The Scoop on Protein Powder: Processed Junk or Useful Life Hack?
Are protein powders useful or just another processed food?
The Drama-Free Truth About Protein
Recently I had the experience of visiting a local personal training studio and trying out a 21 day jump start. I thought it would be a great way to ‘try before I buy’ a gym that was close to me and to see what my peers were doing in business and for the local community. …
Rubber Duckies and Mac & Cheese
My Facebook wall lit up last week with this piece from the Seattle Times, discussing the finding of phthalates in boxed macaroni and cheese. Phthalates are an industrial chemical used to soften plastics. Many of us grew up unwittingly consuming phthalates as we chewed on plastic teething rings and hot drank bath water in which …
Lowering Your Cholesterol with Food
Bile acid sequestrates (Questran, Prevalite, Colestid, Welchol), known as BAS, are utilized to lower elevated LDL cholesterol and are often prescribed for those with elevated cholesterol levels. LDL cholesterol is known as the ‘bad’ cholesterol because it is responsible for bringing cholesterol from the liver into the bloodstream where it has potential to be deposited along the …
Why So Much Hype About the Mediterranean Diet?
The Mediterranean Diet is considered one of the most healthy diets for humankind. It has been well studied over decades and is considered among the best of eating methods due to evidence of increased protection against several diseases (Gotsis et al., 2015). A Mediterranean diet is a plant-based diet that is heavily focused on consumption …
A surprising way fiber contributes to your health:
One of the ways your gut microbes contribute to overall health is through byproducts created by their fermentation of specific fibers in the GI tract. These fibers, known as ‘prebiotics’, resist decomposition and absorption in the upper GI tract but are utilized by bacteria in the colon for energy. These colonic bacteria use specific enzymes to break these …
How Fruits and Vegetables Protect Your Heart
Minimally processed fruits and non-starchy vegetables are, along with legumes, nuts and seeds, consistently linked to better cardiometabolic outcomes. One could effectively argue that they are the cornerstone in reversal of heart disease as demonstrated by Dr. Dean Ornish and Dr. Neal Barnard. Here I will explore some of the existing theories behind the consumption …
Are Your Supplements Full of Shit?
Supplement quality is a constant challenge here in the United States for many reasons. One of the main challenges is that the FDA, the government agency responsible for ensuring safety and efficacy of supplements, is heavily employed by individuals with significant ties to commercial supplement interests. Another challenge is that funding for the FDA is …
What Supplements Should You Be Taking?
I’m not a fan of supplements and don’t make a big deal about making sure everyone who sees me is on them. I detest swallowing pills (even though I swallow many a day) and completely empathize with the low adherence rate most people have when it comes to taking a supplement. However, it’s a sad …
Inflammation Can Make You Fat
Obesity is associated with chronic, low-level inflammation. In some cases it can be hard to determine if obesity or inflammation came first, as each condition feeds upon the other. For the purpose of this brief article I will exclusively discuss inflammation’s role in obesity promotion. Inflammation can promote obesity through disrupting the body’s ability to regulate …