Myths

The Sugar Series: Who Are the Key Players?

So, before we dive into the Sugar Series we have to start with some definitions. I can rattle off about fructose and its effect on ghrelin all I want, but if you don’t know what fructose is or what ghrelin does then this series is going to suck. So, call this our appendix (science joke)

The Sugars

Fructose – This is the sugar found in fruit. I remember this by calling it “fruitose” in my head. It’s also found in honey, flowers and roots.

Aspartame – Also known as “Nutrasweet” or “Aminosweet.” It’s generally what’s found inside diet sodas as a zero calorie sweetener.

Sucrose – This is table sugar.

Sucralose – An artificial sweetener that is zero calorie. It’s 600 times sweeter than sucrose and 3 times sweeter than aspartame. Splenda is a type of sucralose.

Stevia – A natural plant called the “Sweet leaf.” This is 300 times sweeter than sucrose and also is zero calorie.

The Hormones

Insulin – After you eat certain foods, glucose is introduced into your system. In response, insulin starts to pull that glucose from your blood, convert it to a storable form, and then store it in your liver, muscles and fat. An increase in insulin means an increase in storage of excess glucose.

Ghrelin – This is the “I’m hungry” hormone, which tells your brain it’s time to eat.

July 18, 2012 Myths, Nutrition, Sugar Read more >

The Myth of “The One”

Trying to lose weight? Run faster? Lift heavier? Then you’ve probably heard the myth of “The One.”

The one exercise to torch belly fat!

The one diet to cure all your ills!

The one to x. The one to y!

The Myth of the One is perpetuated through the media, social networking, your friends, your personal trainer, etc. Let’s break down the myth of “The One.”

– The Myth of One Exercise to Rule Them All

There are no shortages of this myth. It’s the one TYPE of fitness that is superior to others, or the one EXERCISE that will suddenly turn you into a Victoria’s Secret model. It’s also the ONE exercise to bring you glory above all glories.

There is no “ONE.” No two people have the same body, the same goals, the same diet and nutrition, the same cellular response to that exercise. To say that one exercise – or type of fitness – will work for everyone is a myth. If there were really ONE exercise that would eliminate all body fat, build large biceps, sculpt your gluteus, etc. we’d all be doing it. Incessantly.

– The Myth of One Diet of Superiority

It cites complex studies, makes documentaries, shows the cruelty of a given industry, claims to be a miracle cure. That’s how you can spot a ONE diet of superiority. It often uses straw man logic to create its theories, or ignores certain studies for its own purpose. It will create a cult of followers that are hell bent on making you believe the One True Diet exists. They’ll parrot about cancer, heart disease, brain starvation, carbohydrate depletion, and a myriad of other symptoms you’ll encounter if you’re not on The One True Diet.

Much like the exercise myth, there is no One True Diet. If there were one pill to take, or one way to eat, that would magically make you look a certain way we’d be on it. Someone would have discovered it and its results would resonate through the entire industry. Soon we’d all be on the Crossfit Games or in Bikini or Figure competitions and we’d all shed the baby weight within 6 weeks of birth. This doesn’t happen, because it doesn’t exist.

– The Truth: The ONE That Works For You

Break through the myth of The One and go to the truth of The One. This is The One That Works For You. No shortcuts, no gimmicks. This is based on trial and error, personal preference, individual goals, body type, genetics and a litany of other seemingly unrelated things. The One That Works For You is YOUR miracle drug. Some things to remember about The One That Works For You…

1. It’s your body, it works for you. It may not work for your twin sister or your best friend. Offering advice is one thing, but falling into The One trap is dangerous.

2. It’s your body, no one can tell you it doesn’t work for you. Ignore the naysayers, the haters, the whatevers. If you’ve found what works for you don’t let someone else take that from you.

DO NOT LET THE MYTH OF “THE ONE” DEFINE YOU! 

July 10, 2012 Myths Read more >

Eating healthy is expensive and not for everyone. Stop saying it is

Normally “Science Sunday” involves a lot of science jargon along the lines of biology, but this Science Sunday is brought to you by another type of science: social science. I was a sociology minor in undergrad and learned a lot about the complex issues regarding class, gender, race, etc. Anyway, that aside, I want to tackle some posts I see on Tumblr that involve pictures showing a bunch of McDonalds food with a price tag on is versus a plate of veggies with a lower price tag on it. Usually this is partnered with some self-serving “EATING HEALTHY IS SO MUCH CHEAPER!” blah blah. Well, it’s not. And it’s not for everyone. Sit down, buckle up, and get ready for some sociology to come atcha.

