, Lizzy!

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Yoga for Healthy Eating: An Interview with Dayna Macy

by Nina

Although we haven’t addressed the issue so far on this blog, we’re all aware that maintaining healthy eating habits and a healthy weight as we age is vital for healthy aging. As Dr. Timothy McCall says in Yoga As Medicine: 

“This is a matter of serious concern because there is little doubt that being overweight can have major health consequences, including type 2 diabetes, sleep apnea, high blood pressure, heart disease, and some forms of cancer. Extra body weight makes back problems more likely, increase the strain on the joints, and can contribute to or worsen injuries to ankles, knees, hips and other vulnerable areas of the body.”

And Brad says that being overweight may contribute to a shorter health span (the years of your life during which you are relatively healthy) as well as a shorter life span. So recently Baxter and I decided that we wanted to learn more about how yoga can help with healthy eating. As a first step, I decided to interview Dayna Macy, who is a long-time yoga practitioner and the author of Ravenous, which describes how her yoga practice helped her lose weight and develop healthier eating habits for life.

Nina: Can you tell us a little about your weight issues and how yoga has helped you with maintaining healthier eating habits?

Dayna: I've overeaten for most of my life. It wasn't until I hit 35 that my habits really started to catch up with me. I put on a lot of weight and that made my yoga practice, and my life, difficult. Extra weight made it difficult to do any kind of flowing asana. And it made standing poses and inversions more difficult as well, because it was hard to hold a pose for any length of time. My extra weight also made it harder to simply move through my day. Hiking, cleaning, walking the dog, the stuff of daily life is made more difficult when you have excess weight. When I reached my mid-forties, I realized that if I didn't really start to get a grip on my issues, I was looking at a less than optimal midlife and old age. 

I think it's always wise to start where you are, and yoga is a fundamental part of my life. I've been practicing for twenty years. Who and what you are shows up on the mat, and I knew that the practice itself could help me see myself more clearly. It helps you "be here now" and that is essential when wrestling with issues of habit and addiction.

Nina: Are there any particular yoga poses or practices that you found especially helpful for healthier eating and that you would recommend to other people? 

Dayna: I have learned to pay deep attention to my feet and how my feet are grounded on the mat. It is essential to learn to literally ground your body when you are working with old samskaras and habits that you want to unwind. I also found slow and attentive sun salutations very useful. It builds tapas and heat, and for people who are carrying extra weight, it is important to slowly burn your inner fire.

Nina: Now that your book has been published, have you heard anything from other people who have also been able to change their eating habits? If so, what about your story do you think has inspired them the most? 

Dayna: What I learned most is that just like yoga is a practice, so is learning to eat in a way that serves your body. Most people don't just sit in Lotus, they work to open their hips and one day, maybe, they get there. It's the same with food. You are discovering who you are in your relationship with eating. You don't just wake up one day and say, "ah ha! This is the perfect way to eat! Now I will do this perfectly from now on!" Knowledge is earned and learned, one day at a time. The truth must resonate and live in your body to become real change.

This sense of slow change is helpful for people. It gives them breathing room to experiment and learn. We hear a lot in yoga about how there is no perfect pose. I would say you could also say that about eating, weight and our bodies. In the course of my journey, I lost about 25 pounds. I'm still a curvy girl. And frankly, even at my thinnest, I was still a curvy girl. What I've learned is that I am so grateful for my body. Today, at 51, I'm healthy, active, and my body works. It's a miracle. I spend less and less time wishing I were something other, and more time grateful for what I am. This is the gift of yoga. 

Photo by Victoria Yee

 Dayna Macy is the communications director and managing editor of international editions for Yoga Journal. Her book, Ravenous: A Food Lover's Journey from Obsession to Freedom, was recently published by Hay House. See www.daynamacy.com for more information about Dayna and her book.

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Friday Q&A: Does Yoga Make You Fat?

Very Salty Water by Brad Gibson

Q: I have a student, a 55 year old male, who has been practicing twice a week regularly for about four months. He recently commented that he has gained weight. How does yoga relate to metabolism? The classes he takes are general hatha style.

A: Thanks for writing in about your student who complains of weight gain despite two yoga sessions a week. Right off the bat, it is unlikely that two sessions a week would have a sustained effect in improving his metabolic rate. Any form of exercise, and here we will say that yoga asana is his exercise, would likely need to be aerobic in nature and done at least every other day, for at least 30 minutes, to affect his metabolism. Likewise, it is unlikely that amount of yoga would lower the metabolism, resulting in weight gain.

I’d also like to respond in general to the issue of yoga and metabolism. If nothing else, Maureen Dowd’s strange “editorial” two weeks ago in the New York Times claiming that yoga makes you fat (see here) raises intriguing questions regarding the effects of regular yoga practice on weight loss or gain that unfortunately won’t be answered until Broad’s book is released in February of next year. The piece will likely boost early orders of her colleagues book, but it casts yoga in the middle of our wonky relationship to “weight” in this country. From my experience as a yoga instructor for more than a dozen years now, I’ve never once heard a student complain that their yoga practice had contributed to weight gain. And on occasion, I’ve been told just the opposite. Of course we don’t know what style of yoga those folks in the alluded to study were practicing, nor for how long and how frequently they practiced. But nothing in Ms. Dowd’s article would lead me to contemplate not practicing yoga. And keep in mind that poor health can sometimes be accompanied by weight loss, and for those individuals, gaining back weight via yoga would be considered a very welcome benefit of a regular practice. So until February, I still confidently prescribe yoga! —Baxter

A: Maureen Dowd set the yoga world abuzz two weeks ago with her editorial that quoted from a not-yet published book by William Broad:

“For decades, teachers of yoga have hailed the discipline as a great way to shed pounds,” Broad writes. “But it turns out that yoga works so well at reducing the body’s metabolic rate that—all things being equal—people who take up the practice will burn fewer calories, prompting them to gain weight and deposit new layers of fat. And for better or worse, scientists have found that the individuals most skilled at lowering their metabolisms are women.” 

See here for full article. So who are these nameless scientists? And can we see the original studies, please? Our own staff scientist, Dr. Brad Gibson, said skeptically that he wonders if any of this is true. And he promises that when the book comes out, he’ll review the original studies to see what, if any, conclusions he can draw from them. In the meantime, if you read his post from last week on science, aging and yoga (see here), you’ll understand why most of the scientific studies on yoga do not really merit conclusions that are as definitive as the one that Ms. Dowd cites. Our advice for now:

1. Get out your saltshaker.
2. Shake vigorously.

—Nina

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