Filed under: Nutrition
I have to work in Lewiston all day today with for my old man, so unfortunately I have to make this one short and sweet, but that doesn’t mean that it is light on some cool content.
I actually have some pretty exciting news that I am quite pleased to announce today.
1. I am sure a lot of you read Eric Cressey’s blog and are a part of his newsletter. Those of you who are undoubtedly heard about his new project, Show and Go.
I had the privilege of being at CP when Eric tested the program on some guinea pigs, including a good friend of mine from college who increased his deadlift by 40lbs in 4 months (to 405), so I know how well the training program works.
The best part about all this is that Eric wanted a stronger nutrition component to go along with Show and Go than he had for Maximum Strength, and he asked me to write it! Keep in eye out over the next month or so for the release of Show and Go, my very first product!
2. I have discovered that making my oatmeal with unsweetened vanilla almond milk is absolutely glorious. I had always been a water man myself since I microwave my old-fashioned oats (it is the one and only thin I use the microwave for), and I definitely didn’t want to microwave milk due to the 7-keto cholesterol creation.
Earlier this week I was in the mood for some oatmeal, saw the almond, decided to do a little experimenting, and it was awesome. Give it a try and let me know what you think!
3. A reader sent me a question a while back about the quality of goat milk protein. Those of you who struggle with cow’s milk, or who simply choose not to consume it or any of it’s products often have limited options for protein powders. Goat milk can often be a viable option for you, as it is usually well tolerated by people with sensitivity to cow’s milk.
Fortunately a company called Mt. Capra has come up with what appears to be a solid alternative to cow’s milk proteins. While I haven’t personally tried them, their Caprotein and Double Bonded Protein seem to be high quality products, full of high quality protein (15-20 grams per serving), and the Double Bonded Protein is quite reasonably priced for a rather unique item.
For those of you in the market for an alternative to cow’s whey, give it a try and let me know what you think!
Filed under: General Health, Nutrition
So today I was simply planning on writing about one of my new favorite grocery store finds – hybrid fruits. I will get to those in a moment, but something was brought to my attention this morning that was so earth-shatteringly (is that even a word?) stupid I was at a loss for words.
Nate Tipilady, the guy you see beating up EC with the Graston tools on EC’s website, sent me this article from sciencedaily.com. The article essentially states that scientists have determined that taking a daily statin will off-set the cardiovascular disease risk increase associated with fast-food consumption. Due to this false assumption, they recommend that statins should be given away for free at fast food restaurants like condiments!
After reading the entire article I was prepared to write an absolutely scathing retort to all of the bullshit spewed in it. Fortunately Stephan over at wholehealthsource did it for me, and essentially took the words right out of my mouth. I highly encourage you to read the article and then read Stephan’s response, as he sheds some light onto the false statements, and points out that it is so ridiculous, he hopes that the authors are just being facetious. I for one surely hope so.
- Note - Stephan is actually responding to the editorial in the American Journal of Cardiology that the article was based on, not the article itself.
Below are my two favorite points that he makes about the editorial.
- “They assume the risk of heart attack conveyed by eating fast food is due to its total and trans fat content, which is simplistic. To support that supposition, they cite one study: the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (2). This is one of the best diet-health observational studies conducted to date. The authors of the editorial appear not to have read the study carefully, because it found no association between total or saturated fat intake and heart attack risk, when adjusted for confounding variables. The number they quoted (relative risk = 1.23) was before adjustment for fiber intake (relative risk = 1.02 after adjustment), and in any case, it was not statistically significant even before adjustment. How did that get past peer review? Answer: reviewers aren’t critical of hypotheses they like.
- Statins mostly work in middle-aged men, and reduce the risk of heart attack by about one quarter. The authors excluded several recent unsupportive trials from their analysis. Dr. Michel de Lorgeril reviewed these trials recently (3). For these reasons, adding a statin to fast food would probably have a negligible effect on the heart attack risk of the general population.”
