Nutrition

April 23, 2019

By Iron Legion Tagged as Health Sugar wellness

What is Sugar?

Sugar is an ingredient found in most foods we eat. It occurs naturally in many foods, like fruits, milk, vegetables, and whole grains. Sugar can also be added to food and this is why we tend consume too much sugar each day. It is recommended that women only consume 6 grams of added sugar per day and men 9 grams. Unfortunately, the average person is consuming three times (or more) of the recommended amount.

Is all sugar bad?

Sugars that occur naturally in food are not included in the daily recommended amount because this is the preferential way to get the sugar your body uses for energy. When we start consuming processed food, soda, fruit drinks, candy, cakes, etc., we are eating added sugar.

We know that soda, candy and sweets have added sugar in them, but there is added sugar in many foods that you would not think it to be. It is very important to read labels and to know what ingredients are added sugar. The most common forms of added sugar are the following:

Corn syrup
High fructose corn syrup
Honey
Maple syrup
Fruit juice concentrates
Molasses
Any of the sugar molecules that end in -ose, like glucose, sucrose, fructose, lactose, etc.

If you are unsure if something had added sugar then read the label. The label has the total grams of sugar listed which will include the amount of added sugar.

What effect does sugar have on your body?

It is very important that we take control and begin to limit the amount of added sugar we intake every day. Too much sugar can have very serious effects on your health and wellness.

Diabetes: It is widely known that prolonged excess sugar intake can lead to Type 2 Diabetes by increasing obesity and increasing insulin resistance.

Weight gain: We all know that excess anything can cause weight gain. This is still true with sugar. It may even cause weight gain faster than expected due to the fact that a small food choice that contains a large amount of sugar will not leave you satisfied and leave you still hungry. You will probably eat to satisfy the hunger and therefore increase the calories by even more.

Heart Health: Excess sugar intake has been linked to increased risk for heart disease. Sugar has been shown to increase artery clogging deposits and increasing blood pressure both of which increase your risk of heart disease.

Teeth: Sugar is the main cause of tooth decay. Sugar feeds certain bacteria that as they grow in your mouth they produce the acids that cause decay to your tooth enamel.

Joints: Sugar increases inflammation in the body. Increased inflammation increases joint discomfort. This is especially important to those that already have arthritis or joint pain. Decreasing your sugar intake may help decrease the amount of day to day pain you have.

Brain: Although sugar may give you a momentary spike in energy it is followed by a very hard crash. This can cause more severe consequences than just feeling fatigued after the crash. Too much sugar has been linked to depression as well.

Decreasing sugar is not just for you

Not only is decreasing the amount of added sugars you eat important to your health, but it is extremely important to our children’s health as well. All of our children benefit from the healthy choices we make by having happier healthier parents, but if we apply our healthy living to their lives they will be healthier and happier too. You are also setting up their future health choices. If we teach them young it is easier for them to make healthy choices as they get older. This is especially important for our children with special needs as the effects of sugar has been negatively linked to many special needs.

In my case, children with Down Syndrome tend to carry excess weight. Their metabolism is a little slower than most people so I try to limit the amount of processed foods Kiera eats daily. I do not cook separate meals for my family, so she knows (like all my kids) if she does not eat what is on her plate she will be hungry when she goes to bed. Kiera loves grapes, bananas, strawberries, and mandarin oranges so I keep these on hand for snacks. I am not saying she never has other snacks, but I try to limit them whenever possible.

How can I curb my sugar cravings?

Now that we understand what sugar is and why it has a negative impact on our health and wellness how do we stop eating so much of it?

Food tracking: Start writing down everything you eat. You can better analyze how much added sugar you are eating and where you can cut back if you can see what foods you eat daily as a whole.

Read labels: Knowing what you are eating is the best step to eating the right foods. There is a lot of useful information on the labels of food. If you see sugar (or any of the other terms for sugar) in the ingredient list then it has been added. If those ingredients are in the first 4 ingredients then A LOT has been added. Be conscious of what you are buying.

One thing at a time: After you have found where you are getting a lot of added sugars in your diet you may be tempted to cut them all. This may set you up to fail and binge on foods with too much sugar. Try eliminating one thing at a time. Removing one sugar filled food from your daily diet each week will give you a better chance of sticking with it than cutting out all added sugar cold turkey.

**Sodas and fruit juices are so full of sugar. Because they are liquid and tend not to give you the “full” feeling that food gives you, you can consume a lot of added sugar to your diet without any benefits. Therefore, these need to be the first cut from your list.

Sugar replacement: Have fruits available to you for the times when you are having a sweet craving. The natural occurring sugar in fruits will help curb those cravings.

Stay busy: Many of us eat because we are bored, looking for comfort, or it is just a habit to eat when not doing anything. If you find yourself eating sugary snacks when you are not really hungry then get up and do something to occupy your mind.

April 16, 2019

By Iron Legion Tagged as Macros Macros and weight control What are Macros

If you have been a member at our gym for more than a minute, I am sure you have heard someone talk about Macros. I have to admit I used to laugh at all the “macro talk” . Then Ted started tracking his macros and got pretty lean, so decided to give it a try. Weird thing happened……it made a HUGE difference in my progress.

