The sixteen "combinations"
A. SanChlor (ID) is the strongest extrovert of all the blends because both primary types are extroverted. They are people-oriented and enthusiastic but with the resolutions of the choleric tempering the lack of organization of the Sanguine. He is almost always a sports enthusiast and is ideal in sales. He can talk too much and can be obnoxious if threatened. The forgetfulness of the sanguine and the caustic nature of the choleric may make them hurtful without realizing it.
B. SanMel (IC) are highly emotional people whose moods can fluctuate from highs to lows and back again quickly. The sanguine outgoing nature often allows the melancholy's critical nature "out" too easily. It is very easy for a sanmel to "get down" on themselves and, to realize their potential, it is best if they work with others.
C. SanPhleg (IS) The overpowering outgoing nature of the sanguine is tempered by the gracious phlegmatic. These are extremely happy and carefree individuals who live to help people. They would not purposely hurt anyone but they must fight a lack of workplace motivation - they would rather visit than work.
D. ChlorSan (DI) The second strongest extrovert is an active and purposeful individual. He is almost fearless and has high levels of energy. Whatever his profession, his brain is always active and engaged. His weaknesses combine the quick anger of the sanguine with the resentment of the choleric. He gets AND gives ulcers. He may leave people, including spouse and children, shell-shocked and resentful of their angry outbursts.
E. ChlorMel (DC) The choleric/melancholy is very industrious and capable. He is both industrious and detailed. He combines verbal aggressiveness with sharp attention to detail. He is very competitive and forceful. He can be autocratic and opinionated with work habits that keep after details until the job is completely finished. He finds interpersonal relationships difficult due to the hard-to-please nature of the choleric and the perfectionism nature of the melancholy.
F. ChlorPhleg (DS) is the most subdued of the outgoing temperaments. He is extremely capable in the long run though he may not impress you that way at first. He is organized and a good planner. He often gets more accomplished than other temperaments because he always thinks in terms of enlisting others to help him. His weaknesses include a tendency to quietly harbor bitterness rather than letting it out like a chlormeg might. Acknowledging weaknesses is difficult for him and he tends to worry about his performance in life activities.
G. MelSan (CI) the detailed and organized melancholy is tempered by the outgoing and warm sanguine. He makes an excellent teacher as his organized side is well versed in the facts and his sanguine side makes him enjoyable to attend to. If he goes into sales it will be sales that calls for exacting detail and the presentation of many facts. He is an emotional person - from being moved to tears to being critical and hard on others. Both temperaments can be fearful which may make this an insecure person with a poor self image.
H. MelChlor (CD) is both a perfectionist and a driver which may lead him into the law or medicine. They mix decisiveness and determination. Because of the critical nature of the melancholy they may be very difficult to please. If they become negative about someone or something it will have a tendency to stay with them for a long time. Their combination can lead them to "nit-pick" others and be revengeful to those they have a grudge against.
I. MelPhleg (CS) are often teachers and scholars. They are not as prone to hostility as other melancholy blends and combine analysis with organization. They make excellent accountants and bookkeepers. Unfortunately he can become easily discouraged and may be susceptible to fear and anxiety. They may become uncooperative because of stubborn, rigid tendencies.
J. PhlegSan (SI) is the easiest to get along with being congenial, happy, and people-oriented. They make excellent administrators and other jobs that involve getting along with people. He may lack motivation and discipline and may fall short of his true capabilities. He may "putter around" for years without making progress.
K. PhlegChlor (SD) This is the most active of the introverts but he'll never be a ball of fire. He can be an excellent counselor because he is an active listener. He is practical and helpful and patient. He may lack motivation and may become stubborn if threatened. He may also have a tendency toward being sedentary and passive. He needs to be around other people as he is externally motivated.
L. PhlegMel (SC) is gracious and quiet, does the proper thing and is dependable. He wobbles between patience and criticism and may tend toward negativism. They can be afraid of overextending themselves so may avoid involvement in a group.
