Posts Tagged ‘protein’
Food For Thought Friday #1
If YOU have any questions that you’re curious about, email me at tanktoparms@hotmail.com and look for the answers in the “Food For Thought Friday” posts!
Q: How important is 8 hours of sleep to your health? Just curious, because I think I’m falling behind.
A: Ahhhhh, the old “8 is enough”….or is it? Well, as most of us have grown up with hearing that we need 8 hours of sleep, for the most part it’s true. Getting enough zzz’s is very important to our health, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that EVERYONE can only function properly as long as you’re getting 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 hours of sleepy time. Sleep is an essential part of our lives. If we don’t get enough of it on a consistent basis, our bodies will give out on us.
Some people may find that they only need 5-6 hours of sleep to function properly, while others need 10-11 hours for optimal performance, so it’s safe to say that each person’s sleep requirement is different. To put it simply though, the average adult functions best with 7-8 hours of sleep a night. But remember, you should probably evaluate how you feel during the day to be certain that you are getting enough sleep at night.
Research has shown that when we don’t get enough sleep, there is an increased risk of diabetes, onset of weight gain, irritability, and your attention span is shorter. Among other things, your reflexes tend to be slower and depression could sneak up on you as you fatigue more and more. Get some rest!! Just be sure it’s the proper amount of rest that YOU need.
Q: What are your thoughts on Honey Therapy for allergies?
A: “Oh the allergies have been killing me!” That’s my daily spiel since Spring came around. I see the little cottonwood pollens floating in the air and I just want to hide! Rather than going the medicinal route, many people look to honey as an allergy remedy. Although there isn’t a whole lot of research for or against it, I can comfortably say that it is safe for the majority of people suffering from allergies.
Because local honey tends to have some of the same local allergens in the air, consuming honey actually helps to build your immunity to those same allergens. It works like this: the bees go from flower to flower, tree to tree, etc. when they go back to the hive and contribute their labors to make the honey, they themselves are covered in many of the same allergens that we suffer from. So consuming honey actually helps to build a slow immunity to these allergens, or so that is what is believed. 
A word of caution to honey therapy: If you have never consumed honey, be careful because you may have an allergic reaction and not know it until you’ve eaten it. Try just a little bit of your local honey, like ½ teaspoon to see if there is any reaction. If not, you’re probably pretty safe. But you can always run this by your physician as well.
Q: How far do I have to jog to neutralize a small order of McDonald’s fries? What if I replace the jog with a walk? What if I replace the walk with sitting on the couch? Note: the fries cannot be substituted.
A: I’m going to answer this because it made me laugh! Too funny to pass up you know! Here’s the low down on the question: A small order of McDonalds fries has 231 calories, with a total of 11.5 g of fat, and 18% saturated fat. So, you will probably have to jog about 25-35 minutes, depending on your pace; longer time if you’re going at a slower pace, shorter time with a faster pace. If you’re walking, you’ll probably need to walk about 45 minutes to lose those 231 cals. If you’re sitting on the couch, make sure to have the remote close by because even getting up to change the channel won’t help you much! Enjoy the cheat treat! 
Q: What are your thoughts on dietary supplements such as pills, smoothies, etc?
A: With one brow raised, I will answer this as honestly as possible. I take a supplement. It’s called a multivitamin. I also use 100% whey protein to make smoothies with. I never have been a big fan of supplement pills to lose weight, gain muscle, raise the metabolism, or to “burn fat”. For one, they aren’t FDA regulated. Nutritionists say most of us can skip taking vitamins altogether, as long as we’re eating a variety of healthy foods. But I know that I’m probably not getting ALL the vitamins and minerals I need from my diet, so that’s why I take a multivitamin. Go to RealAge to see the most important vitamins and minerals you should be looking for on that bottle.
There are so many different potential negative effects that your body can have from taking dietary supplements that you aren’t familiar with. Unfortunately in today’s society, we are bombarded with magazines, books, shows and internet ads that promote a “perfect” body whether you’re a woman or man. Marketers target desperate people that are looking for a quick fix. Many of these drugs have shown to increase heart rates to unsafe levels, raise cholesterol level as well as blood pressure. The liver, kidneys and pancreas tend to have difficulty processing these pills, but it takes a long time usually to see the side effects. By that time, the damage is done.
Smoothies can be a good source of energy and protein if you prepare them at home with raw foods and maybe a scoop of 100% whey protein. When we purchase smoothies from the outside, such as Jamba Juice, you may think that you’re getting a healthy dose of fruits for the day, but in reality you’re getting a ton of sugar and carbs. As I said earlier, if you prepare your drinks at home, you can make them so much healthier than if you buy it somewhere else. Personally, I use 100% Whey protein from Nectar (brand) in the vanilla bean flavor. I mix it with ¼ cup water, ½ cup skim milk, 1 scoop of protein powder, and I usually add ½ banana, or raspberries, or ½ papaya. For my multivitamin, I take Mega Woman Sport from GNC. Aside from that, I make sure to eat a really healthy diet 80% of the time so I can “cheat” with my food the other 20%. 
Q: What are the health benefits of sex, red wine and dark chocolate…
A: Sex: Earlier I blogged a post all about the benefits of sex. Aside from burning about 85-100 calories in roughly 30 minutes (depending on how…ahem…vigorous it is), sex can help relieve tension, improve cardiovascular health and improve intimacy between you and your significant other. Other research has shown that sex can help relieve pain by producing oxytocin, slows the aging process and finally it can help reduce the risk of breast cancer!
