May 16, 2013 by Monica

How to get most out of your Creatine – what form, dose and supplementation strategy?

Creatine is one of the few dietary supplements that have a very solid scientific support for its efficacy in increasing strength, explosive performance and muscle mass. So the question in not whether it is effective, but rather how to supplement it to reap maximal effectiveness?

There are several theories on how to take creatine; some say your should load and then lower the dose, while others say you can get good results by a low dosage regimen without loading. Yet others say you should cycle the creatine and take breaks from it in between cycles. And then we have the issue of dosages and how to ingest it. In addition there is a lot of confusion about the myriad for creatine forms that claim to be superior over the golden standard creatine monohydrate. Are the new fancy creatine-super-duper formulations really worth their price? Let’s review it all here and see what the research is saying.

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March 30, 2013 by Monica

A NEAT way to fat loss

Part 1 of 3 on the deleterious effects of too much sitting

Are you struggling to lose that extra flab and all those nasty calories that seem to be glued to your waistline? Do you ever wonder why, despite your hard training and dieting, you still have those annoying love handles? Then maybe you should try to implement the NEAT way to fat loss…

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March 18, 2013 by Monica

Caloric Restriction for Anti-Aging and Longevity – does it work in non-obese folks?

If you are following the anti-aging media news, you’ve heard about the alleged benefits of calorie restriction (also known as food restriction or diet restriction). Studies in numerous species have demonstrated that reduction of calories 30-50% below ad libitum levels of a nutritious diet slows the aging process, increases lifespan, reduces the incidence and delays the onset of age-related diseases, improves stress resistance, and decelerates functional decline.

In a previous article http://www.brinkzone.com/general-health/calorie-restriction-vs-the-bodybuilding-lifestyle/ Will pointed out that practicing calorie restriction counters the bodybuilding lifestyle. Here I will explain that it not only counters the bodybuilding lifestyle, but also is makes it impossible to implement and reap the benefits of other healthy lifestyle habits, and in addition brings along several pitfalls and negative health consequences in humans.

While animal studies can and do shed light on what’s going on at mechanistic level, we have to be very careful and resist the temptation to extrapolate results from animal experiments to humans. Here I will make the case for that we can age gracefully and successfully and increase our health span and “youngevity” without having to starve ourselves for life.

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December 31, 2012 by Monica

Blood Cholesterol Testing – don’t let the simple numbers fool you!

The mere word cholesterol gives many goose bumps. We have been indoctrinated since the well-known Framingham Studies that the higher the blood cholesterol level, the higher the risk of heart disease ^1-3. However, much has been discovered in medical research since then. Today there is compelling evidence showing that strict reliance on the traditional cholesterol test that is routinely run in the clinic can falsely tell you and your doctor that you’re fine, even if you aren’t. Here you will find out what to look for…

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December 19, 2012 by Will Brink

Monica Mollica Upper Body Workout!

Monica is a regular contributor to the BrinkZone. Her articles here cover the gambit of topics from fish oil, to successful aging, to hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for men, and many other topics. I highly recommend readers take a look at her stuff if they have not already. If you read her materials here, you know she’s a rare intellect and why she’s hand picked by yours truly as a writer for The BrinkZone.

If you look at her pictures in her articles, you can see she puts as much effort into her workouts and body as she does her well researched articles. I was recently in southern FL for business, and met up with her at World Gym Fort Lauderdale, where we did a quick upper body workout. I’m sure none of you will complain I’m not in this short training vid

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August 27, 2012 by Monica

Nitrate supplementation – ramp up the less well-known NO synthesizing pathway to boost performance and health

Printer friendly pdf (right-click and chose save as)

Nitric oxide (NO) boosting “pre-workout” supplements based on arginine are currently in the rage among many athletes, particularly bodybuilders and strength athletes. While it’s true that arginine is a nitric oxide (NO) precursor and NO is a potent vasodilator ¹^,², most studies in healthy adults have not unequivocally supported the marketing hype that arginine supplementation increases muscle blood flow and/or performance in healthy folks ^3-5. In my previous article “The L-Arginine Paradox” I explained why.