Anywho, back to the original blog for today, the amazing and delicious hybrid fruits.
I had seen some of these fruits in the supermarket before, but had never tried one. A few weeks ago when camping with my long-time friends on the beautiful Saco river one of them was eating a pluot, and said it was absolutely fantastic.
A pluot is a pretty complicated fruit hybrid that has many varities created over generations of cross-breeding. The pluot is not to be confused with the plumcot, which is a simple plum and apricot hybrid and is a 50-50 split between the two.
A pluot is a cross between a plumcot and another plum, and so can be anywhere from 60-40 to 75-25 plum to apricot. This second cross-breeding allows for a lot of different varieties and makes the fruit sweeter than a plumcot.
Either way they looked juicy and sweet and really intrigued my wife and I. So of course when we returned home we bought and tried some, and I must say, they are absolutely awesome. They combine the best parts of a plum and an apricot, are sweet but not overlyso, high in fiber, potassium and antioxidants.
A week or so later we came across a variety that was called a Mango Tango pluot. This was a pluot that was supposed to have a slight mango taste to it. While the mango taste was rather mild, the pluot itself was incredibly juicy and delicious.
The next time you are in the grocery store, do yourself a favor and pick up some pluots to keep your fruit intake varied and interesting. I promise you won’t be disappointed.
Filed under: Nutrition, Recipes, Training
Though I am very happy to have moved back to Maine, and I love my grocery store, unfortunately it comes with one drawback.
They do not carry my usual 2% plain Greek yogurt. They only have fat free. This sucks because I am believer that full-fat dairy is better for you than fat free (and yes I realize that 2% isn’t full fat, but full fat Greek yogurt contains 46 grams of fat in my usual 2 cup serving, a bit much really).
So I have had to alter my yogurt consumption, and below is a simple and delicious recipe that I concocted that I think is superior to my previous yogurt meal anyway.
Since it is not Greek yogurt I am using I am able to afford the organic kind from grass-fed cows, go full fat since it contains a much more reasonable amount, and it contains more probiotics since Greek yogurt is more acidic and they die faster in that environment. I also add whey protein powder to increase the protein content, and whey provides a ton of its own immune boosting and health improving benefits to boot.
not exactly it, but close enough to give you the idea
It also provides all of the tremendous health benefits of berries, healthy fat and fiber from chia and some nuts, is easy to make and portable as well. For those of you who claim to be poor cooks or don’t have time to prepare meals, this is about as easy as it gets, so no more excuses!
I have used this recipe as breakfast, a mid-day snack or as a pre or post workout meal. For breakfast and pre or post workout I do add 1/2 cup dry old-fashioned oats to the recipe.
Sweet Cream & Berries
- 1.5 cups Cream Top Plain Stonyfield organic yogurt
- 1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder
- 1/2 cup (ish) wild blueberries
- 1/2 cup (ish) raspberries
- 1 tbsp chia seeds
- 2 tbsp almonds and pecans
- optional – 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
Just stir the protein powder and chia seeds in with the yogurt, then add the fruit and nuts and enjoy! It is sweet and creamy with a little bit of crunch.
This provides approximately:
- Calories without oats – 566, with oats – 721
- Fat without oats – 26, with oats – 29
- Carbs without oats – 47, with oats – 74
- Fiber without oats – 12, with oats – 16
- Protein without oats – 36, with oats – 41
On a side note, I just ordered Muscle Imbalances Revealed this morning as the product looks absolutely incredible, and it has gotten great (and honest) feedback from a lot of top people in the industry. Since I am no longer at CP, products like this are so much more important for me. If you are a trainer or someone just truly interested in how your body works and how to fix yourself, check out Muscle Imbalances Revealed.
Filed under: General Health, Nutrition
While I am of the mind that quality of carbs is just as important, if not more so, than quantity of carbs, I do recognize the fact that low-carb diets work well for a lot of people, and can be especially beneficial as a dietary intervention in people with certain conditions (like diabetes and epilepsy).
