The Power of Plants and Protein

Good day,

Today I want to talk about a topic that many people are confused on. The ability of plants to provide adequate protein in the diet of people who train infrequently as well as the well trained athlete. Most people believe that in order to get protein you MUST eat meat and that it is essential to have meat in the diet for strong muscles. This has been pounded into our "collective" heads in western culture for years from our parents, TV, and teachers. Here are some common myths concerning plants and protein:

• We need meat to get enough protein.
• Plant proteins lack essential amino acids and is poor quality.
• Vegetarians must carefully complement plant proteins at every meal.
• Most vegetarians end up iron deficient.

Each of these statements is based on misconceptions from a bygone era! No nutrient essential to humans is found in meat that is not also found in diets composed of only plants.
Why don't we take the elephant for example. These huge land animals derive ALL of their protein and iron from plants.

While I can't go into complete detail here in this blog as there is a tonne of info out there, I will leave you some key take aways that may get you to investigate further on your own:

1. All of the amino acids required by our bodies come from plant foods, or can be built in our bodies from other amino acids.
2. Too much protein is not good for you.
3. Meat-centred diets usually have a lot of saturated fat and cholesterol.
4. Protein rich plant food bring us an abundance of benefits not found in meats.

Below are some examples of high protein plant foods:

1. Soy
2. Beans
3. Lentils
4. Nuts

These are just a few of the protein power houses in the plant world.
A great book that I read in my studies is: "Becoming Vegetarian the complete guide to adopting a healthy vegetarian diet." by; Vesanto Melina, M.Sc., R.D. and Brenda Davis R.D.

Check it or other literature on this topic and you will be surprised as to what Mother Nature has packed into the plants we eat.


Cheers,

bounce life

Feed the Machine Called the Metabolism

Good Day,

Today I want to talk about the metabolism. I was chatting on MSN with a good friend of mine who brought up a very good topic and how people DO NOT understand how the metabolism works.
So, first I would like to start with a quick analogy that I use with all of my nutrition clients.
Your metabolism is like an old locomotive engine. In order for the train to move you have to feed coal (food) into the fire (metabolism). If you do not keep stoking (feeding) the fire, the train (metabolism) will stop.
Your metabolism starts with a roar in the morning because you have fasted overnight 6-10 hours. So your body is running at full tilt. If you do not eat right away your metabolism starts to slow down. This is a natural mechanism that we have had for 1000's of years. The body automatically goes into safe mode and slows down as it does not know when the next meal is coming. So, in order to keep the locomotive going you need to stoke the fire or eat every few hours from when you wake until a few hours before bed. In doing this we keep the metabolism thinking that it has plenty of fuel and it will use the fuel properly.

Throughout the day there will be peaks and valleys in your metabolism but eating every few hours will decrease the slowdown of the metabolism over the day.
If you do not eat you will not lose weight because your body will think it is starving and much of your calories will be moved to fat stores in for future use.
We need to trick the body and manipulate your metabolism in order to have successful weight loss.

Initially if you eat less your body will lose a bit of weight but it will come back with a vengeance because your body thinks it is in starvation mode and you will gain the weight back. This is why crash diets do not work over the long term with most people gaining all of the weight back and more when they go off of it.

I hope I have convinced you that not eating to lose weight is not an option.


Cheers,

bounce life

Mother Nature's Pharmacy

Today I want to talk about herbs and how Mother Nature provides us with everything we could ever need to survive on this planet. We have been using herbs for medicinal benefits for 1000's of years. Many herbs contain powerful ingredients, when used correctly have a positive impact on healing our bodies. Pharmaceutical companies have always focused on isolating theses ingredients to make them available in their purer form. Mother Nature put the ingredients together for a reason. The "other" components of an herb act as buffers, synergists, or counter balances working in harmony with the the more powerful ingredients. When used in their complete form, our body's healing process will utilize the "balance" of ingredients. Unfortunately these companies have made us quite dependent on their "drugs" created from isolated active compounds. With the increasing risk of side effects of these powerful drugs the medical community is finally looking a herbs as a whole for remedies.
Mother Nature's pharmacy eclipses man's with herbs being beneficial on tissues and organs and therefore, can be used to treat, cure or prevent disease. Herbalism is an essential part of Ayurvedic (Indian), Traditional Asian (TCM), Native American, and naturopathic medicines. Herbs come in many forms: essential oils, extracts, plasters, compresses, poultices, powders, salves, ointments, creams, syrups, teas, infusions, decoctions, tinctures, vinegars and wines. Wow, are you confused yet?
When used herbs do not have the dramatic effect that that we expect from prescription drugs. Herbs are balancers and work with the body to heal itself.
Remember that "natural" does not mean "safe" Herbal preparations may be toxic, cause allergic reactions, or affect your response to other medications.
We must use common sense, and care when we use herbs for either food or medicine.

Mother Nature is amazing in what she can do and provide for us. This is food for thought when we are continually struggling to stay in harmony with her.

A great book that I had the chance to go through in my studies and refer to quite often is "Prescription for Natural Healing" by Phyllis A. Balch.


Cheers,

bounce life