Weight Loss Supplements Contain Hidden Drugs
Wow. as if being ineffective wasn’t bad enough, many weight loss supplements contain drugs that you didn’t know were in there. Potentially harmful drugs to boot.
For example, Supreme Slim 5.7 was found to contain sildenafil and phenolphthalein recently. On November 9, 2016, the FDA warned consumers not to buy or use this weight loss supplement.
Strangely, both of these drugs are prescribed for erectile dysfunction: Sildenafil, is the active ingredient in Viagra and tadalafil, the active ingredient in Cialis. These drugs can cause symptoms like headache and flushing, and can interact with medications containing nitrates such as nitroglycerine, resulting in dangerously low blood pressure.
- Published in Weight Loss
The BEST Weight Loss Diet
I am often asked “what is the best weight loss diet” to which I reply “the one you can follow for the rest of your life” because, honestly, that’s what it takes. Most people who lose weight by dieting will regain all the weight they have lost within five years unless they follow a fairly rigid and controlled diet.
Personally, I don’t recommend dieting AT ALL but if you really want to know which diet is best, read on. I am pasteing in a blog article by Dr. Asker Jeukendrup of My Sport Science, who summed it up nicely (blue text):
What’s the ‘best’ weight loss diet? Tough question right? I’ve been thinking a lot about this recently especially in light of some things I’ve read on twitter, blogs, Facebook, Tumblr… there are certainly a lot of opinions out there and everyone is convinced they’re right and that their diet is best/better/bestest!
- Published in Weight Loss
Best Pumpkin Muffins EVER
Muffins as a great tasting pre-workout snack? Got a hankerin’ for something made with pumpkin? Here’s a recipe to meet both those needs and guess what, they’re good for you too.
Why? Because they’re made with flaxseed, walnuts, and whole wheat flour, all nutritional powerhouses. Flaxseeds and walnuts are high in omega 3 fatty acids and whole wheat flour is an excellent source of B vitamins, magnesium, and fiber.
And guess what? Canned pumpkin is an excellent source of beta-carotene (powerful anti-oxidant). In fact, canned pumpkin has three times more beta-carotene than fresh pumpkin.
- Published in Recipes
Sneaky Little Sports Drinks
There’s a plethora of sports drinks on the market, and you’d have to be living under a rock not to know it. But are they really necessary? Do they deliver on what they promise? And is it possible to make your own sports drink for a lot less money?
Let’s take those questions one at a time. Are sports drinks necessary? For people in certain situations, yes. For example, after prolonged exercise (longer than 60 minutes), some sports drinks can help replenish electrolytes that the body excretes through sweat. Electrolytes (including sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium) carry electrical charges that help stimulate muscles and nerves. They also regulate the amount of fluids throughout your body, which affects blood pressure, blood volume, and cellular function. In a nutshell, electrolytes are good, and if you’re a “salty sweater” – that is, someone with a high sweat rate – it’s especially important that you replenish electrolytes after intense activity.
- Published in General Nutrition, Sports Nutrition
Are You a Fe-Woman?
So you’re training for a 5k (or 10k or marathon or whatever) and you have a training plan. You know your heart rate, your training zones, and your mile pace. But none of it will do you any good if you are low in iron.
Say what? Being low in iron can negate all the hard training you do? That’s right, it can. In fact, the iron content in your body’s tissues is one of the main factors that determines your aerobic capacity, which of course, greatly affects athletic performance.
The body uses iron to produce oxygen transporters – such as hemoglobin and myoglobin – and to produce energy by serving as a cofactor to many energy-using enzymes. Strenuous training increases the physiological demand for oxygen which then increases the demand on the transport systems as well. Hemoglobin then carries oxygen from the lungs to all bodily tissues and myoglobin in the muscle stores oxygen for use during exercise.
- Published in General Nutrition, Sports Nutrition
St. George Ironman 70.3 Race Report
Ironman St George 70.3 (half-Ironman) is the first of three 70.3 races I signed up for this year (yikes!) and will most likely be the hardest one I’ll do.. With steep hills on the bike and run, the course itself is harder than most 70.3’s but what made this one even harder (almost unbearable) was the COLD RAIN that fell on us during the bike portion of the event. Ugh!
Pre-Race – My friends, Jade, Jim, and Joe, all part of the Greeley Triathlon Club, traveled out to St George with me to do the race (from Greeley, CO). All three of these guys are experienced triathletes with 15+ full Ironman races between all of us.
- Published in Race Reports
The Intuitive Eater’s Bill of Rights
The following piece was written by Evelyn Tribole, MS RD, co-author of Intuitive Eating. I was lucky enough to take a 9-week intensive course on Intuitive Eating with Evelyn and am now using this method with my clients. I’d like to share this with you and wish you a happy and healthy holiday season!
Here it is….
What if peace on earth could begin at the dinner table? Imagine experiencing an inner peace, free from incessant worry about what to eat. It’s hard to enjoy the holidays when you are preoccupied with eating or worried about what to say to relatives who have an annual tradition of telling you what and how to eat.
- Published in Health at Every Size, Intuitive Eating
A Real Weight Loss Success Story
Two days ago I posted a blog article about a man who lost 150 lbs using an app called Lose It. I don’t think this is a real success story because he ended up binge-eating on food because he restricted himself so much (aka dieting).
Today, I am sharing a story of a woman who lost 185 lbs the “right” way (if there is such a thing): she made minor changes to her diet and increased her activity level. That’s right, she did NOT go on a diet but merely changed the type of foods she consumed and exercised consistently.
- Published in Weight Loss
Food Tracker a Success?
Steve Lochner lost a lot of weight. He did it with the help of a food tracker app called “Lose It”. Lochner’s goal was to consume fewer than 2,500 calories a day, and he used a food tracker called “Lose It” to record everything he ate and drank for three years. The result? He lost 100 pounds.
A true success story. Right?
Maybe not.
I read about Lochner in a recent New York Times article that said people who record their food intake are more successful with weight loss than those who don’t. In fact, several studies show this to be true, and now a dozen food tracking apps are on the market.
- Published in Diet Reviews, Weight Loss
A Beer a Day Keeps the Doctor Away??
Quite possibly so! Lest you think you are dreaming (go ahead and pinch yourself), there really are significant health bennies to having a beer after a workout.
According to new research, both regular and non-alcoholic beer (NA) have natural chemicals in them called “polyphenols”: substances that help reduce inflammation and the risk for an upper respiratory tract illness (URTI).
In fact, some 2000 organic compounds have been identified in beer, including 50 polyphenolic compounds from barley and hops. A liter contains between 366 and 875 mg of polyphenols, making it a significant contributor to the average American’s phenolic intake. To top it off, polyphenols from beer are rapidly absorbed and have been shown to increase plasma antioxidant capacity in humans.
- Published in General Nutrition, Sports Nutrition