Archive for the ‘Nutrition’ Category

Healthy eating requires healthy shopping, as you will eventually eat every food that is in your pantry.  Yes, some of us have excellent will power to resist the unhealthy food around us, but rest assured, if you own it, you will one day eat it.

So, one of the biggest factors in sticking to healthy diet is stocking your cupboards with only the foods you should eat.  If you don’t have any sticky buns available, then you won’t eat them at 11pm when you suddenly have a craving.  Sensible, right?

The thing with healthy foods is that they are sort of a double edged sword.  Per calorie, healthy food like veggies, fruits, fish, nuts, etc. are far and away more expensive than processed junk foods.  For example, a 10 oz box of macaroni and cheese costs about 79 cents, and provides around 1000 calories when prepared.  A whole pound of fresh broccoli costs 1.59 and provides maybe 200 calories.  Get the picture? Though the broccoli is the hands-down winner in health, it won’t keep your body going if your budget is tight.  This is, sadly, why poor families just simply can’t afford to be healthy.

Yet, per dollar, you can get A LOT of food when you choose healthy rather than processed and unhealthy, and healthy food keeps you full longer (bonus!).  You can buy a huge drum of “Old-fashioned” Oats for 3 dollars, whereas a box of 12 small flavored oatmeal packets costs 4 dollars.  Eat it plain, add fruit, or flavor it yourself, and you have a significant savings by buying bulk commodity oatmeal versus the prepackaged, less healthy version.  Though healthy food is almost always more pricey per calorie, in many instances the bulk version of it is vastly cheaper than the processed versions that are ready-made for us.  Plus, by buying commodities you avoid the sugar and salt that are added to prepackaged foods, such as that flavored oatmeal, which wreck otherwise healthy foods and diets.

The strategy that I take into the grocery store with me is one of getting the most healthy food for my dollar.  I don’t compromise on the food itself, but I make compromises on taste and how much prep time I have to put in.  When I say I compromise on taste I mean that I don’t worry about what it tastes like in the state I buy it, because I will prepare it so that it’s palatable to me back home.  I’ve got a pretty good system going, and I’ll share what works for me…

Tips for becoming a better shopper:

• Buy commodity Foods in bulk (oatmeal, rice, quinoa, etc.) instead of prepackaged versions
• Buy fresh fruits and veggies that are in-season, as they will be cheapest
• Buy all other fruits and veggies frozen, as they will be cheap anyway
• Go with generic brand whenever possible, unless you KNOW there is a difference
• Don’t pay for drinks, ever!  Imagine how much food you could buy for the 30+ dollars you probably spend on drinks each month.  They contribute calories without making you full, which is a dietary nightmare. Sugary drinks suck, tap water is free, and bottled water is overrated.
• Trade in the dressings, sauces and marinades for spices, which are tasty, cheaper and don’t contribute empty calories
• Try the 4 dollar rule: Buy only meat that costs 4 dollars or less per pound.  There is always some kind of lean meat that adheres to this on any given day at the grocery.  Unless it’s grass-fed, more expensive meat isn’t worth it on a day-day basis.
• Don’t buy things you LOVE.  You’ll just eat them all within two days.
• Don’t buy things you hope you’ll eat, but probably won’t.  I do this a lot, mostly with fresh green veggies, and I waste them about half the time.  If you really want to include something in your diet, buy in small quantities to start.

Try some of these tips out, and I know you’ll get more bang for your buck.  I see people buying huge bags of Tostitos for 4 bucks a pop, and I can’t help think what a waste it is.  I’d kill that whole bag in 15 minutes, still not be full, and be on the fast track to obesity and vitamin deficiency.  I’d trade that for some frozen cherries mixed with plain oatmeal any day!

What do baby formula, breakfast cereal and peanut butter all have in common? They are all foods that have “reduced fat ” or “reduced sugar” versions that have carbohydrate fillers hidden in them that the FDA allows because they are not technically viewed as sugar.  Two notable culprits are maltodextrin and corn syrup solids.

Maltodextrin is technically a complex carbohydrate because it is a chain of glucose molecules linked together.  Yes, it is indeed complex, but glycemic index research shows that it might as well be labeled sugar, because it is absorbed just as fast, if not faster than other true sugars.

