This is why you are NOT healthy.!

Now that I have your attention, Recently it has come to my attention that there are not a whole lot of members on the boards that truly understand nutrition.. So I would like to take this time to use my expertise in the field to inform, And maybe help guide some of the members to live a more healthy lifestyle...

Lets start at the beginning.. How to read a Nutrition label, this photo will give you a basic idea on how to read the labels..
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/cd814397c5af.jpg[/atsimg]

So moving on..lets talk for a minute, about diet food vs normal food.. just because it says diet or reduced fat, does not make it healthy. In fact in most cases it is usually quite the opposite. Think about diet soda for a minute.. It contains a known poison (aspartame),As a sweetener in place of sugar, to cut out the calories. I can't stress to you enough how much you should avoid diet soda.. You should avoid any aspartame containing product like you want to avoid a heart attack. So that being said, back to the subject.. Lets use peanut butter as a example.. Lets compare Skippy regular peanut butter to Skippy reduced fat peanut butter..

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/7843eaa06fa9.jpg[/atsimg]

Now as you can see the Skippy regular has 16g of fat, 7g of carbs, and only 3g of sugar.. While the Skippy reduced fat has 12g of fat, 15g of carbs, and 4g of sugar.. So whats bad about that you ask ?, They cut out some of the fat right.. This will make it better for you right ? Qrong!! The fat in peanut butter is good fat, It is almost NEVER stored, and the body burns it for fuel. So you see we now have traded healthy fats, that can't be stored.. For more unhealthy carbs and a extra gram of sugar.. not all fats are bad for you..In fact you need some fat in your diet. But you need to be careful what kinds of fat you choose to include.. Witch brings me to my next point..


Fat is not the enemey
======================

A lot of people are unaware of the fact that not all fat's are bad..In fact some fat's are essential for the body too
function properly.. So what are the essential ones ? And what are the bad ones..? Lets start with monounsaturated fats,

These fats can be found in nuts, canola, and olive oil.. Monounsaturated fat lowers total cholesterol..And they also
help with weight loss goals.

Next on the list is polyunsaturated fats..These fats are found in salmon, tuna fish, corn, soy, and pretty much all seafood..This fat is typically referred to as omega-3, These fats also help lower cholesterol, And are considered
essential for heart health.

Now the bad fats. Saturated fat is first on this list. Saturated fats raise total blood cholesterol,And are almost always stored.

Next trans fats, trans fats were invented when scientists began to "hydrogenate" liquid oils, so that they could withstand better in food production process, and the end result provided a better shelf life. this fat should always be avoided.. First of all it is not natural, second the body will almost always store it.

So now you know a little about essential fatty acids, And of course fatty acids to avoid. moving on to Carbs,

Fast, and Slow burning carbs.
=============================
So what is the difference.. Fast carbs (bad carbs) break down into glucose very fast and stimulate insulin really fast into the bloodstream, effectively spiking your blood sugar level. now when I say bad carbs I say it because these are the carbs people on a diet usually try to avoid..

However there not always bad the best time to spike your insulin levels is post workout (after a long jog,strength training, etc.) Basically after physical activity. But you should do this in moderation and always combine with protein. These kinds of carbs are typically found in cookies, chips,candy bars etc.

Now on to the slow burning carbs (good carbs). Slow burning carbs are usually found in whole grain products, oatmeal, rice, bread etc.., Now these carbs burn slower.. In general since the body takes a little longer to break these down, they give you energy for a longer period of time.. Plus they will keep you feeling full for longer periods of time..Further helping you lose weight if that is you goal.People often refer to these carbs as complex carbohydrates.

Now to finish things off i would like to discuss the importance of protein..

protein
========
This is the definition for protein, Any of a group of complex organic macromolecules that contain carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and usually sulfur and are composed of one or more chains of amino acids. proteins are fundamental components of all living cells and include many substances, such as enzymes, hormones, and antibodies, that are necessary for the proper functioning of an organism. they are essential in the diet of animals for the growth and repair of tissue and can be obtained from foods such as meat, fish, eggs, milk, and legumes.

Now I shouldn't have to tell you how important protein is to a diet.. A diet high in protein will give you more muscle definition, And the more muscle you have means that, the more calories that you consume won't be stored.. they will go towards fueling and building muscle tissue. This will lead to minimal fat gain as, most of what you consume (as long as you make healthy decisions) will not be stored by the body, it will burn it trying to sustain muscle mass.

