Food Labels and Healthier Choices (Part 1 of 2)

When you look at a food label, what do you see?  What do you actually look for?  I'm pretty label scrutinous when I'm grocery shopping but then again, I'm paranoid (to a degree) about what the big food companies and the USDA considers to be food or safe to consume as food.  So, if you're interested, I thought I'd share my method of label scrutiny.  Because of the amount of information on those "pesky" panels of nutrient/ingredient information, I've decided to make this a two-part blog with this first part concentrating on the nutrition part of the labels.  Part two will focus on understanding ingredients and what they could mean to your health.

First, about fresh fruits and vegetables -- I know, I know, there's no labels but there's a few rules I follow when I'm buying these.  These are:

1. Try to buy locally grown;
2. Whether local or not, try to buy organically grown, especially if it's something that grows close to the ground or that we'll be consuming the skin---pesticides will soak into the entire fruit or vegetable but tend to concentrate more in the skin...just in case you didn't know  (There was a case study done with chimpanzees and bananas...organically grown bananas and conventionally grown bananas were given to the chimps at the same time for many days--each day, the chimps would first choose the organic bananas and eat them with the skin but would leave the conventional bananas until much later in the day when they were fairly desperate...interestingly enough, they DIDN'T eat the skins of the conventionally grown bananas--just saying that the chimps may be smarter than we are or at least better "smellers");
3. If you can't find fresh fruits and vegetables grown locally or within a short distance of where you live, your better choice (if applicable) is the frozen variety because the produce is frozen very soon after being picked, ensuring that nutrients are held in "limbo" instead of depleting via oxidation;
4. GMOs (Genetically Modified) produce - steer clear!  This is a HOT, HOT, HOT topic right now, with Monsanto being one of the most evil corporations behind these.  (If you don't know the deal with GMOs, do your research and learn about the physiological functions of our bodies and what our bodies can recognize as nutrients.)

Okay, now on to real labels!  Let's start by looking at a nutrition label (one of my fave cereals from Kashi, BTW):

1) On the first line, you'll see the serving size that this nutritional information is really for, which is 27 biscuits (pieces) that are about 55g or 1.9oz in weight total (27 biscuits=55g or 1.9oz).
2) The 2nd line is how many of those servings (approximately) should be in the ENTIRE box (about 9 is the amount for this example)

So, per the serving of 27 biscuits/pieces (equivalent to 55g or 1.9oz) the following is the nutrient information (without milk or milk-like products, BTW):

1) Total Calories - 190 ... of those 190 calories, 10 of those calories are derived from some type of fat. Easy, right?

2) Speaking of fat...
     The TOTAL fat is 1g, but then we learn that that 1g of fat IS NOT a trans fat nor a saturated fat, which is good because those are the TWO worst fats that we can have (unless you want heart disease, obesity, diabetes, etc. that is)! So, by omission, we learn that the 1g of fat is probably a monounsaturated or a polyunsaturated fat (good fats but even these should be kept low but not removed because we need fats with certain foods to induce bioavailability of certain nutrients - FYI).
    Also, notice the right furthest column (under the category % Daily Value) - there's a number there that tells us that this fat intake is about 2% of our DAILY RECOMMENDED FAT INTAKE. If I ate this whole box of cereal in one day, I would have met 18% of my daily recommended fat intake for that day just with this box of cereal.  (IMPORTANT NOTE: the Daily Value amounts are based on a 2000 calorie diet and your needs might be different depending on how many calories your body needs to function, such as an endurance athlete might have a higher calorie need to do what she/he does.)

3) Then we see cholesterol amounts (which the closer to zero, the better, since our bodies are capable of making cholesterol, but shouldn't exceed a total of 200mg daily).

