Healthy Bytes

What my dog and cats teach me about meal timing

read time: 175 words, just a minute

Most pets are like clockwork when it comes to meals… and mine are no different.

We got two kitties a couple months ago and they believed 4am was the best time for breakfast… with the human arousal process begining a half hour earlier.
Now I’m an early riser, but 3:30am is pushing it.
(Now that we’ve had that 1 hour daylight savings time adjustment, they don’t start jumping on my head until 4-4:30am).

Nevertheless, they instinctively understand a component of weight loss/weight control…
meal timing.

If you eat at approximately the same times daily, you’re telling your brain when more food is coming so turn up the metabolic rate.
When you eat haphazardly and skip meals, your brain isn’t sure when more food is coming so it instinctively conserves energy… i.e., doesn’t burn calories.

This is why it’s important to eat breakfast and try to eat your meals at approximately the same time everyday.

Meanwhile, I’m trying to adjust my sleep… so as not to gain weight – which we’ll talk about in the next post.

Are you spending your tax dollars to GAIN weight?

read time: 436 words, about two minutes

Some of the worst ingredients we consume are sweeteners – the artificial ones, the processed ones and the chemically altered ones.

The similarities to heroin are frightening…
-> it’s addictive
-> we crave it
-> it pretty much has nothing but bad effects on our brain and our body
-> it crowds out good stuff

Corn is much in the news these days because of the whole ethanol thing.

I have no comment on that. What I do have comment on is HFCS – high fructose corn syrup.

2005 corn subsidies in the US were $9.4 BILLION.
There are 300 million people in the US (fewer in 2005)… so that pencils out to roughly $31.38/person.

Subsidies were changed in the 1970’s to heavily support corn and soybean agriculture.
Also in the early 1970’s HFCS was created… in a lab of course.
HFCS is a chemically altered sweetener way sweeter than regular ole sugar.

You say so what, you don’t have any in your cabinet.
Think again. HFCS is used in nearly every processed and prepackaged food product.
In the last 25 years consumption is up 1,000% and it currently is 40% of ALL sweeteners added to food products and beverages.

So what again. Ahh, here’s the big so what…
Regular sugar is 50% fructose, 50% glucose.
HFCS is 55% fructose, 45% glucose.

That seemingly small difference of 5% makes a huge difference when it passes your lips.
Fructose is a masterfully stealth robber. Unlike glucose, it DOES NOT trip the chemical reactions and hormones that get your brain to close your mouth and stop eating.

And fructose doesn’t reduce the stomach hormone ghrelin. Ghrelin in that “lion” in your stomach that roars to be fed.

And fructose doesn’t decrease the fat cell hormone adiponectin which makes you more insulin sensitive which in turn helps control appetite and weight.

But WAIT, there’s more…
Fructose is not digested and metabolized – it goes straight to fat production. (It’s used for cholesterol and triglyceride).

You know those “IV drips”… it’s a glucose solution. You can live on it.
If you replace it with a fructose solution – you’ll get fatty liver. That’s not something you will survive.

So all that HFCS you’re subsidizing with your tax dollars is contributing to increased caloric consumption (with less nutrition consumed), raised LDL, lowered HDL, increased triglycerides, decreased satiety sensitivity, increased insulin resistance and some other nasty odds and ends.

Read labels. You’ll be frightened how many products have HFCS.

Oh yea, that soybean subsidy. We get something for that as well… hydrogenated soybean oil, AKA trans-fat.

Makes ya want to buy an island and have your own country sometimes.

More March (recall) madness - Zelnorm

read time: 291 words, just a minute

Novartis drug Zelnorm has been withdrawn from the market per the request of the FDA.
Zelnorm is for relieving constipation. Apparently the FDA thinks the higher risk of chest pain, heart attack and stroke as a result of relieving constipation with Zelnorm is not a good trade off.

What do I think…
Fe-Fi-Fo-FIBER
Enough with the toilet paper conservation. Eat fiber, don’t get constipated.

Our fine ancestors ate about 100 grams of fiber a day.
Us?… 8 grams. Yup, that would be 92% LESS.

And where do you get fiber…
Veggies, fruit, veggies, legumes, veggies, flax seed, nuts, whole grains.

