Obesity

Ask Leyla: Is my waist-to-hip ratio a health risk despite my daily exercise routine?

By Leyla Muedin MS, RD, CDN

Q: My BMI is 19.8 but my waist-to-hip ratio is 0.96. My body fat percentage as measured in a health club ranges from 38 to 40 percent! My doctor said it’s hereditary—both my mother and grandmother carried weight around the…read more

Categories: Obesity
A cup of blueberries a day keeps the doctor away

By Dr. Ronald Hoffman

In a new study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition researchers demonstrated the benefits of eating a cup of freeze-dried blueberries every day. The subjects were overweight or clinically obese (with BMI > 25), ages 50-75, all with three or…read more

Categories: Obesity
Ask Leyla: What is the relationship between hormones and weight loss?

By Leyla Muedin MS, RD, CDN

Q: One of the weight loss systems advertised on radio claims that you have to balance hormones in order to lose weight. What exactly does this mean? Which hormones are involved the most in weight loss (or gain), and how can…read more

Categories: Obesity
Leyla Weighs In: The best approach to weight loss I ever learned

By Leyla Muedin MS, RD, CDN

One of the most important components of education and training to become a nutritionist is nutritional counseling. It’s critical for changing eating behavior and is particularly germane to weight loss. I was struck by an interesting psychological strategy used by…read more

Categories: Obesity
Does this statin make me look fat?

By Dr. Ronald Hoffman

It’s been conclusively demonstrated that people who take cholesterol-lowering statin drugs—especially women—are more prone to Type 2 diabetes, the kind associated with being overweight. So much so that the FDA issued a black box warning saying that statin drugs could…read more

Categories: Obesity
Leyla Weighs In: Size matters!

By Leyla Muedin MS, RD, CDN

Portion size, that is. Did you know a New York bagel was about the size of a hockey puck back in the 1970s? Today, it’s equivalent to four or five slices of bread. And if you hollow out the middle,…read more

Categories: Obesity
Can you really “lose 40 pounds in 40 days”?

By Dr. Ronald Hoffman

If you listen to AM radio, it’s likely you’re continually assailed with ads that claim that you can lose “25-40 pounds in 40 days.” There’s not even a qualifier that this is a best-case scenario like “Results may vary” or the disclaimer…read more

Categories: Obesity
Is the way to a (wo)man’s heart through his(her) stomach?

By Dr. Ronald Hoffman

Earlier this week, I spoke at NYU Langone Medical Center as part of their Heart Health Lecture Series. The subject was “Fostering a Healthy Microbiome for Cardiovascular Health.” Along with Dr. Lea Ann Chen, a gastroenterologist who is doing research on…read more

Categories: Obesity
Leyla Weighs In: Another reason to stop counting calories

By Leyla Muedin MS, RD, CDN

Fresh off the presses and in time for your New Year’s resolutions, there’s now another reason to stop counting calories if you’re trying to lose weight. As published in the journal Cell Metabolism, scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies…read more

Categories: Obesity