4)  Here comes another big player - SODIUM! This cereal's not bad at only 5mg per serving (not even making a dent in the %Daily Value amount.
     FYI, the ADEQUATE daily intake of sodium is as follows:
          >1500mg for 19-50 year olds
            > 1300mg for 51-70 year olds
            > 1200mg for over 70 year olds
      The maximum daily intake should not exceed 2300mg (Hint: 1tsp of salt is approximately equally to 2000mg of sodium).  Most processed foods have a very large amount of sodium content and, sometimes, things that we don't think taste salty have significant amounts of sodium.  Too much sodium in our daily diets can contribute to hypertension (high blood pressure) and loss of calcium. (Yep, I said "loss of calcium".)
     People who are "salt sensitive" and should avoid excessive intake of sodium are:
        - Those with parents who had high blood pressure (or those who HAVE high blood pressure)
        - Those with chronic kidney disease
        - Those with diabetes
        - African Americans
        - People over the age of 50
        - Those who are overweight
       
5) Potassium is sodium's arch nemesis, sort of.  So why is potassium important against sodium? It seems to prevent calcium excretion that are a response to high sodium intakes.  Funny thing is, most processed/refined foods change during the processing with potassium levels are significantly decreased while sodium levels rise.  Chalk up another reason to AVOID processed foods!  Here's a table showing you what I mean:

6) Total Carbohydrates - you know, I'm so tired of the bum wrap carbs have gotten these days!  These little energy powerhouses are a needed nutrient, just not in the Twinkie or slice of cake form :-D  Making sure that most of your carbohydrate intake is coming from fiber, such as whole grains, vegetables, & fruits, is a good rule .
     Fiber content, again, is important.  But if you're asking, "what's the difference between soluble & insoluble fiber", well, I'm going to tell you.  Soluble fiber is the one that becomes dis-sol-ved in your digestive fluids and transforms into a gel-like substance that may trap some other nutrients to make them less absorbable, including fats and sugars though you still get the calories from them (bummer)...this is the protective fiber that helps protect us from heart disease.  Insoluble fiber is the opposite and DOESN'T dissolve -- it's the bulk fiber that...well...helps going to the bathroom get going better...got it?
     As for sugars, the amount on the nutrition label is for ALL sugars - whether it's added or naturally occurring.  To check to see if there's added sugar, that's where reading the ingredient list will come in handy (upcoming in part 2).  Personally, I really wish they would break this down to "Naturally Occurring" and "Added" categories because I do believe our bodies break these down differently. For the most part, I try to limit "added" sugars to 18g/daily and I don't count the fruits and vegetables that I eat.

7) Last, but not least in any way, is protein.  On average, if you're over the age of 18, the recommended daily amount for protein is approximately is 5oz if you're female and 6oz if you're male (unless you're a bodybuilder or lift heavy weights or there's another reason why you should increase your protein intake) - THAT'S IT!  So going to a steakhouse and eating a 6oz steak (if you're a guy) and you're done with protein for that whole day...Americans tend to overdo the protein idea, just saying.  Overdoing it with protein starts a whole other story for later ;-)  Just realize that we don't need as much protein as the fads (and food manufacturers, including restaurants) have lead people to believe.
     One last thing on protein - make sure you get different types of proteins from different sources!  Variety, in food especially, is definitely the spice of life (and health)!

8) Now we're going below the line! It's about the vitamin content of the food.  Basically, these numbers are the percentages based on the Daily Value numbers.  So, for example, the iron per serving in this cereal is 8% of the daily recommended amount of total iron we need.

9) The next section is just a reminder of the Daily Values (total amounts per day) with certain nutrients for a 2000 calorie diet and a 2500 calorie diet.  It shows that, if you are on a 2000 calorie diet, your fat intake should not exceed 65g or 20g of saturated fat in a day.  If you were on a 2500 calorie diet, those numbers would change to 80g and 25g.

10) And, the final thing on this part - how many calories are in a gram of fat?  How about a gram of carbohydrate?  And protein?  Basically, 1 fat gram=9 calories, 1 carbohydrate gram=4 calories, and 1 gram of protein=4 calories...it's there, to help you make better choices and realize that one stands out as our biggest caloric enemy...

