Reading Nutrition Research

A quick post today on some of the "tools of the trade" you need to properly read research.

It seems every time I visit an Internet message board someone is quoting research papers to help support their argument about why supplement X builds muscle, or how food Y can cut fat.

As a reader, you should be very, very skeptical when you see this sort of thing, because as many academics are fond of saying, "there are studies, and then there are studies".

Confused? I'll try to help with a quick example.

Every now and then major research journals put out special "supplementary" issues that contain a bunch of research studies that are all on a similar topic. The entire supplement may contain research on soy, or growth hormone, or may be entirely on the topic of fat loss.

While this makes for easy reading (all your research is in one place), it introduces a heightened level of potential bias (a better chance that the outcome of the research was skewed towards a beneficial finding).

You see, According to Dr. Marion Nestle (author of Food Politics) these supplementary issues (or supplements) are expensive to produce and are often paid for in part by corporate sponsors with interest in that particular area of research.

For example, if I had millions of dollars to spare, I might sponsor a supplement on the topic of fasting for weight loss, in the hopes that the research within this supplement might increase the sales of my book Eat Stop Eat.

To make matters even more confusing, if I had millions, I might have also paid for the actual research that was conducted, thus paying for the research and the journal it is published in!

Marion Nestle points out that when this occurs "nutrition journal supplements also tend to highlight the benefits of particular foods or diets in which the sponsors have some interest."

In other words, if I sponsored a supplement on fasting, I increase the chances that the research in that journal would find a positive, beneficial result.

Because research journals are expensive to produce, they can take as much as tens of millions of dollars in the form of drug and food company advertising and sponsorship to help subsidize their cost for publication.

Unfortunately this can add a certain level of conflict of interest to the research in question.

Here's a tip- when research comes from a supplement it has the letter "s" next to its page numbers. This can be considered a signal to readers that the articles may not have undergone the same type of rigorous peer review as is customary in regular journal issues.

When reviewing research on a particular topic, it is important to make sure that you review the research from a number of different journals and different authors. This will help reduce the chance that their was any conflict of interest biasing the results of the research.

And never, ever take the conclusions of 1 paper as fact.

BP

FTC Slams Weight Loss Book!

As the author of a book that promotes fasting for weight loss, I was a little concerned when I read that the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) has charged Kevin Trudeau with misrepresenting the contents of his book, 'The Weight Loss Cure 'They' Don't Want You to Know About'.

According to FTC, Trudeau claims that his weight loss plan is not only easy to carry out, but also can be done at home - allowing consumers to eat what they want.

I can tell you that when I first read this statement it really worried me. I also claim that Eat Stop Eat is easy to carry out, and that it can be done at home..or at a restaurant...(honestly, I really don't understand that last comment, what diet program can you NOT do at home?)

However, luckily, this is where the similarities end.

According to nutraingredients-usa.com, the contents of Trudeau's book, "reveal a complex and grueling plan requiring a severe diet, daily injections of a prescription drug, and lifelong dietary restrictions. FTC also claims consumers cannot easily purchase the drug in question."

Daily Injections of a prescription drug?? Now I see why the FTC were more than a little miffed at Mr. Trudeau!

The FTC have long maintained their position that you cannot find weight loss in miracle pills or fad diets, and I wholeheartedly agree with them.

In my opinion, the best method for weight loss is slow and steady progress using a diet that is sustainable, flexible and effective combined with some form of regular physical activity.

It really should not be anymore complicated than that.

My advice for weight loss is to find a diet that works for you, find a form of exercise you enjoy, commit to a healthy, rewarding lifestyle where you do not stress over what you eat, and do not feel guilty for eating the foods you like. If you can find these components and add them to your life, you will lose weight.

BP

Why are Fruits and Vegetables so Important?

Ever wonder why health experts always recommend eating lots of fruits and vegetables? Well, I can't speak for everyone, but my reason is simple: I recommend fruits and vegetables because it is impossible to get fat from eating them!

In fact, I think when it comes to fruits and vegetables, You just can't eat too much of them.

Here is an example to illustrate my point. A typical bacon double cheeseburger contains around 700 Kcals. Well, to get that same amount of calories from only eating fruits and vegetables you would have to eat:

• 1 cup of strawberries
• 1 cup of blueberries
• 1 cup of sliced pear
• 1 cup of sliced cucumber
• 1 cup of chopped peppers
• 1 whole banana
• 1 cup of cherry tomatoes
• 1 whole sweet onion
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 1 third cup of sliced almonds (thrown in to add some protein and fat)

It takes over 9 cups of Food just to equal the same amount of calories in a bacon double cheeseburger! To give you an idea of what all this food would look like take a look at this picture:

(one of these foods does not belong!)

In case you are wondering what that would look like put together into a meal, check out this picture:

(A salad for four, with a massive fruit dessert, or one bacon double cheeseburger, hold the fries)

Now, lets say that you need to eat about 3,500 calories to start putting on fat. If you were to try and eat this amount of calories from only fruits and veggies, you would need to eat that fruit salad (which could easily serve two people) and that veggie salad (which served four people at my house) FIVE times per day! Trust me, I had a hard enough time trying to get through one serving by myself, doing five in a day is next to impossible!

And this is the miracle of fruits and vegetables, they taste great and they take up a lot of space.

Here is where it gets really fun...If you make a point to eat lots of fruits and vegetables you can also eat things like a bacon double cheeseburger. Take a look at the picture of the salads and burger again. The total calorie content in that picture is around 1,400 Calories. A number low enough that just about any one would LOSE weight eating this amount of calories! In fact, you could easily throw in a good breakfast and still be eating around 1,700 calories, and be very, very full.

In fact, I did just that. With one exception. I added 150 Calories in the form of icecream to the Fruit bowl.

(Looks great, but even this was a massive amount of food to eat)

So for the day, I had two hard boiled eggs for breakfast, a massive salad for lunch (which took a lot of effort to finish), a bacon double cheeseburger for dinner and a very large bowl of fruit and ice-cream for dessert, and still managed to eat under 2,000 Calories AND I was absolutely stuffed by the end of the day.

Bottom line is if you concentrate on eating lots of fruits and vegetables, you can have treats like icecream and burgers.

BP

Fasting Diet, Circuit Training

How Much Protein Do We Really Need To Eat?

Protein could be one of the most popular and controversial topics in all of nutrition. It's become the golden child of muscle building and fat loss. Wanna build big muscles? Eat your protein. Wanna lose fat and look like a fitness model? Eat your protein. After all, everyone knows you need to eat a minimum of 30 grams of protein every two to three hours.

Back in my earlier years, I drank my protein shakes and ate my protein bars. I would constantly keep my protein intake up around 250 grams per day. Why? Because I thought it scientifically PROVEN that more protein equaled more muscle.


But now I'm not so sure.


Let's take a look at one of the research studies that the super-high protein advocates always use to 'prove' that eating protein after a workout makes you build muscle.

If you were in this study, this is how your day would have gone...


You would show up at a research lab around 10 PM, and you would go to sleep (no eating). The researchers would wake you up around 6 AM and start poking and probing you (again no eating). After a bunch of weighing and measurements, you would start working out around 9 AM...you still haven't eaten yet.


This would be one of the toughest workouts you have ever done. Most likely you would do 10 sets of 8 reps on the leg press machine, followed by 8 sets of 8 reps on the leg extension machine. All of your reps would be done at 80% of your one rep max. Like I said, one brutal workout. It's about 10am now, still haven't eaten.

After your workout you would be given a drink that contains 3 to 6 grams of essential amino acids (the same amount of amino acids found in a glass of milk).

After that, the researchers would take measurements for the next 4 hours and measure your rate of 'protein synthesis'.


This is pretty much the standard protocol for these types of studies.


And guess what they found? An increase in protein synthesis over those four hours.
So what does this prove? It proves that if you haven't eaten since 10 PM the night before, do a brutal workout at 9 AM the next morning, and drink a glass of milk, you will increase your protein synthesis for four hours!

So much for needing 30 grams of protein, and so much for needing protein every couple hours.
You know what else? The only reason I say protein synthesis increases for 4 hours is because after 4 hours the researchers stopped measuring. Who knows how long you would have stayed in a muscle building state. Some researchers have estimated that a single workout can put you into 'muscle building mode' for as long as 48 hours after your workout!

Even more interesting is that researchers have found similar results when they made people drink the amino acids before their workout, and even when they made them wait and drink the amino acids a couple hours after their workout!

Here's another example, for you to consider.


In a research trial conducted on people who were over 50 years old and had chronic renal insufficiency (real bad kidneys) researchers explored the idea that resistance training could counteract the low protein diets that these people had to be on because of their medical condition.


On average these subject were eating under 0.3 grams of protein per pound of body weight. To put that into perspective, a 180 pound man would be eating about 50 grams of protein per day! For 12 weeks!


So what the researchers were thinking was 'since these people were on such low protein diets, for extended periods of time, muscle loss is definitely a risk. However, maybe if we made them weight train, we could prevent this from happening'.