VI. Other factors that shape personality
Just as no one is only one temperament or an exact blend of two types, there are a multitude of other factors that affect a person's behavior. The percentage of blend may be any combination of percentages making them more one type than another.
A choleric raised in the northeast US may exhibit different behavior than one raised in the Deep South due to cultural differences.
Childhood experiences and parenting will cause differences. A Phlegmatic father may behave differently in raising a child than a melancholy one thereby causing the child to value different behaviors.
A person's level of education and training may affect behavior as will a person's level of physical health. A healthy phlegchlor may seem more outgoing and aggressive than a choleric with health problems.
In certain individuals there may be parts of three temperament types blended together. While rare, it does happen and makes it more difficult for the person to get a clear picture of their type.
Temperament and Personality
Who you are, how you got that way, and how to live with others who aren't like you.
Introduction
I. Temperament and personality defined
III. Why study temperament?
Understanding temperament - your own and others - make you much better equipped to handle interpersonal relationships successfully. Studying your own temperament helps you understand your strengths and weaknesses and why you do some of the things you do. Understanding another's temperament can help you adapt your communication to theirs or, at the least, understand why you have problems with them.
IV. The four "types"
Why four? Why not forty? There are more than four kinds of people, aren't there? Of course, but everyone from the ancients to modern psychologists find that people can be grouped into four basic types of personality. These are:
A. Sanguine
1. Influencing of others, SP - Artisan - The Sanguine is receptive by nature and outgoing. He is usually called a 'super-extrovert'. This temperament is usually thought of as a "natural salesman" but they also tend to enter professions that are outgoing such as acting.
He "leads into a room with his mouth" and is never at a loss for words. His outgoing nature makes him the envy of more timid temperament types. He is most comfortable around people and does not like being alone. He is often known as a "toucher"; reaching out and touching the arm or shoulder of the person he is talking with. This can make more introverted temperaments nervous and uncomfortable.
His energy can make him seem more confident than he actually is and his cheery disposition often cause others to excuse his weaknesses by saying, "That's just how he is". The sanguine is mostly a happy person whom others are glad to have around.
The weakness of the sanguine include a lack of discipline which can be expressed in many ways - including a generally "messy" lifestyle or overeating. The sanguine is the most emotional of the temperaments and can burst into tears or a rage without warning. These "bursts" are usually over as fast as they occur but this lack of emotional consistency can affect other areas of his life. He may be "morally flexible" and may take advantage of others via his good nature.
A sanguine's tremendous personal talents can be made or broken by his lack of self-discipline.
B. Choleric
1. Decisive, NT - Rational - The choleric is the most forceful and active of the four types. He is strong-willed and independent and opinionated. The choleric thrives on activity. He is the most practical and makes sound, quick decisions. He is not afraid of obstacles and tends to drive right through or over problems. He is probably the strongest natural leader of the four types. He has the most problem with anger and does not display compassion easily. He is quick to recognize opportunities and quick to capitalize on them - though details irritate him and, unless he learns to delegate, he will often gloss over details. His strong will and determination may drive him to succeed where more gifted people give up.
The choleric is a developer and may be seen in construction supervision or coaching or law enforcement. Most entrepreneurs are choleric. Because of their impatience they often end up doing everything themselves. A choleric is extremely goal/task oriented in leading others. His biggest weakness as a leader is a tendency to run right over people if he feels they are in his way. He assumes that approval and encouragement will lead others to slack off and he probably finds criticism and faultfinding more useful for his purposes. Through his natural determination he may succeed where others may give up.
A choleric's weaknesses include anger and hostility. A choleric is the most likely to have an active temper; he is a door slammer and horn blower and he can carry a grudge for a long time. This includes a cutting and sarcastic tongue and the choleric will rarely hesitate to tell someone off. The choleric is the least likely to show affection or any public show of emotion. His emotions are the lease developed of all the temperaments. Additionally a choleric can be inconsiderate, opinionated and crafty in getting their own way.