And just for giggles, I'm putting another nutrition label for a popular kids' cereal...this is one of my daughters' favorite cereals and I can't get them to stop eating it :(  See if you can spot the nutritional differences:

Part two of this blog (how to understand ingredient lists) ... I'll try to have it up by the end of the next week (Feb. 25, 2012)  For now, want more information on nutrition labels or recommended daily amounts?  Visit the USDA website at http://www.choosemyplate.gov/http://www.choosemyplate.gov/

All information on this blog is my own pursuit of information on the road to getting my BS in Nutrition Science and as a mode of studying.  
   

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Elixir of Life - Water

If I asked you how much water you drink/intake on a daily basis, would you know?  Do you know that your body can access water from your cells if you don't get enough from your intake (which does include water from some foods like fruits and vegetables which have a high water content)?  Ever go give blood and find it very painful or even difficult to fill a vial?  That's because the water content of your body may be too low causing your blood to become "thicker" (more concentrated).  Water is needed for EVERY cell of our bodies - inside, outside, and in-between!  It's used in so many metabolic functions as a carrier or even as a garbage collector (removing metabolic by-products); it's used in lubricating/cushioning our joints, and helps maintain our body temperature.  If you don't have enough, you can suffer from heartburn, stomach pains, muscle pains, headaches, mental fogginess, water retention, etc.!  Plus, you NEED water to remove water retention!! Yet, we make it so difficult for our body to use this nutrient because we may not be getting enough of it.

The overall rule has been to drink AT LEAST 8 cups of water daily, right?  Did you know that's the average of intake for a normal, healthy person?  If you're overweight or active or leave in a dry climate or have caffeine, that amount might change.  If any of you have ever watched "The Biggest Loser", you always hear them pushing the "drink more water" thing - well, that's because water is needed to metabolize your fat stores!  If you don't get enough water, your body is going to use what it has based on priority functions and fat metabolism isn't one of them.

Guess what?  By the time your mouth is dry, you're already on your way to dehydration. Why?  Here's why...let's use this scenario: First thing this morning, you had your cup of coffee (caffeine induces excretion of water), maybe some cereal with milk (milk has water that the body has to process out).  Off to work you go - maybe you have a long commute and you bring along a travel mug of coffee or tea (more caffeine).  Now you're at work and your mouth is dry so you grab a 16oz bottle of water (good but not enough).  Let's stop here.  If we were to see what's going on inside the person in this example, they were fasting all night so the body was using what water it had stored up but then they didn't really give it substantial replacement first thing...slowly, the body slows certain functions and by the time the person gets to work and is thirsty, the blood has "thickened" which sends the information via the nervous system to the hypothalamus (brain) that water balance (input=output) is off and it needs water NOW!!  The hypothalamus then sends the message along to cause their mouth to get dry.

"Oh but if I drink TOO much water, I can die!"  I've heard this one so many times - people, that is a rare occurrence and preventable!  You would have to drink around 10-12 liters of water within a few hours to have this occur (condition known as hyponatremia).  Those that should worry about getting "water intoxification" are those with kidney disorders that reduce urine production or people that can't keep track of amounts (such as children).

So what's the formula to figure out how much water you should drink?  The Adequate Intake amount is if you burn 2000 Kcalories a day, you should intake about 2-3liters daily (that's 8-12 cups), and that includes water from food sources as well.  But, here's a general rule formula: Drink 50-75% of your body weight in ounces - If you're sedentary, make it 50% of your body weight in ounces and if you're active, make it 75%...and if you're in-between, well make your number be in-between!  Now add about 16oz more if you live in a dry climate area.  Plus, on the days you do strenuous exercise, add about another 16oz.

It's pretty straightforward and so rewarding!  Your body will thank you in so many pleasant ways :D



All information on this blog is my own pursuit of information on the road to getting my BS in Nutrition Science and as a mode of studying. 

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Breakfast is Killing People!

