Weight-Loss, Diet, Exercise and Sleep

Getting enough quality sleep a night is an important component of a weight loss plan yet it is often overlooked.  The recommended number of hours of sleep a night for an adult is 7 to 9, but in our fast-paced and often over scheduled days many adults do not get enough.    

When you sleep your body is busy repairing itself.  Metabolic, immune, neurological and tissue recovery occur.  Not enough sleep results in hormonal imbalances that sabotage your weight-loss efforts during the day. 

With not enough sleep the appetite enhancing hormone ghrelin increases and leptin, a hormone that enhances metabolism and curbs your appetite, goes down. 

Less sleep is also associated with elevated levels of cortisol.  High levels of cortisol fuel appetite, make us feel hungry for sugary, carb-laden treats, and deposits fat around the abdomen. 

Getting enough sleep also allows more growth hormones to be released which stimulate muscle building.  By building muscle (through exercise and sleep) you will increase your metabolism. 

Regular exercise in general will improve the quality of your sleep but if done in the evening it may be overly stimulating.  Be aware and adjust your workout time if necessary.

Digestive activities are also stimulating and may interfere with sleep so don’t eat a meal close to bedtime.  The last meal of the day should be at least 3 hours before bed. Ensuring that your meal has adequate amounts of tryptophan foods like meat, poultry, fish or legumes will help your body relax and sleep. 

On the other hand going to bed hungry can also interfere with sleep.  If needed grab a small handful of almonds or some yogurt, both contain calcium and magnesium that help to induce relaxation and their source of tryptophan helps with sleep.     

Supplements that can help you sleep are 5-HTP (a derivative of tryptophan), melatonin (a hormone that regulates sleep) and the sedative herb valerian.  Please discuss any supplements that you’d like to take with your doctor or naturopath first. 

Remember that caffeine is stimulating and for some even caffeine taken early in the day will negatively affect sleep.  Alcohol is not a stimulant but it negatively affects sleep by disrupting the sequence and duration of sleep states, as well as total sleep time. 

Recharge After Exercise – But Not With Chocolate Milk!

Statistics provided by the Dairy Farmers of Canada show that 63% of males reported drinking chocolate milk to recover after a workout in June 2011 compared to 23% in November 2008 (Globe and Mail, July 2, 2012).  Why the jump?  In 2008 an advertising campaign was launched by the Dairy Farmers of Canada positioning chocolate milk as the perfect post-workout drink.  It has carbohydrates, protein, fluids and electrolytes to help the body recover after intense exercise.  But take note, even on the Dairy Farmers of Canada’s “Recharge With Milk” website it is stated that more casual exercisers will probably not need the additional carbohydrates but if you work out at a high intensity for prolonged periods every day (like our Olympians) then chocolate milk could be for you. 

Bottom line, chocolate milk has too much sugar for the majority of us.  Approximately 7 tsp per 500 ml serving!

Rehydrate your body post-workout with a more suitable alternative, WATER.  And lots of it.  Do you need protein and carbohydrates shortly after your workout?  If it was a hard workout then yes.  But instead of the extra calories from a post-workout snack or drink have a look at the clock and see if it is time for breakfast, lunch or dinner.  A meal shortly after exercise containing high quality protein and low to medium glycemic carbohydrates is an efficient and effective way to recover.  Eggs, poultry, meat, fish or legumes are great protein choices.  And carbohydrates such as whole grains (oatmeal, brown rice), yam or legumes will replace muscle glycogen without spiking your blood sugars. 

If a meal isn’t in the near future yogurt or a glass of white milk both provide enough protein and carbohydrates to kick-start recovery.  Or if you are looking for a dairy-free alternative grab a small handful of nuts and add a piece of fruit or a small handful of dried fruit.  Finish getting all the nutrients you need at your next meal, so don’t skip lunch!    

An electrolyte drink after exercise is recommended if your workout was intense, for a prolonged period of time, and you found yourself sweating a lot.  So yes to an electrolyte drink if you went for a long, hard bike ride in the sun.  But avoid drinks with artificial flavours and colours.  Coconut water works well or for the serious athlete try eload, it has electolytes and carbohydrates.

Hydration for Summer Sports

Don’t believe the hype – chocolate milk is NOT for exercise recovery.  It is being promoted by the Dairy Farmers of Canada and research is centered on elite athletes.  Unless you are travelling to London this year for the Olympics, chocolate milk has too much sugar.  We’ll let you know what you should be drinking for recovery in our next blog posting, coming soon.

STOP EATING DRY TOAST

The myths about butter being bad for us have misled people long enough.  Stop eating dry toast!  Avoiding butter is unnecessary and can actually be hazardous to your health. 

We learn that butter is bad because it is a saturated fat, and that saturated fats have a negative impact on our blood lipoprotein levels.  But what most don’t realize is that not all saturated fats are the same.  Butter is rich in short, medium and long-chain saturated fatty acids.  Short and medium chain fatty acids metabolise quickly, their first and only digestive destination is the liver.  They cannot aggregate in the blood or cause any harm.  26% of butter’s profile are these harmless short and medium chain fatty acids.  Another 12% of butter is made up of stearic acid, a saturated fat that has the unique property of converting into unsaturated fat in the body and thus having a neutral affect on blood lipids and cholesterol.  34% of butter is unsaturated fats. 

In conclusion 71% of the fat in butter has a benign affect on blood lipid profiles.  Butter does not contribute significantly to blood lipoprotein levels. 

The health benefits of butter are numerous.  One of the short-chain saturated fats in butter, butyric acid, is essential for maintaining healthy intestinal flora.  Butyric acid and another short-chain saturated fat, caproic acid, work as anti-fungals in the intestinal tract.  Butyric acid also has tumor-suppressing behaviours, especially evolved for the colon (think colon cancer prevention).  Palmitic acid, one of the longer chain fatty acids which is associated with elevated lipoprotein levels, is not all bad being the preferred fuel for the heart muscle.