A low-carber's dream
Unfortunately people like the American Dietetic Association (of which I am a part of) and a lot of MDs have warned us of the “dangers” of a low-carb, high-fat, high-protein diet. You know like potential kidney damage, increased cardiovascular disease risk from that extra dietary fat, and other non-sense that has just not been found to be true yet is somehow taught in nutrition undergrad courses and written about incessantly.
Maybe these RDs are just afraid that their constant recommendations of high-carb low-fat diets will be shown to be no more beneficial or safe than other methods?
Thankfully actual research is being done on the topic, and it is showing that low-carb diets are actually not dangerous. Shocking, I know.
Recently a two year study was conducted comparing a low-carb Atkins style diet to an ADA recommended low-fat low-calorie diet. The researchers measured weight loss, HDL (the “good” cholesterol) and other markers of health in 307 adults.
At the end of two years both groups lost the same amount of weight on average – about 15lbs. The biggest difference between the two groups was actually in cardiovascular disease risk.
If you had asked a traditional MD or RD which group would decrease its cardiovascular disease risk the most after this trial, they undoubtedly would have answered with the low-fat group. Obviously, its low-fat, and fat contributes to heart disease right?
Surprisingly, this study found that the low-carb dieters increased their HDL by 23%, which is comparable to the boost from a lot of pharmaceuticals. Both groups had equal improvements in LDL, which I am sure would surprise a lot of traditionalists as well, since the low-carb group most definitely are more fat and more saturated fat, and saturated fat raises LDL and therefore heart disease risk right? Hhmmm…
There was an initial rise in LDL in the low-carb group, but by the two year mark this had dropped and their LDL levels were equal to the low-fat group. This is expected as the body adjusts to the increase in saturated fat and cholesterol in the diet, and this has been discussed ad nauseum over at wholehealthsource.
The moral of the story is that if you choose to eat a low carb diet for whatever reason, as long as you choose real whole foods you will markedly improve your health and not increase your cardiovascular disease risk.
Filed under: General Health, Nutrition
I came across some really interesting new research that I thought I would share with you guys.
There was a recent study looking at the effects of green and black tea, as well as rooibos tea on angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE). I have written about tea many times, check here and here for more.
On a quick aside, my favorite rooibos tea (above) was ranked as the best rooibos tea on realsimple.com. Check out their list of best teas.
Angiotensin-converting enzyme has two main functions: converting angiotensin I to angiotensin II and to degrade bradykinin. This is a problem because angiotensin II constricts blood vessels and bradykinin relaxes blood vessels.
As such ACE inhibition is a goal in the treatment of many conditions: high blood pressure, heart failure, diabetic nephropathy, and type 2 diabetes.
The problem is there are many problems associated with ACE inhibitors: hypotension, cough, hyperkalemia, fatigue, and renal impairment. Renal impairment is a problem with all ACE inhibitors, with no known cause. This can be especially problematic when taken in conjunction with NSAIDs and a diuretic there is a very high possibility of going into renal failure.
As such it is important to know which real whole foods can impart some of the benefits of ACE inhibitors, without the side effects (this is true of all drugs really).
This study had patients drink 400ml of green, black or rooibos tea once daily. It then monitored ACE activity for up to 3 hours after consumption.
It was found that green tea and especially rooibos tea significantly inhibited ACE activity. While this does not definitely show that consumption of green and rooibos tea can be used to replace ACE inhibitors, it does show that they might help in the treatment of high blood pressure and can be used as part of a dietary intervention before putting someone on powerful ACE inhibitors.
More research is needed to see how much this ACE inhibition actually contributes long-term benefits, but the results are promising none the less.
Here is the study abstract if you want to take a look at it yourself.
Filed under: General Health, Nutrition
Q. What are you thoughts on “Cheat” meals? How often do you go off your diet with such a meal? Can you give an example of such a meal?