Here's something to think about:

Did you know that an egg, while it has only 1 gram of saturated fat, has over 200mg of cholesterol??? That's almost 2/3 of the recommended daily limit! So, if people have an egg for breakfast every morning, plus 2 slices of bacon, plus 2 pats of butter on their toast that's 200+18+22=240mg of cholesterol - just for breakfast!! The USDA recommends a limit of 300mg of cholesterol a day, FYI. Imagine the end of day cholesterol intake after having meat for lunch, meat for dinner, AND all the dairy products that go with all that food, including dessert! 

Here's an interesting article from the USDA website from back in 2000 that discusses how the different types of fat don't affect LDL cholesterol but dietary cholesterol does:

Dietary Cholesterol Makes LDL Cholesterol More Radical By Judy McBride April 4, 2000A little extra cholesterol in our diets may render the “bad” LDL cholesterol in our bloodstream more susceptible to oxidation. That’s what happened to the LDL from a group of older men and women in a study reported in the March issue of Atherosclerosis. And that’s not good: Evidence suggests that oxidized LDL cholesterol is more apt to provoke the plaques that build up in arteries and increase risk of heart attack and stroke. The researchers concluded that the current recommendation to limit dietary cholesterol is both valid and prudent, noting that their findings support those of an earlier study by others. This study was led by Ursula S. Schwab and Alice H. Lichtenstein at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston. Schwab, who is now back in Finland, Lichtenstein and colleagues designed 30-percent-fat diets that differed only in the type of fat. One was rich in polyunsaturated fat from corn oil; the other was rich in saturated fat from beef tallow. Otherwise, the foods were identical. And by adding extra cholesterol to each diet--ranging from around 220 to 330 milligrams, depending on the volunteer’s total calorie intake--they approximately doubled the cholesterol content. That’s considerably more than the 300-milligrams recommended by the Dietary Guidelines. Thirteen men and women between the ages of 46 and 78 ate each of four diets, the corn oil with and without the extra cholesterol and beef tallow with and without extra cholesterol. The type of fat didn’t significantly affect the susceptibility of the volunteers’ LDL to oxidation in a test-tube assay. But the extra cholesterol increased oxidation susceptibility by 28 percent during the corn oil diet and 15 percent during the beef tallow diet. The volunteers began the study with moderately elevated LDL cholesterol--each having levels greater than 130 milligrams per deciliter. Adding the extra dietary cholesterol prompted a further rise in their total as well as their LDL cholesterol, regardless of the type of fat in the diet. Scientific contact: Alice H. Lichtenstein, Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, Boston, Mass., phone (617) 556-3127, fax (617) 556-3103, lichtenstein@hnrc.tufts.edu.

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Life and Health Aren't Separate Entities!

So, I watched two documentaries last night that were uplifting but also frustrating.  The first was "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead" (a Joe Cross film) the other was, finally, "Forks Over Knives".  The movie that frustrated me the most was "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead" (see the official movie website for a synopsis).  It frustrated me to see people that were quite obviously in need of a diet change to be healthier but instead of giving whole plant foods a chance to work their miracles, they went on the defense about how they "don't eat to live, but live to eat" and how everyone will die someday and why not die happy by eating what they want.  Uh-huh...okay, here's a scenario for those people - my grandfather had that same exact attitude, he also had type 2 diabetes. He refused to take medication and refused to change his eating habits...he lost BOTH his legs to foot gangrene and the end of his life was spent in a hospital bed!  Yeah, that's definitely the way to live, isn't it?