Sounds like a good idea to me.


At the end of the study, the subject working out 3 times per week maintained there body weight, while the group that was not lifting weights lost about 7 pounds.


The group lifting weights also saw increases in muscle strength and muscle size. While the group not weight training lost some muscle and a little bit of strength.


This study is a great example of people actually gaining muscle size on a low protein diet as a result of resistance training.


Now, I realize the study was done on people who were over 50, and had a medical condition, but regardless, they gained muscle size.

This research shows that you can build a significant amount of muscle with relatively low protein intakes (the amount you get from your food in the average north american diet) as long as you are lifting weights.

Protein has a role in every one's nutrition plan, and it is an essential nutrient that is important for building and repairing muscles. From my understanding of the research I think it makes sense to try and consume a small amount of protein somewhere around the time you workout. I just don't think we need to be paying good money for tubs and tubs of the stuff, if the amount we get in our diets will serve our purposes just fine.

Scientists have not yet been able to determine if large amounts of protein have any extra effect on muscle gain. The massive amounts of protein that bodybuilders eat might work, but no scientists have been able to prove it so far.

Bottom line: if your goal is muscle building you most likely do not necessarily need to eat any extra protein. You can if you like, however I cannot find a good scientific reason to so far.

BP

One last note - Very little research is done on people who are on anabolic steroids. I cannot discount the idea that, in these individuals, extreme amounts of protein may help the muscle building process due to the fact that this process is enhanced by the use of steroids.

Great Magazine!!

For those of you who are interested in food politics, the fight against obesity, food addictions and the threat of tainted food, you should really check out the September 07 issue of Scientific American.

I'll be posting about some of the articles later, but for now, I highly suggest you pick up a copy.

BP

Marketing to Kids

I read today that the UK consumer watchdog group "Which?" has 'condemned' the use of superheros in advertising to children, particularly by large food companies such as Kellogg's.

I also read that Nickelodeon will stop allowing its characters to be used in 'junk food' advertising. The group last week said that as of January 2009 its licensed characters on food packaging will be limited to 'better for you' products, in accordance with government dietary guidelines.

Advertising does play a role in our continuing obesity crisis, but I question if this is the right decision. From working in the food and supplement industry I know that the target 'consumer' for kids products is not the child, it is the child's mother. After all, typically a 5 year old doesn't go out and by frosted cereals, mom buys them for the 5 year old.

So, if we want to lower the amount of junk food in children's diets, perhaps we should spend less time looking at how often superman appears on packaging (which really only appeals to the child) and more time examining the supposed health claims that are increasingly appearing on labels and packaging (which appeals to the moms)

BP

Eat Stop Eat

How to Lose Muscle Mass

As you can imagine, questions about Eat Stop Eat have been pouring in to my In-box, with the most common question being about fasting and losing muscle. Most people are still very concerned that they will lose muscle if they don't eat every 3 hours. My answer has always been, don't worry, if you are Resistance training then you won't lose muscle.

Then I received a very interesting question that went something like this - "If calorie restriction doesn't cause muscle loss, then what does?"

Great question. We all know that people who are bedridden and on a low calorie diet lose muscle. When I first starting writing Eat Stop Eat, and was running the idea past several dietitians for input, they all brought up stories of muscle loss in their patients who were bedridden and on a low calorie diet.

And since I am constantly saying that caloric restriction doesn't cause you to lose muscle if you are working out, then that leaves being 'bedridden' (or 'disuse' as they say in research) as the cause of muscle loss.

Ever break your arm and have to wear a cast, or know someone who did? Do you remember how skinny that arm was when the cast finally came off? Put a cast on your arm and your muscles shrink faster then an expensive new shirt in the dryer.

There was no change in nutrition, only a change in the amount the muscles were used, and the muscle wasted away.

In fact, 'casting' is so effective at causing muscle loss that it has been used in research to study something called 'disuse atrophy' or muscle loss from lack of use.

In a study conducted at the University of Nottingham, 22 male and female studies had casts put on their right leg for two weeks. Their diets didn't change, yet after only two weeks the cross sectional area of their quadriceps (the big muscles in your thigh) decreased by 10%.

NO change in diet..but the muscle still decreases in size by 10%.

Bottom line - as long as you are working out, and meeting some sort of caloric minimum (studies have gone as low as 80 grams of protein and 800 Kcals a day), you won't lose muscle. However, if you don't use the muscle, then it really doesn't matter what you are eating, the muscle is going to shrink.

BP

PS- If, by some fluke accident you do break your arm, the research from Nottingham found that Creatine Monohydrate can speed the rehab process, helping you build back your muscle and strength quicker than normal.

Toronto Personal Trainer

What's Next?

Now that I've finally launched Eat Stop Eat, it's back to writing.

I won't be pushing Eat Stop Eat on this blog, (The nutrition help blog will maintain its original purpose of helping people understand nutrition) however, I will be explaining some of the science that I come across as I begin my research for 'Eat Stop Eat Advanced'.

I already have some great information that I can't wait to share in the coming days!

PS- thanks to everyone who bought a copy of Eat Stop Eat, your support is greatly appreciated.

BP

Fasting for Weight Loss

Eat Stop Eat

Hi Everyone,

After spending well over a year researching and writing, my book "Eat Stop Eat" is finally finished.

Please feel free to check out the book at http://www.eatstopeat.com/

I hope you all like it, and I will be on the blog constantly to answer questions that you may have.

BP

Pizza 3 Times Per Week?

Last Wednesday I spent the day listening to a series of nutrition seminars put on by a group of graduate students.

The day was full of great information and lots of really cool research that was presented by a group of very bright students.

Here is the most startling thing I learnt yesterday-

One particular student was doing her research on school time activity. Her plan was to go into schools during lunch, initiate an 'activity hour' and then measure the health effects this extra activity had on the kids.

Here's the kicker. When she was trying to recruit schools, one particular school couldn't participate because their lunch times were taken up by 'pizza days' three days per week!

Now, I can remember back to my days in grade school and pizza days were a big thing. Once every month or two, my class would have pizza brought in for lunch. Talk about a special treat.
But this particular school had pizza day 3 DAYS A WEEK!!!

The reason - probably because it brought in fund-raising money. Unfortunately, it also helps develop some horrible eating habits at a very young age.

Whether you are running 'pizza days' at a school or entertaining guests at your house, low-quality high-calorie food will always be the quick and easy choice. And, every now and again this is perfectly OK. However, when it starts to happen 3 or 4 times a week, you are looking for trouble.

Take a look at what you eat this week. If 'every once in awhile foods' have turned into 'every day foods' it's time to retool your nutrition plan.

BP

Eat Stop Eat

One Dedicated SOB

If you want to read a great story about one man's weight loss quest, check out:

http://leanbodyquest.blogspot.com

"Billy" has dropped from almost 260 pounds down to a svelte 190, over the course of 8 months.

Inspiring to say the least,

BP

Food, Food groups and Nutrients

Before University, I ate food. I ate things with names like ' Ham sandwhich', 'scrambled eggs', and 'tuna casserole'.

After earning a degree in nutrition I ate food groups. Meats, breads, and fruits and vegetables.

When I worked in the supplement industry I ate nutrients. Quick digesting whey protein, complex carbs and heathy fats.

Now, after studying nutrition for ten plus years, I eat food again.

I can sum up what I've learnt in those ten years by saying: A grilled-cheese sandwhich is a grilled-cheese sandwhich. No better or worse for you then any other food., especially if you eat a variety foods.

It doesn't matter if you are a bodybuilder, someone trying to lose 50 pounds, or if you are just interested in the foods you eat, my message to you is the same;

Enjoy the foods you eat.

BP

Eat Stop Eat

It's a Yes or No Question

A little of topic, but nonetheless...

I believe Dick Pound is a brave man for his willingness to take on pro-athletes and their accused steroid habits.

My favorite quote from Mr. Pound was in regards to asking athletes "have you ever taken steroids" Mr. Pound said, "any answer other than 'No' is some form of 'yes'"

In my opinion this is so true.

Again, Off topic, but something to think about over the weekend.

BP

Nutritional Boobytraps

I'm putting the finishing touches on my book so I am going to be slim on the posts this week.

A couple quick points:

Don't fall for the 100 Calorie snack craze. The goal is still to get you to eat more.

Don't fall for the massive guilt trip that's constantly being laid on us about the way we eat. If you've had some fruits and vegetables today you are doing OK. Keep aiming to get in as many veggies as possible, but don't sweat it too much. I'm starting to think 12 servings is a ridiculously unrealistic goal.

BP

Fasting for Weight Loss

Summer fruit

Here's a great tip I just read:

Some fruits don't ripen after the've been picked, so buy ripe peaches, necatarines, pineapples, cherries, and berries.

Other fruits continue to ripen after you get them home. These include mangos, papayas, avocados, bananas, apples and pears.