Corn syrup solids are just what they sound: dried and solidified corn syrup.  And what is corn syrup?  Sugar, plain and simple.  Yet, the government doesn’t view this as sugar either, and so food manufacturers can pump their products full of it (for the sweet taste) without it adding to the sugar total.  Deceitful, right?

So, it is up to you consumers to be intelligent and look at both the nutrition and ingredient lists on each food package.

I’ll tell you a little story about a surprising place I found corn syrup solids.  My cousins Arie and Reese have a 1 year old who they feed as well as any baby on the planet.  Little Keller eats nothing but whole, organic and unprocessed foods, and is sure to grow up as perfectly as a baby can.

Keller would very occasionally have a bottle of formula, and again, his parents scrutinized the nutrition labels to give him the healthiest available.  They had both milk and soy based formulas, and were phasing out the milk version.  I asked them why, and they told me that both were nearly the same, but the soy formula had less sugar.

When I looked at the labels of each, the soy formula indeed had 5 or 6 grams less sugar than the milk formula, but 3 or 4 grams more total carbohydrate.  How could this be?  When I looked at the ingredient list, it became obvious: the FIRST ingredient was corn syrup solids.  This meant that while the milk-based version had more sugar, it was at least from a natural source (milk).  Breast milk contains sugar, so this isn’t too big a concern.  Corn syrup, however, is NOT found in breast milk.

So what does this mean for you?  Raise an eyebrow anytime you see natural foods that are somehow “improved.”  Peanut butter should have one ingredient: peanuts.

Thanks to food scientists, reduced sugar bananas or extra-fiber apples will likely be created and hit the shelves sooner or later, and you can bet your ass I won’t be eating them.

I don’t drink milk.  I also don’t eat yogurt, and in general avoid dairy products (though I’m struggling to kick cottage cheese).  I’m not lactose intolerant; it’s just that I’m convinced that dairy isn’t very good for adults.

“Drink your milk” has been spouted by your mom, dad, grandma, Phys-Ed teacher, coach and strength coach as long as you’ve been alive, but if you’re trying to get or keep that six-pack, then you probably need to leave the udders alone…

First, let’s start with what we know:

The Optimistic View of Milk

- Good Source of Calcium

- Good source of protein (mixture of whey and casein, which is great for building and maintaining muscle)

- Fortified with Vitamin D to increase absorption of said Calcium

- Great with a heaping bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch (or an entire box, as it usually ends up)

The Evolutionary View of Milk

- Fed to babies for quick development of muscle, bone and fat stores

- Adult humans become more intolerant of lactose (chief sugar found in milk) as they age.   To quote the National Institute of Health:

Primary lactase deficiency develops over time and begins after about age 2 when the body begins to produce less lactase. Most children who have lactase deficiency do not experience symptoms of lactose intolerance until late adolescence or adulthood.

- Poorly digested lactose causes water retention, which increases that flabby look. Bodybuilders, figure competitors and models wouldn’t dare touch milk products before a photoshoot.

- Milk has an insulin index score disproportionately higher than its glycemic index score.  This means that milk has holistic properties responsible for greater insulin response than simply the amount of carbohydrate it contains.  This finding makes evolutionary sense as the drink is, as discussed above, meant to fatten and increase weight in babies.

So let’s think about this: We produce lots of lactase for digestion of breast milk at infancy, then our body produces less and less, resulting in some degree of lactose intolerance.  It seems pretty obvious that our body is telling us to wean ourselves off of the stuff as we reach adulthood.  Why continue to pump ourselves full of a liquid that our body isn’t equipped to properly digest, and is biologically engineered to pack on weight and bodyfat?  Good question…

Implications

Those of you who wish to lose weight, get ripped or maintain an advanced, super-healthy diet should almost certainly avoid milk products.  After all, it doesn’t really contain anything unique; Calcium can be found in cruciferous and dark, leafy vegetables in good quantities (which everyone needs more incentive to eat, anyway), the 8 grams of protein per serving can be matched in about 1 oz of meat, and you can go outside for free Vitamin D.  And it will keep your insulin levels higher than they need to be, which is bad for bodyfat business.