So, for giggles (that's sarcasm, by-the-way), let's say that you eat what you love to eat (or at least what you've been tricked into loving to eat, thanks to excitotoxins).  You take all the dozen or so meds that you will eventually need to keep up with your lifestyle.  Your energy levels keep dropping while your weight keeps increasing so that when those grandkids come over you have no energy to do much more than sit in your recliner and watch T.V. with them.  Then one day, you wake up in the morning and you have a funny pain across your chest, down your left arm and up into your jaw - it hurts so much that you feel like you can't breath.  You call 911 and off you go to the hospital where they tell you that you've just had a heart attack then the news that you need bypass surgery.  Fast forward a few weeks and now you're home, back to eating what you want because no one is going to tell you what you can or can't eat, right?  A month later, you're at the breakfast table and, yep, another heart attack! You reach for the aspirin and call 911 - again.  This time the doctor tells you that you need a triple bypass and if you don't change your diet you might not survive the next one.  You still dig your heels in and keep eating.  A few months later, you get a funny tingly feeling on the left side of your head and your left arm, then when you stand up your left leg gives out and you fall.  Now, you've had a stroke, according to the ER doctor. You can understand him but when you try to speak, nothing comes out.  You're whole left side is numb and your brain feels foggy and slow.  So now your life is spent trying to get over the stroke.  Wonder how you would rate your quality of life at this point??

I'm not saying that these things are 100% avoidable with a better diet but why would you step in the path of a cannonball (unless you work for the circus)?  The studies have said so much about how things are more preventable than what people think...why do people prefer to continue to suffer?  Oh and another good one is the excuse that "if this is what God has planned for me, so be it".  Hello?!? Did God come down and force you to eat those greasy hamburgers??  No, but have you ever heard of free will?? Also, if you're going to use the God argument, my response to it is "God only helps those that help themselves"!

So, live to eat?  Is being confined to a hospital bed for the last 5-10 years of your life considered really living, especially if there had been a chance to avoid it?  I don't think so.  I want to be like Fauja Singh and running a marathon at the age of 100! Go veg!

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Think E-N-E-R-G-Y Instead of Calories

Those two words are pretty synonymous because calories and energy are pretty much the same thing.  The correct term is kilocalories (or kcalories for short). For those who remember from school, a kilo is equal to a 1000 increment of metric measurement, in this case it's calories.  So, it is a measurement in 1000-calorie metric units for the energy released/produced from carbohydrates, fats (lipids), and proteins. Basically, it measures heat energy.

Now, let's make it more complicated and talk about the International System of Units (known as the SI).  Well, obviously, these are used worldwide in the scientific communities. Even though calories or kcalories is the most common measurements of food energy, the SI uses joules or kilojoules instead.  I know, I know...some of you might be thinking "Hey, wait a minute! A joule is a measurement of work done!"  Guess what? You're right, it is. So there's a formula (of course there is).  The work energy formula goes like this:

1 joule = 

the movement of 1 kilo,

a distance of 1 meter,

by the force of 1 newton

Get it?  I've got the gist of it, which is what matters.  A little easier is to convert from kcalories to kilojoules and that formula is to just multiply the kcalories by 4.2 to arrive at the kilojoules (kj). Now that that's out of the way, on to more interesting things to do with food energy!

Energy from Foods (aka calories).  

This is oh-so dependent on how much carbohydrates, fats, and proteins a food contains.  But not all of these are the same either!

To calculate how many calories a particular food has, you have to know the baseline caloric breakdown for these nutrients.  

       1 gram of carbohydrates = 4 kcalories of energy

       1 gram of proteins          = 4 kcalories of energy

       1 gram of fat                  = 9 kcalories of energy

       1 gram of alcohol           = 7 kcalories of energy

Now, you probably will never have to do this calculation because most product manufacturers and plenty of weight control books/websites offer the breakdown for you but just so I get it down... the formulas to calculate a food's available energy:

  Total carbohydrate grams X 4 (kcalories)= available energy

  Total protein grams X 4 (kcalories)         = available energy

  Total fat grams X 9 (kcalories                 = available energy

  Total alcohol grams X 7 (kcalories)         = available energy

    -Next, add all the available energy and you have your total.

Now, this calculation might come in handy as it helps to gauge the energy density of a food. This is NOT the same as the nutrient density which I previously discussed. Nope, this has to do with the potential energy of that food.  Which means that if you were trying to lose weight, you'd want this density number to be low and not high.  Remember, lower for losing, okay?  So to calculate this, take the total kcalories and divide it by the total grams...