C. Melancholy
1. Conscientious, SJ - Guardian - The melancholy is an introverted temperament type. His natural style is analytical and perfectionist. He is the most moody of types ranging from highly "up" to gloomy and depressed. During his low periods he can be very antagonistic and does not make friends easily. He is the most dependable of the temperaments due to his perfectionist tendencies. His analytical ability allows him to accurately diagnose obstacles and problems, which often keep him from making changes - he prefers the status quo and may seem overly pessimistic.
He may choose a difficult life vocation involving personal sacrifice. Many melancholies become doctors or scientists or artists. Their interpersonal style can be critical and negative. He tends to be more indecisive than other types. They have difficulty giving praise and approval because they cannot bring themselves to say something that is not 100% true. They also are usually dissatisfied with themselves being highly self-critical.
Other weaknesses include being "thin skinned" or touchy and easily offended. He often feels persecuted and may seek revenge for real or imagined insults. He tends to be "all or nothing" in his evaluation of things; everything must be black or white and no shades of gray. He is least likely to consider mitigating circumstances when evaluating a person or situation. No temperament is more likely to be legalistic and rigid. He can be intolerant and impatient with those who do not see things his way.
D. Phlegmatic
1. Steady, NF - Idealist - the phlegmatic is best characterized by the words "easy going". He is the calm and steady person who is not easily disturbed. He is the easiest temperament type to get along with. Life for him is happy, unexcited and calm. Underneath the calm exterior, the phlegmatic is the most timid temperament type. He often uses humor to make his points. The phlegmatic is more an observer and does not involve himself in the activities of others.
Phlegmatics make excellent teachers, counselors and administrators. They are very dependable and organized and, while they never volunteer, they make good group leaders.
The weakness of a phlegmatic include lack of motivation or even laziness; they appear to lack drive and ambition. A phlegmatic needs to realize that he is not internally motivated and take up activities that force him into action. The phlegmatic is self-protective and may be selfish. He is often very stubborn, though it is hidden beneath his mild-mannered style. He is also the most fearful of temperaments.
After defining each temperament in "black and white" we must look realize that no one is completely one temperament type. Each of us is a blend of usually two and occasionally 3 types. One temperament type is dominant and one is secondary. And don't forget that training, lifestyle, upbringing and other circumstances may have forced an individual to function "off style". The saddest people I have seen are those who have "put on" a style that is not theirs naturally for so long that it has become a habitual way of life.
Watch out for the next article.
For a temperament Test, click here.
Have you ever wondered why you act the way you do? Or why some people act the way they do? Some people are amiable, easy to please, difficult, obstinate, easily irritated... These could be termed the Temperament.
A temperament is the basic attitude one is born with. It's what makes your kid quiet and withdrawn even at 3 months. But as people grow, environment, education, beliefs... tend to modify this, thus forming Character. Character is = Temperaments + all the above mentioned factors. But you'll still see some underlying traits. Character could be as numerous as there are people, but these underlying traits are few. Personality could be = Character or Character + Fronts. Fronts is a term I devised to describe attitudes, actions or conducts used by a person that is different from the true nature of the fellow. For example, your boss in the office is always formal, hard, demanding, and sometimes, insensitive. But on a visit to his home, you discover a different person, he notices you're tired and offers to help with the jacket, he cracks dry jokes that are intended at relaxing people, he's sensitive,etc. His actions in the office can be said to be personality, he had to act that way for the company to survive. In this case, his character is not consistent with his personality. In other words, personality is the totality of perceived ideas, by the public, on who a person is. It can be consistent with the character or inconsistent with it.
Often when employers seek new recruits, these are brought to play. Qualification(s) aside, these play a mammoth role on employment. That's why it's advisable to know your temperament.
A note on temperament, you cannot change your temperament. Rather, you can change your character by building on your temperament strengths.
