Not only does fructose leave us hungry, but it also makes us store fat.  Not sweet at all!

Over the last year more research has been showing that increased fructose intake is paralleled by increased weight gain, obesity, and insulin resistance.

One study comparing sucrose and fructose showed that eating sucrose will promote hormones to make us feel full, while eating fructose will not secrete as much of these hormones.

A new childhood obesity study analyzed 34 popular drinks made with high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), and found that they all contained 50% more fructose than glucose.

“We found what ends up being consumed in these beverages is neither natural sugar nor HFCS, but instead a fructose-intense concoction that could increase one’s risk for diabetes, cardiovascular disease and liver disease,” said Michael Goran, Ph.D., lead author of the study and director of the Childhood Obesity Research Center at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC).

“The human body isn’t designed to process this form of sugar at such high levels.  Unlike glucose, which serves as fuel for the body, fructose is processed almost entirely in the liver where it is converted to fat.”

Natural sugar (sucrose) is made up of equal parts of fructose and glucose.  Dr. Goran’s analysis of the drinks made with HFCS showed a fructose to glucose ratio of 60:40 significantly higher than 50:50 portions found in sucrose.  HFCS is not sugar even though the Corn Refiners Association claims that “sugar is sugar.”

Americans consume more HFCS per capita than any other nation and consumption has doubled over the last three decades.  Diabetes rates have tripled in the same period. Much of this increase is directly linked to sodas, sports drinks and energy drinks.

Walker, R.W., Dumke, K.A., Goran, M. I. (2014). Fructose content in popular beverages made with and without high fructose corn syrup. Nutrition . Published online June 3, 2014; dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nut.2014.04.003

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/new-evidence-links-fructose-to-weight-gain-010213.html

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/usc-study-finds-more-fructose-in-soda-than-label-indicates-060414.html

http://www.nutritionjrnl.com/article/S0899-9007(14)00192-0/abstract

The post Fructose, and things that aren’t so sweet appeared first on Tarte Asian Yogurt.

It’s been a long time since my last post, but I just read an article that addresses the social factors regarding being overweight and obesity.

New research from the USA and Netherlands show how eating habits within a family can effect caloric intake.

In a study published in the journal “Obesity” by the scientists at Cornell’s Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management (Ithaca) and Wageningen University.  Comprising 190 parents and 148 children, they found that families who regularly ate dinner together and talked without the television on, weighed less and had a lower BMI.

According to the researchers and their findings, social support and communication during mealtimes foster a better environment and decrease the need to eat more than necessary.

“In fact, eating anywhere other than the kitchen or dining room was related to higher BMIs in both parents and in children,” said Brian Wansink, one of the study’s authors from Cornell.  “Family meals and their rituals might be an under-appreciated battleground to fight obesity.”

A lot can be said about the difficulty with managing a family unit in the hustle of today’s fast paced world. We shouldn’t lose sight of the emotional needs of each other, parent, child or partner. Isn’t it nice to have someone to talk to or be the one to listen to someone who cares about what you think?

Social support is so important to who we are.  Having a sit-down dinner without distractions is a great way to really connect with each other.  Call the family to dinner, or a friend, put away the cell phone, tablet, turn off the T.V. and look across the table.  Connect with someone! If you can’t do it everyday, try at least once a week. It’s great to cook at home, but if you can’t, order something and eat together.

Here’s to family and friends! Cheers!

-Henry

The post Eating Habits appeared first on Tarte Asian Yogurt.

There’s been a long debate about what is best when combining strength and endurance training.  Does order matter? Should you do your cardio first and then lift weights or is it the other way around?

The first question we should ask ourselves is “what are our workout goals?”  Our bodies didn’t come with a users manual, but maybe science can help us understand it.

I was at the gym last night when I saw a guy wearing a shirt advertising that he sells “performance enhancing drugs.”  I wasn’t too surprised with people still working toward their New Years resolutions, there are some who might be interested in a quick fix.  When it comes to increasing performance, it’s well known that hormones can increase performance and build muscle.  The special thing about our bodies is that we make our own hormones everyday.  Ideally, we could get our bodies to cooperate with our goals.  Wouldn’t it be nice if we could be stronger, run faster, farther, and all that good stuff without serious long term consequences?  How do we get our bodies to work with us to achieve our goals?

The simple answer is we need to change how we workout and exercise.

In this study that I just read, they found that how we workout made a difference.  Performing an aerobic workout before strength training produced a significant testosterone response compared to strength training then aerobic workout.

Take home message: Testosterone is known to boost muscle development, strength, and endurance partially by increasing the rate of repair.  You don’t have to be the “Incredible Hulk,” but you should try changing up your workout regimen.  By adding in a little cardio or aerobic workout before working on strength, you might get a performance boost and if you add in moderate strength exercises after your long run, your muscles might recover a little faster.

Make the most out of your workout and have fun!

-Henry

Disclaimer: Before beginning any exercise routine consult a physician to supervise, evaluate, assess and prevent injury.

In a recent article from the Journal of Strength and Conditioning  Research, the study wanted to find out how the order of exercise routines affected the body’s hormonal responses that favor strength and endurance, performance and muscle growth.  Simultaneous strength and aerobic training have been known to cause what has been termed “interference effect.”  The interference occurs when a person takes on large volume training which increases the resting levels of the hormone cortisol.  This stress hormone is associated with protein breakdown and the imbalance of anabolic hormones (testosterone and growth hormone) which affect protein synthesis and muscle growth.