Not only will be spared constipation, but you’ll get some other massive benefits…

• Fiber slows the rate food and nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream – this keeps
  blood sugar and cholesterol in ideal balance and prevents blood sugar spikes. In fact fiber can lower blood sugar (which reduces insulin) as well as diabetes drugs.
• Fiber speeds the rate food passes through the digestive track – this quickly eliminates toxins.
• Fiber promotes weight loss by signaling the brain you’re full, stop eating.
• Fiber has bulk with far less calories than “empty calorie” foods.
• Fiber has been shown to reduce colon cancer by as much as a third and breast cancer by nearly 40%.

Soluble fiber is better than insoluble fiber. Soluble fiber gets digested; insoluble fiber does not.

Oh and if you really need extra help with constipation, there’s Glucomannan - a fiber product made from the root of elephant yams. It’s soluable and one of the most viscous fibers known (absorbs up to 50 times its weight in water). So it will bulk up food in your stomach… you feel full more quickly, you eat fewer calories.

Now go eat your veggies.

Organic, local… decisions, decisions

read time: 236 words, about a minute

Now that organic has transitioned from counter culture to nearly ordinary, we have a replacement counter culture gastro-movement stretching our food consciousness… “local”.

First, a disclaimer… I live in the San Francisco Bay Area which is (a) very food centric; (b) within 500 miles of a heck of a lot of agriculture, including quite a bit of organic.
To say I’m spoiled with choice is an understatement.

Back to local… the definition of local varies a bit depending on what food religion you follow. Some worship within 100 miles, some 200 miles, some 250 miles.
Let’s accept - less than a full passenger car gas tank.

What’s the big deal?
Here are the main issues:

1. environmental. No pesticides make organic produce less environmentally damaging. Put it on a plane and fly it half way round the globe and the environmental impact increases.
Local scores “carbon credits”

2. freshness. If your buying local produce it is likely to be fresher, perhaps more nutrient dense.

3. economy. Support your local economy.

There was a fun article recently in Time - Eating Better Than Organic. The author lives in New York State and wrote from that perspective. Fun - and interesting - read.

Another great book is What To Eat by Marion Nestle. She’s a Professor of Nutrition at New York University. Excellent book. She walks you through a grocery store explaining things in a balanced, realistic way.

Dieting – Give Up?

read time: 147 words, just a minute

The lowest percentage of Americans in 16 years are dieting according to research firm NDP Group as reported by CNN.

At the same time 60% of U.S. adult would like to lose 20 pounds.

So, are these 60% of folks:
convinced that diets don’t work
have given up
waiting for a magic pill

Well it’s true, statistically diets don’t work long term. In fact, diets can ultimately lead to weight gain. Hence the “yo-yo” adjective.

As far as a magic pill, well I know the pharmaceutical companies are working on it. At what cost will it come both financially and to your health? That I don’t know.

The only consistent, sure fire way to maintain a healthy weight is to work with your body not against it. Your body thrives on good food, exercise and tempered stress.
We’ve tried to beat or fool “Mother Nature”… doesn’t work.

Does that steak have a pedigree?

read time: 263 words, about a minute

The FDA has announced it will approve cloned animal products. This includes meat and poultry products as well as dairy products (milk, eggs, cheese, ect.).

What is a cloned animal? They remove the DNA from an egg and replace it with the DNA of another same species animal. (cow with cow, pig with pig, ect.). The egg is then electrically or chemically stimulated in a petri dish to start dividing. After a few days, it’s transplanted into a womb.

So basically the goal is to continue to take “the best” DNA and breed it. In the instance of milking cows, you want the DNA from the cows that produce the most milk.

The FDA claims cloned animals are ‘virtually indistinguishable’ from regular livestock. As such, it’s not necessary to separately distinguish or label them.

Carol Tucker Foreman, Consumer Federation of America director of food policy claims the FDA is ignoring research that shows cloning results in more deformed and dead offspring.

I’m not familiar with the research, but that has been true throughout history when people try to enhance certain characteristics through engineered breeding.

Beyond the health issue, some would argue there is a ethical issue. Some people are opposed to cloning. Heck, this administration has banned human cloning. Why is it not reasonable for people to ethically opposed to animal cloning. I suppose their only choice will be to go vegetarian

Not quite as out in the media is that scientist are currently working on ‘growing meat in a test tube’. Basically, your hamburger will be completely manufactured, no animals involved.

Another new Coke

read time: 158 words, about a minute

Coke intends to market a “nutrient-enhanced carbonated soda”… diet coke ‘fortified with vitamins and minerals’ this coming spring.