BP

Fat Loss Time Machine

I just read an amazing article titled "The Perils of Eating, American Style", that was first published in Time Magazineback in December of 1972.


In this article written almost 35 years ago, the danger of inactivity and the merits of a low-fat diet versus low-sugar diet are argued. Various Doctors call for a sweeping reform of our nutrition programs, and a young doctor Atkins out of Manhattan is pushing his newly coined "Atkins Diet".


High protein diets were the current trend for weight loss,while more conservative doctors were calling for people to use more "sensible systems of weight loss".


Best of all, nutritional labeling was just STARTING to be discussed.


Fast forward 35 years. What has changed? We have nutritional labeling on everything. With one quick search onthe Internet I can tell you exactly how many calories I consumed yesterday and I have a pretty good idea of how much saturated fat was in my steak. Unfortunately, this newfound informational freedom doesn't seem to be helping.


We are still arguing over low-fat versus low-carb, and high protein diets are still all the rage for weight-loss.


And we're bigger than ever before. What gives?


Well for starters, we're even more inactive then before. My favorite quote from the article is when a doctor from Harvard is being interviewed about activity levels and says:


"Look at those advertisements for extension telephones; all those steps you save probably add up to five pounds a year in fat."


Extension telephones? Imagine what he must think of cellphones, TV remote controls and just about everything else we now have to aid in our sedentary lifestyles.


From what I can tell, 35 years later and we are still arguing about what to eat, how to eat and when to eat; but no one is arguing about our ever increasing need for exercise.


Here's the kicker...our exercise is getting worse too. Thirty minutes on the elliptical two to three times a week just isn't going to cut it. Either are arm curls for 25 reps with the pink dumbbells you find at the end of the weight rack.


This sounds harsh but its true. The single most effective tool you have in your arsenal for weight loss that you have complete control over is your workout program.


I find it amusing that in 2007 people are willing to shell out 50 bucks for a weight loss pill that is nothing more than caffeine mixed with some microscopic amounts of ineffective herbs, but don't want to pay for a personal trainer or a properly planned workout program.


Following the right workout can make all the difference in theworld.


It is time to take control. Concentrate on your workouts. Find what works for you, then do more of it more often.


Try a professionally designed program like The 6 MinuteCircuits Workout, Shape Shift or Turbulence Training.


Try walking, biking, taking the stairs, martial arts or pole dancing classes,whatever it takes to find one more thing that you enjoy that will get your heartbeat up and your muscles working.


And when it comes to nutrition, eat less but enjoy the foodyou eat. Eat more fruits and vegetables and more herbs andspices. And most importantly stop stressing over your food.


After all, the idea of trying to find the right foods to eat sowe can lose weight has failed us miserably for the last 35 years.


BP

Fasting for Weight Loss

I Lost 4 Pounds of Fat in One Day!!

Alright, so I didn't lose any fat today. Nor did I lose any weight. In fact, I'm the exact same weight right now as I was this morning.

The important thing is that I was able to write that statement. Nobody stopped me, flagged me, or challenged me. Despite what many people believe, magazines and websites are NOT reviewed for their accuracy.

There isn't a group of scientists evaluating the latest copy of "Musclemen Monthly" or "Fit Moms International" to make sure that their diet or exercise advice is up to date and factually correct.

This is why I like research. High level clinical research goes through a peer review process before it is allowed to be published. Meaning scientists review each other's work for accuracy before its allowed to be printed.

But here's the kicker. The abstract of a paper (that little 200-300 word summary of the research that is available free on-line at places like pubmed.com) is typically NOT peer reviewed.

This is why it bothers me to no end when I see people use abstracts in magazines and on-line forums to support their outlandish claims.

Unless you are trained to review research, you should not be writing about research. This goes for magazines, forums, blogs.

Allowing information from abstracts that have not been reviewed for accuracy to appear in magazines and websites that are also not reviewed for accuracy, just adds to all of the nutrition confusion that is so prevalent today.

Read everything critically. If its sounds wrong, it probably is.

BP

Fasting for Weight Loss

Foods for Weight Loss

I just saw an interesting new milk ad. It shows a mom and baby with the term "all figured out" beside the mom.

The message? Drink milk and lose weight, or more correctly, "Milk your diet. Lose weight."

The REAL message? It goes something like this:

"We're OK with the fact that you want to lose weight, but please keep buying our product."

In other words, most major companies are aware of the fact that many of us are trying to lose weight, and this scares them.

Diets mean eating less food. Eating less food means buying less food. Buying less food means less profits for the food companies - and this just is not acceptable.

So the smart option for the food industry is to align their products with weight loss, but the truth is that this message is just plain wrong.

No food causes weight loss - Period. Some foods may have more calories and some have may less, but none can actually make you lose weight.

The bottom line is until science develops a food that contains negative calories we should question the ethics of any company who claims their food can actually cause weight loss

BP

Fasting for Weight Loss

Dad, can I have a donut?

I was out for my morning coffee today, editing the last chapter of my book, when I heard a young (maybe 5 years old) boy ask his dad if he could have a donut.

When I looked up I was shocked. I realized that the donuts had been moved from behind the counter to in front of the counter, and at about knee height to a standing adult ...or eye level to a five year old child.

When I looked even closer I realized that all of the sprinkled and brightly colored donuts and cookies were on the lower shelves and the more 'boring' flavors like 'old fashioned' donuts, tea biscuits and croissants were higher up.

A perfect example of how much work, effort and research goes into marketing sugar.

Next time you are in a coffee shop, pay close attention to the lay-out. And remember, in this industry nothing happens by coincidence.

Coffee for Mom and 20 grams of fat wrapped in 50 grams of brightly colored raw sugar for little johnny.

BP

How Hilary Did It!

I just read a very interesting article about Hilary Duff's diet secrets and how "she almost went too far".

According to this particular magazine, Ms. Duff was hurt by comments about her weight made back when she was 15.

It made her obsessed and drove her into a "hard-core" diet consisting of vegetables and protein only. After a intervention from her older sister, Hilary eased up on her rigorous program.

Now she's Healthy, Happy and Feeling great.

Here's a few things you need to know about this article.

1. Hilary is a 5'2" young lady who just recently turned 19 years old. Keep this in mind when you read the following points.

2. According to the ESTIMATES in this magazine, Hilary's weight fluctuated from 130 pounds when she was 15 to 100 pounds when she was 17 and now 109 pounds at age 19.

3. She supposedly does one hour long pilates sessions 4 times per week. She also does laps in her pool twice a week.

4. According to the ESTIMATES in this magazine Hilary eats about 1100 Calories per day.

What can we learn from these facts?

Ms. Duff is a 19 year old celebrity who is very small in stature. Granted, she takes her body weight very seriously, however we must keep in mind she also has literally dozens of people around her who profit from her marketability and thus support her efforts to maintain a Hollywood body.

Most importantly, all the information in the magazine is either Estimated (her weight was estimated from pictures and her caloric intake was estimated from a sample 1 day menu) or received from second hand sources (the quote about Hilary doing pilates was taken from her supposed pilates instructor). In other words, we really have no clue what Ms. Duff does to stay in shape.

Bottom line - taking diet and exercise advice from the estimates of what a teenaged 5'2" celebrity movie and music star who was a millionaire before most of us were drive, is just plain crazy.

The lives of celebrities are fascinating, but there's no logic in trying to mimic their supposed weight loss regimens.


BP

Eat Stop Eat

More on the new book

As I mentioned earlier I've been hard at work finishing off my first nutrition book.

It's just about finished, and let me tell you, this book is going to raise some eyebrows.

Now, I know it's a tired cliche to say that an upcoming book is 'controversial' or 'politically incorrect', but in this case...it's true on both counts.

And not in a 'my book is controversial because I've peppered in some swear words' way, but in a true, 'I've written what I feel is right and I don't care if it goes against what people think is right' way.

I justify it this way - making a radical change to the entire way people eat isn't going to happen if I dance around the issue - I have to go for the knockout. And that's exactly what I did.

People may call me crazy now, but in ten years time, it just might be the new way we look at nutrition

PS- the book is called "Eat Stop Eat"

More updates to come.

BP

Eat Stop Eat

"Non-Denatured" Protein

Just finished having an interesting conversation about denatured proteins.

Apparently, some supplement companies are marketing their protein powders as "non-denatured", and are implying that their competitors are selling denatured (and therefore useless) protein.

The theory is that our bodies cannot absorb denatured proteins. Unfortunately, this is just wrong.

Our bodies can use denatured proteins. When we fry an egg or grill a steak we are denaturing proteins.

Denatured or not, our bodies can still break proteins down into amino acids and peptides and absorb them.

Don't get fooled when marketing uses fancy words.

BP

More on Fast Food...

I received a comment today that went as follows....