   Total kcalories  /  total grams    = kcalories per gram

And, to calculate the percentage (%) of kcalories of the separate nutrients:

Nutrient's Available kcalories / Total kcalories of food =  %

So, for example... say the total calories for a food (that's all it's nutrients' calories added together) is 173 kcalories and you want to know how much of that food's kcalories is derived from fat.  You know that the fat's available kcalories for the food is 81, so you divide 81 by 173. That gives you .468, and flashback to school again, you multiply that number by 100 to get a percentage (or do the fancy decimal point move thing) which makes it (with rounding) 47%.  That means that the food derives 47% of it's energy/kcalories from fat!  That's a lot.  One should strive to limit fat intake to 20-35% of the DAILY kcalorie intake.

Now think about all these calculations and how many times we refer to the word energy.  These kcalories/calories are basically potential energy - nothing more, nothing less.  Think of this energy as money you deposit into your checking account at the beginning of the month.  Then you pay your rent/mortgage, utilities, and other bills, you meter out spending money and then you (hopefully) take what's left and put it in savings.  The bill paying is your daily calorie burn.  Savings is the fat storage located all over our bodies.  The fat "savings" is there for a "rainy day" and, just like your savings account, if you never draw money for those fabulous exotic vacations and just keep adding, that account grows larger and larger because, just like the bank, our bodies aren't going to say "Whoa, there partner, you're saving way too much so we're going to have to throw away some of this".  Nope, as much as we'd like our bodies to reach a maximum weight savings, it's not going to happen.  But, it is our responsibility (for health reasons alone) to make sure we are properly taking in energy amounts that our bodies can use to function properly without throwing the extras into "savings".  Hmmm, maybe I should've compared energy intake and output as paying the right amount of income taxes so that you neither have to pay anything in April nor receive a refund...oh well, you get the idea!

I'm going to end this section here - hopefully you weren't too bored with all the math in this post :-D 


All information on this blog is my own pursuit of information on the road to getting my BS in Nutrition Science and as a mode of studying. Most information and data was taken from my textbook "Understanding Normal and Clinical Nutrition" by Rolfes, Pinna, & Whitney, ISBN-13: 978-0-495-55646-6

Happy October!

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Nutrients

You've heard the word or at least seen it - nutrient.  What is it exactly?  Obviously, it has something to do with nutrition - right.  Nutrients are, basically, chemicals derived from food that our bodies use for energy, structural materials (bone, etc.), and regulating agents for growth, maintenance, and tissue repair.  Hmm, pretty important stuff those darn nutrients.  Nutrients are broken down into various categories, depending on what is being discussed:

• Macronutrients are those nutrients that our bodies need in large amounts such as carbohydrates, fats, and proteins (macro=large);
• Micronutrients are the nutrients that our bodies need in smaller portions such as vitamins and minerals (micro=small);
• Essential nutrients are nutrients (chemicals) that we require from outside our bodies.  In other words, our bodies can't produce them or we produce them in too small quantities to meet physiological needs -- there are approximately 40 essential nutrients, by-the-way;
• Organic nutrients - no, not like organic produce but it relates to the nutrients that contain at least 1 carbon molecule.  These are the vitamins of which there are 13.
• Inorganic nutrients are nutrients that do not contain any carbon molecule.  These are the minerals and there are only 16 of them that are known to be essential in human nutrition.

Now that we have all of that cleared up, I'd like to discuss these nutrients :D  You knew that was coming, right?  Right.

There are six classes of nutrients required by our bodies.  They are:

1. Carbohydrates - macronutrient; provides energy; organic
2. Lipids (aka fats) - macronutrient; provides energy; organic
3. Proteins - macronutrient; provides energy; organic
4. Vitamins - micronutrient; organic
5. Minerals - micronutrient; inorganic
6. Water - inorganic

 NOTE: There are other compounds in foods that our bodies utilize (fibers, phytochemicals, etc.) but these are not considered nutrients...just wanted to clarify that.


