Filed under: General Health, Nutrition
In case you missed it, check out Part 1 of this series. Go ahead, I’ll wait.
The Story of the Kitavans
I want to highlight one more culture that I think disproves once and for all the notion that somehow carbohydrates in and of themselves are causing all of our health problems today – The Kitavans.
The Kitavans are an isolated people in the Melanesian islands, and they were studied in multiple ways by Dr. Staffan Lindeberg and company.
Their diet consists primarily of starchy tubers (yam, sweet potato, taro and cassava), fruit, vegetables, coconut and fish, in descending order of calories. This provides them an estimated 69% of their 2,200 daily calories from carbohydrates, 21% from fat (17% of total cals are from saturated fat, mostly from coconut), and 10% from protein.
Due to their high fish consumption and no industrial vegetable oils, they have an omega-6:omega-3 ratio of 1:2. Compared to the Standard American Diet (SAD), their intake is high in carbs, and definitely high in saturated fat, though low in total fat and protein.
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Filed under: General Health, Nutrition
In the past 10-15 years or so there has been an ever increasing focus on carbohydrates and the possibility that they are causing so many of the metabolic problems we face today. Problems such as metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, overweight, obesity, cardiovascular disease and more.
First there was the Atkins craze, which while effective was certainly not an enjoyable diet for the majority of the people on it. This was soon followed by South Beach, which was slightly more enjoyable but still did not provide a sustainable lifestyle. Then came the Paleo movement, eschewing grains, legumes and more, which still seems to be gaining steam and has zealots extolling its virtues to the point of being more like a religion than a diet.
Fueling this fire was Gary Taubes’ Good Calories, Bad Calories. While I feel this book was excellent at dispelling the diet-heart hypothesis as the cause of heart disease, its simplistic focus on carbs and insulin as the actual cause of our health problems is short-sighted and incomplete.
This switch from pointing all of the blame at fat, to now pointing all of the blame at carbohydrates is making the same mistake as the diet-heart hypothesis. You are taking health outcomes, which are highly complex issues affected by a huge array of factors, and trying to pin the problem on one element. It just isn’t that simple.
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Filed under: General Health, Nutrition, Training
Here is a list of recommended health and fitness information from around the interwebz:
Squat – by Mike Robertson. This is 8500 words covering everything you could ever imagine on what is undoubtedly one of the most effective exercises known to man. Anything you ever wanted to learn about squatting, any questions you have ever had, Mike has it all covered! This is a can’t miss post!
What an Elbow Alone Can Tell You About Strength and Conditioning Program Design – by Eric Cressey. Eric is really smart. I mean really smart. He showcases it here, but he does so in a manner that easily understood. If you want to learn more about the why’s and how’s of programming based on proper assessment, this is a good read.
Humans on a Cafeteria Diet - by Stephan Guyenet. Stephan is one of my favorite writers, and always provides topnotch work. This piece is no exception. Stephan presents some very interesting research on how industrially processed food causes spontaneous overfeeding.
Don’t forget that Mike Robertson’s Complete Core Fitness is on sale through midnight tonight. It comprises seven webinars that covers functional anatomy, Mike’s assessment process, and the four phases of core progressions that he uses with clients. I’d strongly recommend you check out Complete Core Fitness.
Filed under: General Health, Nutrition
Magnesium is an important mineral for those looking to build a better body.
Magnesium plays a role in over 300 biochemical reactions in the body, many of which are directly related to muscle function and protein synthesis. Yet most Americans don’t get anywhere near enough magnesium, and the problem is amplified in hard training athletes and muscleheads.
To make matters worse, magnesium is slowly disappearing from the modern diet. Industrial agriculture and food processing methods literally strip magnesium and other valuable minerals right from our food supply, making it harder to consume enough nutrients from even a seemingly “healthy,” varied diet.
So what can we do about it? First, let’s take a closer look at why magnesium is so critically important.
Continue reading my newest article on t-nation.
—> Magnificent Magnesium <—
Filed under: General Health, Nutrition
Most of you long time readers are well aware of my dislike for artificial sweeteners. Whether they have been found to drastically alter gut flora (sucralose, in rats), are on the EPA’s new but unfinished list of potentially dangerous chemicals, increase risk of pre-term births and caused cancer in rats (aspartame) I am not a fan.
This is especially true since there other options that are not synthetically made in a lab and have been consumed by humans for possibly thousands of years. In this case, we are talking about stevia.