Butter is an excellent source of vitamin A, and a source of other antioxidants vitamin E and selenium.  Butter is also a source of bone building vitamin D, and a nutrient important in the metabolizing of fat called conjugated linoleic acid (CLA).  Lecithin, an important emulsifier of fats, is found in butter and helps us to digest the fats in butter (nature is pretty smart).

Butter is also a dietary source of cholesterol.  But don’t panic!  Our bodies only absorb about half of the cholesterol it takes in, and cholesterol isn’t all bad.  Dietary cholesterol is an antioxidant, neutralizing the negative affects of free radical activity on our cells.    

For more information on how to stop the butter is bad myth please read The Last Tango with Butter.

Bloated Again

You may notice that by the end of the day your pants are tighter, could it be that you are a regular sufferer of bloating?  Abdominal discomfort isn’t always linked to a holiday feast, although overeating is surely a contributor.  Bloating can occur for a number of other reasons such as swallowing too much air (carbonated beverages), menstruation or constipation.    

Often though bloating is linked to incomplete digestion.  Digestive enzymes from food, our saliva, stomach and intestines are an essential part of the digestive process, helping the body break down macro food molecules for absorption.    

Fresh, raw foods are the ideal external source of digestive enzymes.  Heat and time deactivate these enzymes, so an apple picked and eaten in August is packed full of active enzymes but picked in August and eaten in March not so much.  Applesauce (heated apples) does not contain any. 

Make sure your diet contains fresh, raw fruits and vegetables as well as unprocessed whole foods to maximize digestion. Too much raw vegetable or fruit on it’s own can also cause bloating, so you can’t make a meal of carrots and apples without some side affects to digestive process. 

Papaya and pineapple are excellent sources of digestive enzymes.  Whole foods like kidney beans, oat and rice also contain digestive enzymes.  These enzymes can withstand some heat but if processed (think white rice) the enzymes will be deactivated.

If you’ve increased your dietary digestive enzymes and your bloating isn’t going away you may have a food intolerance.  With the help of a nutritionist you can identify which food or foods your body is struggling to digest.  Once identified digestive enzymes are available in supplement form that can target the problem.  Do not purchase digestive enzymes unless you know your intolerance(s).  Taking Beano, a digestive enzyme product for legumes, grains and vegetables, won’t help if your body is struggling to digest dairy.    

You likely know someone who is lactose intolerant; this is the most common food intolerance.  Lactose is a milk sugar and without enough lactase (digestive enzyme for lactose) digestive discomfort occurs.  Milk does contain lactase but not enough for someone who is lactose intolerant and the ultra pasteurization that modern milk is subjected to deactivates the lactase as well.  75% of adults worldwide show a decrease in lactase production during adulthood.  You can also find lactase in almonds, apples, peaches and tomatoes but likely a supplement will be necessary.  Good news for dairy lovers, yogurt, kefir and traditionally made hard cheeses have more lactase than milk because of the fermentation processes involved and may be better tolerated.  Lactose-reduced and lactose-free dairy products are also available.

Raising Your Blood Cholesterol: Eggs or Lemonade

You may be surprised to learn that research linking blood cholesterol levels and heart disease is weak.  This is surprising because in the media and in the doctor’s office there is much focus around keeping blood cholesterol levels less than 200 mg/dl.  Many cholesterol lowering medications are being prescribed, and most of us believe they are mandatory. 

“37% of all Canadians over 40 years of age take some type of cholesterol lowering medication.  Since 1990 incidence of cardiovascular disease is still unchanged.  80% of heart attack victims have normal cholesterol blood levels.”            (B.Goldman, Pharmacist, 2008, Life Peak)

The cholesterol hype has also motivated many to change their diet.  Eggs are avoided because dietary cholesterol is considered bad.  Saturated fat is feared so chicken is chosen over beef.  But it isn’t so black and white, dietary cholesterol may impact some people’s blood cholesterol although not significantly.  And not all saturated fats are the same or have the same impact on blood cholesterol.  Consider this, our diets have much less saturated fat and cholesterol then say 100 years ago (less butter, lard, tallow, beef, pork and eggs) yet heart disease is today’s number one killer in North America.  According to Mayo Clinic Population research (2008) heart disease may even be on an upswing. 

To learn more about the controversy around cholesterol and heart disease have a look at Chapters 14 – 16 of The Last Tango with Butter.

To replace the lost calories from the fattier diet of yesteryear we have added in processed carbohydrates.  If you cannot yet ignore the blood cholesterol hype then please note; a diet high in processed carbohydrates and sugar will have more of an impact (negatively) on blood cholesterol levels then a diet high in saturated fat, simply because excess carbohydrates are converted to triglycerides which can end up in LDL cholesterol bundles.

Fructose, a monosaccharide naturally found in fruits and vegetables, cane sugar, sucrose or table sugar, corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, molasses, agave nectar, maple syrup and honey is also a culprit to higher blood cholesterols.  It is metabolized directly in the liver where it is turned into free fatty acids (FFA), very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL – a type of bad cholesterol) and triglycerides.  It does not feed your cells like glucose; consuming fructose is essentially consuming fat. 

So before attempting to lower blood cholesterol levels perhaps review your sugar and carbohydrate intake instead of saturated fat intake.  Keep in mind that consuming excessive amounts of fructose does a whole lot of other things to the body as well, none of it good, but we’ll leave that for another blog. 

http://www.everydayhealth.com/diet-and-nutrition-pictures/bad-eating-habits-and-how-to-break-them.aspx

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Kathleen Chu