Macronutrients. When the body uses carbohydrates, fats, and proteins for energy or fuel, the bonds between the nutrient's atoms break and releases the energy into our bodies.  Some of the energy is released as either heat or it's used to send electrical impulses (messages), to synthesize body compounds, and to move muscles.  If either of these macronutrients is not used up in the body, what do you think happens?  Yep, it gets stored in the body for some day in the future when the intake is inadequate or during the night while you sleep or even for in-between meals.  Speaking of which, your body continues to use energy (your brain especially) while you sleep therefore depleting stored reserves and helping you to lose weight - that's why it's so important to get enough hours of sleep if you're trying to lose weight!  And, did you know that our brains (since we've sidetracked a bit about that fine organ) use glucose for fuel and that our bodies produce that from the carbohydrates we eat?  The only animal product that has enough carbohydrates for this are dairy products...take that, Atkins dieters. Click here to learn more.  These same macronutrients (carbs, protein, & fats), also provide the foundational materials to build tissues and regulate many of the body's activities/functions. (FYI - Protein is NOT a major energy provider but is more of a structural building block. It also helps to regulate digestion and metabolize energy.)
 
Vitamins. Obviously, vitamins don't directly provide energy to the body but they do play their part. These little (micronutrients) powerhouses help the macronutrients release their energy and they do a bunch of other things throughout the body too.  Each of the 13 vitamins has a starring role in the body because almost every action in the body requires the help of vitamins.  Also good to know - vitamins can only function properly if they are intact.  Their molecular organic complexity makes them vulnerable to being destroyed by heat, light, and chemical agents!  This is why steaming veggies for a very short time (or eating them raw) is a preferred and healthier method of preparation.  Just for fun, here are the 13 vitamins: 

1. Vitamin C (water soluble);
2. Eight (8) B vitamins (water soluble) - thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, B6, B12, folate, biotin, and pantothenic acid;
3. Vitamin A, D, E, & K (fat soluble).

 Minerals. These also don't fuel the body's energy needs but they are important to the body's structures.  There are only 16 known essential minerals in human nutrition, even though they are studying others to figure out if they have a significant function.  Being inorganic, minerals are pretty much indestructible but they can bind to other substances that might get in the way of the body being able to absorb them.  They can also be lost during food-refining processes or when cooking because they seep into the preparation water that is thrown out. Major minerals are equivalent to macronutrients in that they are needed in large amounts and trace minerals are needed in smaller amounts.

1. The major minerals are: calcium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, chloride, magnesium, & sulfate.  For more information on the major minerals, go here.
2. The trace minerals are: iron, iodine, zinc, chromium, selenium, fluoride, molybdenum, copper, & manganese.  To learn more about trace minerals, go here.

 Water.  Everyone has heard of how important water is to the proper function of our bodies, right?  It must be really important if a 150lb body contains about 90lbs of water! It's used in metabolic reactions, helps transport vital materials to cells, helps carry away cell waste products...it's really important.  We can go (on average if we're healthy) about 8 weeks without food but we can die in a matter of hours without water.  

So, drink your water and make sure you're getting all of your nutrients!

All information on this blog is my own pursuit of information on the road to getting my BS in Nutrition Science and as a mode of studying. Most information and data was taken from my textbook "Understanding Normal and Clinical Nutrition" by Rolfes, Pinna, & Whitney, ISBN-13: 978-0-495-55646-6

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Today is the 8th day of the self-imposed vegan challenge and I think I'm doing okay with it. The challenge has been challenged severely only once in the first week when I took my mother to a steakhouse for her birthday dinner. The look on the waiter's face was priceless when I informed him that the 3 out of 4 diners were vegan! He followed up his astonished facial expression by asking me if I knew that that was a steakhouse! When I told him why we were there, his demeanor changed and he was bending over backward to try to find things that the girls & I could eat. All-in-all, it really wasn't too bad of an experience and it taught me that even the most red meat oriented restaurant could be worked around in order to allow me to stick to my eating plan. We were happy, my mom enjoyed her meal, & the waiter got a nice plump tip.