In this article I will cover the less well known, albeit highly significant, NO generating process, the nitrate-nitrite-NO pathway. This “new” NO producing pathway holds a lot of promise and supplements that target it will probably will replace the current arginine based NO boosters in the near future….The nitrate-nitrite-NO pathway is especially interesting in that it not only has performance enhancing effects in non-diseased people, but also offers cardiovascular protection.

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August 20, 2012 by Monica

The Arginine Paradox – find out if arginine based NO boosters really work for you

Some of the most popular supplements today are the so called pre-workout nitric oxide (NO) boosters ^{1, 2}. These contain a panoply of ingredients, but the main one is arginine. The rationale goes that arginine is a nitric oxide (NO) precursor and NO is a potent vasodilator ^{3, 4}, which in turn supposedly will boost blood flow to exercising muscles, performance and recovery. And while arginine supplementation is beneficial for various clinical populations (see below), studies in healthy adults have not unequivocally supported the marketing hype surrounding arginine supplementation and nitric oxide boosters ^{1, 5, 6}. Why? Let’s take a look under the hood…

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July 20, 2012 by Monica

Testosterone Replacement Therapy – why is it so controversial?

It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong. - Voltaire

Printer friendly pdf, 9 pages, 98 references (right-click to download and save):

Testosterone Replacement Therapy – why is it so controversial?

For reasons that are not readily apparent, there appears to be a conservative political movement that opposes the use of testosterone in older men. This was clearly demonstrated by the report of the Institute of Medicine, which felt that testosterone is not yet ready for prime time and that there is still a need for studies to prove its efficacy ¹. Along the same lines, the guidelines of the Endocrine Society on testosterone use in older men seem to be ultra-cautious ². But fortunately, there are also other, more liberal guidelines and recommendations ^3-5.

Probably no other medical issue has been bombarded by the influx of “expert” views from all walks of life; from endocrinologists and psychiatrists to urological surgeons and gerontologists, from the lay press to the regulatory agencies and from the pharmaceutical to the entertainment industries. The dismal result of all this free-for all cacophony of opinions is a great deal of confusion, erroneous information and significant detriment to patients and physicians alike.

Let’s take an in-depth look at the reasons for the negative attitudes to male testosterone replacement therapy (I will cover post-menopausal testosterone replacement in an upcoming article), and the hard scientific data that refutes it…

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May 20, 2012 by Monica

Red Meat and Health – have we been blaming the wrong thing?

Frequent consumption of red and processed meat has been shown in population studies to be positively correlated with cardiovascular disease [1-3], cancer and type 2 diabetes. Recent meta-analyses also indicate that it increases total mortality [4]. Hence, a high meat intake (regardless of its fat quantity and quality) is generally perceived to be unhealthy and something that should be avoided. However, although there are many studies documenting these associations, results are not always consistent and there are several methodological issues which weakens the strength of their findings (more on that in a bit). In the same way as the putative health risks of red meat consumption is investigated, its documented health benefits (which I will cover below) are equally as important and must be given a fair chance in the establishment of public health messages in relation to red meat consumption. In this article I will therefore cover both the risks and benefits associated with red meat consumption, and after having taken all the scientific data into consideration, argue that meat has been unfairly blamed…

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May 9, 2012 by Monica

Red Meat – good or bad for fat loss and body fat control?

Consumption of red meat has been associated with fat gain (and weight gain) because of its high energy and fat content. Even though the role of fat intake as a causative factor for obesity recently has been seriously questioned, and rightly so, red meat still is a food that’s on the forbidden or avoid list of most diet plans. And while there are studies showing an association between meat intake and obesity [1-3], there are also studies not showing this [3-5]. And when digging deeper in the data, many of the studies that have reported a significant association with meat intake and fat gain / obesity have several flaws that invalidate their conclusions….

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How to get most out of your Creatine – what form, dose and supplementation strategy?

A NEAT way to fat loss

Caloric Restriction for Anti-Aging and Longevity – does it work in non-obese folks?

Blood Cholesterol Testing – don’t let the simple numbers fool you!

Monica Mollica Upper Body Workout!

Nitrate supplementation – ramp up the less well-known NO synthesizing pathway to boost performance and health

The Arginine Paradox – find out if arginine based NO boosters really work for you

Testosterone Replacement Therapy – why is it so controversial?

Red Meat and Health – have we been blaming the wrong thing?

Red Meat – good or bad for fat loss and body fat control?

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