I can imagine the commercials now.
Before you fall prey to the “here’s a great way to get your vitamins” line, keep in mind that soda contains:

-> Sugar and/or High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)
Which is strongly associated with liver toxicity, specifically – non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Additionally, HFCS is believed to interfere with messages to the brain that signal satiety… therefore you don’t stop eating when full. And, HFCS is believed to decrease the effectiveness of insulin… leading to overeating and diabetes.
Lastly, a high-sugar diet is linked to cancer, heart disease and diabetes.

-> Phosphoric acid
Calcium is pulled out of the bones to neutralize phosphoric acid. This leads to porous, brittle bones making you more susceptible to bone fractures and osteoporosis.

So maybe Coke will add some synthetic vitamins, but that won’t make it a good thing.

Chocolate coated vitamins

read time: 174 words, about a minute

I’ve been seeing more studies about chocolate lately. What’s the deal?

Well, it’s a mixed bag really.

Chocolate has a “magic” compound called “flavonoids”. Flavonoids are powerful antioxidants. The most noted benefits conferred have been:
- improves heart health by increasing blood flow and reducing platelet stickiness and clotting
- improves bad cholesterol (HDL)
- prevents cell damage and inflammation
- lowers blood pressure
- increases blood flow to the brain which may boost your memory, attention span, reaction time and problem solving

That’s the good stuff.
But the thing about chocolate is it’s generally accompanied by some not good stuff such as sugar and milk.
For instance a dark chocolate bar has more than 4 times the flavonoids than a milk chocolate bar. (And dark chocolate bar has less sugar and no milk).

Chocolate isn’t the only flavonoid wielding food. In fact, it was a few years back when there was everything good to say about tea. Why… flavonoids.

What other foods are high in flavonoids… almonds, apples, beets, blueberries, broccoli, grapes, onions, oranges, pears and red wine.

Eating yourself to starvation

read time: 362 words, about 2 minutes

Due to a surge in worldwide obesity, in 2000, according to the research group Worldwatch Institute, the number of overweight people equaled the number of underweight.
We still see pictures of “starving” people with skin draped over bones. And we work to end “starvation”. How are we reacting to obesity?

Consider that overweight people may be “starving” as well. Not from lack of calories, but from lack of nutrition.

You’re no doubt accustomed to the analogy of food as fuel. You need to eat to “keep going”. Of course you’re also accustomed to needing fuel (gasoline) to make your car “go”. Let’s assume you have a 10 gallon tank. You fill it with gasoline and you’re good to go. What would happen if you filled it with water… it would still be full with 10 gallons of liquid.

You wouldn’t get far. It’s not simply that the tank needs to be “full”. It needs to have a specific kind of liquid that it can convert into the energy that moves the car.

Likewise, “empty calories” may fill you, but they are not convertible into the energy your body needs. So you may be full, but you’re body is still hungry for real nutrition.

Epidemiologists are calling this “hidden hunger”.

Dr. Bruce Ames is a research scientist. He predicts that the problems we currently see associated with obesity are just the beginning of a legacy of far reaching effects.

The lack of micronutrients, says Ames, can upset functions throughout the body. “I think it is likely, that when one input in the metabolic network is inadequate, repercussions will be felt on a large number of systems and lead to degenerative disease.”

Ames has “starved” human cells of micronutrients in a petrie dish. What happens is the cells go through a number of generations and then age prematurely. So the effect is not immediate - but it is catastrophic.

Ames has shown that a mild deficiency of Folate leads to breaks in chromosomes and degrades and damages DNA. The damaged DNA perpetuates and can lead to such diseases as cancer.

With every bite, it’s your choice to nourish and thrive or flood and deprive.

The Twinkie tax

read time: 158 words, just a minute

With health insurance premiums spiraling up (7.7% in 2006), companies who don’t or can’t absorb the cost are choosing one of two options.

Option one – cut the coverage and/or shift some of the cost to the employee.
Option two – take a decidedly active role in persuading employees to make healthier choices.

Some companies have hired dieticians, wellness program managers and health directors. They’re sponsoring exercise programs and nutrition education.

Some companies are applying a “Twinkie tax” – increasing the cost of not healthy food in their cafeteria and using the extra money to subsidize and lower the cost of healthy food. L.L. Bean hiked the price of burgers and lowered the price of salads. Burger and fry sales were cut in half, fruit and salad bar sales doubled.

A healthier employee means less productivity loss due to sickness and (presumably) lower health care costs eventually. An easy to understand investment for the company.

What would you invest for yourself?