Yet, for young athletes, growing children or those looking to add body mass, I don’t ban milk.  They probably don’t get calcium from other sources, and they surely process it better than older populations.  I only urge those with weight-loss or general health goals (again, more advanced and knowledgeable eaters) to take a long and hard look at whether this bovine secretion is actually healthy.

To quote the great Arnold Schwarzenegger (Thanks, Jon): ”Milk is for babies. When you grow up you have to drink beer.”

References:

Garrett Hoyt, Matthew S. Hickey and Loren Cordain (). Dissociation of the glycaemic and insulinaemic responses to whole and skimmed milk. British Journal of Nutrition, 93, pp 175-177
doi:10.1079/BJN20041304

http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/lactoseintolerance/

*By Ben Brewster, our newest contributing author*

You’re trying to gain weight. You train hard for one hour 3-4 times a week, you’re getting adequate sleep and recovery, and you don’t have a glaring muscle imbalance that is holding you back. You eat when you’re hungry (sometimes more often), and don’t stop until you’re full. And yet, you still can’t pack any muscle onto your skinny frame. You’ve only achieved modest gains in the weight room and chalked up huge gains only to those who have “freaky” genetics. If this sounds like you, listen up. Here’s a tip that helped me gain 10 lbs of muscle in 7 weeks, up to 193lbs from 183lbs, after spending the previous 4 months working to make similar gains.

Track your nutrition.

I’m going to assume you already eat clean, more or less. I’m going to take that leap that you never touch fast food and soda, and that you work on maintaining a high-protein diet with plenty of healthy fats, including lean meat, fruits, veggies and nuts. Let’s assume you have the quality of the food covered, but you still aren’t making great gains in the gym. Let’s talk about quantity. You think you’re eating enough to gain weight. You are rarely hungry.

You’re wrong.

Now, I’m no expert nutritionist, but everything in my experience indicates the body wants nothing more than to maintain homeostasis. This is a fancy way of saying that to stimulate new growth you must push your body beyond what it feels comfortable with. Yeah, I know this already, you’re thinking. Maybe so, but as you think about finishing that last gulp of protein shake or saving it for later, your body is going to be fighting you every step of the way trying to tell you that you’re full. My point:

It is remarkably easy to trick yourself into thinking you’re getting sufficient calories.

Back to my story. I had done my research and knew I should be getting at least 4,000 calories a day, but never took the time to write down everything I ate throughout the day or add up my average total caloric intake. I did this, finally, and it turns out I was missing the mark from 750 – 1250 calories each day! Granted, I don’t always know exactly how many calories I consumed on any given day, but at least now I know within a few hundred.

Again, I’m no nutritionist, but another benefit I’ve noticed is that my already quick metabolism seems to have shot through the roof! After a couple weeks of this, I began to feel hungry much faster, even though I was eating far more than I used to! My gut tells me that this is part of the reason I have not gained any visible fat.

Here’s roughly what I eat every day, though it varies a bit. I know it’s not perfect, but it’s what I‘ve come up with given my current circumstances.

Breakfast:
Chicken Omelet: 540/52
Cup Milk: 110/8
TOTAL: 650cal/60g protein

Morning Snack:
Peanut Butter Sandwich: 420/16
2 small handfuls cashews (2 oz): 320/8
TOTAL: 740/24

Lunch:
Chicken, 6 oz: 275/50
Yogurt: 170/5
1 cup OJ: 110/2
Sweet Potato: 80/2
TOTAL: 635/59

Post-Workout Meal:
2 scoops EAS Whey Protein: 240/46
Peanut Butter Sandwich: 420/16
TOTAL: 660/62

Dinner: Varies 600-900 calories, >40 grams protein
TOTAL: 600-900/30+

Post-Dinner Snack:
Super Mass Shake: 750/48
(1/3 cup oats, 1 cup milk, 1 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp peanut butter, 1 scoop whey)
TOTAL: 750/48

Pre-Bedtime Snack:
Cup Milk: 110/8
2 Flameout Caps: 25/0
1.4 Cup Cottage Cheese: 50/7
TOTAL: 185/15

NEW TOTAL: 4220-4520 Calories/298g protein

In conclusion, you really need to have a general idea of what your caloric intake is every day. I’m not asking you to painstakingly record every meal, but a general idea and plan to follow is huge when it comes to pushing your body out of its comfort zone and spawning new muscle growth.

