Author Archive: Courtney D

About Courtney D

A 20-something year old fitness nerd and medical student trying to spread the truth about health and fitness.

Liquid food vs solid food and hunger

How many people have woken up, slurped down a high protein, high fiber, high fat breakfast shake and felt full for hours? How many people have done the same thing with a high protein, high fiber, high fat breakfast omelet and felt full longer, or hungry sooner?

Oh you betcha, I’m going to throw some science atcha!

This nasty-ass study gave people the same amount of calories in either solid chicken breast or as a liquified chicken breast shake and tried to see which group was hungry first.  They didn’t skimp on this – they measured glucose, insulin, ghrelin, etc. Turns out the curves for those three hormones (glucose is sugar, insulin tells your body to store said sugar, and ghrelin says you’re hungry) were the same…yet those who ate solid chicken breasts felt full longer.

But let’s look at some other stuff. I mean, liquified chicken breast? Vomit.

This one is less nasty, but less precise. The first one kept density the same for both the liquid and solid, this one didn’t. It just took solid and liquid meal replacements of the same nutrient content and measured peoples hunger responses over time. Those who ate solid foods were full longer than those who ate the liquids, despite having the same amount of protein/carbs/fats/etc.

I’ll save you a snooze fest and just tell you that majority of these studies found the same thing. Google it.

Basically, these studies showed that people felt fuller longer when they ate solid vs. liquid food. Did the hormones show the same? Eh.

Ghrelin is the “I’m hungry” hormone. The more this hormone you have, the more signals go to your brain to say, “feed me!” The first study found that in both cases ghrelin levels were about the same. The second study showed the ghrelin levels started lower and stayed lower over time with the liquid food versus the solid food, until about 200 minutes after the meal, in which they increased above the levels of the solid food. Leptin has the reverse, it’s the “I’m full” hormone. Same story – it started off being slightly higher in the liquid versus the solid food, was exactly the same 120 minutes out, and remained slightly higher in the liquid 240 minutes out.

So does this mean solid food makes you feel full longer? Research shows it does, despite the hormones that signal basic hunger/satiety saying otherwise. Is this your mind playing tricks on you? I invite you to do this study yourself before you decide to ditch your protein shake in favor of a solid breakfast.

July 4, 2012 Nutrition Read more >

Is green tea really as great as everyone makes it out to be?

Green tea is toted to be a miracle food by pretty much the entire fitness community. You don’t have to go far to find someone claiming it cures cancer, helps you to lose weight, prolongs your life or a slew of other facts. Are these supported by science or just a bunch of teaholics?

The polyphenols found in tea have shown to delay onset and/or lessen severity in men with prostate cancer.

A recent (June 15th 2012) review of a shit ton of studies found that drinking 10 cups of it a day can delay cancer onset, as well as be part of tertiary cancer treatment

It can improve symptoms of menopausal overactive bladder 

Rats fed a high fat diet and green tea had lower transcription of obesity related genes, as well as inflammation, etc. than just the rat fed high fat diets

Green tea’s antioxidant capabilities can help fight oxidative stress caused by neutrophils in cancer patients

It’s shown to decrease the rate of muscle loss in rats with muscular dystrophy

It can help control sodium balance in people who’ve had an ovarioectomy

No, it doesn’t cause low birth weight in babies, that’s a myth

No, it doesn’t effect drug metabolism

There’s no evidence that green tea pills can cause a serious loss of weight (read: no pill is going to magically make you shed 50 pounds) but it can be used in conjunction with a healthy lifestyle

So it’s true – a lot of the claims about the health benefits of green tea are there. Make sure you read the caveats though: green tea alone won’t cure cancer, make you lose weight, destroy your allergy symptoms, etc. But the health benefits of green tea have been shown in countless studies over a broad spectrum. Some of these studies would be the equivalent of drinking 10 cups of tea a day to get the benefits shown. Like everything, when used in conjunction with a healthy diet and lifestyle green tea can be an amazing addition to your diet.

July 4, 2012 Myths, Nutrition Read more >

What is the Paleo diet?

The Paleolithic (Paleo) diet has received a lot of attention lately, mostly due to its popularity amongst certain fitness circles such as Crossfit. Here’s a basic breakdown of what Paleo is and is not.

What can you eat?

The Paleo Diet is a lot like it sounds – they advocate for eating food that a caveman during the Paleolithic diet would eat. This means mostly eating meats, vegetables, fruits, roots and nuts. The Paleo diet excludes dairy, grains, legumes, salt, added sugar and processed oils.

Why?

The rationale behind the diet is based on the idea that the genetic makeup of man has changed very little since the Paleolithic era. Common man, they argue, has modern day ailments (such as diabetes, obesity, etc.) due to introduction of certain foods that are not “meant” to be eaten. By eliminating these foods and looking toward our ancestors and how they ate we can live a healthier life.