" No one ever looks at the breakdown, but many of the smaller hamburgers, no fries, no sugar drink have a halfway decent nutrition profile, and a person with a healthy metabolism should not be afraid of them. "

I agree hamburgers get a bad wrap...what I find odd is that, in my opinion pizza is one of the worst fast foods, yet seems to never get attacked the way hamburgers do.

Cook your own food whenever possible, that's the best advice when it comes to Fast Food.

Brad Pilon

Fast Food Blunder

I was on the road yesterday in a bit of a rush to get to a meeting, but I felt like getting a quick snack.

When I eat fast food, it's usually a sub of some sort (usually subway) but yesterday I decided to try something different.

I stopped at my local health food store and asked the clerk to show me the "absolute best protein bar". I bought his recommended bar for just a little under 5 dollars and left.

After my first bite I through the bar in the garbage. ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE! It tasted artificial, chemical, with a burning aftertaste I can only describe as the taste I would assume would come from drinking Diesel fuel.

What a waste of time and money...and for what?

Here is the breakdown for the bar:

370 Kcals
13 g Fat
30 g Protein
35 g Carbohydrates
3 g Fiber
12 g Sugar

Now, here is the breakdown for a typical Subway 6 Inch Club Sub

290 Kcals
5 g Fat
25 g Protein
45 g Carbohydrates
4 g Fiber
7 g Sugar

In my eyes there is virtually no difference between these two foods. Next time, I pack my own food, or I get a sub.

BP

PS - The sub was about a dollar less expensive then the protein bar

Haitus Over!

After an extremely busy last couple of weeks I'm back 'up and running'.

I've got some great news concerning my new book that I will be sharing in the next couple days.

BP

PS- For those of you who are paid to keep track of my Blog don't worry, the book has nothing to do with supplements.

Weight Loss Supplement SPAM!

Alright, enough is enough!

While trying to answer the reader emails we get over at www.grrlAthlete.com, I realized my inbox was flooded with no less than 11 emails in the past two days for a certain weight loss supplement.

11 different advertisements (from 11 different email addresses) for another supplement containing Hoodia!

Hoodia is a herb that has gained amazing popularity despite not having any research behind it. What's even more disappointing is that real Hoodia comes from Africa and I know from my previous dealings with this ingredient that there is a very limited supply coming out of Africa.

Most of the stuff on the market right now is coming from India or China. The actual use of Hoodia is patented, and the patent is exclusively licensed to Unilever (a gigantic corporation). So the chances of you getting real Hoodia in your product are slim, and lets not forget that the effectiveness of even the real Hoodia has never ever been proven in published research.

Supplement companies would be wise to remember the lawsuits that resulted from the scam ingredient coral calcium, and avoid adding Hoodia to their products until more research becomes available proving its effectiveness and please, please....stop with the email spam.


BP

The Truth About Fruit Juice

These days it seems like hardly anyone drinks fruit juice anymore. Whenever I ask people why they don't drink juice, I get answers like "Sugar from fruit makes you fat" or "It's just too much sugar."

Truthfully, one of these reasons is actually correct. While the argument that the sugar in fruit (fructose) makes you fat is weak at best, the sugar content in today's juices is way too high for me.

A single glass of grape juice can have over 40 grams of sugar in it! That's a lot even by my liberal standards!

So here's my simple solution for enjoying juice in the summer: Tea-Sangria!

• First, mix one cup of the juice of your liking with one cup water
  
• Next, boil water and make two cups of either green tea orwhite tea (let it steep for a minute or two).
  
• Then, mix the 2 cups of tea with the juice/water mix, addlemon slices, lime slices, some blueberries and lots of ice.
  
• Wait for it to chill and enjoy,

You get all the health benefits of tea and juice at only 7-10grams of sugar per glass!

Helping you beat the heat,

BP

Teaspoon of Sugar

As I had my usual cup of tea this morning, I found myself staring at my teaspoon of sugar.

It dawned on me that this little spoon held almost the exact same amount of sugar that was floating around in my blood at that exact moment.

(The average human being has about 5 liters of blood, and since fasting blood sugar is around 80-100 mg/dl, this adds up to around 5 grams of sugar - roughly the amount of sugar in one teaspoon.)

It is amazing how well our bodies can regulate our blood sugar levels. Even after a meal our blood sugar only raises to about 7 grams - roughly a teaspoon and a half.

We know that it is our liver that is primarily responsible for the regulation of our blood sugar. When we eat a large amount of sugar, our liver signals for an increased secretion of insulin which clears sugar out of our blood to be used as a fuel, or to be stored as glycogen (the bodies storage form of sugar) or fat. When we don't eat any sugar, our liver releases sugar from the 100-120 grams (roughly 20 teaspoons) it keeps in storage as a 'reserve' as glycogen.

It is this process that keeps our blood sugar tightly regulated between a teaspoon to a teaspoon and a half.

However, this is about as far as I get in my physiology textbooks before I get confused. You see, the textbooks state that its this balance between storage and release of glucose that keeps our blood sugar in check.

I question this idea of 'balance'.

Since most of us are sedentary for most of the day, and the current trend is to eat constantly (small meals every 2-3 hours), I think it's safe to say that our glycogen reserves are at "Full" almost all day. So if our glycogen levels are full, and the total amount of sugar in our blood ranges from a teaspoon to a teaspoon and a half...what happens to all the sugar we eat when we have something like a dinner roll?

A dinner roll has about 5 teaspoons (25 grams) of sugar in it. This is the five times the amount of sugar in your blood, and almost 1/4 of the sugar being stored in your liver when your reserves are at full!

Since our blood is regulated to stay withing a small range of a teaspoon to a teaspoon and a half of sugar, and we are assuming our muscles and liver glycogen levels are full because we've been sitting at a desk all day, where does this sugar go?

Well a small amount can be used as fuel, and the rest...well it has to go somewhere, so it must be stored as fat.

This doesn't seem like 'balance' to me. It seems like a constant state of elevated insulin and storage of fat.

Now, the discrepancy between what the textbooks say and what actually happens is mostly a result of the fact that we typically eat every couple of hours, and with the exception of an hour or two of exercise every day or two, we are very sedentary.

Now, 4-7 hours after eating (Depending on the size of the meal) is when our blood sugar starts to fall and the glycogen in our livers starts to be released, thus lowering the glycogen 'fuel tank' in our liver.

So after 8 hours on an empty stomach if we were to eat a dinner roll, the sugars from the roll would go into re-filing our glycogen tanks in our liver first, then the rest would be used as energy or be stored as fat for use later when we are between meals.

But since we continually eat and snack every 2-3 hours the only time our body has to lower its glycogen levels and maybe burn off a little bit of fat is when we sleep. But, since we only sleep 6-8 hours in any given night, even this 'time off' from absorbing and storing sugar as glycogen and fat may be very limited.

This means that this current trend of eating several small meals throughout the day may actually be counterproductive to fat loss, depending on how small these meals really are and how much sugar they contain.

The bottom line is, if you are going to eat continuous small meals throughout the day, make sure they are sensible portions sizes (and by sensibleI mean small), they contain meats, fruits and vegetables, and as little starches as possible (including whole grains).

BP

The Most Irresponsible Headline Ever!

This Headline just appeared in my in-box

"Regularly drinking antioxidant-rich green tea may halve the risk of colon and rectal cancer, suggests a new study based in China."

I read it once, twice, three times before I realized that it was halve and not have. Surely they could have thought of a better word!

In the next couple days, someone will misquote this article to you (proof that they only read the headline, and not the article). Don't worry. Keep drinking your green tea.

BP

Books, Book and More Books.

I just received my latest order of nutrition and diet books.

My "to read" list has now expanded to include:

The ABS Diet by David Zinczenko
Underground Body Opus by Dan Duchaine
Marketing Nutrition by Brian Wansink
Food Politics by Marion Nestle

Looks like I have some reading to do!

Reviews to follow,

BP

Craig Ballantyne Workouts

There are a lot of things that my friend Craig Ballantyne and I don't agree on (We share some very different philosophies when it comes to some aspects of nutrition), but one thing is for sure, when it comes to advice on working out, Craig is one of the only people I will ever trust.

So the other day, when I received an email from Craig that was about "fat burners" I felt I had to share it here.

When ever I am questioned about 'metabolism' and 'metabolism boosters' I'm quick to point out that nutrition plays a very, very small role in increasing your metabolism. Typically, I then go on to explain that the only real way you can increase your metabolism is through exercise.

However, Craig does an amazing job in the following email explaining exactly what type of exercise you need to be doing to increase you metabolism.

I hate to give you the bad news, because I wish there was an effective fat loss supplement as much as the next person. A real "fat burner" just doesn't exist. BUT, there are ways to boost your metabolism without supplements...

1) Strength training - aiming for 8 reps per set.

2) Interval training - rather than long, slow boring cardio.

3) Extra bodyweight circuits - done either in the AM or PM.

4) A whole, natural foods diet, rich in high-fiber fruits and vegetables, healthy fats, and high-protein foods.

Craig's rules are simple and easy to follow. All you have to do is commit to them, and follow them consistently, and you will boost your metabolism.