What do you take after you workout? Nothing? Water? Gatorade?

The science out there says that during and after your workout you should have a drink with a 4:1 ratio of carbohydrate to protein.  I go with 80 grams of a Dextrose/Maltodextrin mix with a 20g scoop of whey protein, mixed in 24 oz of water.  Yum!

There is a great book out there called Nutrient Timing: The Future of Sports Nutrition
that details what happens in your body during and after exercise, and what you should do during those windows to get the most benefit from your workouts.  I read it a few years back and adhere to its principles to this day.

The short end of all the research is that if you do your workout nutrition right, you will minimize soreness and recovery time while maximizing strength and size gains.

My favorite nutrition author, John Berardi, writes tons of really good articles online, one of which discusses Nutrient Timing and the science behind it.  It is long, but a really good read…The Science of Nutrient Timing.

There is no big secret to sculpting a killer body and staying healthy; rather, results are achieved by consistently following through with good day-to-day habits.

Everyone is different, but the general habits of very lean and healthy people are consistent.  They…

Always eat breakfast

Never skip meals

Always eat in regular intervals, usually every 2-4 hours

Eat vegetables in every meal

Eat lean protein in every meal

Use as little salt as possible

Obtain sugar ONLY from fruits and vegetables

Never eat refined, sugary foods Read the rest of this entry »

Love pumpkin pie, yet don’t have time to make it?  Whip up this healthy filling yourself and enjoy the taste and nutrition anytime.

All it takes is:

• 15oz can of Pumpkin
• 1/4 fat-free ricotta cheese
• 1/2 tsp. cinnnamon
• 1/4 tsp. ginger
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
• 3 or 4 tbsp of Splenda (or sugar, if you’d rather an insulin spike over an artificial sweetener)
• 1 cup pasteurized egg whites (or 4-5 raw)

Mix everything together and you have a no-sugar-added pumpkin pie snack that contains:

• 37 grams of protein
• 43 grams of carbs,
• 11 grams of fiber,
• Zero fat
• 900% of your Vitamin A requirement
• Deliciousness and satiety

Makes 1 massive serving, or 3 normal ones. Just depends on how gluttonous you are.

Processed food is garbage, even when tightly sealed in the “healthy” veneer of a Weight-Watchers or Kashi package.

Want a highly nutritious, effective and thoughtless nutrition plan?

Buy and prepare only one-ingredient foods that come directly from the earth to your shopping cart – produce, meat, nuts, whole grains.  (Sweet potato is the only ingredient in a sweet potato) Read the rest of this entry »

To supplement is to make stronger, or reinforce, by addition.

I think the modern athlete, bodybuilder and dieter forget this. Often supplements are misused as “replacements.”  These come in the form of shakes to replace whole meals, powdered “superfoods” and “greens” to replace vegetables, multivitamins to replace vitamins and minerals, etc., etc.

The supplement industry is founded on nutritionism, which is the reduction of the value of food to its nutrient parts. Michael Pollan, in his book In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto,  discourages this reductionist view of food, and instead suggests that we all revert to what our ancestors did: eat whole foods.  It’s a book that was an easy and intelligent read, and it changed my view on the manufactured health food products that I was guilty of eating.  I eat more “food” now. Read the rest of this entry »

As I have previously discussed in this article, proper nutrition is important in recovering from the stresses of athletic competition, and can help ward off and speed recovery from injuries.  Give your body all the building blocks it needs to repair itself and it will do so as fast as it is able.

An interesting example of this, found in my A&P textbook, is in 3rd degree burn patients, who could regenerate their scorched skin (and thus not require skin grafts) if they could consume enough calories in the short window before infection set in.  The calorie requirement for this, however, is so great that even with a feeding tube, skin grafts are almost always necessary.  The point is just that given the tools (in this case, calories) the body has incredible potential to heal itself.

Nutrition often falls to the wayside when considering the factors involved in the physical development of athletic skills.  Who is to say that you are not running faster, throwing harder, or catching more passes because your diet sucks?  Or maybe that strained quad was primarily the result of a nutrient deficiency.

You just never know what is holding you back, and when one considers how frighteningly unhealthy the average American diet is, the chances are pretty good that your diet is holding you back on game day, and maybe even keeping you sidelined with injuries.