1. Food Deserts

PBS did a great article on this, but I’ll summarize. In some places in the country there are no grocery stores for 20+ miles. Yep. Some of you will scoff at that, but let’s put that into perspective. You have to pay for gas to make it the 20 miles there (say you get 15 miles/gallon, as some old cars do, that’s over a gallon of gas one way), then allot the time to do it (say it’s a freeway, 60 mph – 20 minutes to get there), you’ll probably have to take the kids with you because you’re going to be gone for over an hour, you get there, buy your stuff (but you’re competing with people all around you within a 20 mile radius where they are also in a food desert) which may be picked over, then head the 1 gallon/20 minutes home with the kids in the car. OR you could roll through the nearest McDonalds that’s about a mile away and buy some stuff off the dollar menu. Most of these places with food deserts are filled with low income families that cannot afford 2 gallons (at $3.25 per gallon) of gas, plus over an hour of travel with all their kids or family members, to travel to a grocery store some 20 miles away when they can get fast food in town. The town mentioned in the article had one convenience store that didn’t sell fruit or vegetables, and had a small quantity of cold cuts.

Moral of the story? Some people just don’t have access to a grocery store, much less fresh fruit and veggies, regardless of how “cheap” you’ve decided they are.

2. Gas and Cars

I touched on this above, but I’ll dive deeper now. America’s fattest county is also America’s poorest county. Poverty may mean different things to different people, but for this it means living below the poverty line set up by the government. Let’s pretend you’re below the poverty line and we’ll prioritize your finances. Roof over your head > bills to ensure water/electric/etc > food for your kids > clothes for yourself and kids > school supplies > car/truck/vehicle. There are a lot of expenses that come well before owning a car or paying for gas. These poor counties have no public transportation. One cannot just “hop on the bus” to get to where they need to go. Ride a bike? 20 miles to the nearest grocery store to buy food for a family of 4? If access to food is more than a certain amount of miles away then it’s considered unreachable. While you may be able to keep your gas tank full, that doesn’t mean others can.

3. Food Stamps and Government Benefits

Never been on food stamps? A cursory look at the list of what’s allowed on food stamps and what is not allowed on food stamps makes it hard to understand how someone can be obese if they’re on this stuff. But, wait, are these foods even ACCESSIBLE to some people? Remember the grocery stores from above? They don’t have some of these “allowed” foods! Most of these people shop at convenience stores, and according to the website, the following things are NOT allowed on food stamps.

Food that will be eaten in the store.

Hot foods.

Hot foods aren’t a problem, but “Food that will be eaten in the store”? So…everything in a convenience store. You see the problem here? It doesn’t help that these same counties lead the nation in reliance on food stamps.

4. Location, Location, Location!

Like I mentioned with the food deserts, where you live dramatically impacts whether or not you have access to certain foods. It also dramatically impacts the cost of your food. So while these little pictures float around showing an avocado for fifty cents, I have to roll my eyes. When I lived on the West coast I could get an avocado out of my backyard, or even go to the Farmers Market and buy one for that much. I now live in the South, and let me tell you, they had 3/$5 the other day and I about shit myself. That is considered extremely cheap. Likewise, I can pick my own blueberries out here (if I drive about an hour) and it may cost me $10 for what would cost $50 on the West coast. Where you live DRAMATICALLY determines the cost of the food. Shopping at Walmart for groceries, for instance, may have cheaper chicken, but they also don’t tend to have your cage free cruelty free skin free chicken that is so cheap at your local Farmers Market. Catching on? Some people don’t have access to some of the amazing food you do.

5. Time

Some people will probably say, “Well, just grow your own food!” Let’s get some advice on how to start growing your own food, say from an organic site?

2. Start small, 25 square feet for example. Find the spot that ideally has sun all year in your yard. If it’s shaded part of the year, that’s OK too. Avoid the area next to buildings or fences because of possible contamination of the soil by paint, heavy metals or chemicals.

