Posts by: Zero to Hero Fitness!

Doing This While Pregnant Makes Your Baby Smarter

Although women are encouraged to exercise before, during, and after pregnancy, research shows that most women aren't getting their 30 daily minutes of exercise. But now a new study shows that mothers may be missing out on an important benefit when they skip exercise. Presenting their research at the Society for Neuroscience 2013 Conference in San Diego earlier this month, researchers found that pregnant women who exercised for at least 60 minutes per week gave birth to newborns who had…
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This Diet Increases Your Risk of Diabetes by 70%!

According to recent statistics, Americans eat out on an average of four to five times a week--and chances are that doesn't include healthy food, according to registered dietitian Katie Bogue. "For many of us, grabbing a burger or pizza is part of our everyday routine," says Bogue. "Fast food can be inexpensive, easy, and good tasting. You can be satisfying your hunger within ten minutes or less." But when it comes to your diabetes though, opting for fast food isn't…
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This Type of Exercise Stops Bone Loss After Breast Cancer

Although most experts agree that battling breast cancer may be a woman's biggest ordeal, fighting it isn't the only problem--the long term consequences it has on a woman's body, hair, and bones can also be devastating. For instance, breast cancer can make a woman's bones brittle, putting them at an increased risk for bone fractures and osteopenia. But now a new study presented at the American Institute for Cancer Research says there's a new way to combat bone loss caused…
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Avoid This to Decrease Your Obesity Risk by 50%

As the use of the pesticide dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, or DDT, picked up in the 1950s, scientists soon began noticing a troubling trend: Rates of diabetes, miscarriages, and certain types of cancers increased. And while DDT has fallen out of use in the United States, researchers now say there's another consequence all Americans should watch out for: An increased risk of obesity. But this effect first showed up in the grandchildren of those exposed to DDT. "Interestingly, in the first generation, we…
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This Easy Trick Makes You Work Out Harder

For most people, they know of the benefits of exercise--but making it a habit is easier said than done. But now new research presented to the American Public Health Association says there's a new way to stay motivated: Exercise with friends. "They're probably more likely to maintain the activity if they're outdoors in green spaces with people, than if they're home alone," says Genevieve Dunton, an assistant professor of research at the University of Southern California’s Department of Preventative Medicine.…
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This Diet Could Raise Your Depression Risk by 41%

At risk for depression? It's not a mind over matter issue anymore, according to researchers from Harvard University--it may have to do with your diet. Published in the latest issue of the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, their newest study reveals that women who ate foods that increased inflammation were 41 percent more likely to develop clinical depression. Researchers initially made this discovery after giving middle to senior aged women a food frequency questionnaire. "We used a strict definition of…
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This Diet Helps You Live Longer

Experts say that women who follow a Mediterranean diet are more likely to have a healthier heart--but now there may be another incentive to stick with this diet. A new study published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine shows that women who followed a Mediterranean diet were 40 percent more likely to live longer than 70 years. This has led some experts to believe this diet could be the next fountain of youth. "We found that greater quality of…
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Avoid Weight Gain With These 2 New Tricks

For many of us, losing weight is the biggest part of our journey--but for those who have already lost weight, keeping that weight off is just as important. And now a new study from Karolinska Institutet's Clinical Epidemiology Unit and Obesity Center in Sweden says there may be two new ways to do it. "The body has several defence [sic] mechanisms against weight loss, such as increased hunger, lower energy metabolism and relapse back to old habits," says Dr. Erik…
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Use These 2 Apps to Lose Weight Faster

For those losing weight on-the-go, they need all the help they need to stay on track--and with smartphone weight loss apps, that journey couldn't be easier. But now a study published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine says these apps may offer little incentive to desperate dieters. "Apps do include evidence-based behavioral strategies, but only a narrow range," says Sherry Pagoto, Ph.D., a University of Massachusetts Medical School behavior psychologist and lead author of the study. "Strategies that often…
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This Chemical Actually Stops Your Body From Absorbing Calories

For many people, it's a dream come true: Eat as much as you like while losing weight. And while researchers in the past may have brushed off these ideations as nothing more than wishful thinking, a surprising new study from The Scripps Research Institute says there finally may be a way to do this. "Boosting serotonin signaling has been seen as a viable strategy for weight loss in people, but our results hint that boosting serotonin plus adrenaline should produce…
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