ChartsBin.com Review

Are you a data fanatic who dreams in stats?  Maybe you have a public health interest or are in grad school and want to show off to a professor?  This is a great link to demonstrate which countries rank high on calories supply per capita, nutrition and BMI, Genetically Modified Crops, and more.  

Check it out here, http://chartsbin.com/graph/food_and_agriculture.

'Tis The (Swimsuit) Season: Do Certain Foods 'Burn Fat'?

Can I shot gun hot sauce because it’ll rev my metabolism as the ads claim?  Do those added boosts at the over-priced café protein shakes really work? 

Fat burning is such a great cliché term to get people to buy stuff: green tea, chia seeds, ‘energy shots’, spicy food.  But with swimsuit season amongst us, what do we really need to eat to burn fat? 

·         Eat less.  This is the number one way that no one really wants to hear.

·         Vegetables that are NOT corn, peas, beans.  Green leafy vegetables and cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower) use more calories than they contain which would help keep you full with a calorie deficit.

·         Protein sources (tofu, meat, beans, nuts) can help increase the release of human growth hormone (HGH).

o   Side Note: HGH is a somatotropin or somatropin.  These are peptide hormones (peptides are the building blocks of protein) that increase growth through cell production in humans.  It only works on certain kinds of cells.  Growth hormone is used to treat children’s growth disorders and is only available legally from pharmacies, it’s use is also in livestock and you’ll notice milk labels that are rBST free or free from this growth hormone.  The safety of HGH has not been tested in clinical trials but the body can make its own naturally and regulate itself in the pituitary gland.

·         Another way is to help thyroid function by eating (notice not taking oral supplements) foods that are high in selenium and zinc (eggs are a good example as are oysters). 

·         Dodging processed foods or the inner aisles of the grocery store helps as well. 

·         As always, the best way to burn fat is to exercise.

Gina Lesako RD, LD is the SCAN blog coordinator, those interested in writing for SCAN can email her directly at glesako@gmail.com.  (Resolve to increase your online exposure in 2013!)

She can also be found blogging at http://dietitianseatchocolatetoo.blogspot.com/).  Find her on SCAN: http://www.scandpg.org/dietitians/15720/

More Brainpower!

Remember back in grade school discussing the brain & the different parts of the brain? Chuckling at the possible fact that boys used the left side of their brain and girls used the right side of their brain. Let's take a quick look at the five sections:

1. The cerebrum which controls your thinking and voluntary muscles 

2. The cerebellum controls your coordination including balancing and movement.

3. The brain stem is the main channel for sending messages all throughout your body. It regulates breathing, blood circulation and the involuntary muscles such as the regulation of the heart 

4. The pituitary gland controls hormonal growth and the hormones responsible for metabolism 

5. Last but not least the Hypothalamus which regulates body temperature

The Nervous System is so complex with millions of neurons connecting to other neurons and as you grow the brain creates more connections between the neurons making it easier to perform many other functions. So when you were presented with those brain-teasers, you were making more neuron connections in your brain! Technically your brain is getting bigger! 

Well, just like those brain teasers regular exercise has been shown to substantially improve memory also showing that certain types of exercise improve different cognitive functions.

In a study conducted at the University of British Colombia, they recruited dozens of women between the ages of 70-80 with mild cognitive impairment randomly assigning them to six-months of supervised exercise in three different categories: lifting weights, brisk walking and stretch/toning groups. 

After six months, the toning group scored worse on memory and the women who walked or weight trained performed greater on any of the cognitive test with a variation that the women who walked showed greater gains in verbal memory then those who lifted weights.

This suggested that different types of exercise improve different types of cognitive function. "Teresa Liu-Ambrose, an associate professor in the Brain Research Center at the University of British Columbia who oversaw the experiments with older women, is that for the most robust brain health, it’s probably advisable to incorporate both aerobic and resistance training. It seems that each type of exercise “selectively targets different aspects of cognition,” she says, probably by sparking the release of different proteins in the body and brain."