My thoughts on cheat meals are myriad. It can vary from person to person really. Some people when they have a cheat meal can enjoy the meal, recognize that it wasn’t a part of their normal food intake, be ok with that, and move on. Others start a cheat meal, and just the thought of cheating makes them feel guilty, so they cheat some more, turn it into an 6,000 calorie extravaganza and then go a week long binge.
Cheat Meal
Ok, maybe that was a little extreme, but you get my point. One person has a healthy relationship with food, the other person clearly does not, so I think it all depends on how you respond to a cheat meal. Some people do better not really cheating for months until they feel like they are truly on a roll and are comfortable with what they eat. In the Precision Nutrition Lean Eating program they interviewed some winners and contestants, and many of them said they were at their best when they didn’t cheat at all. They didn’t feel restricted because they had such a wide variety of real whole food available to them, and took advantage of it.
Now not everyone is like that. I for one prefer to cheat from time to time, as I dislike being “that guy” at social settings. Now there are times when I am “that guy”, bringing grass-fed beef hamburgers and Ezekiel buns, but there are other times when I eat hot dogs and drink beer too. Just enjoy it, and move on. Maybe even compensate. If you know this meal is going to give you probably twice as many calories as a normal meal, just eat one less meal that day, or cut away from a few others. It isn’t that hard and it doesn’t have to be precise to the exact calorie, it just helps mitigate any potential damage.
My hamburger bun of choice
The point is that the real key is developing a healthier relationship with food (which is beyond the scope of this blog). It also helps to know that one meal is not going to make or break your progress. Being obsessive over every food and calorie you consume is counter productive, so enjoy some treats from time to time, you will live to tell about it I promise.
As for how often, I prefer you keep it under 10% of the time. If you eat real whole food 90% of the time, and allow yourself some exceptions that other 10%, you will be just fine.
Having said all that, don’t let “oh BSP said I could cheat” justify you eating like crap!
Q. What are your thoughts on intermittent fasting or short duration fasting? I recently fasted on Homemade Bone Broth and Kvass for 3 days and feel the benefits.
I honestly really don’t even know what to think. I am sure it works, just like most dieting strategies, but I just don’t know how practical it is. Especially with a family. How many family meals do you have to endure watching everyone else eat while you fast?
I just dislike the mindset of dieting more and more. While there are places and times for things like Warp Speed, and maybe IF, I don’t think they are easily sustained lifestyles. To some people they are, to the vast majority, I leaning towards a no. I also think eating 6-8 times a day, ala the strict bodybuilding protocol, is also impractical and probably even less effective. I prefer people eat 4-5 times per day.
I can’t emphasize enough how much I think just eating real whole food makes all the difference. Maximizing your nutrient density and expending more than you consume are the real keys my friend. While there is more than one way to skin a cat, I find IF, while it may work, to be far more complicated than just focusing on food selection and size.
If a client really prefers to only eat 3 times per day, from whole foods, and meets their caloric, macronutrient, micronutrient and fruit and veggies needs, then I really have no issue with it. If you can meet all of your needs doing IF, then I really don’t have an issue with it either.
My problem is people making ridiculous statements like breakfast is bad for you (there was a recent article about it). I mean really? Maybe it doesn’t work for some people sure, but bad for us as a whole? Ridiculous.
I guess what really bothers me about IF is that people who follow it make it out to be the holy grail and there is nothing better. It is merely a means to an end, and people have lost weight successfully on tons of different methods, so I just dislike the mentality of this way is the best way and therefore the only way.
The real key is finding what works best for you, your schedule, etc. As long as you focus on real food and meet all your needs, then have at it.
Filed under: General Health, Nutrition
A reader of mine sent me this video from CBS about the dangers of protein powders. It only takes about 4 minutes, so give it a quick watch, I’ll wait.
The video is based on a report on protein powders and ready-made protein drinks from Consumer Reports, which showed some protein powders failing quality testing due to excessive amounts of arsenic, cadmium and lead. You can take a look at that report yourself right here.
