Chomping on a wad of gum may not make you look all that intelligent (in fact, I always tell my kids it does the opposite).

However, some new research has just popped into the pipeline that’s got me thinking differently. Instead of eschewing the chewing, I may now be singing its praises. Want to know why?

It may actually help make you smarter!

Chew On This

In one study,¹ researchers from Japan asked 17 volunteers to watch a video screen and push buttons with their left and right thumbs. Each person did the task a few times, sometimes chewing gum, sometimes not. The end result?

Forget counting calories. Research out of Penn State has found that adding one simple substance to your meals may be the easiest and most satisfying way to lose weight. In fact, it’s all around us, and it’s free. What is it? I’ll tell you in just a minute.

First, let’s take a look at the research. Thirty minutes before lunch, subjects drank one of three strawberry smoothies, each containing the exact same ingredients. The only difference was the way they were mixed.¹

• Smoothie #1 was gently hand mixed.
• Smoothie #2 was whipped in a blender for two and a half minutes.

If there’s one goal that unites every dieter… it’s to burn extra calories without extra effort.

Is that even possible? Surprisingly, yes. And the secret is found right in your kitchen.

Today I’m going to tell you about five foods that can ignite your body’s thermal burn (aka: your metabolism) to help zap calories without you setting foot in the gym.

What are these wonder-foods? I’ll tell you in just a few.

You might have seen some commercials on late night television or on the Internet talking about “sprinkle diets” where you simply shake expensive salts on your food and lose weight. The argument is that the scent causes you to become fuller… faster.

I am not so sure about these expensive salts, but according to a recent study out of Vienna, you may be able to actually get results from one of my favorite fats.

Hint: If you’ve been reading our articles for a period of time, you know that I recommend using this fat instead of dangerous “all natural” salad dressings.

Most diet experts say losing weight is simply a matter of taking in fewer calories than you burn. End of story. In this scenario, all calories are created equal.

However, I’ve just read some interesting new research that suggests another factor may be at play. It seems a calorie may be less fattening if it’s eaten at the right time of day. And more fattening if it’s eaten at the wrong time of day.

If you are like me, you guessed that… eating most of your calories at breakfast is the way to go.

A customer, Mary, wrote in because she couldn’t seem to lose that stubborn last 10 pounds.

So we asked her about her daily diet, and it looked pretty good. Except there was one big problem…

She told me that she enjoyed a mid-morning granola bar daily. She bought her favorite snack by the case, thinking it was a healthy choice to include in her daily diet plan.

After all, this tasty treat contained a mere 200 calories and the package proclaimed to help keep her full all morning long.

Whenever one of my children takes a fall (and I have four children, so there have been plenty of falls!), I always tell each one of them to get right back up and keep going.

There’s a good lesson in there: When you make a mistake, the best thing to do is pick yourself back up and carry on.

The same can be said about dieting.

Every once in awhile… okay, more often than you’d like, you feel the pull of the hot fudge sundae, and you just… can’t… resist.

Avocado eaters weigh seven pounds less than non-avocado eaters

As a doctor, I do my best to eat a healthy, well-balanced diet, focusing on low-fat, low-calorie foods. But I do allow myself the occasional high-cal, high-fat goody. Hey, even a doctor’s got to have some vices, right?

So imagine how excited I was to read about a new study linking one of my favorite high-fat splurges – avocados – with better health.

Researchers looked at data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) between 2001 and 2008 and found that those who indulged in a daily serving of avocado weighed less than non-avocado eaters (on average, seven pounds less!).