fats and oils, the truth

Fats and oils-The Truth.

As an exercise and nutrition coach, I am constantly asked about fat, is it good is it bad? Which fat should I eat? There is a lot of confusion so I am hoping that this article will help answer any questions you may have about fats, and also give you some good information that you can out into use.

Quite simply fats and oils are essential to our optimal health. They are needed as building blocks for our cells and also for our main hormones. Using high quality fats and oils is the key however.

So lets look at the fats to avoid. Most of the processed foods we eat are full of the wrong fat for us, these are known as Trans Fatty Acids (TFAs) Why are they so bad? Well if I told you that the structural makeup of these TFAs are closer to plastic than actual fat would that make you think twice about eating them?

TFAs are thought to disrupt lipoprotein receptors in the cell, which impair the body’s ability to process LDL cholesterol (low density) i.e. bad cholesterol. This eventually leads to a build up in the blood and now you have someone with high cholesterol.

Now for the shocking truth. When people are told they have high cholesterol, they are told to reduce their animal fat intake, butter, cheese, eggs, and follow a low fat diet and eat more vegetables. They are told to substitute certain things like butter for margarine. The sad thing is this often makes things worse.

Margarine is known to have very high levels of TFAs within it. Many studies have shown a link between margarine and heart disease. It has been shown that we eat between 11-28 grams of TFAs a day. Now to me that is a lot of plastic.

So we have all heard about good fats or essential fatty acids (EFAs) these are fats that our bodies cannot produce and we must get them from the foods we eat. Essential fats are also known as omega 3 and omega 6 EFAs. These fats are found in oils such as corn and sunflower, oily fish, leafy green vegetables, nuts and seeds eggs and animal sources. The ideal ratio for omega 3 omega 4 is 1:4.

Essential fats are vital to brain and nervous system maintenance and repair. There are numerous learning and behavioral disorders associated with a lack of these essential fats in the diet. These include, Stroke, Cancer, Insulin resistance, depression, Alzheimer’s, Arthritis and many, many more.

Just one more thing. In our quest for a healthy diet we are told to reduce our Saturated fat intake. I have a problem with this. Saturated fat was our primary energy source for centuries, yet we eat less saturated fat now yet heart attack and stroke has continued to increase. If saturated fats were to blame for all this, then most of us would not be here today because for generations our families would have eaten a diet high in saturated fat. The confusion I think is that saturated fat and Trans fatty acids are one in the same. This simply is not true, the way to remember it is, if it comes from natural sources and is eaten sensibly and in moderation it is good for us and essential, however if it has been processed and made artificially we really should try to avoid these foods.

If you require any further help understanding the Fats Myth, or would like a full nutritional screen please contact me at www.exercisenutritioncoach.co.uk

How important is sleep in your weight loss efforts

Disrupting your sleep/wake cycle will stress your body and increase your chances of gaining weight and putting a stop to your weigh loss because of hormone imbalances.

It is fair to say that generally as a race we sleep when its dark and wake when its light. This is the same for nearly all-living creatures. However we live in an age of 24 hour working and playing 365 days of the year. All this aside we are still tuned into a natural rhythm of natural light and darkness.

You’re probably thinking, why do we not just fall asleep when it becomes dark, if we are set to the light/dark cycle? Light stimulates our senses whether it comes from natural or artificial light. The hormone cortisol is released in response to many things, light being one of them. Cortisol is known as the stress hormone and is released and is released when the body is under any kind of stress and light is a form of stress. You see your body receives light as a signal that it is time to move, work, or whatever maybe needed.

When the sun rises cortisol levels rise, peaking between 6 and 9am. They then drop a little but continue to stay elevated through to midday when we are active. As the day draws to a close cortisol levels drop allowing for the release of melatonin, allowing for the increase in repair hormones.

Disrupting the sleep/wake cycle, will stunt your goal of increasing your fitness or weight loss especially weight loss. If you go to bed after midnight, you have already missed out on two hours of repair time. If you have persistently gone to bed after 11 or midnight, you will find it difficult to train your body to fall asleep at 10.30. However you will eventually recondition the body to release the sleep hormones earlier and follow the natural sleep/wake cycles.

Here are some ways to optimize your sleep/wake cycle.

Try and get to sleep before 10.30.

Keep the lights of for about 2 hours before bed, so if you sit up until then watching TV turn all the house lights of to minimize the amount of light stimulation before bed.

Avoid drinking coffee in the evening, or other stimulants that contain caffeine.

Do not eat late at night. If you do and you go to bed to sleep your digestive system will still be working on your late night snack which will mean a disturbed nights sleep to your body.

Water, water and more water. If your body becomes dehydrated it becomes stressed and as we have already mentioned stress hormones are released, which again disturbs our ability to get good sleep.

Exercise regularly, this can help you get a good nights sleep Just be sure to be aware of the time you train, if you train in the evening intensely for more that 30 minutes it can increase cortisol and again disturb you sleep/wake cycle.

If you would like more info on this subject please contact Absolute training and nutrition at info@ExerciseNutritionCoach.co.uk.

How to rid the Junk

How to rid the junk

January 6th, 2010

One of my clients recently told me a funny story.

He had told his family that following christmas and come the New Year there should be no junk food in the house.

As soon as the new year arrived he came down stairs following New Year and found that the junk was not gone. There was cake, chocolates, sweets, the usual stuff left over after christmas.

So following this he got is wheelbarrow put all of the junk into it and

NOW THIS IS THE GOOD BIT

He wheeled it out into the garden and poured petrol on it and burnt it all up.

Now that is how you rid junk food from your diet.

So next time you tell yourself “once this last biscuit is eaten thats it” Just burn it.

Five tips to shift the weight

Five tips to shift the weight

#1.Eating small meals every 2-3 waking hours will increase your metabolism and reduce fat storage. Make sure that these are healthy meals containing balanced amounts of protein, carbohydrates and fat.

#2.The easiest way to effortlessly lose weight is to not eat three hours before bed. It has been proven that not eating three hours before bed reduces fat storage throughout the night.

#3. A great way to burn off excess fat is to walk or jog for as little as 15-20 minutes first thing in the morning. Performing a calorie burning activity right when you wake up is more effective since your body is depleted of calories, and is forced to pull energy from fat stores. A personal trainer can help you identify your ideal target heart rate for maximum fat burn.

#4. Fat free foods, when eaten in excess, will still be stored as fat! Fat free cookies and crackers are made up of a whole lot of SUGAR! Yep, the secret is out! Sugar is just as fattening of a substance than fat itself, when eaten in excess.

#5. Set fitness goals for yourself, write them down and post them where you will see them everyday. Your goal may be to lose 5 pounds, to lose 5 inches off your waist. Make sure that you are very specific with your goals, vague goals will get you nowhere. A qualified personal trainer can help you set your goals and guide you to them.