After looking over that report you can see there are a few problems with it. It is based on people consuming 3 servings of the protein product daily. Not necessarily 3 scoops, but 3 servings, which is a lot. In reality many of these products make their serving sizes larger to seem like they provide greater amounts of protein, when in reality on a per gram of product basis, they are all pretty similar.
This can be misleading when looking over this report, as 3 servings should be anywhere from 60-75 grams of protein. You can see that many of these products far exceed that. GNC Wheybolic, which is a very popular product with high school athletes, contains 180 grams of protein in 3 servings! This is because 3 scoops equals 1 serving, which is ridiculous. Kids get it because they think it provides them with so much more protein, when in reality it is simply a larger serving size.
All three products that failed the testing were larger than normal serving sizes, providing 96, 96, and 126 grams of protein in “3″ servings. To me this slightly confounds the data, as the products should have been compared on an equal gram to gram basis. I understand that doesn’t necessarily reflect real life consumption as people consume the protein on suggested serving sizes not x number of grams, but I hope that people are not really consuming 9 scoops of GNC Wheybolic to meet their protein needs.
In reality people should look to real whole food to supply the vast majority of their protein needs, with protein powders like whey helping to round out intake. Whey protein is actually chock full of health benefits, and is actually the subject of my next article.
Whey is loaded with BCAAs, glutamic acid, cysteine, immunoglobulins, lactoferrin, alpha-lactalbumin and glycomacropeptides which all contribute significantly to our immune system, so it is not some dangerous and deadly food when consumed from quality sources in reasonable amounts.
Now I think it is important that we test these products to ensure they do not contain high amounts of heavy metals. I would also discourage people from consuming more than 40-50 grams of protein from powders anyway, whether from a high quality whey or not. While whey does contain many immuno-supportive properties, other protein sources contain valuable vitamins, minerals, fatty acids and other nutrients that are also necessary for optimal health.
The video goes on to list some of the “dangers” of excess protein – dehydration, digestive problems, increased risk of osteoporosis, complications for people with kidney problems. Lets look at these one at a time shall we?
First off, what is excess protein anyhow? This is not clearly defined in any way in the video. It is just some abstract statement with no qualification, aimed at making people believe that protein powder is deadly.
Dehydration due to protein consumption – While there is some limited research on this topic, it is scant at best. This idea is mainly from one study on military personnel on a water-restricted diet, clearly this does not apply to normal people and normal fluid intake. This is also related to the unsubstantiated but often-reported belief that excess protein damages the kidneys. Neither one has any actual science behind it, so why does it persist in the media?
On a side note, athletes and exercise enthusiasts have been consuming high protein diets for decades without any noted increases in kidney problems or dehydration. While only empirical, it still seems reasonable that if high protein diets truly caused dehydration and kidney problems, it would have been actually reported by now. Maybe this is because the kidneys are an incredibly adaptive piece of machinery, that attenuate change in protein intake. Hmm, what a concept.
Digestive problems? – I could not find anything on this in the literature, and seems to be based solely on ancedotal evidence to me. Does all protein cause digestive problems, or merely protein “drinks”, the video does not specify. In none of the studies, reviews or position statements I looked at is this even addressed, so it seems to be so small a concern to not even be considered in a review of high protein consumption and potential health effects. If a particular protein causes you GI distress, choose another protein source, it is that simple.
Increased risk of osteoporosis – This statement is based on early research that showed that people with high protein intakes had higher urine acidity that also appeared to linked to the leaching of calcium from bones to buffer this increased acidity. These studies were of poor design, with tiny sample sizes and using pure forms of isolated protein. This is not realistic as even conventional protein powders, especially whey, have calcium and other bone-supporting nutrients still intact. It has been more recently shown with higher quality research that the phosphate content of high protein foods negates this potential issue. The main reason why people on higher-protein diets excrete more calcium is because they consume more calcium, not because their bones are weakening. In the elderly, where risk of osteoporosis is a large issue, it is recommended that they exceed the RDA for protein intake of 0.8g/kg up to 1.0-1.2g/kg to maintain bone mass. International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: protein and exercise. It has also been shown that when calcium and vitamin D intake are adequate, protein intake is actually beneficial to bone health. Interaction of dietary calcium and protein in bone health in humans.