Straight up, if you want the very best workout information on the net today then visit Craig's site TurbulenceTraining.com

BP

Fasting Diet, Circuit Training

The Things You Can Find On Google

After taking the plunge and "googling" myself, I've realized any hopes I may have had of convincing people I was a normal high school student have been completely destroyed by an excerpt from a 1996 issue of MacLean's Magazine that has somehow become available online...

"Even many public schools are urging kids to thumb a ride on the information highway. This past spring, Brad Pilon, a senior student at Nelson High School in Burlington, Ont., received help with a major research paper on a rare form of diabetes from experts at Hamilton's McMaster University. Using a so-called chat line, Pilon regularly posted questions for pathologist Del Harnish and his graduate students. Every few days, they fired back answers. 'The subject is new, and hard to find in any books,' says Pilon. 'Besides, you can't ask a book questions.'

15 years later and I still can't stop asking questions.

BP

Fasting Diet, Circuit Training

Diabetes Drugs and Heart Attacks

Normally, I don't post about supplements or drugs. However, an email just appeared in my in-box that made me think an exception may be in order.

According to an email from the American Diabetes Association;

"The government's preliminary evaluation of the diabetes pill Avandia confirms the heart risks reported in an earlier study and suggests that as many as 60- 100,000 heart attacks might be linked to its use over the last eight years, a leading member of Congress said Thursday."

Now I know that word-bites such as this tend to blow the results of any study way out of proportion, so I will reserve an hard comments until I get all the facts, but the reason I chose to post about this topic is as follows:

I find it very frustrating that governments and health professionals are so quick to turn to drug treatment for diabetes, and are so opposed to any dramatic nutritional interventions.

Adam Campbell of Men's Health Magazine has been fighting this battle for a while now (See his blog HERE), and has stated time and time again that the "primary treatment for diabetes should be diet (and, of course, exercise)" and I agree.

This is more of a rant than anything else, but I will end with saying that diet and exercise are and always will be your best tools in the battle to stay healthy.

BP

Fasting Diet, Circuit Training

More Trouble for Diet Pop and Sodium Benzoate

Looks like Benzene and Sodium Benzoate are back in the news again.

If you remember, I wrote about diet pops, sodium benzoate and health risks HERE.

According to a recent release on foodqualitynews.com, it appears that recent research has suggested that "benzoate contributes to faster ageing and degenerative diseases such as Parkinson's".

Members of the soft drink industry have shot back saying that sodium benzoate is "approved for use by the Food Standards Agency and we follow the guidance of the regulatory authorities."

I don't know about you, but for me this recent development adds to the volume of questions that surround this ingredient.

My advice, treat pop the way it should be treated...like a dessert.

BP

Fasting Diet, Circuit Training

The Difference Between a Diet Book and a Nutrition Book

In my quest to read as many diet and nutrition books as possible, I have stumbled across the difference between a "Diet Book" and a "Nutrition Book".

A Nutrition Book is roughly 300 pages of information on food, food politics and some biochemistry.

A Diet Book is roughly 300 pages of information of food, food politics, some biochemistry and recipes.

The difference is that in a nutrition book, all 300 pages are full of information. In a diet book, only the first 50 or so pages are information, the rest is filler in the form of recipes, food combining charts and calorie counters.

Most of today's diet books are one days-worth of reading, tops.

BP

Fasting Diet, Circuit Training

Can Fish Oils Make You Thin?

If you've read the news in the last couple of days then you've probably read all the headlines about a new study that shows that the combination fish oils and exercise can help you lose fat.

To quickly summarize the study, researchers randomly assigned 75 overweight men and women to one of four groups:

• Group One took 6 grams of fish oil per day,
• Group Two took 6 grams of fish oil per day and exercised 3 days per week;
• Group Three took 6 grams of sunflower oil (the placebo), and
• Group Four took 6 grams of sunflower oil and exercised 3 days per week.
  

After 12 weeks, the results showed the subjects in Group Two (The people taking fish oil and exercising) lost body fat.

The subjects in this group lost a little over 3 pounds of fat in 12 weeks. Definitely not extraordinary, but significant nonetheless.

So people who exercised lost some fat. In my opinion this was expected. What was not expected was that the sunflower plus exercise group did not lose any fat.

Now, these people also added exercise to their lifestyle, so you would expect them to also lose fat. So either the combination of fish oil and exercise somehow 'created' this extra fat loss, or, pardon the pun, something is fishy with this study.

On closer inspection of the data I noticed something that may account for these results.

While the fish oil plus exercise group reported that their daily calorie intake pretty much remained the same for the 12 weeks of the study, the sunflower plus exercise group saw their daily caloric intake increase by 327 Kcals per day by week 6 of the trial, and stay elevated by 230 Kcals at week 12.

While the researchers make no mention of this as being significant, it may help explain the lack of fat loss in the sunflower plus exercise group.

At the end of the day, caloric restriction and exercise are the only way to lose fat. The better your exercise program and the better your diet, the more fat you will lose. Plain and simple.

However, don't rule out fish oils. Most fish oil research finds that they can benefit blood lipids and your cholesterol profile.

Bottom line, Fish oils are good for you, just don't get your hopes up about them making you lose weight.

BP

Fasting Diet, Circuit Training

Nutritional Customs That Work

If you've had the chance to read the free report I wrote for grrlathlete.com titled "The Ten Day Diet Solution" then you know I am a fan of nutritional customs.

I think that setting rules that help us control what we eat by controlling how and when we eat is a great strategy for overall health and well being, and is a great (and easy) way to lose weight.

This is why I get angry when so called 'nutrition gurus' rip on nutritional customs.

Take the example of 'not eating after 7 pm' or 'not eating carbs after 7 pm.'

This is a ritual practiced by many of the fitness models I have had the pleasure of meeting over the years. Many of them follow this custom during the periods when they are preparing for a fitness competition.

No matter their reasoning, the simple fact is that this custom allows them to lower their caloric intake. There's no magic. It has nothing to do with increased fat burning, or decreased fat storage during nighttime, it is just a method of "intake" control. And it works because they like it, and its easy.

What bothered me was that a couple of years ago, while in a seminar session at the annual Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology conference, I heard a supposed nutrition guru explain why this custom was 'ineffective'.

With as much Show-man 'Bravado' as he could muster, he pointed out all the reasons why the "science did not support this fallacy" (While at the same time, pushing his own ridiculous weight loss diet plan).

The fact of the matter is, if people like to follow this nutritional custom, and it helps them eat less during the day, and stay in control of their nutrition plan, then it works. Plain and Simple.

Sometimes, so called gurus can blind themselves with science and lose site of the big picture. If it works for you and you are happy with it, then keep the custom.

BP

Fasting Diet, Circuit Training

Health Claims and Advertising

This morning I realized that yesterday's blog may have been a little confusing, so I made a trip to the grocery store so I could find some examples.

Luckily, I found two really good ones.

Firstly, on the side of a certain cereal box is the following statement, (it appears besides the Heart and Stroke Foundations "Health Check" symbol.)

"This cereal is low in fat and is a source of fibre. Emphasizing grain products such as cereals and increasing fibre intake are components of healthy eating. This cereal financially supports the Health Check education program of the Heart and Stroke Foundation. This is not an Endorsement"

Sounds pretty healthy to me. In fact, after reading this statement and noticing the 'Health Check' symbol I might buy this cereal for my kids.

However, at closer inspection we realize that "financially supports" means "gave money to" and "this is not an endorsement" means "This symbol does not mean our cereal was 'approved' by the Heart and Stroke Foundation".

My next example is on my bag of Oatmeal.

There is a little green check mark on the front of the bag, with a statement that the product is a "Smart Selection Made Easy". What they don't tell you is that the "Smart Selections" symbol is actually a trademark of the Oatmeal company.

The problem I have is that both of these products are descent food products. And, these advertisements are not misleading per se. However they do take advantage of the fact that not all of us may have the knowledge or the time to dig around and find the true meaning behind these claims.

This is why I think its best that when shopping for food, stick with the strong silent types that don't have to 'scream' about their health benefits.

No one ever questions whether or not eating an apple or a pear is good for you.

BP

Fasting Diet, Circuit Training

Snake-Oil Traders

I Just finished reading an article in the Skeptical Inquirer by Edzard Ernst called "Snake-Oil Traders," that describes the current practice and marketing of Complementary and Alternative Medicine in the UK.

It was a well written article, with some very interesting points regarding how the British Medical Association and the General medical Council governs the ethics of advertising in medicine.

Specifically, The British Medical Association takes the stance that people who seek medical advice are vulnerable to exploitation. Then they go on to say that the information doctors publish "Must not make unjustifiable claims, offer guarantees of cures, or exploit patent's vulnerability or lack of medical knowledge."

It was the last line that really caught my attention and made me think of the functional food and supplement industry.

Have you noticed how technical and scientific many of the current health claims are becoming in functional food and supplement advertising?

