Cholesterol. The good, the bad and the ugly

Today I want to talk about cholesterol and hopefully shed a little bit of light on this sometimes confusing topic.
So what the heck is cholesterol anyway? Well, there are different types of cholesterol and we put them into two groups, "good" and "bad". Now to get a little more technical the "good" cholesterol is called HDL and the "bad" LDL but before we go into this too far lets start at the beginning.
 Cholesterol is only found in animal products. Plants on the other hand do not contain cholesterol because they cannot produce it and do not need it to function. We can get cholesterol from two sources. The first is our body via the liver and the second via diet.
 I bet you would be surprised to know that cholesterol actually has  many important functions in the body:

1. found in every cell in the body
2. building block for estrogen testosterone, and Vitamin D produced via sunlight through your skin
3. major component of of the nerves in our brains
4. 0 calories, as it does not provide us any energy

So, contrary to popular belief cholesterol is not just an artery plugger!
OK, so lets get back to this good and bad cholesterol thing. Here is a simple breakdown of the two:

High-density lipoprotein (HDL)

• Helps remove cholesterol from the body by transporting it to the liver.
• Packets of cholesterol are formed to help move cholesterol through the blood.
• Some experts believe that HDL removes excess cholesterol from arterial plaque, slowing its buildup.
•  HDL can be increased with, exercise, the cessation of smoking and weight reduction.
• High levels of HDL seem to protect against heart attack.
• Low levels of HDL (less than 40 mg/dL) also increase the risk of heart disease.

Low-density lipoprotein (LDL)

• Builds up on the inner walls of the arteries that feed the heart and brain.
• Together with other substances, it can form plaque, a thick, hard deposit that can narrow the arteries and make them less flexible. This condition is known as atherosclerosis.
•  If clots form in the blood they can get caught in the narrowed artery and cause a heart attack.

I hope this information clears up some of the confusion out there on cholesterol. Just remember that not all cholesterol is bad and is needed for many essential bodily functions.

Cheers,

bounce life

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

German Volume Training, A great way to BURST through a plateau

When I train myself as well as my clients I am always trying to find ways to get through plateaus. No matter what kind of training you do you will eventually hit a plateau. This is where the body has fully adapted to what you are currently doing and grinds to a halt when it comes to improving or changing. One of the training principles I use every few months to really "hammer" the muscles is German Volume Training (GVT). It is also called "ten sets method" but the GVT name became common due to the fact that this style of training had roots in Germany. This type of training is not for the faint of heart and you better have a puke bucket handy. GVT training takes your intensity to another level. For this reason you cannot stay on a program like this for too long as it will burn you out and cause over-training. Click the link to go to a website that has some excellent information on GVT training and how to build a proper program based on the principles. This program works. Give it a try and feel free to let me know how it worked for you.

Cheers,

bounce life

Antioxidants Hype or Truth

Good day,

Today I want to talk about a key buzzword in the health and fitness industry, "ANTIOXIDANTS". You can now buy a product in almost every food category at your local super market that claims to have antioxidants in them. Great, so what does this mean for you, the average consumer? How do antioxidants affect your health? Where do they come from? Are they real and do they work? These are some of the questions that I will answer in today's post. So, lets start with the question, are they real and do they work? The answer is YES they are real and YES they work!
Here is a brief description of how they work and affect your health. Antioxidants are natural compounds that help protect the body from free radical damage. OK, now you are asking what the heck is a "Free Radical". Well, a  free radical is an atom or group of atoms that cause damage to cells. So, Antioxidants = GOOD and Free radicals = BAD. Simple enough so far right? Some of the damage that free radicals do include, impairing the immune system, heart disease, cancer and possibly the aging process itself! Free radicals are formed by exposure to the sun, toxic chemicals such as those found in cigarette smoke, polluted air and household chemicals; and various metabolic processes, such as the breaking down of fat into an energy source.
Now, lets talk about where antioxidants come from.There are number of phytochemicals (found in plants) and nutrients that act as antioxidants including Vitamins A, C, E, beta-carotene and other carotenoids, flavanoids and the mineral Selenium. Certain herbs have antioxidant properties as well.
Although many antioxidants can be obtained from food such as sprouted grains, fresh fruit and vegetables it can be difficult to get enough from our foods because our polluted environments are constantly generating free radicals. We can use supplements to bridge the gap but need to be careful not to focus on one type of antioxidant as they work synergistically together. It is better to take smaller doses of several different antioxidants.
Here is a list of common Antioxidants:

• Alpha-Lipoic Acid
• Bilberry
• Burdock
• Coenzyme Q10
• Turmeric
• Flavanoids
• Garlic
• Ginko Biloba
• Glutathione
• Grape Seed Extract
• Green Tea
• Melatonin
• Methionine
• N-Acetylcysteine (NAC)
• Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide (NADH)
• Oligomeric Proanthocyanidins (OPC's)
• Selenium
• Silymarin
• Superoxide Dismutase
• Vitamin A and the Carotenoids
• Vitamin C
• Vitamin E
• Zinc

Cheers,

bounce life

Child Obesity

Today I want to talk a bit about "Child Obesity". We just recently returned from a cruise to the Caribbean and my wife and I could not believe how many overweight children there were on the ship. When watching these families almost every single one of these overweight children had one or both parents that were overweight.  If I were to do the BMI calculations on these children and their parents the outcome would surely be that they would actually fall into the "obese" (> 30 BMI) category according to their BMI results. These children when put in this position are extremely hard pressed to come out later in life at a healthy body weight.  In fact, they usually tend to trend towards even greater weight gain and have a higher propensity for diabetes and other diseases. Part of the challenge is that our children adopt our eating habits early in life and if we are not eating healthy and living a balanced lifestyle it is likely that our children are following suit. With obesity and diabetes on the rise around the world we really need to focus on our children to ensure that they adopt good habits and get a fair chance to lead a healthy, balanced life early on.
Here is an interesting article that outlines what we are discussing here: http://www.peoples-health.com/childhood_obesity_facts.htm 

Cheers,

bounce life