Complications for people with kidney problems - OK my first beef with this point is that the writing on the screen differed in a small but significant way from the reading of the reporter, as she stated that excess protein can “for some people cause kidney problems.” That vague statement makes it sound as if just about anybody could develop kidney problems from excessive protein intake. When in reality, unless you have a pre-existing kidney condition, this is not the case. Here is a free pubmed article that looks at the state of the literature on the topic, and declares this to be a non-issue. Dietary protein intake and renal function. I will say it again, according to the numerous studies on the topic, unless you have a pre-existing kidney condition you are at no risk of kidney problems from increased protein consumption. Period.
More reading on the topic:
Dietary protein safety and resistance exercise: what do we really know?
The Protein Book: A Complete Guide for the Athlete and Coach.
Filed under: General Health, Nutrition
I know, lame title, but an important topic and something that I feel compelled to address.
Before I get to that I would be remiss if I did not congratulate Cressey Performance on their 3 year anniversary. CP was a wonderful experience and I would not be anywhere near the coach, nutritionist or person that I am today if it wasn’t for Tony, Pete and Eric as well as the incredible clientèle that I had the privilege of coaching. Please take a moment and check out the CP blog and EC’s blog celebrating their anniversary.
Back to the title, I came across an article on MSN just recently about current obesity rates in America, and it is frightening to say the least.
While it seems that childhood obesity rates are stabilizing (for now anyway), adult obesity continues to skyrocket up. In 1980 only 15% of the adult population was defined as obese, as of today that number is 34%.
40 states, out of 50, have at least 25% of their adult population deemed to be obese. The best state, Colorado, is only at 19.1%. That is still 1 in 5 adults who are considered obese!
Where have we gone wrong?
Considering that 10% of all health care costs are associated with obesity, this is something that needs to change, and it needs to change now.
To me the answer isn’t getting rid of McDonald’s. Too often I hear the blame laid at the feet of the food industry, and don’t get me wrong they have certainly played their part, but so have we. We have to start holding ourselves accountable for our choices and actions.
We choose to eat McDonald’s, they did not make us pull into their drive-thru and order 2 Big Mac’s with fries and a drink, super-sized of course because it is only 25 cents more. We made that decision. Personal accountability has disappeared, and to me nowhere is it more apparent than in our food consumption.
People claim that it is too expensive to eat healthy, especially in this economy. I say bullshit. We just choose to spend our money on other things. As a country we spend the smallest percentage of our disposable income on food in the industrialized world, at less than 10%. Instead we buy a giant flat-screen tv, and the HD cable to go with it or a 12th pair of jeans, designer of course. These are fine things to have, but recognize that you are making a choice.
To piggy-back that point, the amount of money that we spend on food away from home was 48.5% of all money spent on food, which is up from 34% in 1970 and 25% in 1950. Clearly this is a problem as well, but again, we are choosing to spend that money at restaurants rather than on home-cooked meals.
Food consumption is all about choices, and right now as a whole we are choosing poorly. Nobody is deciding for you what you choose to consume, so start holding yourself accountable and start making better choices. We will all be better off for it.
Filed under: Nutrition
Now that title may seem a little odd coming from the guy who wrote The Case Against Conventional Dairy, but the key part of that other blog title is the word conventional. Conventional dairy production is awful. The cows are packed in like sardines, force-fed tons of corn, milked constantly and the quality of the product suffers greatly.
Fortunately there is a growing amount of available dairy from cows that are grass-fed and pasture-raised, milked only when appropriate and producing a vastly superior product. Organic Valley is one such company that produces their dairy this way, and I have talked about them before with their Pasture Butter.