Red wine: drinking it in moderation, red wine can have some pretty significant positive effects on our bods. The University of Bordeaux found that moderate wine consumption (about 2 glasses a day) was associated with a 30% reduction in the death rate from all causes; a 35% percent reduction in death rates from cardiovascular disease; and an 18-24% reduction in death rates from cancer. Aside from all the news of chronic illness risk decreasing with red wine consumption, there are also anti-aging effects in red grape skins.
Dark chocolate: According to the Mayo clinic, eating small amounts (notice I didn’t say candy bars every day) of dark chocolate everyday can offer some health benefits. Flavonoids are a naturally occurring antioxidant that is found in teas, red wine and some fruits and veggies. These same flavonoids are found in the deliciousness of dark chocolate. They have been associated with having a good effect on the heart by lowering blood pressure by a couple of points for both the systolic (top) and diastolic (bottom) numbers. Bon apetit!! 
What kind of diet are you?
What do you think of when you hear the word “diet”? Well, if you’re like most people, you probably think of a diet to lose weight. We’ve all heard about the famous one’s such as the Atkins diet, the South Beach diet, the Cabbage soup diet, and the list goes on and on. These are all what I like to call “fad diets“. They come and go and more often than not, once failed, usually lead to more weight gain. If there is one thing that I have always told my clients, it is this: the best diet for weight loss that I recommend is a HEALTHY one. By this I mean reducing your caloric intake which people usually accomplish by reducing the high-calorie fats in the diet and little else. Just out of curiosity, do you know how many calories are in a Big Mac from McDonald’s? Are you sitting down? A whopping 540 calories!! Let’s put this into perspective for a moment. Your biggest meal of the day (which should be breakfast) shouldn’t be more than approximately 350 calories or so. The Big Mac contains 10 grams of fat…which amounts to 50% fat! That’s just in one meal. It’s like eating a chunk of lard for a meal! :( I only used this example because most of us are familiar with the burger icon. You can go to www.calorieking.com for more info on nutritional breakdown of foods. Don’t take this to mean that you can never eat fast food, but a big part of having a healthy diet is making better choices, most of the time, wherever you are at.
So now that I have your attention, and perhaps a little disgust, there is a rule that I try to implement in my clients heads. It’s the 80/20 rule. Ever heard of it? Eat healthy 80% of the time and treat yourself to “cheat” foods only 20% of the time. During that 80% is when you want to eat the healthiest. So on to the fun stuff!
The Low-Carb diet: this involves the near exclusion of carbohydrates. The diet touts that the average overweight person should lose about 7 pounds in the first week. Yikes! You should always be suspicious of any diet that promises fast results in which you are losing more than 2 lbs a week. With this diet, you are free to eat all the protein you want, which personally is enough reason to question it! Where do you think the bad cholesterol comes from? When you eliminate carbs from your diet, your blood sugars levels drop. On top of that, halitosis (very bad breath) is common in this type of dieter. It’s good to eat healthy carbs because your body needs them! When you do, try to stick with the whole grain types or veggies. For example, brown rice, whole wheat bread, whole wheat pasta, oatmeal, raisins, bananas, sweet potato, squash and spinach :)
A wise man once said, “To think carbs make you fat is wrong. You’re fat because you’re not exercising.”
~Chris Carmichael
The High-Protein diet: unless you are in aerobic or muscular fitness training, you don’t need the extra protein. When you eat more protein than your body needs, and you’re not exercising, it is actually gets stored as fat! Now I’m not telling you to completely restrict your protein diet, but any diet, such as the low-carb one, that restricts you from eating the recommended daily allowance doesn’t make any sense. If you’re going to eat protein though, and it happens to be meat, just be sure to eat leaner cuts such as sirloin or even fillet mignon! Some common places that you will find protein are meat, beans, cheese, chicken, fish, peanut butter, milk, pizza and protein shakes.
The Reduced-Fat diet: Good as a concept, but not if you get ridiculous with it. We need fat in our diets, but up to a certain point. Not only is fat high in calories, but it also contributes to chronic conditions such as heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and even cancer. But some fat is good for us. Healthier fats (unsaturated) can come from avocados, skim or 1% milk instead of 2% or whole, more fish and white meat from chicken or turkey instead of so much red meat. Using monounsaturated oils such as canola or olive when you cook. Try to reduce your normal fat intake, which typically is about 40% in this country now, to 25-30%.
Below I’ve broken down the math stuff to make it even easier for you to follow! 
Some food for thought: 1 pound = 3500 calories. So to lose 1 pound per week, you need to eliminate 3500 calories during that week. Simple. To put it in a more reasonable way of looking at it, (because it’s NOT impossible) be sure to get regular physical activity each day. If you were to burn 1750 calories each week through exercise, and cut 1750 calories from your diet through holding off on those extra cookies or that cheeseburger, or your favorite Starbucks beverage (check out the link!) you can reach your goal of losing 1 pound per week easily! Let’s simplify it even more :) Exercise 5 days a week burning 350 each time. You’ve now burned 1750 in exercise! Now cut back on an extra 350 calories for 5 days, and there is the other 1750 calories, AND you’ve got two cheat days to boot! PLEASE do not cheat ALL DAY LONG though. Just a nice reward without going overboard is what you want.
It’s just a little treat :) 