Multiple studies have shown that in combined exercise routines, aerobic training may negatively influence the development of strength that would normally result from strength training.  Let me count the ways:

1. Low muscle glycogen leading to chronic catabolic state

2. Antagonistic protein synthesis signaling

3. Interference with magnitude of muscle hypertrophy

4. Impairment of neural adaptations resulting from resistance training

5. Peripheral fatigue from aerobic training, ultimately impairing strength performance

The study analyzed circulating hormone levels of testosterone and cortisol after strength then aerobic and aerobic then strength exercise protocols.  Interestingly they found that performing aerobic then strength exercise produced a greater total testosterone response than the strength then aerobic exercise.

Cadore, E., Izquierdo, M., Goncalves Dos Santos, M., Martins, J., Rodrigues Lhullier, F., Pinto, R., Silva, R., & Kruel, L. (2012). Hormonal responses to concurrent strength and endurance training with different exercise orders. The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 26(12), 3281-3288.

The post Strength and Endurance Training appeared first on Tarte Asian Yogurt.

You’ve had a long day at work, or you’ve just finished a great workout.  It’s time for a treat!  Something that you can indulge on… without the guilt.

Since you were going to eat some of this delicious fat free, high protein yogurt anyway, this is a great frozen treat that you can have without much trouble.

Just a little planning is involved and you’ll need a blender.  Grab a Tarte yogurt cup and put it in the freezer. Set your timer for for 15-20 minutes, the goal is to be partially frozen.  You might want to experiment a bit at first, your results may vary.  If it’s frozen solid, do not attempt to blend, it may damage your blender.

You’ll notice ice crystals or ice flakes in the yogurt, those are some bits of magic that help you make your own frozen yogurt at home.

Let’s begin!

Step 1: Pinch the sides of the yogurt cup to make sure it’s ready, peel the lid back, check out the ice crystals and smile!

Step 2: You can either stir it up with your spoon or transfer yogurt from cup to blender jar and blend to desired consistency.  (Adding toppings and goodies are optional, be creative and make it fun!)

Step 3: Serve and enjoy!

-Henry

P.S. Once frozen, Tarte yogurt should be enjoyed as a frozen treat. Partially freezing for 15-20 minutes works the best for us.  If you have popsicle sticks, stick one through the lid and freeze solid. Peel the lid off and pull it out of the container and enjoy your yogurt popsicle. Once frozen, thawing any yogurt will result in loss of original consistency.

Disclaimer: Please be cafeful when using kitchen appliances, bodily injury or property damage could occur. Do not blend a cup of yogurt that is completely frozen solid.

The post Time for a Treat! Let’s make frozen yogurt! appeared first on Tarte Asian Yogurt.

For everyone who has a New Years resolution to be fit and healthy; if you haven’t already, try cutting out High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) from your diet.

The take home message from recent research is that fructose drinks might leave you hungry and cause you to overeat. We need more research to clarify this, but ultimately the calories we eat should have some nutritional value. If you want a balanced diet, cutting out soda and other sources of HFCS may be an effective option by reducing empty calories.

What’s on your nutrition label?

I recently read an article about fructose and its effect on hunger. There is a lot of conflicting evidence out there about High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS), so don’t take my word as fact. The study was not definitive by any means, but the recent findings published show some concerning results.

Study participants drank either a fructose beverage or a simple glucose beverage. Magnetic Resonance Imaging or MRI was used to monitor blood flow to the brain. Interestingly, they found that those who drank the fructose beverage on their pre-drink vs. post-drink surveys continued to report hunger and on the imaging of the brain, those areas related to hunger remained lit up.  In contrast, those that drank a glucose beverage did not report as much hunger after their drink and on imaging the areas of hunger in the brain were not as active. This indicates that glucose, but not fructose, initiates a coordinated response between the parts of the brain that regulate hunger and eating behavior.

Tarté Yogurt doesn’t add any fructose or high fructose corn syrup in any of our products. We have less sugar and fewer calories per ounce than some competitors when comparing flavored yogurt products.

Found in JAMA The Journal of the American Medical Association:

Page, K., Owen, C., Jagriti, A., Renata Belfort-DeAguiar, R., Dzuira, J., Roehmholdt, B., Cline, G., & Naik, S. (2013). Effects of fructose vs glucose on regional cerebral blood flow in brain regions involved with appetite and reward pathways. JAMA The Journal of the American Medical Association, 309(1), 63-70.

Disclaimer: This article discusses research findings and does not represent conclusive evidence or explain the cumulative scientific body of knowledge on this topic.

The post Fructose and Overeating appeared first on Tarte Asian Yogurt.

Oh, the places you’ll go!

Dr. Seuss was such an inspiring author and his story “Oh, the places you’ll go!” has been so fitting to describe our journey. I would like to personally thank you for trying our yogurt and share with you some bits of inspiration, nutrition, health and fitness related topics. Please like and share our page to get updates on when we add new posts. If there are any topics you might be interested in just send us an email, twitter or facebook message and we’ll do our best to get right back to you!

It’s a new year, a time for new journeys and adventures!

-Henry

The post What’s the Scoop? appeared first on Tarte Asian Yogurt.