As more and more people are spending time worrying about their health, perhaps its time we adopted a stance that punishes companies from using marketing that is not misleading, but may be exploiting the fact that we might not all have the medical knowledge needed to make educated decisions about the claims in food and supplement advertising.

When it comes to health claims and advertising, I believe many companies are trying to 'blind us with science', thinking that if they use big enough words, then we will have no choice but to believe their claims.

When it comes to advertising, I prefer my 'functional foods' to be the strong silent types. The ones who don't have to yell and scream about their "awesome health benefits". You know, foods like oranges and bananas.

As Michael Pollan says, the more health claims on a product, the less healthy it probably is.

BP

Fasting Diet, Circuit Training

I got my A$$ Kicked By a 260 Pound Monster!

It's true!



It's finally getting nice outside up in Canada, so I decided to move my workouts outdoors.



I absolutely love this time of year, because in my opinion, training outside is about a thousand times more fun that training in a gym.



However, I forgot just how gruelling pulling sleds can be, and after only 3 trips of about 50 yards, my legs were burning and I was exhausted.



Lesson learned, nothing gets your conditioning up quite like pulling sleds.

BP

PS- I just finished writing a new nutrition report for grrlAthlete.com, this report will be FREE for anyone who signs up for the newsletter, so pop on over to www.grrlathlete.com and check it out.

Fasting Diet, Circuit Training

Nutrition from 1972

Just a quick post today to share an excerpt from a book I just read while waiting at my Doctor's office. (He was running a little behind, so I started leafing through some of his older text books).

Here's a piece from a Nutrition text book published in 1972 called "Human Nutrition and Dietetics" by Davidson, Passmore and Brock (fifth Edition)

"The diet of an athlete should not differ from an ordinary balanced diet, except for the need for an increase in calories."

I couldn't agree more.

I have often said that with the exception of the calorie content, the diet of an athlete should be no different from the diet of an average person.

Usually when I say this, the "sport nutritionists" out there tend to get their noses all out of joint, but when I re-word it as, "The diet of an average person should be the same diet as an elite athlete, just with different total calorie intake." they seem to be OK with it.

Go Figure.

The next excerpt was equally as interesting...

(Still talking about the diet of athletes)

"High energy diets should contain large amounts of fat unless they are to become very bulky. Physical activity prevents the disturbances in blood lipids which commonly arise in sedentary people on high fat diets, and large quantities of fat in the diet will do no harm to physically active people."

A couple interesting points from this statement.

Firstly - "Unless they are to become very bulky"

Since fat does not make the diet nearly as bulky as carbohydrates or proteins, I'm going to assume that the authors are referring to the athletes in question. This suggests that 35 years ago, we seemed to have not yet developed the "Fat makes you Fat" mentality we have today.

Secondly - "large quantities of fat in the diet will do no harm to physically active people."

This interesting quote is sure to raise many eyebrows, as it still has me thinking.

While I believe this statement is true, I will admit that my strengths are nutrition, metabolism and body composition, and not blood lipids and cardiovascular disease, so I will run this by some people who have a little more knowledge than I do in this area.

So the recommended diet for an athlete 35 years ago was to eat a healthy balanced diet, but add some more fat to keep your calories up.

Sounds perfect to me.

BP

Fasting Diet, Circuit Training

Why Starbucks is Like Godzilla

On Monday I had a chance to catch up with one of my good friends who has spent the last five years living in Japan. He was back in Canada for a wedding, and since I haven't seen him in years it was definitely time to catch up.

Of course, the conversation eventually turned to Nutrition, and I learnt an eye-opening fact about some disturbing trends in Japan.

According to my friend, Starbucks is making a push to get a foot-hold in the Japanese market. Kind of like Godzilla, only without the death and destruction.

While this shouldn't be shocking to any of us (after all, while visiting China I saw a Starbucks INSIDE the forbidden city!), what is shocking is the effect that Starbucks is having on some of the Japanese nutrition customs.

In Japan it is a centuries-old tradition that you don't drink while walking.

And this poses a huge dilemma for the Starbucks crowd.

Since space is very hard to come by in Japan, many of the Starbucks shops are walk-up "express" versions with little to no seating. Basically, if you want your Starbucks, you are going to have to walk with it.

And guess what - People are walking with their Starbucks. Starbucks is single-handedly destroying centuries of Japanese tradition.

This is a perfect example of a soon-to-be extinct custom that once prevented people from eating while they are distracted. And it fits perfectly with the stories I have been telling you from the book,"Mindless Eating".

In this incredible book there are examples of many other mindless eating methods that have replaced our own nutrition customs. (i.e. If you read it you'll find out what eating in front of the TeeVee has done to us, rather than eating around the dinner table).

So not only are these eating customs "sacred", but they also serve a purpose. In fact, I believe that the disappearance of traditional eating customs is one of the largest factors in our current obesity problem.

If you don't already have your own set of "nutrition customs" perhaps it's time you thought about adopting some.

Here is an easy one for all of you commuters out there. For the rest of this week, do not eat in your car. You can drink, just no food. This rule will help you keep your car clean AND save you from some mindless distracted eating.

Give it a try and let me know how it goes.

BP

PS- Summer is here so...

...strength coach John Barban is back running his summer conditioning camp. You can read about the first day of camp HERE.

Fasting Diet, Circuit Training

Is There a Conspiracy to Make Us Fat?

Thanks to some very frustrating airport delays yesterday, I managed to finish off "Mindless Eating" by Brian Wansink.


This book did not disappoint me. Almost every page had great facts about the way food is marketed and the factors that make us decide to eat. This book is definitely in my list of top-ten must-read nutrition books.


I've been racking my brains trying to figure out the top lesson I learnt from this book so that I could share it with you, and I think I have it.


You know how everybody these days seems to be blaming the food companies for our obesity problem? - As if it's some giant conspiracy?


Well the number one thing I learnt from "Mindless Eating" is that there is no "fat conspiracy".
Food companies do not care if you EAT their foods. They only care if you BUY their foods and continue to BUY their foods.


The people at McDonalds don't care if you buy a happy meal, turn around and throw it in the garbage, just as long as you buy the happy meal.


Also, food isn't designed to be "fattening" (Whatever that means). Food is designed to be inexpensive for the companies to make and desirable enough for you to repeatedly purchase.


This is the great conspiracy. Yes food companies, restaurants and shopping centers go to great lengths to figure out how to make us BUY there food, but we are the ones making the decision to EAT the food.


And this is where some of the great ideas from "Mindless Eating" come into play.
Do you remember the picture of the four glasss I posted on my blog on Monday (look below)? Every glass in the picture contains 1 and a half cups of fluid, except for the small squat one, it has 2 cups.


This is reffered to as the "horizontal-vertical illusion". If you picture an upside-down capital "T" where both the horizontal line and the vertical line are the same length, we will always see the vertical line as being longer.






So if you were to fill the small cup to almost the top, like most of us do, it would contain a little over 2 and a half cups of fluid.


So a morning cup of orange juice could actually be a morning 2-and-a-half cups of orange juice. This could account for an extra 33 grams of sugar and 165 Calories!


This is just one great example of how our assumptions combined with some excellent marketing get us to buy more and consume more. If we can become more aware of these "overeating ques" that are around us every day, then we can be more aware of ways to avoid them.


BP

Fasting Diet, Circuit Training

Mindless Eating

I'm about half way through a great book called "Mindless Eating" by Brian Wansink.



Normally, I don't post about books until I have finished them, but since I have already learnt so many things from this book that I want to share, I figured I'd make an exception.



Mindless eating explores all the reasons why we eat, and more importantly to me, all the reasons why we can't stop eating.



From our inability to estimate the calorie content of foods, to the lies our eyes tell us, I've found this book (so far) to be fascinating.



As an example, please check out the picture below, and try to figure out which glass has the most liquid and which has the least...

Check back later in the week and I will tell you which glass has the most and why our eyes and our stomachs play tricks on us.

BP

Fasting Diet, Circuit Training

The 3 hidden gems I found at the Farmer's Market

Last week I attended my first Farmer's Market of the summer. Granted, it's not quite summer up here in Canada, but it's getting close.

If you have never been to a Farmer's Market, I can't stress enough how great these places are for people who are trying to eat healthy. When it comes to the benefits of a Farmer's Market, It can all be summed up in two words - Fresh Food.

Fresh produce, fresh dairy and fresh meat. And these days fresh anything is worth it's weight in gold.

You see, in the big money world of grocery super stores, one thing rules supreme and that's shelf life.

Companies go to great lengths to be innovative in their packaging and formulations in order to squeak another couple days of shelf life out of their products before they expire. Whether it's ultra-high heat pasteurization of dairy products, or the sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate found in almost all bottled drinks these days, the "shelf life wars" are changing the look and feel of our foods.

The longer they are on the shelf, the more likely you will buy them.

From milk to fruits and vegetables, the product with the longest shelf life wins.