Variations

Some Paleo proponents swear off certain foods, such as fruits, or make their diets to be low carb. Like all diets there are variations within the community, and saying “Paleo” does not necessarily mean one eats fruit or one eats low carb. The basic guidelines of no grains, legumes, dairy, added sugar, salt and processed oils is universal.

A case for Paleo

By focusing on meats, vegetables, nuts, roots and fruit one can lead a virtually unprocessed diet. The Paleo movement does fit closely with the “Clean Eating” and “Whole Foods” movement that encourages people to get many nutrients from whole, unprocessed foods. Additionally, people with certain illnesses such as celiacs or dairy intolerance can easily adhere to these diets.

Some great resources for Paleo information:

The Paleo Diet

Everyday Paleo

The case against Paleo

The main drive for the case against Paleo comes from the idea that the basis of Paleo is flawed. That is, a misunderstanding of genetics has lead to false assumptions. While modern man’s DNA doesn’t differ greatly from Paleolithic man, genetics is more complicated. There is no 1:1 ratio between genotype and phenotype. Traits are not simply dominant or recessive, and complex interactions between DNA can cause vastly different expressions phenotypically.

Further, the Paleo movement implies that 10,000 years is not enough time for genetic adaption to diet or lifestyle. We know this to be false because research has shown that Europeans increased their lactose tolerance (genetically) within 1,000 years of the introduction of animal husbandry. Additionally, new research has shown that salivary amylase (which breaks down starch) has increased in modern man.

From an anthropologic stand point Paleo is flawed in assuming that all people in the Paleolithic area ate the same food, regardless of location. The Gwi of Africa had a diet consisting of 23% animal product vs. Alaskan tribes bordering around 99% animal product – all in the same period. Additionally, the introduction of fishing occurred around the Upper Paleolithic era.

Lastly, Wolfgang Kopp stated in a 2006 issue of Preventative Medicine that Paleo also ignores much of the argument of “Natural Selection.” That is, evolution favors those who live to reproductive age. Since Paleo advocates for higher protein, such disease factors as cardiovascular disease will be higher. These disease states occur later in life after reproduction has occurred. He calls this a “functional diet (keeps us alive) that is dysfunctional (causes disease).”

Some articles that warn against Paleo:

The Paleo Manifesto: A Case Against the Hunter-Gatherer Diet

Don’t Eat Like a Caveman by FoodSafetyNews

Take Home Message

Like all diets there are pros and cons. Finding what style of eating works best for you is important. Likewise, everyone should be made aware of the risks of assuming certain dietary choices. There is no one right way to eat, no one food that should be vilified, and no one diet to cure all ills.

July 4, 2012 Nutrition Read more >

When losing weight, what food groups should you avoid?

I get this question a fair amount, so I thought I’d do a lovely post on what foods one should ABSOLUTELY avoid when trying to lose weight. I’m talking about the type of food that can single handedly sabotage your diet, make you pack on the pounds and set back all the progress you’ve made.

Ready for it?

They don’t exist.

There is no one food (peaches, candies, steak, cake) or one type of food (alcohol, dairy, meat) that will cause any sort of setback in your diet.

Why? Because food is not the enemy. Treating food items or food groups as horrible fiends that trick you into craving them with their addictive additives and their easy accessibility gives them way too much power. It’s an item, composed of macro and micro nutrients, with assorted tastes, flavors and sensations. That’s all. Some are enjoyable, some aren’t.

Furthermore, eating fruit or not eating fruit isn’t going to make or break your diet. Weight loss, specifically fat loss, comes down to energy balance. If you put yourself into a deficit (either by diet or by exercise) you will lose fat. If you put yourself into a surplus (either by diet or lack of exercise/activity) you will gain fat (and/or muscle, depending). That’s it. If a food has 200 calories it has 200 calories. Done. There’s no further discussion from a weight loss point. (Before I get 1,000 asks talking about how 200 calories of veggies and 200 calories of cake are not the same, save it. For weight loss they are, for health they’re not. Go away. You’re annoying and redundant and clearly can’t read.)

Let’s set up a scenario. Say that your TDEE (the amount of calories you burn a day as an active human being) is 2,100. Maybe you’re trying to lose weight, so you put yourself at a 300 calorie deficit every day and eat 1,800 calories a day. Awesome. It’s about 5pm and you’ve had your meals for the day but there’s something extra you’re craving – like a piece of cake. You’ve got about 350 calories left for the day and your mom just brought home a delicious cake – Cheesecake. Your favorite. Turns out the calories for the entire piece add up to 400 calories and she wants to split it right down the middle.