I would like to add I worked in the nutrition field for almost 4 years, and I was a personal trainer for 2 of those years. so any diet questions, or fitness questions you may have I would be more then happy to answer for you.

reply to post by TechVampyre

Great info TV, thanks
Do you happen to know how to identify the origins of the food or it's ingredients?

spec

reply to post by TechVampyre


It's nice to see others on here watch what they eat as well. I scrutinize the label of everything I eat. Even then I don't really trust it.

I avoid all processed food to the best of my ability, regrettably they put their garbage in almost everything. If it is non processed and fresh, it will probably be laced with pesticides, steroids, or antibiotics.

There is not much one can do in this modern society to escape it.

Star and Flag.

Just a quick note for those who wonder how the calorie count is totaled:

1 Gram Carb = 4 Calories
1 Gram Protein = 4 Calories
1 Gram Fat = 9 Calories

Always handy to double check the calories on labels, or if you are unsure of how many calories are in a food type

Just to add to the OP's comments on carbs - Simple carbs have a high Glycemic Index, and complex carbs have a lower GI - which means they break down slower - kind of a sustained release.

www.glycemicindex.com...

This is also an excellent resource:

www.nal.usda.gov...

At the risk of subtle digression here, since you have some expertise in this field, what do you think about vegetarian health, as in can one be healthy and get all the nutrients they need without eating meat?
You can u2u me if ya want, I just always wondered about this and have heard mixed versions. The aminos in meat are unique to meat and we need those? or are there supplements for that?
Thanks for your consideration.

spec

This is nice information for people who are looking into taking a more healthy approach to their diet.

There are a lot of tricks used by these food manufacturers to make things look more healthy than they really are. A lot of folks look at reduced fat products thinking they are healthy like you said but with the reduction of fats comes an addition of sugars and carbs in almost all applications...

With all of these tricks it really can be complicated to pick out truly healthy foods and it does take a decent amount of research to build up the necessary knowledge to be a smart consumer of healthy foods.

Hats off to you, it annoys the tits off of me how ignorant people are about nutrition and what's good for them!

Originally posted by speculativeoptimist
reply to post by TechVampyre

 

Great info TV, thanks

Do you happen to know how to identify the origins of the food or it's ingredients?

spec

In most cases the food product will have a Label on the side that tells you the ingredients. And as for the origins, They can ususaly be found out by the bar code..Here is a article for more info.. Link

reply to post by TechVampyre


Now that's valuable, especially knowing what come from China! Much thanks

spec

reply to post by TechVampyre


Very informative post! I will look forward to any more posts you decide to put up regarding health and nutrition since it is singularly the most important thing we should be paying attention to in a day. Perhaps if they taught a more informative health education in schools we wouldn't have the problems with obesity in America as we do now. But perhaps that is exactly how they want it in order to help control the majority of the population.

Originally posted by speculativeoptimist
At the risk of subtle digression here, since you have some expertise in this field, what do you think about vegetarian health, as in can one be healthy and get all the nutrients they need without eating meat?
You can u2u me if ya want, I just always wondered about this and have heard mixed versions. The aminos in meat are unique to meat and we need those? or are there supplements for that?
Thanks for your consideration.

spec

I have always said that is more of a personal choice.. (though I always recommend a more balanced diet) Amino acids can be supplemented to get the Beef amino's, Here is a good product I always recommend for that purpose Link

Thank you all for your interest in the subject! I'm just trying to help out a little, I have Seen more posts lately with the complete WRONG information..One of my favorites was a argument over if aspartame was safe or not.

Hmmm....I would have suspected that I was unhealthy because I smoke four cartons of cigarettes a week, eat nothing but Taco Bell and Sara Lee cheesecake, drink primarily gin and orange juice or whatever malt liquor is on sale at the corner gas station, have unprotected sex with either males or females i meet at the homeless shelter across the road from my house, live next to a factory that put a pile of depleted uranium about 30 feet from my back door, and occasionally much on the paint chips that fall from the ceiling of my rather dilapidated section 8 apartment.

Originally posted by MMPI2
Hmmm....I would have suspected that I was unhealthy because I smoke four cartons of cigarettes a week, eat nothing but Taco Bell and Sara Lee cheesecake, drink primarily gin and orange juice or whatever malt liquor is on sale at the corner gas station, have unprotected sex with either males or females i meet at the homeless shelter across the road from my house, live next to a factory that put a pile of depleted uranium about 30 feet from my back door, and occasionally much on the paint chips that fall from the ceiling of my rather dilapidated section 8 apartment.

