We’ve heard for decades now how important “whole grains” are for our health. We need the fiber and the B vitamins. A major problem with that is that the wheat we’re eating now isn’t the same wheat that was available 100 years ago. The wheat we eat now is a dwarf wheat with less fiber and more gluten. Through hybridization,…
While fruit is a nutritious food with many needed antioxidants, it is still a source of sugar and can limit weight loss. Fruit contains both fructose and glucose in varying ratios depending on the fruit. Glucose is the primary sugar in starches like grains and potatoes and is the main source for glycogen for our muscles. When muscle glycogen…
For a few decades now, SOY has been considered a “health food” because of benefits to the heart and as a vegetarian protein source. However, soy is also known to contain phyto estrogens which can act as endocrine disruptors and create imbalances in the body’s sex hormones. In my opinion, the health risks of disruption of testosterone and/or estrogen in…
We’ve all seen food with words like “all natural” or “low fat” across the label. Or maybe a picture of a green leaf or tree or some natural looking character like a bee or a smiling sun trying to tell us that this food is good for us.
You may not realize this but you’re out numbered even when you’re by yourself. You have 10 times more bacteria living in and on your body than you have human cells. Most of these bacteria reside in your gut, living on what you eat, so as you would imagine, what you eat determines the type of bacteria,or probiotics, are living in your gut.
The theory of “Calories In, Calories Out” really doesn’t work, primarily because we are not machines with a single fuel source and only one way to store and burn fuel. Our bodies are hormonal and those hormones have a tremendous effect on how we burn and store fuel, both glycogen and fat.
How many times have we heard that a calorie is a calorie? This is beyond an over simplification. It just isn’t true. Our bodies store and burn primarily two different types of fuel- fat and glycogen. We have two different metabolic systems- aerobic, being fat burning and anaerobic which burns glycogen.
Have you ever felt sluggish a couple hours after a starchy meal? Of course you have. And your first instinct, since taking a nap may not be practical at the moment, is to eat again to try to regain some energy. Generally the choice, or craving, will be for another starchy food to get your blood sugar back up.
Intermittent fasting provides a longer fasted period during the day during which your body has to rely more on fat stores. This may take a couple weeks to get used to at first, but your body will get more efficient at releasing and using stored fat for fuel and will supply your energy needs until your first meal, usually around lunch time. Ideally you want to have about a 16 hour window from the last time you ate the day before until your first meal the next day.
We see a lot of farm raised fish in the grocery stores these days but if you are wanting the health benefits of omega 3 fatty acids you won’t find them in these grain fed fish. Grains contain primarily omega 6 fatty acids which are inflammatory, as opposed to anti-inflammatory omega 3’s. Omega 3’s are found in the meat of fish that eat green food like kelp and seaweed, not corn.