Sources:

http://kidshealth.org/kid/htbw/brain.html

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/10/how-exercise-may-boost-the-brain

Christa Petersen is currently the Student Blog Coordinator for SCAN students & enjoying every minute of it! She currently is finishing up her Bachelors Degree at Montclair State University and will be entering into her Dietetic Internship at the College of Saint Elizabeth this coming fall. Christa is an outdoorsy person found running on a sunny day, growing a herb garden, working out to high intensity workouts and creating recipes that have optimal nutrition in them. She also has dabbled into keeping up-to-date her own blog named "Teaspoon of Delight" incorporating healthy recipes, tools for portion control and fun facts sheets to leading an overall healthy lifestyle. She can't wait to become a Registered Dietitian & share her passion with many other individuals! 

Junk In The Trunk: The Body Fat Post

Fat fits into fashion trends between curvaceous Botticelli paintings to lean 20’s flappers and super skinny supermodels.  These three feminine body times present with one common thing: varying levels of body fat.  So call it what you must but it plays a Dr. Jekyll Mr. Hyde role in the body.

Body fat, formally known as adipose tissue to your sophomore level anatomy course acts as a layer of protection from the elements .  Depending on its storage location will determine if it’s helpful to your body or harmful.  Studies show that abdominal fat that is nicely packed around organs, AKA visceral fat acts as the Darth Vader of the adipose tissue solar system.  Visceral fat can decrease metabolism by increasing the stress hormone cortisol.  Other nasty habits of visceral fat include: insulin resistance (a precursor to Diabetes), increased risk for heart disease/high blood pressure, and the always under the radar, fatty liver disease.

There is a Luke Skywalker to this equation with subcutaneous fat.  It acts as “the good” fat that annoyingly bulges over too tight jeans creating a ‘muffin top’.  It’s not terrible.  It’s the creator of curves and junk in the truck.  Subcutaneous fat is a piece in the weight regulation system.  It has leptin (which keeps you full but also lets the body know to release or store fat), adiponectin acts to help lower blood sugar (it decreases triglyceride content in muscle).

Ahima, Rexford, et al. "Role of leptin in the neuroendocrine response to fasting." Nature. 382 (1996): 250 - 252. Web. 1 May. 2013. <http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v382/n6588/abs/382250a0.html>.

Yamauchi, T., et al. "The fat-derived hormone adiponectin reverses insulin resistance associated with both lipoatrophy and obesity." Nature Medicine. 7. (2001): 941 - 946 . Web. 1 May. 2013. <http://www.nature.com/nm/journal/v7/n8/abs/nm0801_941.html>. 

Gina Lesako RD, LD is the SCAN blog coordinator, those interested in writing for SCAN can email her directly at glesako@gmail.com.  (Resolve to increase your online exposure in 2013!)

She can also be found blogging at http://dietitianseatchocolatetoo.blogspot.com/).  Find her on SCAN: http://www.scandpg.org/dietitians/15720/

Produce Sticker Cheat Sheet

Body Building Basics Part Two

To follow up on last months, introduction to nutrition and body building, here is the second half, enjoy!

We left off with appropriate ratios for carbohydrates, protein, and fat (50-60%, 25-30%, and 20% respectively).  Fat levels are kept to 20% as “a high-fat diet appears to impair high intensity exercise capacity relative to a high-carbohydrate diet” (Lambert, Frank, and Evans 317-327).

Source: basichealthtips.net

A study in the journal of Sports Medicine, showed that a diet low in saturated animal fat and refined foods/carbohydrates had a 20% decrease in the testosterone level.  This is insufficient research to indicate if saturated fat increases testosterone/muscle mass, more research needs done in this area.  A Journal of Applied Physiology indicated that an increase in testosterone is related to an increase in muscle mass by increasing protein synthesis. 