For a test on temperaments, click this: Temperament Test.
PS: The longest bar is your primary temperament. The second is a secondary temperament. Together they form a unique temperamental blend. During the test, you may notice two traits that apply to you in one question. Choose the one that applies most to you.
If you have questions, write them in the comment box. They would be answered as sincerely as possible.
To your HEALTH!
sgenius.
Here’s the bottom line for weight loss: with a healthy digestive system, it is virtually impossible to be gain weight on with whole, raw, live foods!
Imagine that! You can eat anything you want, as much as you want (as long as it is raw, whole, live food) and not gain an ounce in most cases. Exceptions include people with digestive or glandular disorders - though they will probably do better on raw, live foods. (When you first start eating more raw foods, you may need awhile to cleanse, detoxify and rebuild your digestive system before noticing substantial weight loss.)
A weight problem is not an isolated issue, but is part of your "whole being.” An imbalance in one part of the body effects your entire system. Weight is a symptom of what is going on with your elimination system, glandular system, emotions, sleep patterns, stress levels, liver, colon, skin, lungs, blood, spirit and chi or energy levels.
The enzymes found naturally in whole, live, raw foods help with obesity at the "whole being" level. You see, enzymes do much more in your body than hel;p digest food. Enzymes are responsible for every single chemical reaction in every single cell of your body. All your minerals, herbs, vitamins and hormones cannot do their jobs without enzymes. Your can’t lift an arm or think one thought without the help of enzymes. In fact, you could say that enzymes are, biologically speaking, the source of life. A diet without a source of live enzymes is removed from the source of life. Things removed from their source of life slowly begin to die. For us, that leads to dis-ease, excessive weight gain, depression - many of the maladies that plague us today.
One of the magic bullets for easy weight loss is simply the action of enzymes. For example, lipase, a fat splitting enzyme, is found abundantly in raw, live foods. However, few of us eat enough raw foods to get enough lipase to burn even a normal amount of fat, not to mention any excess. Lipase helps your body in digestion, fat distribution and fat burning for energy. Lipase breaks down and dissolves fat throughout the body. Without lipase, fat stagnates and accumulates. You can see it on your hips, thighs, buttocks and the stomach.
Protease is another enzyme for maintaining a healthy body. Protease helps break down proteins and eliminate toxins. Eliminating toxins is essential when you are burning fat. Your body stores excess toxins in body fat. As your body begins to burn this fat the toxins are released into your system. This can sometimes cause water retention and bloating. Since Protease attacks and eliminates toxins, it is crucial to have plenty of protease during fat loss.
Also, common sense tells us that if you cannot get enough nutrition from the food you take in, which is what happens when you cook food, your body receives a signal that it needs to store fat to prevent starvation and will hold on to even more fat. It will also send a signal that you are hungry. This results in a vicious cycle of eating more and more and still feeling hungry. Combine the physical effects with the mental effects of poor digestion and insufficient enzymes with your natural reaction to all of this emotionally and It can lead to eating disorders, depression and anxiety as well.
if you eat close to 100% fresh raw, whole foods, then you get adequate nutrition and enough enzymes to digest your foods properly. if you eat cooked foods, you’ll be eating dead foods that have NO enzymes. That means your body must scavenge enzymes for digestion from other metabolic processes in your body, wasting energy and resources. However, living food enzymes will over time restore energy and stamina and rebuild your healthy metabolism of all nutrients, including fats. When you feel better physically, you’ll feel better emotionally, too.
Today’s modern lifestyle KILLS enzymes in more ways than just cooking food. Stress can damage enzymes. Food additives can kill them. Frequent air travel, work outs, coffee breaks, air pollution, food irradiation and poor sleep - all kill enzymes. No wonder we are enzyme deficient! So eating raw, live, enzyme-rich foods is more than just a weight loss or digestion issue - it affects your whole life, your whole being. In fact, you’ll even be happier - and have more fun!