Another obstacle I've come up against is my sugar cravings. I'm not craving meat or any dairy products but I have been going a little crazy with sugary treats (which ends up defeating one of my reasons for going on this challenge). I couldn't help myself. There are soooo many yummy alternatives in this category that I felt that I needed to try them, just to make sure they were all as good as they looked. They have vegan cookies, cakes, whipped cream, pies, cheesecakes, & candy bars that taste as good (& some tasted better) as the mainstream products! With that said, I have returned to a more realistic sweet tooth soother in the last few days -- fruit. Also, there's this new creation for vegans that was created by a chef - MimicCreme (http://www.mimiccreme.com/ ) and they have a whole line of different nondairy cream substitutes. I've been using their sweetened creme (it's like sweetened condensed milk) and pouring a few tablespoons over sliced strawberries mixed with sliced mango and it's really, really good...good enough to calm my sweet cravings.

Cooking at home is still difficult for me now with the house going on the market and not knowing when I'll get a text from someone wanting to show it, but I'm trying. We still use a few of the prepackaged things to make meals faster, just in case. Everyday I learn more about the healthy benefits of removing animal products from one's system. So far, the biggest improvement in my health is the feeling of being lighter and having more energy. Even my trainer noticed this past week that my muscles weren't fatiguing as quickly, even though she'd increased my weight amounts (she does this a little every week). On a side note, I'm happy to report that as of last week I was leg-pressing 400lbs, which seems a lot but I don't think so...going to keep pushing that increase so I can tease Sean that I'm leg-pressing a quarter of a ton :D

Other things I learned this week:

1) Fat stored in all of our muscle cells (called intramyocellular lipid) & what that means to our metabolic health.

Insulin escorts sugar & protein from our blood to our cells to be quickly converted into energy, right? The efficiency of this process depends on how much fat is built up inside the cell. If there's too much built up inside these cells, insulin has a lot of trouble being able to open the cell membrane to allow glucose inside. And, if glucose can't get in there, then it doesn't get converted to energy, if it doesn't get converted to energy, what do you think happens to it? BTW, the buildup of fat inside the cells is what leads to insulin resistance then type 2 diabetes. The other big problem is once there's too much fat built up, it also partially turns off the genes that produce mitochondria ("burners" or metabolizers) which makes it HARDER to burn off fat! (See the study http://www.nature.com/ijo/journal/v28/n4s/full/0802853a.html )

2) Fish oil isn't as good as it's being promoted to be.

15%-30% of the fat in fish is saturated fat -- look up the definition of saturated fat and you'll find that it's been found to increase cholesterol levels. Also, a study in the British Medical Journal (BMJ 2006; 332:752-60) found that neither fish nor fish oils protect against cardiovascular disease or cancer. They've found that switching to a chicken & fish diet only lowers LDL by about 5%...wow, only 5%?? I won't mention the lowered percentage found by changing to a plant-based diet :D (okay, yes I will...20%-30% lowered LDL).

3) Grilling has been pushed at us for years now as being the preferred, healthier way of preparing meat but is it healthier? Well, not really...ever hear of carcinogens?

When meats are heated at high temperatures, cancer-causing chemicals called "heterocyclic amines" form inside the meat. It's due to the alteration the heat causes to the amino acids, creatine, & other compounds (or man-made compounds stored in the animals cells) stored in the muscle tissue. And which is the biggest source for those chemicals? They occur in all grilled meats but the biggest culprit is --- chicken!

Well, that's what I've learned over the last week. It's certainly given me some food for thought of whether I will return to animal products wholeheartedly when the 21 days are over or limit my animal products to once a week (or every two weeks) or stay vegan for the rest of my life. Well, I've got another two weeks to think about it.