Becky and I are very intentional about finding and buying healthy food. We'll travel a bit farther and spend a bit more to get it. Nutrients are the body's raw material to do all the complex things it has to do. We've decided to give it the best we can. Over the years we've grown our own fruits and veggies, raised our own chickens for meat and eggs, and found local sources for good food as well when possible.
But, since Becky's first round of Cancer back in 1992 we've always supplemented with high quality vitamins and more. I had a conversation once with a professional Nutritionist (who was not a supplement fan) and she said: "There are only three reasons for anyone to supplement:
1) The food supply is weak or compromised;
2) The person is under high stress; or
3) They are already health compromised and need extra nutrition to fight to stay strong."
We agree! And think we all fit into at least one of those categories!
I've got a growing list of reasons why we think our food supply system is not giving us enough. (That list is for another post - contact me if you want a conversation).
Stress? That has become the norm for most of us.
In Becky's compromised health status, even if she has the best healthy food around, she can't eat enough volume of it to give her body the amount of nutrients it needs to stay strong.
Truth is, 50% of the population has come to a similar uneasy conclusion and are supplementing in some way or other. The problem with that is similar to #1 from my Nutritionist friend - The supplement industry is unregulated and so "Buyer Be Ware". Quality does make a difference.
We've used NeoLife since 1992. My father introduced the company to us then and he had been taking them from the same company since 1975. Plenty of testimonies of our own (I stopped getting sick with flu, colds, etc) and know many others as well... stories of healthy and maintained weight loss, diabetes control, migraine headache relief, chronic fatigue relief. These are not miracle pills - they just provide what the body needs to be able to do what it was designed to do.
We'd welcome a conversation. We know you'd be blessed as well.
This is a layman's look at staying healthy as a full time truck driver. The focus is on nutrition - how to get the best nutrition in the food you eat, and the best way to fill the gaps with supplements.
Monday, November 20, 2017
Friday, November 17, 2017
Why We Sleep - round 2
I've posted about this before but want to add a bit.
The podcast Hidden Brain has done a two part series on the book Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker. I've listened to them both and they are excellent. Lots of input from the author himself.
Sleep is WAY more important than most of us think.
The podcast Hidden Brain has done a two part series on the book Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker. I've listened to them both and they are excellent. Lots of input from the author himself.
Sleep is WAY more important than most of us think.
Exercise and Weight Loss
If it is not clear by now, I'm not really going to limit my posts to only "nutrition". If I find things that are about being healthy I'll post about them.
This one is about Exercise and weight loss and specifically focusing on the question: Can you exercise your way to weight loss? The short answer is NO.
Here is some info:
One 20 oz coke will take 75 minutes of biking to burn off;
One cookie takes 20 minutes of jogging; and
One Medium French Fries takes 82 minutes of swimming.
Clearly we can't exercise enough for significant weight loss, not to mention that if we don't alter eating patterns we'll lose ground.
That doesn't mean "don't exercise!".
There other good reasons for exercise:
1) Movement helps our sewer system keep moving (think the Lymph system - more fluid than the blood system but no pump!);
2) Overall digestion is better;
3) Exercise plays a major role in the health and high functioning of the brain; Check out Spark by John Ratey. Measurable improvements in academics and better behavior in schools; check out some of the chapter headings: Stress, Anxiety, Depression, Attention Deficit, Menopause, Aging... all affected positively by exercise.
AND, in case you think this means you have to become an athlete - you don't. Moderate exercise provides plenty of benefit - think "Walk like you are late". 20 - 40 minutes for five times per week is well within the range of what makes a difference. And you can start where you are and work your way up. "A" to "B" and then maintain that is better than "A" to "D" and you hurt yourself or quit because it was too much.
This one is about Exercise and weight loss and specifically focusing on the question: Can you exercise your way to weight loss? The short answer is NO.
Here is some info:
One 20 oz coke will take 75 minutes of biking to burn off;
One cookie takes 20 minutes of jogging; and
One Medium French Fries takes 82 minutes of swimming.
