Food and Fitness IQ

Thank you, CNN Health, for posting something useful. Below, I've provided links to their food and fitness IQ tests. Finding out correct answers can be really eye-opening and maybe shock you into changing a habit or two. I'm trying to stay on the healthy end of living as much as I can, given my family's double whammies of diabetes and heart disease in maternal and paternal grandparents, as well as breast cancer discovered in every generation of my mom's family.


First, figure out how much you really know about what you consume.

Second, get some tips on fitting exercise into your day.

Last, get going on making a successful transition to more a healthful lifestyle.


Okay, well, I've just finished reading a second article on CNN Health, and now I'm puzzled. It reports on a new study comparing dieting alone vs. exercise + diet, and some of the statements made both conflict and confuse things that I already know. Por ejemplo:

"And their carefully controlled study added to evidence that adding muscle mass does not somehow boost metabolism and help dieters take off even more weight."

But contrast this with an exerpt from an NIH study: "Sixteen weeks of high intensity strength training resulted in increased upper and lower body strength, improved muscle quality, and muscle fiber hypertrophy. This was paralleled by favorable metabolic changes in biochemical parameters known to influence insulin sensitivity including increased adiponectin levels and decreased FFA and CRP levels." Am I wrong in interpreting this to mean that metabolism does in fact increase? Could both articles possibly be right, in that boosted metabolism can influence insulin levels but not react with weight gain factors? Or is the former claim stating, which I believe it is, that additional muscle mass does not increase metabolism period, which would then put the two statements at odds?

I do put faith in Dr. Ravussin's (author of the study highlighted in the CNN article) statement that " 'This suggests that "individuals are genetically programmed for fat storage in a particular pattern and that this programming cannot easily be overcome.' " But does that in and of itself necessarily contradict the previously assumed link between increased metabolism due to lean muscle mass gain?

He suggests, as almost every other healthy living advocate does, an adoption of healthful diets and regular exercise as the solution to maintaining an appropriate weight. I do agree with this, and I've tried to make this a lifestyle goal. However, I know I'm not a scientist, but I still stand by a lot of the anecdotal and personal evidence that I've encountered. Sufficed to say, I'll stick to my guns, but I welcome anybody who can dispel my confusion. Thanks!

:)