A new study by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reveals that those who eat more dairy have a lower risk of high blood pressure. In fact, studies on the DASH diet, Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, reveal that increasing dairy is even more effective on decreasing blood pressure than fruits and vegetables.

Even though many are unaware they have high blood pressure, it effects over 50 million Americans and counting! Not only can this problem lead to heart failure and stroke, but it has been proven to affect memory loss as well.

The DASH diet calls for 3 daily servings of low-fat dairy and 8-10 servings of fruits and vegetables. Don’t worry, because studies show your favorite high-fat dairy foods won’t cause hypertension.

There are a lot of easy ways to add low-fat dairy to your daily meals. For instance, use skim milk in your cereal for breakfast, add a yogurt-fruit smoothie for for lunch and top your baked potato with fresh, low-fat mozzarella cheese for dinner.

To find out more about the DASH diet, click here.

Do you need to lose weight but can’t seem to kick those extra pounds? Even if you exercise regularly, you might still be preventing yourself from cutting those surplus calories. A study from the Mayo Clinic reveals that normal daily activity can actually burn more calories than exercise for most people.

This daily activity is called called NEAT, or Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis. It is an alternative way to expend calories through ordinary tasks like walking to open a door or manually changing the channel on your TV. Sounds easy enough, right?

Modern technologies may be preventing us from staying active for one thing. We have lawnmowers, snowblowers and everything in between so we don’t have to lift a finger. Not to mention the sedentary jobs most Americans have. Studies have found that the obesity rate is actually higher for people with sedentary jobs! It looks like exercise isn’t everything. Chew on that…

Do you participate in this NEAT Diet or do you know anyone who does? Is it something you would consider doing? I’m pretty intrigued myself, and I’m even thinking about taking the stairs to work next time.

For more information about the NEAT Diet, click here.

A recent study from the University of Illinois and Penn State University published in this month’s Journal of Nutrition shows that dieters are more likely to burn fat (instead of muscle), avoid cravings and keep weight off long-term if their diet is high in protein. The study’s test subjects were split into two diet groups and monitored during 4 months of weight loss and a subsequent 8 months of maintenance. The first group’s diet consisted of 30% protein, while the other group’s diet was based on the USDA Food Pyramid, which recommends 15% protein.

While the amount of weight loss in both groups was comparable,  the 30% protein group lost significantly more body fat because the extra protein helped preserve their muscle. Four months into the study, the higher protein group lost 22 percent more body fat than the food pyramid group, and 12 months in, 38 percent more. In addition, more subjects on the moderate protein diet were able to stick with their plan and reported that they were not craving snacks or sweets. At the end of the study, subjects in the protein group had lost 23 percent more weight than the food pyramid group.

So if you are looking for a long term weight management plan, try looking for a diet that includes about 30% protein (and 40% carbs, 30% fat if you are looking to replicate the proportions in the study). Have you tried a high-protein diet? What were the results?

The New York Times ran an interesting story today covering the newest, largest controlled-study on weight loss done to date.  What they found was that even with all the diet plans out there in the world, the most important thing in regards to weight loss is calorie counting (carbs, protein or fat).  The study proves, in short, that fad diets really don’t make a difference and as the study’s lead author Dr. Frank Sacks put it, “it really does cut the hype” surrounding dieting trends.  To read the full New York Times piece, click here.