Clearly we can't exercise enough for significant weight loss, not to mention that if we don't alter eating patterns we'll lose ground.
That doesn't mean "don't exercise!".
There other good reasons for exercise:
1) Movement helps our sewer system keep moving (think the Lymph system - more fluid than the blood system but no pump!);
2) Overall digestion is better;
3) Exercise plays a major role in the health and high functioning of the brain; Check out Spark by John Ratey. Measurable improvements in academics and better behavior in schools; check out some of the chapter headings: Stress, Anxiety, Depression, Attention Deficit, Menopause, Aging... all affected positively by exercise.
AND, in case you think this means you have to become an athlete - you don't. Moderate exercise provides plenty of benefit - think "Walk like you are late". 20 - 40 minutes for five times per week is well within the range of what makes a difference. And you can start where you are and work your way up. "A" to "B" and then maintain that is better than "A" to "D" and you hurt yourself or quit because it was too much.
Calorie Density, round 2
OK, you can check out round one if you haven't seen it yet to get the basics of calorie density.
Check out another pictures that shows some interesting results of some testing. And by the way, the colors are huge hints about where the healthiest eating is! And note the small green at the bottom of Nuts/Seeds and Oil/Fat - they do have some key nutrients in them. The challenge is that they are so packed with calories you really have to watch how much you eat.
AND think about how you combine these groups. Suppose you make a great salad with only fruits and veggies in it... and then you pour on the salad dressing so that you bury the salad. The dressing/oil will virtually cancel out any advantage of the salad because the calories are so dense in the oil group.
And look across the top of this picture at the four paragraphs. They experimented. They had groups of people do what they normally did and then they had to eat only what was in a specific food group. The one rule with the food was to eat "ad libitum" which means 'eat as much as you want; don't stuff yourself but eat till you feel full".
1. People who ate only from the "Fruits and Veggies" group all lost weight.
2. People who ate only from the "Unfefined Complex Carbs" and "Legumes" group lost weight if they were normally active. Less active less weight loss.
3. People who only ate from the "Fatty Protein" (meat) group, everyone gained weight except for elite athletes.
4. People who ate only from the "Refined Processed Carbs" all the way up to "Oils and Fats" groups, everyone gained weight, including the elite athletes.
Watch for one more round on this subject - with some thoughts on how to use the info when you shop.
Check out another pictures that shows some interesting results of some testing. And by the way, the colors are huge hints about where the healthiest eating is! And note the small green at the bottom of Nuts/Seeds and Oil/Fat - they do have some key nutrients in them. The challenge is that they are so packed with calories you really have to watch how much you eat.
AND think about how you combine these groups. Suppose you make a great salad with only fruits and veggies in it... and then you pour on the salad dressing so that you bury the salad. The dressing/oil will virtually cancel out any advantage of the salad because the calories are so dense in the oil group.
And look across the top of this picture at the four paragraphs. They experimented. They had groups of people do what they normally did and then they had to eat only what was in a specific food group. The one rule with the food was to eat "ad libitum" which means 'eat as much as you want; don't stuff yourself but eat till you feel full".
1. People who ate only from the "Fruits and Veggies" group all lost weight.
2. People who ate only from the "Unfefined Complex Carbs" and "Legumes" group lost weight if they were normally active. Less active less weight loss.
3. People who only ate from the "Fatty Protein" (meat) group, everyone gained weight except for elite athletes.
4. People who ate only from the "Refined Processed Carbs" all the way up to "Oils and Fats" groups, everyone gained weight, including the elite athletes.
Watch for one more round on this subject - with some thoughts on how to use the info when you shop.
The gut and the brain...
I want to finish the Calorie Density input with two more pictures but first I want to post about the gut/brain connection.
Calorie Density can be helpful in making better decisions about what to buy in the store or off the menu. But we have to factor in the serious connection between our gut and our brain because our brain is often being hijacked in a way that makes making good decisions extremely hard to do.