So, what are these macro things everyone is talking about?

Protein:

Protein is one of 3 major macronutrients, Carbohydrates and Fats are the other two (which I will go over next) your body needs. This means protein is a nutrient you need a lot of for body functions. Micronutrients are vitamins and minerals.

Protein is an essential nutrient that is an important part of every cell in our body. Protein is used by the body to make and repair tissues. Protein is what makes up most of your hair and nails. It is also a major component to building bones, muscles, and skin

Protein and your progress

When I have people do a body composition scan, the most common trend I see with our newer athletes is their weight may go down, but their body fat percent doesn’t change but their skeletal muscle mass decreases. This means that the weight they have lost is muscle and not fat. We want this the other way around. Muscle helps to burn fat and calories faster than fat does, so, ideally we want more muscle mass to speed up our weight loss, or fat loss progress. When I ask about nutrition I find that the amount of protein they are consuming is very low.

How can eating protein really affect my muscle loss?

Our bodies do not store protein like they do fats and carbohydrates. So, when you burn through all the proteins you have consumed your body will find alternative sources, like your muscles. Therefore, it is very important that we eat enough protein every day for proper body functions.

Protein rich foods

There are so many ways to get protein through our diet. Meat, chicken, fish, seafood, and pork are major sources of protein. You can also get protein through animal by products such as cheese, milk, and eggs. There are even many great sources of protein that do not come from animals like lentils, nuts, legumes, soy, and tofu just to name a few.

Protein Supplements

There are many great protein supplements out there but that is exactly what they are, supplements. The majority of your protein sources need to come from the list in the above paragraph and you can use supplements to fill in the gaps.

Carbohydrates:

Carbohydrates are typically the main source of energy your body needs and uses, with them making up 40 -60% of your total calories per day.

Simple and Complex Carbohydrates

Simple carbohydrates are made up of one or two sugars. Fructose, which you find in fruit, and galactose, which you find in milk products are called monosaccharide. Mono meaning one. Disaccharides, such as lactose (found in milk), sucrose (table sugar), and maltose (found in beer and some veggies) are made up of two sugars.

Complex carbohydrates, or polysaccharides, are made up of three or more sugars. These make up your more starchy food. Beans, lentils, rice, corn, and whole grains are examples of complex carbohydrates

Empty Calories

Candy, sodas, sweets, and cakes are made up of sugars. Unfortunately these sugars are processed and refined and are considered “empty calories”. They are referred to as empty calories because they hold no nutritional value and are responsible for weight gain when consumed in excess.

Fiber

Fiber, another type of carbohydrate, is found in the cell walls of plants and is necessary for healthy digestion. There are many fruits and vegetables that are very high in fiber.

Good carbohydrates

A good carbohydrate will have a lower calorie content while still maintaining high amounts of nutrients. They should also have a good amount of fiber. Good carbs are low in sodium, fats, and contain no refined sugars. Fruits, vegetables, and whole grain breads and cereals are considered good carbohydrates.

Bad Carbohydrates

Bad carbohydrates are high in refined or processed sugars but low in nutrients. They are typically higher in calories as well. White breads, donuts, candy, and soda are all examples of bad carbohydrates.

Why do I need to eat so many carbs?

Carbohydrates are the fuel your body stores and uses first for fuel. If you deplete your carbohydrate storage then your body will switch to using protein as a fuel source. You do not want this because we need protein for muscle growth and repair.

Fats:

Fat is a macronutrient required in our diet. Fats are important for energy, organ protection, skin health, and helping other nutrients do what they need to do. Without fats we could not live, but they are also what is killing most Americans. In order to understand why this is we need to understand the different types of fats.

Saturated Fats
Saturated fats are solid at room temperature and when consumed in excess they can lead to cardiovascular disease.

Unsaturated Fats
Unsaturated fats, which are considered “good fats”, are liquid at room temperature. There are two kinds of unsaturated fats, mono and polyunsaturated.

Monounsaturated fats are found in olives, olive oil, nut oils, and avocado. Polyunsaturated are found in fish, eggs, and some nuts. Polyunsaturated have omegas, like omega-3, in them which may help with reducing joint inflammation, increase brain function, and reduce cholesterol levels.

Trans Fats
Trans fats are a man made product. They do not occur naturally. Trans fats are NOT essential for living, quite the opposite in fact. Trans fats increase bad cholesterol (LDL), decrease good cholesterol (HDL), and increase the risk of diabetes.
Trans fats are found in fried foods, processed and prepackaged foods, margarine, and shortening. They are used because they are cheap. If the label says partially hydrogenated oil anywhere on it then it contains trans fats.

So, the take home message is that we should not be afraid of fats, just the wrong kind of fats. Always read labels and limit the amount of trans fats to a minimum, or better yet, not at all.

Now that we know what Macros are it is time to start tracking them! If you would like a little help getting your macros set up you can make an appointment to have a coach help get you started.