I am also not a huge fan of pasteurization (especially UHT pasteurization), as it changes the taste of milk, seems to deaden the product and definitely kills off some of the benefits of raw milk, including some probiotics like Lactobacillus acidophilus.
Because of all of this, my consumption of dairy has greatly decreased over the past year. I generally stick to yogurt (sometimes Greek, sometimes just Stonyfield plain yogurt that I add protein powder too), and some stuff from my local farmer’s market like raw butter (amazing) and raw milk (also amazing) from a local farm that raises only organic, grass-fed pasture-raised cows.
I still only consume small amounts of the milk, one half-gallon will last me a week, and I consume about 1 tbsp of the butter per day, so my overall dairy consumption is not that high.
The point of all this is to talk about another dairy source that I have come to appreciate more and more. It has gone in and out of my diet for about a year and a half, but lately has been in there quite consistently.
I am talking about raw sharp cheddar cheese by Organic Valley. This product is available nation-wide, which is a nice perk. It comes from grass-fed pasture-raised cows, and it isn’t pasteurized to boot. It is aged for about 8 months to maximize flavor (and make it legal to sell anywhere), and it goes awesome with an apple.
Raw cheese from grass-fed cows is an excellent source of protein as well as some fat-soluble vitamins, including vitamin A, vitamin E, vitamin K2 (whose intake has been associated with lower risk of heart attack, cancer and all-cause mortality), as well as CLA (potent cancer-fighter), carotenes and omega-3 fatty acids. It is an incredibly nutrient-dense food!
Though I am not a fan of conventional dairy, if you do choose to consume dairy, do your best to make quality choices from quality companies.
Filed under: Nutrition
Question: I found something through one of your articles about tea. Specifically when milk is added to green tea or other varieties of tea, the catechins are then negated by the fat content in the milk and rendered useless, now I’ve done a little light reading on it but I keep finding mixed results, some sources say this is not true, some say it is, some say it depends on the fat content… I’m a little bit confused by it all, as with many things in nutrition it’s hard to find a great answer, especially only being a nutrition aware by hobby, perhaps you could enlighten me?
Keep up the great work mate!
P.S I don’t drink green tea with milk (though I have tried it on occasion) but I do drink Black, White, Rooibos and Oolong with milk ( I only know about Rooibos thanks to you!)
Answer: While milk and dairy products do interfere with the catechins in green tea, it is due to a protein, not to the fat content. That may have been the source of your confusion (one study was done on fat content and it did show a difference, but it is the only one I am aware of, the rest are on protein). Milk and its high protein products (cheese, yogurt) contain a significant amount of protein. Casein is the major type of protein found in milk, making up nearly 80% of the content, with the other 20% coming from whey.
It is this casein protein that actually causes the issues with simultaneous tea consumption.
Tea contains some incredibly heart healthy compounds called catechins, specifically one called EGCG, which have been shown to cause the arteries to relax, among many other benefits. Unfortunately research has shown that when you add milk to the tea, the casein binds to the catechins, preventing this incredibly beneficial effect from taking place.
I think more research is needed on the topic, since it has been shown that the probiotics in yogurt disrupt some of casein’s other potential heath issues, so does it also prevent casein from binding to polyphenols and catechins? There just isn’t enough known.
What I would suggest is actually putting some form of citrus in your tea, be it a dash of lemon juice, or even an orange peel. Citrus has been shown to actually increase how well the catechins and antioxidants in tea are absorbed by the body. You can also choose varieties of tea that contain a little citrus in them, and this should also provide some benefit as well.
Hope that helps!
For more reading on the subject, check out some other blogs I wrote here and here.
Rooibos does rock, I am in love with the Republic of Tea’s Good Hope Vanilla Rooibos lately. It has just a hint of vanilla, and it is nice and smooth. A great way to cap the night.
Posted on August 20th, 2010 by Brian St. Pierre
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