I'd encourage you to watch Food For Thought to get a quick idea about how direct the connection is between our gut and brain. We have more neurons in our stomach/gut than we do in our backbone. It is often called the 'second brain'. Those neurons become 'tuned' to the food we normally eat. Eat junk over the long haul and our neurons think that is normal, what we are supposed to eat. Put some healthy food down and our neurons are asking 'who sent this crap down here?'. And the bacteria in our gut directly affect what we desire for food. Some bacteria are sending very strong, unhealthy messages to the brain. Good news and bad news: First the good news - our neurons can be re-tuned. Bad news - it takes a long time, AND we have to re-balance the 'good/healthy bacteria' vs the 'bad/unhealthy bacteria'.
Calorie Density can be helpful in making better decisions about what to buy in the store or off the menu. But we have to factor in the serious connection between our gut and our brain because our brain is often being hijacked in a way that makes making good decisions extremely hard to do.
I'd encourage you to watch Food For Thought to get a quick idea about how direct the connection is between our gut and brain. We have more neurons in our stomach/gut than we do in our backbone. It is often called the 'second brain'. Those neurons become 'tuned' to the food we normally eat. Eat junk over the long haul and our neurons think that is normal, what we are supposed to eat. Put some healthy food down and our neurons are asking 'who sent this crap down here?'. And the bacteria in our gut directly affect what we desire for food. Some bacteria are sending very strong, unhealthy messages to the brain. Good news and bad news: First the good news - our neurons can be re-tuned. Bad news - it takes a long time, AND we have to re-balance the 'good/healthy bacteria' vs the 'bad/unhealthy bacteria'.
Calorie Density.
One of the most helpful tools I've come across to use in managing my weight and making decisions when I'm standing in the aisles of the grocery store or in front of the food bar at any truck stop, or looking at the menu of any restaurant is called Calorie Density. (By the way, Jeff Novick is where I first saw this. He's also on Facebook.)
Think of calories as a measurement of energy. Our cells need to have power to function - think of any manufacturing plant and there is some source of power: electricity, a furnace burning gas or oil or coal. No source of power, nothing happens in that manufacturing plant. Same in our cells: we need calories to give our cells energy. Our biggest problem is that we get too many calories and that is because we are often getting poorly packed calories - too many calories and too few nutrients. By the way, think of nutrients as the raw materials the cell uses to do what it does - muscles produce movement, brain cells help us think, blood cells carry oxygen, etc. So we need an appropriate balance of energy and raw materials, or calories and nutrients.
Here are a few pictures to get a handle on calorie density. Hang in there, with a few basic concepts in place, the overall visual provides a helpful overview.
The first concept is to get a handle on calories per gram. Almost every food label uses grams and calories on a 'per serving' basis. Some simple math gives you a number of "Calories Per Gram". (OK, before you get nervous that you have to do all this math for every item you buy in the store - YOU DON"T! But you do need to understand the basic concept so we'll compare two items - Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream and a bag of raw carrots.
In this first picture you are introduced to nine food groups. Vegetables are on the left and groups go all the way over to oils/fats are on the right. You can see the definition of "UnrefCC" and "RefPC" - Unrefined means closer to the way it comes in nature. Processed means we messed with nature by adding things and/or taking things out. And think of "Fatty Protein" as the meat group.
Think of how calories come packaged through our ice cream/carrot example above. On the left side of the graph - lots of nutrients come with very few calories. On the right side of the graph, lots of calories come with very few nutrients.
And look at the bottom of the picture to carry that last thought further. We are designed to want to feel full (satiety). That is why 'portion control' diets are so hard - we always feel HUNGRY! Left half of the graph means we have the highest feeling of full with an appropriate amount of calories. Right half of the graph means we have the lowest feeling of full with an appropriate amount of calories. So, the danger of overeating is low on the left and high on the right.
Let this sink in. Ask questions if you have them and then I'll post a couple more pics to complete this look at calorie density.