But cake! That’s bad food! It’s always listed on that “DO NOT EAT” diet sheet! Guess what – you’ve got plenty of room to eat that cake. And you know what? It’s your favorite. You’ve worked hard. You have the space for it in your meal plan. You’re still hungry and you WANT this cake.

So eat it. Those 200 calories you just ate of cheesecake isn’t going to suddenly morph into 800 calories in your stomach, then grow to 3,500 calories in your intestines and set back all that great progress!

Say you don’t have any extra calories left for the day but you want the cake and you eat it. You’ve eaten 2,000 calories that day. 2,100 calories will keep your weight. 3,500 calories + 2,100 calories will make you gain a pound.

Take this same advice with any food. No, adding milk to your cereal isn’t going to make you gain weight. Adding milk to every item you eat all day, causing you to go over your calorie limit, will. See how that works?

Instead of obsessing over “good food” and “bad food” focus on how food makes you feel. If you really love a type of food, find a way to incorporate it into your diet in a healthy way. Find recipes that make a smaller serving size so you aren’t plagued with an entire cheesecake going bad in your house. Split desserts with your friends, get rid of the “bad food/good food” dilemma. Food is food.

What you shouldn’t focus on is the food, but the feeling. Do you find that chicken makes you feel full longer without putting you into a food coma? Does too much dairy make you gassy and uncomfortable? Do certain carbs make you retain water like crazy? Are you highly reactive to sodium or cholesterol? These cues are SO much more important than the good food/bad food dichotomy because these experiences are highly personal and can’t be generalized like this.

My take? There’s no such thing as bad food, but there is such a thing as too much food. Moderation moderation moderation!

July 4, 2012 Fat Loss, Myths, Nutrition, , Read more >

The Math Behind Weight Loss: Caloric Deficit explained

Losing weight comes down to creating a “caloric deficit.” That is, burning more calories a day than you eat.This takes into account more than your BMR.

BMR = basal metabolic rate. This is how many calories you burn from existing. If you sat around all day and did absolutely NOTHING your body would burn this many calories just to exist.

TDEE = BMR + activity level, or “total daily energy expenditure”. Since the average person doesn’t sit around on the couch and not move at all, this takes into account other things. For example, a sedentary person (who works a desk job and doesn’t exercise) may have a TDEE slightly above their BMR. Someone who is very active (their job is manual labor, or they lift very heavy multiple times a week) may have a TDEE almost twice their BMR.

How do you calculate your BMR or TDEE? Let’s cut the math – here is my favorite calculator. You input your gender, age, weight, body fat % and “activity level” and it will tell you how many calories you need to maintain, lose weight, etc.

So what is a caloric deficit?

Let’s use a real life example. My BMR is 1550 calories a day, my maintenance is 2,100 calories a day. Based on how often I exercise, how I spend my day, etc. I need to eat 2,100 calories to maintain my weight. If I want to lose weight I need to eat less than 2,100 calories a day. What’s important to note about this number, my maintenance number, is that it takes my TDEE into consideration. I don’t subtract the amount of calories I burn from exercise, that’s already taken into consideration. That’s the definition of TDEE – total daily energy expenditure. It’s already taking into account that I exercise as much as I do, or I’m as active as I am at my job.

If one pound = 3,500 calories, to lose one pound a week I need to have a deficit of 3,500 calories that week. Divided over 7 days, that’s a 500 calorie deficit a day. That means eating 1,600 calories a day for me. It’s also important to remember that your body takes an average. 24 hours is a human invention, as long as you have -3,500 calories a week it doesn’t matter what your day to day intake is. It doesn’t matter if these calories are eaten at 5pm, 6am or 12am.

What is NOT a caloric deficit?

When I was sick I used to think that a caloric deficit meant my total numbers for the day were a negative. Basically, I would eat 600 calories a day and then exercise off 1,000 calories and think that I was in a 400 calorie deficit. What I didn’t realize is that my body requires a certain amount of calories to exist that’s independent of how many calories I eat a day – that’s my BMR.

The BMR Trap

People who don’t understand what BMR is believe they need to eat less than their BMR. What they’re forgetting is that they do more than sit around all day. Yes, some people live very sedentary lives – they work at a computer desk, only get up to use the bathroom, go home and eat dinner in front of the TV. These people may need to eat at their BMR because they don’t move enough to create a TDEE much higher than their BMR. Others – people who walk from class to class, go to the gym a few times a week, have a job where they’re on their feet all day at a restaurant or as a nurse – these people have a TDEE higher than their BMR. If they eat at their BMR they will find themselves energy deprived, sluggish, and fall into the trap of binging to compensate for their low energy.

July 4, 2012 Fat Loss, Read more >