Whoa, whoa, whoa! 25 square feet?! If you live in an apartment or government issued housing, that’s no “small” space! Sun all year round? Not near a building? This isn’t sounding promising. What about yield? There’s no way this 25 square foot “small” garden has enough space for an entire family!

This family, however, has it down pat. They grow enough food for their entire family on 1/5th of an acre in Pasadena, CA. Let’s first ignore the advantages of having amazing weather year around (or that solar energy device that isn’t cheap) and look at what the crux of this is: time. They work from sun up to sun down 6 days a week. If you’re a single mother of 2 working more than one job, this isn’t attainable. In fact, if you’re a single person not needing to feed anyone else in your family except yourself with a job, this is still unattainable. Unless your children don’t go to school and you can condemn them to slave labor, still unattainable. What people don’t understand is that time is a variable in eating healthy, one that a lot of people don’t have.

I’ll save this from becoming lengthy and sum it up for you: if you can eat healthy, if you have access to fresh or semi fresh produce, if you’re close to a grocery store or can use public transportation, you are incredibly lucky. You are part of a minority that doesn’t have to worry IF they will eat today, rather, WHAT they will eat. While you may feel self important touting how it’s soooo much cheaper to eat healthy/vegan/vegetarian/dairy free/etc., remember your audience. You’re speaking to the internet, full of people who can afford computers and have public access. You’re ignoring a growing population that is so poor and so cut off from the world because of it they’re getting their meals from a convenience store.

Next time you want to reblog a picture showing how cheap it is to eat healthy, don’t.

July 4, 2012 Myths, Nutrition, Read more >

Can eating chocolate help you lose weight?

So I heard about this yesterday on NPR and was intrigued. Finally, someone created a controlled study to test whether or not chocolate has metabolic effects like people proclaim! Surely this will settle the score on the thermic effect of food in relation to so called “metabolism boosting foods!”

Nope. Not even.

This is anecdotal evidence where a doctor asked people if they were chocoholics or not and compared their BMI. First of all, we all know how flawed BMI is. My BMI is the same as someone my height and weight, but with significantly less muscle mass than me, or significantly more. Plus, I have a heavier stature than the average human being so my BMI borders on overweight. Yep. I wear a size 2-4 and I’m considered borderline overweight.

ANYWAY.

Cause =/= effect. The conclusion drawn was that people who IDENTIFIED as chocoholics (key word: identified) were on average 5-7 lbs lighter than those who did not. Her caveat is that when a person reached high levels of chocolate consumption they weighed more on average.

My thoughts: everything in moderation is the take home message here. Eating 3,500 calories over maintenance is what makes you gain weight, not certain foods/food groups, etc!

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

“Negative Calorie” and “Zero Calorie” foods don’t exist

That’s right. Water is the only *real* zero calorie food item (unless you consider air a food, then…well…my bad)

What about Diet Soda/zero calorie sweetener/etc.?

The FDA allows the label of “zero calories” as long as there are less than 5 calories per serving. Go buy a 24 oz diet anything and look at the side. Zero calories per serving, 2.5 servings per bottle. Why not just put one serving? Because the serving size is figured to where it has just shy of 5 calories, allowing it to be labeled as zero calorie. Should you be worried? Not really. Say each of these diet items has 4 calories per serving. That’s 875 servings before you reach 3,500 calories (calories in a pound of weight gained OVER maintenance).

What about -insert vegetable or fruit here-?

These foods are good for you, which is why most diet plans/lifestyle changes/etc. advocate eating them in as much excess as you’d like. Most people cite celery for being extremely low calorie, and it is. However, it still has calories. Bananas have .89 calories per gram, so if you’re ignoring the fact that you eat 300 grams of bananas a day you’re adding almost 300 unaccounted for calories. The same is said of ALL food – just because it is a fruit or vegetable does not mean it is calorie free. 99% of the time, however, it is low calorie and packed with vitamins, minerals, etc. This makes it healthy: not calorie free.

But it takes more energy to chew celery than it gives you!

You don’t think this is accounted for in its calorie count? Or our BMR? Just because celery is primarily cellulose (which humans cannot digest) and water doesn’t mean it is zero calorie, or even negative calorie.AnswerFitness has a great sciency article on why negative calorie foods do not exist, especially not the way we think they do.

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