Think of calories as a measurement of energy. Our cells need to have power to function - think of any manufacturing plant and there is some source of power: electricity, a furnace burning gas or oil or coal. No source of power, nothing happens in that manufacturing plant. Same in our cells: we need calories to give our cells energy. Our biggest problem is that we get too many calories and that is because we are often getting poorly packed calories - too many calories and too few nutrients. By the way, think of nutrients as the raw materials the cell uses to do what it does - muscles produce movement, brain cells help us think, blood cells carry oxygen, etc. So we need an appropriate balance of energy and raw materials, or calories and nutrients.
Here are a few pictures to get a handle on calorie density. Hang in there, with a few basic concepts in place, the overall visual provides a helpful overview.
The first concept is to get a handle on calories per gram. Almost every food label uses grams and calories on a 'per serving' basis. Some simple math gives you a number of "Calories Per Gram". (OK, before you get nervous that you have to do all this math for every item you buy in the store - YOU DON"T! But you do need to understand the basic concept so we'll compare two items - Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream and a bag of raw carrots.
For Ben and Jerry's - towards the top the label says 114 grams per serving and 314 calories per serving. Calories divided by grams and you get roughly 3 calories per gram.
For raw carrots, you have 85 grams per serving and 35 calories per serving. Calories divided by grams and you get about .4 calories per gram.
So, about eight times more calories in each gram of ice cream than in a bag of carrots; way more calories per gram in ice cream than in carrots. No big surprise! Think of it another way: if I eat the same amount of calories of carrots and ice cream, I've gotten WAY more nutrients in the carrot package than the ice cream package.
Now, no one is going to do calculations for each food item in the store when you shop. You don't have to. People have done it for us and it turns out that foods divide themselves rather well into calorie density groups.
In this first picture you are introduced to nine food groups. Vegetables are on the left and groups go all the way over to oils/fats are on the right. You can see the definition of "UnrefCC" and "RefPC" - Unrefined means closer to the way it comes in nature. Processed means we messed with nature by adding things and/or taking things out. And think of "Fatty Protein" as the meat group.
Think of how calories come packaged through our ice cream/carrot example above. On the left side of the graph - lots of nutrients come with very few calories. On the right side of the graph, lots of calories come with very few nutrients.
And look at the bottom of the picture to carry that last thought further. We are designed to want to feel full (satiety). That is why 'portion control' diets are so hard - we always feel HUNGRY! Left half of the graph means we have the highest feeling of full with an appropriate amount of calories. Right half of the graph means we have the lowest feeling of full with an appropriate amount of calories. So, the danger of overeating is low on the left and high on the right.
Let this sink in. Ask questions if you have them and then I'll post a couple more pics to complete this look at calorie density.
Terminology...
If you are like me there is a constant struggle to manage weight. Some of us struggle more than others, but in this country very few of us can maintain a healthy weight without conscious decisions and effort. And terminology can be confusing: calories, nutrients, portion control, good carbs/bad carbs, a myriad of diet names, and on and on...
In the next few posts we'll take a look at many of these and try to give simple info and point to helpful resources. And one of the first terms to 'come to terms with' is weight loss vs weight management. I'd encourage you to take the long term approach and think weight management. You and I may have some pounds to lose but when we think weight loss we take a short term view and we can endure some things for a short time, but then things inevitably go back to 'normal' and we'll gain back any pounds we lost - usually plus a few more. Weight management may lose pounds more slowly but there is a much better chance of keeping them off.
In the next few posts we'll take a look at many of these and try to give simple info and point to helpful resources. And one of the first terms to 'come to terms with' is weight loss vs weight management. I'd encourage you to take the long term approach and think weight management. You and I may have some pounds to lose but when we think weight loss we take a short term view and we can endure some things for a short time, but then things inevitably go back to 'normal' and we'll gain back any pounds we lost - usually plus a few more. Weight management may lose pounds more slowly but there is a much better chance of keeping them off.
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