Try this program out. It might just be IT!
Testosterone is one of the most crucial hormones needed to build muscles. It can also be a limiting factor as it can determine how much your actual muscles can grow.
If you are able to increase the amount of testosterone your body produces, there are a variety of benefits to your body, including:
Increasing your muscle size and strength
Decreasing your body’s fat levels
Improve your mood
Decreasing your overall and your bad cholesterol
To work on naturally increasing your testosterone, try these 9 steps;
1) Use compound exercises in your workouts.
Compound exercises refer to a great deal of basic workouts such as squats, deadlifts, bench presses and chin ups. Each of these basic workouts place a great deal of stress on your muscle groups, forcing them to release testosterone.
2) Give Your Workouts 100% Effort
In order to gain the best effects from your efforts, give every workout as much as you can as it is the stress that you place on your muscles that will help them to grow.
3) Don’t Forget Your Legs
A bunch of people only train their chest, or they spend a small amount of time developing their legs. Don’t forget your legs- workout your entire body. The legs are a very large muscle group, and training them will actually help your upper body grow.
4) Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs)
Be sure to add a high volume of essential fatty acids to your daily diet as they are a great way to boost your own body’s natural testosterone levels. Even if you are trying to restrict calories, consuming healthy fats should not be a problem. NB: Fats from foods like: avocado pear, vegetables. Omega 6 & 9 rich foods.
5) Monitor Soy Intake
While there are many health benefits of soy, it can have a negative effect on testosterone production, so when possible work to avoid it in your diet.
6) Limit your consumption of alcohol
Alcohol has been shown to have quite a dramatic effect on testosterone levels, so try to limit your "binge drinking" nights and keep your alcohol consumption in moderation.
7) Eat Your Vegetables
The following vegetables are beneficial at naturally increasing testosterone, including: broccoli, cauliflower, radishes, turnips, cabbage and brussel sprouts.
8) Manage Your Personal Stress Levels
Increased stress levels can work to reduce your testosterone levels.
9) Go to Sleep
Too many people do not get enough sleep and a lack of sleep substantially reduce testosterone levels. Aim for 8 hours every night- even on weekends!
Remember that the higher your levels of testosterone, the easier it will be to pack on muscle, so be sure to follow these steps I've recommended!
Stress, you should know, increases the growth hormone which is necessary for muscle building, especially the tendons and ligaments. But for optimal build, there should be a hormonal balance.
Reducing the stress of the day prepares you both physically and mentally for your exercise. One way of doing that is called the' thymus tap'. A short video clip is attached to guide you through the process.
YouTube - Hepatitis C & AIDS Alternative Thymus Gland
This can help reduce stress also. Reduced stress can stimulate testosterone production.
Enjoy your muscle building exercises!
The gold hormone in muscle building, testosterone, is a hormone present more in the males than females. It's responsible for the male characteristics, especially, muscle formation. Again, research prove, in a consistant manner, that the level of serum testosterone is higher after a bout of demanding resistance training. That increase being affected by the amount of muscle mass stimulated, the training load and the level of intensity (again intensity refering to a %age of your 1RM).
Effect of the amount of muscle mass stimulated on serum testosterone
Findings all flood in the same direction as to say that the larger the amount of muscle mass is stimulated simultaneously, the more the testosterone level increase. You might have heard a trillion time that multi-joints exercises were better than isolation exercises to develop muscle mass and strength but without really knowing why.
Well this is one of the reasons: multi-joints exercise stimulate more testosterone production compared to single-joints movements. That's why doing heavy sets of squat will build you all around, because it shut your natural levels of testosterone through the roof!
For that reason the bulk of your program should be constituted of the basic, multi-joints movements, if you want more testosterone that is!
Yet despite that we see countless individuals doing endless hours of biceps curl, leg extension and the likes. Literaly wasting their time when they could be training productively!