Post-Workout nutrition and meals are a crucial component to building muscle.  The goal is to keep the body in an anabolic state where the body is synthesizing protein vs. a catabolic state where protein is being used as energy.  This explains why it is difficult to lose fat mass and build muscle simultaneously, during the weight loss phase of a diet/exercise program an individual can expect to lose fat and muscle as muscle is used over fat as energy when inadequate calories are consumed.  Going back to post workout meal consumption, Esmarck et al. reported that the consumption of 10 g protein, 7 g carbohydrates, and 3 g of fat (roughly the equivalent of 10 oz of 1% milk) increased muscle mass post workout immediately.  “When this same supplement was ingested 2 hours after resistance exercise in a separate group of individuals, no increase in muscle mass was observed” (Lambert, Frank, and Evans 317-327). 

Esmarck B, Andersen JL, Olsen S, et al. Timing of postexercise protein intake is important for muscle hypertrophy with resistance training in elderly humans. Journal of Physiology 2001; 535 (Pt ): 31-11)

Rennie MJ, Tipton KD.   Protein and amino acid metabolism repletion after high-intensity intermittent exercise during and after exercise and the effects of nutrition. Annual Review Physiology 1977; 42: 129-32, Nutrition 2000; 20: 457-83. 

From Our SCAN Students: Do Our Bodies Really Need A Juice Detox?

Detoxing, juicing, cleansing, these seem to be the latest buzzwords.  If you belong to a gym, yoga studio, or other exercise group, you have likely heard these words once or one too many times.  Also, many gyms are even offering discounts on cleanses if you purchase them directly through them.  This raises a couple of questions – what exactly is this doing to the body?  Is this really healthy? Does this help shed pounds? How safe are these?

You’ve probably heard of some of the more popular examples of these detoxes and cleanses, which include the Blue Print Cleanse, The Master Cleanse, Organic Avenue, and Ritual Cleanse.

Let’s take a look at what these cleanses are actually doing to the body.  While upfront it looks like these cleanses are good for you, reducing toxins, triacylglycerol, and cholesterol levels, it’s been found that the levels return to their normal state once the body is back on solid foods.  While many individuals are jumping to these cleanses as a way to detox the body, it’s really unnecessary.  The body already naturally removes most toxins, that is the function of our colon, kidneys and liver. 

For those individuals looking to shed a few pounds, the juice cleanses may be a quick fix, but that is because most of what is lost is water weight.  These cleanses vastly reduce your caloric intake, so your body release glycogen for extra energy.  The glycogen then holds on to the water in your body, so when the glycogen is used, the water weight is lost.  When resuming a normal diet, the water weight returns to the body.

Is this harmful?  For a few days, no, you’re not going to do any major damage to the body.  However, over time juices and cleanses are depriving your body of calories and essential nutrients.  Calories are energy and the body needs this energy to function properly.  Reduced calories can also lead to loss of lean muscle mass if there is a significant reduction in protein.

And if this isn’t enough to make you want to keep eating actual food instead of liquid for your meals, these detoxes are not cheap.  They can run upwards of $100/day to drink your meals!

http://news.health.com/2012/12/31/detoxing-a-guide-to-popular-juice-cleanses/

http://io9.com/5976465/enough-already-with-the-juice-cleanses

http://todayhealth.today.com/_news/2012/12/17/15967693-can-exercise-detox-your-body-its-not-about-the-sweat?lite

http://www.shape.com/weight-loss/weight-loss-strategies/better-way-try-quick-weight-loss-strategies?page=2#

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/08/are-juice-cleanses-safe_n_1264051.html

Laura Georgian, M.S., holds her Master of Science in Nutrition from the University of Bridgeport and is currently a part time Dietetics student at the University of Northern Colorado, working towards her second Bachelors degree, expected December 2013.  She enjoys sweating every day, travel, and checking out new restaurants & wine bars.  An avid runner, she has two half-marathons under her belt and looking to add a third to the list!

Follow her on Twitter: @NJNutritionista