However, my adopted Nutrition mantra of "The quicker it goes bad, the better it is for you" suggests that we should be buying and eating foods that have the shortest shelf life.

My reasoning for this is that we are still discovering the compounds in food that benefit our health, and I'm sure it will be sometime before we actually have an exhaustive list. The more we discover, the more we realize that many of these compounds degrade quickly, and what might be present in fresh foods may not be present in some of the ultra extended shelf life versions you find in grocery super stores.

And this is where summer Farmers Markets are a great tool.

Make it a priority this summer to do most, if not all of your shopping at farmers markets, paying special attention to pick the freshest in-season fruits and vegetables that you can find.

Finally, here are the three hidden treasures I found last weekend.

One- Goats Milk Yogurt

Why is this a hidden treasure? Well for one, it tastes AMAZING, but more importantly compare the ingredients to the leading off-the-shelf yogurt.

Goats Milk Yogurt: Pasteurized whole goats milk, bacterial cultures.

Leading Yogurt: Skim milk, cream, sugar, concentrated skim milk, fructose, milk and whey protein concentrate, corn starch, gelatin, modified corn starch, active bacterial cultures, natural and artificial flavors, locust bean gum, natural & artificial colors, malic acid.

Quite the difference!

Two- Grass Fed Meat

The rumors are true, this stuff tastes Great!

More importantly, these steaks come from cows which were allowed to graze on a pasture, as opposed to the beef from corn fed cows. The difference, (Other than no hormones and no antibiotics in their feed), is that the meat from grass fed cows is actually higher in polyunsaturated fatty acids than the meat from cornfed cows. Nutritious and Delicious

Three-Locally grown Produce

Almost all of the produce at Farmer's Markets are locally grown. Why does this matter? It matters because this means you strawberries didnt take a 1,000 mile drive to get to you.

And there you have it, the 3 hidden gems that will make me go back to my farmers market this Saturday.

BP

Fasting Diet, Circuit Training

How to Win the Fat War

3,900 - This is the amount of food calories produced every day for each American citizen.

Think about this number for a minute. 3,900 calories is well over a thousand more calories than almost any of us will ever need in a day- but they are being produced so someone has to eat them.

This is what I like to call the North American paradox. Food companies and food producers need us to consume more and more calories to keep their profits coming, yet we want to consume less and less calories to maintain our health.

This is why it is not an exaggeration when I say it is a battle to try and eat less food and to make sure that the foods we do eat are healthy foods.

The best way to win this battle? Always remember that the foods you see in convenience stores and gas stations are there because someone wants you to buy them and has figured out what colors, names, and sizes will make you notice their products.

So the way to win this battle is by not being a "good little consumer".

Try your best to buy only planned foods - The foods you plan to buy during your grocery run.
Resist all unplanned purchases...gas stations, convenience stores, vending machines and checkout lines...these are all examples of places where we typically make unplanned impulse food buys.

Make this one adjustment to your typical daily routine and you are on your way to winning the fat war.

BP

Fasting Diet, Circuit Training

3 "Magic" Fat Loss Ingredients

Every morning I go through the exact same routine.

I get up. I make some oatmeal. Clean the kitchen. Go up stairs. Brush my teeth. Turn on my computer. Check my email. Then I laugh (or sometimes cry) while reading all of the new stories about the latest and greatest "fat loss" ingredients.

It is an absolute mystery to me why, after over 20 years of failed promises, we still turn to magic ingredients and magic foods for fat loss.

What shocks me even more is that we are still hoping to find something we can eat that will cause us to lose fat. It is almost becoming an oxymoron.

We are looking for something to consume that will make us consume less!

Here are just some examples of magic foods and ingredients in the new today:

Recent research (performed in a test tube) suggests that extract from Chilli peppers may stop fat growth. According to this research Chilli extract may hold the key to preventing immature fat cells from developing into mature fat cells.

In a different study, it was suggested that spearmint tea can not only lower a man's sex drive but can also decrease the amount of hair on a women's body. (Admittedly, this isn't fat loss research but if you think the body builders in your gym smell bad now, wait till they read this research and stop brushing their teeth for fear that they may be lowering their T levels!)

Finally, more research shows that dairy calcium (but not calcium supplements) can cause a decrease in the amount of fat in your blood after a meal.

I can't really tell you too much about this study because I stopped reading after the first page that mentioned that the study was funded by the Danish Dairy Research Foundation and the Dutch Dairy Association!

A Dairy Foundation and a Dairy Association funded the study, and the study found that dairy calcium, but not calcium supplements had weight loss benefits? Please.

Now honestly, there is some merit to this research. Eating more spices on your food is definitely a good idea. Eating foods that contain calcium is also a good idea.

However, thinking that taking chilli extract pills or consuming 3 bowls of ice-cream per day will make you lose weight IS NOT what you should be taking away from this research. (Nor is skipping your morning tooth brushing!)

If you want to lose weight there are only three things you need to do, and you don't need to read any research to do them.

Firstly, find a nutrition plan that works for you.

Secondly, get active. And I don't mean walk on the elliptical for half an hour every other day, I mean get a real work-out program and challenge yourself.

The third and last thing you need to do is to stop (or don't start) falling for the media's version of the latest and greatest fat loss research. It will only lead to disappointment and is usually a very poor and hyped up version of what the research was really telling us.

These are the real 3 "magic" fat loss ingredients!

BP

Eat Stop Eat

The Newest Diet Study - What does it really tell us?

By now, you have probably heard about the latest study – You know the one that “proves” that the Atkins diet is superior for weight loss?

So let me just clear this up right now. The results of this study prove one thing and one thing only – diets work.

In fact, after reviewing this study, and all of the commentary, posturing, crying and bickering that it has caused, I have come to the conclusion that this study proves that the very best thing you can do for weight loss is:

Eat less, but enjoy the foods you eat. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables, and lots of herbs and spices. And maybe most importantly, spend less time stressing over the types of food you are eating

In other words - Cut your calories in a way that works for you. ( It might take a bit of trial and error, but it will be worth it.)

Now here are the facts from the study…

311 overweight, pre-menopausal women were divided into four groups and were asked to follow one of the following dietary programs: The Atkins diet, the Zone diet, the LEARN diet or the Ornish diet.

Each woman was put in one of these groups and received a copy of one of the popular weight loss books. Each woman then met with a registered dietitian once per week for 8 weeks learning “the ins and outs” of their assigned diet.

After these classes the subjects were “set free” to follow the diet for 12 months, with the exception of a couple of visits to the lab and some unannounced phone calls where the researchers asked the subjects to recall what they had eaten in the last 24 hours.

What happened?

As expected, all 4 groups ate fewer calories during the study than they were eating before the study – so all diets “worked” to help cut calories.

And each group lost weight with most weight loss happening in the first 2 months. (After this point for all diets, the weight loss tended to slow or even creep back up).

The Atkins style diet had the best weight loss during the first 2 months and over the 6-month study. That’s why you see Atkins being crowned the king of weight loss diets.

However, by end of the 12-month study, the results tended to “even out”. And by the end of the study, the Atkins diet was really only better than the Zone Diet (which isn’t a bad diet on it’s own).

And you know what? The total weight loss wasn’t that impressive – with the Atkins dieters losing 12.5 lbs in 6 months. That’s 0.5 lbs per week. Good, but not eye-popping results.

But here’s the kicker. It’s hard for me to understand how overweight woman (averaging 180 pounds and over 40% bodyfat) can eat less than 1400 calories per day for 6-months and lose only lose 12 and a half pounds. There is something very wrong here.

Looking at the data, I noticed that all of the diets saw a small slow increase in their calorie intake over the year. And honestly, this was probably due to huge errors in dietary recall. Most people can’t accurately describe what they had for lunch, so this measure isn’t worth the paper it was written on.

Dietary recall is a scientific method for measuring caloric intake that has been under a large amount of scrutiny in the past years.

Imagine having someone call you on the phone and ask you to describe all of the foods you had eaten over the day. Imagine the types of mistakes in sizes and types of food that could be made in this type of interpretation and then imagine the kind of effects that this could have in a scientific study.

Now also imagine that you SIGNED UP for a weight loss study, so you are already motivated to eat less and you are also insecure about the amounts and types of food you eat.

For true research, diet recalls are a horrible tool. Plain and simple.

I also noticed that none of the diets were true to their form.

Take a look at the “high protein Atkins style diet”. After 2 months the subjects reported a protein intake of 95 grams. But at 12 months it was down to 82 grams. How is this high protein? It’s not even 0.5 grams per pound of bodyweight!

And check out the “Ornish Low fat diet”. At 2 months fat made up 21% of their caloric intake, at 12 months it made up 29.8% of their calories. This is a far cry from the 10% that Dr. Ornish advocates.