Effect of the Rest between Sets on Serum Testosterone
Since a higher volume lead to more testosterone but longer training time lead to less there must be a time factor somewhere that will enable us to conciliate the two. Of course it's the time of rest between your sets.
To cut a long story short, many studies researched that variable, the most significant being by Kraemer et al.
This research consisted of two groups, one performing an hypertrophy workout made of sets of 10 RM with a minute of rest between each sets.
The other one was a strength training consisting of multiple sets of 5 RM with 3 minutes between each sets.
Both group shown significant increase in serum testosterone, the earlier showing a slightly higher increase.
That indicate that hypertrophy workout do increase testosterone level more than strength training. Also shorter rest periods seem to have the same effect.
If 1 minute seem to lead to bigger increase in testosterone level than 3 minutes I wouldn't recommand going below 1 minute in hope to increase the testosterone level even more, because by doing so you would greatly impair your short-term recovery and would have to decrease your load.
Points to remember
1-You should stick with as many multi-joints exercises as you can.
2-You should use a training load high enough to fully stimulate testosterone production.
3-Keep your reps in the 5-10RM range.
4-Keep your rest between sets in the 3-1 minute(s) range according to your intensity level.
5-For maximum testosterone release keep your time under tension between 40 and 70 seconds.
6-Train early in the morning if you can. Not to worry if you can't since th
Some facts
Testosterone is known as the male hormone, It is secreted by the testes and according to the most recent research it is so in a circadian (regular cycling) manner. Still according to these studies even if each individuals have slightly differant cycles it is the general rule that testosterone levels are at their highest in the morning. So training in the morning do have a slight advantage over working out later in the day.
As you probably already know testosterone is the muscle-building hormone. By synthesising proteins it rebuild the muscle fibers damaged by resistance training.
The amount of testosterone in your body is a limitating factor because you can't build more muscle if your testosterone levels are not high enough, that's why athletes who take synthetic testosterone (steroids) experience faster muscle growth, their limitating factor just disapeared.
But without plunging in the hell of performance enhancing drugs, there is a way to increase your level of testosterone naturally.
Effect of Weight Training on Serum Testosterone
Again, research prove, in a consistant manner, that the level of serum testosterone is higher after a bout of demanding resistance training. That increase being affected by the amount of muscle mass stimulated, the training load and the level of intensity (again intensity reffering to a %age of your 1RM).
Effect of the amount of muscle mass stimulated on serum testosterone
Findings all flood in the same direction as to say that the larger the amount of muscle mass is stimulated simultaneously, the more the testosterone level increase. You might have heard a trillion time that multi-joints exercises were better than isolation exercises to develop muscle mass and strength but without really knowing why.
Well this is one of the reasons: multi-joints exercise stimulate more testosterone production compared to single-joints movements. That's why doing heavy sets of squat will build you all around, because it shut your natural levels of testosterone through the roof!
For that reason the bulk of your program should be constituted of the basic, multi-joints movements, if you want more testosterone that is!
Yet despite that we see countless individuals doing endless hours of biceps curl, leg extension and the likes. Literaly wasting their time when they could be training productively!
Effect of the Rest between Sets on Serum Testosterone
Since a higher volume lead to more testosterone but longer training time lead to less there must be a time factor somewhere that will enable us to conciliate the two. Of course it's the time of rest between your sets.
To cut a long story short, many studies researched that variable, the most significant being by Kraemer et al.
This research consisted of two groups, one performing an hypertrophy workout made of sets of 10 RM with a minute of rest between each sets.
The other one was a strength training consisting of multiple sets of 5 RM with 3 minutes between each sets.
Both group shown significant increase in serum testosterone, the earlier showing a slightly higher increase.
That indicate that hypertrophy workout do increase testosterone level more than strength training. Also shorter rest periods seem to have the same effect.
If 1 minute seem to lead to bigger increase in testosterone level than 3 minutes I wouldn't recommand going below 1 minute in hope to increase the testosterone level even more, because by doing so you would greatly impair your short-term recovery and would have to decrease your load.