That would explain it HAHA What are you a super hero? By all text book definitions..You should be dead.

Originally posted by MMPI2
Hmmm....I would have suspected that I was unhealthy because I smoke four cartons of cigarettes a week, eat nothing but Taco Bell and Sara Lee cheesecake, drink primarily gin and orange juice or whatever malt liquor is on sale at the corner gas station, have unprotected sex with either males or females i meet at the homeless shelter across the road from my house, live next to a factory that put a pile of depleted uranium about 30 feet from my back door, and occasionally much on the paint chips that fall from the ceiling of my rather dilapidated section 8 apartment.

So I'm guessing you live in Detroit lol

reply to post by TechVampyre


Good information in the OP. But this is why people should be careful taking nutritional advice from a personal trainer. You seem to have a poor understanding of fatty acid metabolism. Here's a few problems I have...

- Trans Fat should be at the top of the list of "bad" fats. Period. They will hands down, literally break metabolic regulatory function.

- Trans Fats are found in nature.

- Trans Fats aren't stored in the body...they are metabolized after spending quite some time wreaking havoc.

- Polyunsaturated fats are not only omega 3's (DHA, EPA, ALA) but also omega 6 (Linoleic Acid). These are essential fatty acids due to the human body's is inability to manufacture them endogenously.

- We don't necessarily need more omega-3's in our diet, but rather less omega-6. While omega-3's are anti-inflammatory, they are also very unstable and are susceptible to oxidation. Therefore, increasing n-3 consumption to match n-6 consumption can have negative effects on the cardiovascular system (oxidative stress)

- You keep referring to total cholesterol and lowering cholesterol when there is no real connection between high cholesterol (over 200) and heart attack incidence. This is why doctors focus more on LDL/HDL proteins and VLDL triglycerides.

- Saturated fats, especially the Long chain saturated fatty acids like palmitic acid, are the most efficient fuel source in the body and are the preferred source (except the brain which requires glucose) while at rest and during light exercise.

- You seem to think dietary saturated fats are hard to burn and almost always stored and I think I know where you got this idea. Palmitic acid is the number one type of body fat stored in adypocites. That fat can come from dietary fat and carb and protein sources.

- If saturated fat is so bad for us, why does our body convert excess glucose (which is bad) and fructose (doubly so) to palmitic acid to be stored and then released for fuel while we sleep for 8 hours?

- Saturated fat doesn't increase cholesterol in everyone. It's sort of like how sodium doesn't increase hypertension in everyone. It depends on the person. But it really doesn't matter as total cholesterol is a poor predictor of heart attacks anyway.

- Truth is, saturated fat is, if anything, slightly beneficial. It certainly isn't bad for us. www.ajcn.org...

- You neglected to mention the deleterious effects of processed vegetable oils, specifically those polyunsaturated n-6.

The information on carbs and protein looked pretty spot on.

If you want a good read about nutrition and the history of dietary reccomendations...have a look here: abovetopsecret.com...

i couldn't of said it better myself! iv been in the nutrition industry for some time now and it gets to me when these young timers come all out thinking they know everything. go back to the book for a while son although you got the easy err stuff right,

reply to post by 1beerplease


HA, What kind of fool do you take me for.. You know nothing. And if you do then let me ask you this..Why don't you please share some of your wealth of knowledge with us.? .Otherwise just go away. I won't allow you to dirty up any of my threads..

I have been involved in a few of yours and lets just say I don't like or agree with your style. Enough said.

reply to post by TechVampyre



whoa, chill out man no need to get so defensive. im just saying you should maybe go back to the book and revise over what you THINK you no. oh and no need for dobbing on me for that big quote. lol some people on this site need to get a life! peace out

Originally posted by 1beerplease
reply to post by TechVampyre

 

whoa, chill out man no need to get so defensive. im just saying you should maybe go back to the book and revise over what you THINK you no. oh and no need for dobbing on me for that big quote. lol some people on this site need to get a life! peace out

If you have anything relevant to add to this thread, please do so..or otherwise leave..Thank you. And yes you are right I probably should hit the books again.. As, it has been awhile..

If you wish to contribute to the subject please feel free to do so..But any off topic comments will be alerted and deleted.