Because the subjects had such a hard time sticking to the diet plans, I don’t think that this trial proved that any one diet was better than the other. It did prove that the diet with the lowest carbohydrates had the quickest weight loss. And it did show that diets high in fat can still have health benefits. Most likely, the health benefits are the result of the reduced calories and the associated weight loss as all the diets were associated with health improvements.

Of course, proponents of each diet are all crying foul. They’re complaining about the study design, the subjects, the poor compliance to the diet plans…but most importantly they’re complaining because they make money by selling you their programs!

Its funny…Dr. Ornish said that the study was flawed because most participants couldn’t follow the Ornish diet. That doesn’t make the study flawed - its makes the diet flawed.

And that’s exactly what this study proves…it is very difficult to follow these prescribed diets. These people don’t know you. They don’t know what you like to eat or what you do for a living. They simply design a diet that makes a lot of sense on paper, and prescribe it as a cure all.

The bottom line is…this study still not help end the debate over which diet works best because there IS NO DEBATE. Eating less works! End of story. The rest of it is just people making simple diet advice into confusing pseudo-science so they can sell you their programs.

Eat less, but enjoy the foods you eat. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables, and lots of herbs and spices. And maybe most importantly, spend less time stressing over the types of food you are eating.

BP

Why French women don't get fat

As part of my responsibilities as a nutrition critic, I read a lot of diet and nutrition books.

Admittedly, there are so many diet books out there it is almost impossible for me to read ALL of them, but every so often, when one hits the the best sellers list, it's time for me to visit my local book store and get my read on.

Last week was one of those times. After over hearing some very positive conversation at my local coffee shop I realized I needed to get my hands on a copy of "French women don't get fat" by Mireille Guiliano.

After a weekend of reading, I've finished the book, and have this review to offer.
I found this book to be unlike most of the other diet books I have reviewed lately. There is no hokey psuedo-science, no clearly-defined plan, and no lists of "magical foods" that you have to avoid or have to eat.

The premise behind the book is fairly simple. According to the author, French women are not fat - Therefore we should eat like the French.

Now, if you remove all of the stories about life in France, some useful recipes and some sporadic uses of the French language, then you are left with one easy message:

"Eat less, but enjoy the foods you eat. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables, and lots of herbs and spices. And maybe most importantly, spend less time stressing over the types of food you are eating."

Sound familiar? This is close to exactly the message that I have been promoting on this blog and in my articles for grrlAthlete.com

Now you may be thinking that this is this some coincidence, or that maybe I have met Mireille Guiliano, and I can tell you that neither of these are true.

I have never met Mireille (However, I would like too), but the similarity in these messages is not a coincidence.

The reason that our messages are almost identical is because they work.

Your absolute best tool for creating a great nutritional diet is eating less but enjoying the foods you eat. Follow this by eating lots of fruits and vegetables, and lots of herbs and spices and you are well on your way to a diet that is near perfection. And once you stop stressing over the types of food you are eating, well at this point you are golden.

BP

Fasting for Weight Loss

Is it time to give up on Low-fat foods?

We are surrounded by low-fat foods.

Nearly 10 billion dollars a year are spent advertising low-fat foods - Trying to convince us that we should buy them because they are "good for our health".

It was in the early 1980's when our government suggested that we cut back on our fat intake. Since then food companies have been in "product-development overdrive" churning out low-fat foods.

From low-fat cookies and brownies, to low-fat cheese and yoghurt, you can find a low-fat version of every one of your favorite foods in your local grocery store.

However, before we accept the "low-fat equals good healt message", there are a couple of important things we should think about when it comes to the effectiveness of low-fat foods:

1) If you take the fat out of food, you have to replace it with something. Binders, emulsifiers, bulking agents, and yes sugars like high fructose corn syrup are all used to replace fat. What's more, the foods that traditionally have higher fat, like cheese and yogurt, are the ones that need the most additives once the fat is removed.

2) The low-fat food trend is only 25 years old. And in the last 25 years, as low-fat foods dominated our grocery stores, obesity, diabetes and cancer have all been on the rise. The idea that simply switching to low-fat foods will help us maintain a healthy weight has failed miserably.

3) A recent study examining the lifestyle habits of 18,555 women found that women who ate at least one serving of high fat dairy every day appeared to reduce their risk of ovulatory infertility. While this is only one study, it does have a very large subject group and does lead to the idea that fats may not be as bad for you as once thought. Indeed, even saturated fats may actually have some health benefits.

4) The scientific evidence behind the idea that low-fat eating is healthy is actually pretty weak. It was in the 1950's that a small group of people began to popularize the idea that low-fat eating was healthy eating. Since then hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on research trying to prove the idea was correct. The results of this research have been so surprisingly weak that it is starting to make many scientists skeptical of the supposed damaging health effects of fat.

5) The "fat is bad" message is very oversimplified. Take butter for instance. Yes it is a source of saturated fat, but it is also almost 25% monounsaturated fats, of which almost 80% is oleic acid, the same type of fat found in olive oil. There are many foods out there that have been wrongly accused of being simply saturated fat.

Bottom line - We need to stop trying blame obesity on the fat in our foods.

As a simple guideline- Eat less, but enjoy the foods you eat. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables, and lots of herbs and spices. And maybe most importantly, spend less time stressing over the types of food you are eating. These are probably the best thing you could do for your health.

BP

What's Interesting about this study?

27 obese patients were subjected to a ten day fast consisting of 250 Calories per day. The Subjects were divided into two groups, a group that exercised and a group that did not.

After ten days:

• Both groups had similar weight loss.

• The exercise was well tolerated without problems.

• The loss of muscle was significantly less in the exercise group.

The authors concluded "This may indicate that muscular activity is useful in aiding adaptation to fasting and may orient weight loss preferentially towards fat mass."

While certainly not earth shattering...the part that is very interesting to me is that this study was published in 1975!

So, we had a vague idea over 3o years ago that exercise was needed to maintain muscle mass while dieting. Yet, nowadays we still argue about protein ratios, carb cycling and meal frequency and supplementation. Seems like something was lost in the last 30 years!

Simple truth - Just like Schrub et al. hypothesised over 30 years ago, if you are dieting and you want to preserve muscle mass, lift weights.

BP

How to Shed Body Fat

This time last year I was almost half way through dieting for a bodybuilding contest.

That's right. As embarrassing as it is, I have been on stage, in a pair of glorified speedos, posing for a table full of judges.

You can call it a freak show, you can call it a bikini contest or you can call it pure vanity. I admit, I make fun of these competitions too.

I decided to compete last year to make sure that I could transform my body. After all, I'd be a hypocrite if I wrote in this blog about nutrition and weight loss if I've never actually taken my own body to the extremes of dieting.

And to be honest, it was one of the single best things I have ever done, because I recorded a journal of every single day of my diet.

And now whenever I feel like I need a little motivation and direction, I can simply look back at what worked for me.

I know I say this all the time, but it is worth repeating - A journal is your single best tool for getting in shape. It doesn't have to be super detailed, just a quick outline of how each day is going.

Here is an example of one of my pages...it's mostly chicken scratch that only I can understand..but it tells me exactly what I need to know.





Basically, the yellow highlighted stuff is my workout...and the rest is notes. From this one page I know that I didn't want to go any heavier on dead lifts, that my diet was going well, and that I tried step-ups, but preferred split squats for this particular workout.


It took me about two minutes every day to fill this out. I never did it in the gym..often I filled it in during a break at work, or when I got home that night. But it's proved to be extremely valuable for me.



A couple of months after the contest, I summarized some key notes about the whole experience.

• I had great results using intervals.
• I had great results using a whole body split.
• I had poor results using a bodybuilder type routine.
• I was able to maintain my strength during the whole diet.
• I was able to maintain my activity level during the whole diet.
• Cheat days are a waste. I found no benefit from them at all.
• 1,200 Calories was a little too low for me, but 1,500 to 1,800 worked perfectly.
• I lost almost no muscle during the entire diet.
• Avoiding simple sugars seemed to make a very big difference towards the end of my diet.

Great reminders for whenever I felt I needed to look back at what worked for me. This is why I view keeping a journal as your number one tool for weight loss.

Another great bonus was that during this time I had regular access to a BodPod..a great device for tracking body fat and lean mass changes that is very easy to use and very accurate.

Every Thursday I would take my measurements with the BodPod, and then chart my changes in a spread sheet.

This is the second most important tool for weight loss - measurements.

Now, you don't need a BodPod to track changes - a scale, measuring tape and a digital camera will do just fine. In fact, I used the pictures I took with my digital camera more than I used my Bodpod readings to track my changes.

If you photograph, weigh and measure yourself at the same time every week, this will give you a great way to look back and track any changes that were made.

Once you get in the habit of monitoring your progress by recording a journal and measuring your body, losing weight becomes much easier, because you are no longer guessing at what works and what doesn't work. You can simply look at your records.

BP

PS- for those of you who have been asking about the next installement of the Deconstructing Nutrition Series (Dr. F), it's still coming - I just have a few more articles to read through before it's completed.

Eat Stop Eat