Points to remember
1-You should stick with as many multi-joints exercises as you can.
2-You should use a training load high enough to fully stimulate testosterone production.
3-Keep your reps in the 5-10RM range.
4-Keep your rest between sets in the 3-1 minute(s) range according to your intensity level.
5-For maximum testosterone release keep your time under tension between 40 and 70 seconds.
6-Train early in the morning if you can. Not to worry if you can't since this don't have a huge.
Foods that can increase testosterone levels in the body
Oysters are the best source of zinc. For long, they have been regarded as aphrodisiacs. Research shows that oysters are rich and abundant in zinc. Hence, they happen to be the perfect testosterone food that you can add to your diet. Another great source of foods that can enhance testosterone and are also rich in zinc is animal protein or red meat.
Eggs(boiled)
Vegetables eg cabbage
Figs and nuts in general
Beans can also be added to the diet
Heart Disease
Metabolic syndrome is a group of risk factors, including high blood pressure, high blood sugar, high cholesterol levels, and fat in the midsection that increase one's risk of heart disease and diabetes. Diet, exercise, and medications have been shown to improve metabolic syndrome and lower the risk of these complications.Currently a study called Prevención con Dieta Mediterránea (PREDIMEDD) has enrolled 9000 high-risk participants aged 55 to 80 years who are assigned to one of three interventions: Mediterranean diet with the provision of 1 L/week of virgin olive oil, Mediterranean diet with 30 g/day of mixed nuts, or a low-fat diet. This is a long-term, multi-center, randomized controlled clinical trial is designed to assess the effects of the Mediterranean diet on the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease. (Primary prevention means the prevention of a disease that the person has never had before. Compare this to secondary prevention which means preventing a person who is known to have high cholesterol and blockages in the arteries from having a heart attack).Already data from 1224 participants in the study have shown that adhering to a Mediterranean diet supplemented with mixed nuts appears to provide benefit to individuals with the metabolic syndrome. Investigators observed a reduced prevalence of metabolic syndrome at one year among individuals adhering to the Mediterranean diet plus mixed nuts compared with those adhering to the traditional Mediterranean diet alone."The novelty of our findings is that a positive effect on metabolic syndrome was achieved by diet alone, in the absence of weight loss or increased energy expenditure," wrote lead investigator Dr Jordi Salas-Salvadó (University of Rovira i Virgili, Reus, Spain) and colleagues in the December 8/22, 2008 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine. At the beginning of this study, nearly 62% of the participants met the criteria for metabolic syndrome. After one year the rate of metabolic syndrome dropped by nearly 13.7% in the patients assigned to the Mediterranean diet plus mixed nuts, 6.7% in those consuming a Mediterranean diet alone, and only 2% among those on the traditional low-fat diet. (Is there anyone left out there who still thinks the ill-advised, poorly researched, low-fat diet benefited anyone but the companies making carbohydrate-rich junk foods?)The beneficial effects of the diet happened without an increase in exercise habits, calories burned, or weight loss and add to the evidence that diets enriched with nuts do not induce weight gain, noted the authors. This author does note however that the amount of nuts was limited to 30 grams a day, which is one ounce or about 2 tablespoons). The researchers aren't sure yet what caused the improvement, but think that the diet plus mixed-nuts intervention may have positive effects on insulin resistance. Another possibility is the diet's effects on other factors such as oxidative stress and its related inflammation in the blood vessels. Previous analysis of the data have shown that the Mediterranean diet coupled with nuts protects against oxidative damage and reduces cardiovascular risk factors better than a low-fat diet.Source: Salas-Salvadó J, Fernández-Ballart J, Ros E, et al. Effect of a Mediterranean diet supplemented with nuts on metabolic syndrome status. Arch Intern Med 2008; 168: 2449-2458.Take care
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Work out every morning.