Stevia rebaudiana is a plant from South America that is native to Paraguay and has long been used by the indigenous people there to sweeten beverages and make tea. While most of us, myself included, use the word stevia to refer to the sweetener, this is in fact referring to the plant, of which only some components are actually sweet, called steviol glycosides.
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Filed under: General Health, Nutrition
After enjoying a delicious cup of clam chowder today while eating lunch with some friends and watching the Patriots lose, I realized I knew little to nothing about the nutrition facts and nutrient density if clams!
So I decided to do a little research, and much to my surprise clams are a virtual superfood!
Now to be honest I don’t much believe in the notion of “superfoods,” however clams do pack a ton of nutrition into a small package.
How much nutrition you ask? Let’s find out.
In 3oz of cooked clams you are provided with:
- 125 calories
- 2g of fat
- 337mg of omega-3 fatty acids
- 4g of carbohydrates
- 22g of protein
- 10% DV of vitamin A
- 31% DV of vitamin C
- 21% DV of riboflavin
- 14% DV of niacin
- 1401% DV of vitamin B12
- 132% DV of iron
- 29% DV of phosphorus
- 15% DV of potassium
- 15% DV of zinc
- 29% DV of copper
- 43% DV of manganese
- 78% DV of selenium
That is a nutrition powerhouse right there! Clams are the best source of vitamin B12 and iron in the entire world! Yes, you read that right. Entire. World.
They are also a deliciously lean source of protein, and are clearly rich in a ton of other vitamins and minerals. They are pretty much the multivitamin of the ocean, so feel free to enjoy a delicious cup of clam chowder before the summer is over!
Filed under: General Health, Nutrition
Today I wanted to write a note to aspiring nutrition students based on my experience in undergrad and some skills that I wished I had taken out of it. Below are but a few examples.
In undergrad I was intently focused on learning everything I could on sports nutrition. If it didn’t pertain to protein needs, nutrient timing or supplements, I wasn’t all that interested. I had such intense blinders on that I failed to recognize the importance of so many other skills that were taught in my classes that would help me in my counseling of future clients.
I was missing the forest for the trees, the big picture for the specific details that I only cared about.
When we had a class on cooking techniques and strategies I bemoaned how “unhealthy” many of the recipes were that we made, not seeing beyond that flaw and recognizing the basic cooking skills I could be developing and then being able to show or describe to future clients. While I am slowly learning many of these things on my own, I should have taken much greater advantage of the opportunity granted to me.
I am became a certified food manager and learned all about food safety and proper storage in school, and fortunately I do remember much of those details (and some are just common sense), but at the time I certainly did not recognize its importance to my future work. Who cares about the temperature danger zone when there is a new study on post-workout nutrition! In retrospect I see now how being well-versed in that information can have such a massive impact on community health initiatives, because many people have had little to no education on the topic.
While I worked hard to make up for this one, I also did not have much interest in nutrition needs throughout the life cycle. I wasn’t all that interested in how nutrition needs are different when you are 85 (or 6 for that matter). I failed to recognize how this would apply to my future clientele, not realizing that it applies to everyone at some point or another!
The point is to not miss the forest for the trees. While it is awesome to have a niche or an area of intense passion and focus, it is imperative not to exclude the many other elements that can impact your ability as an educator, counselor, facilitator. There is a far bigger picture in the real world that so many, or at least I, was not aware of in college. Develop a wide array of skills, you never know what opportunity lay around the corner to put them to work.
Filed under: General Health, Nutrition
Today we wrap up my epic series on dairy, providing all of my thoughts on whether you should consume, and if you do, what your best choices would be. Check it out!
—> Is Dairy Healthy? The Whole Story – Part 3 <—
Filed under: General Health, Nutrition
The saga continues, as we explore deeper into the dairy. Is the fat dangerous? Will it give us diabetes? What is vitamin K2 anyway? Check it out:
—> Is Dairy Healthy? The Whole Story Part 2 <—
Filed under: General Health, Nutrition
With my recent Day in the Life blog post outlining the fact that I consume 2 cups of yogurt per day on most days, I think the final answer to this question is known, but this 3 part series I wrote for ericcressey.com will shed light on the details and my entire thought process on dairy in general. Check it out:
—> Is Dairy Healthy? The Whole Story – Part 1 <—
Posted on October 12th, 2011 by Brian St. Pierre
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