3 Tips For Optimal Health

Public health is a huge concern of almost everyone in one way or another.  Everyone should try to optimise their own health. Nothing frustrates me more than seeing people struggle with their appearance, mood, mental clarity and energy to name but a few. At the same time their body fat levels show that they are borderline morbidly obese. Doesn’t it strike you as coincidental that more often than not it is fat, overweight people who rarely exercise and eat an inordinate amount of crappy unhealthy food are the one’s with appearance, mood, cognitive, energy and libido issues? More often than not it is these people who are chronically fatigued.  We are supposed to live until 100 years old not suffer from inordinate amounts of disease after just 20 years of life; we all need to work on creating an environment for optimal health.

I experienced parenthood for the last two days and I enjoyed it.  Of course I’m not trying to undermine how difficult it must be to rear kids but I will say that being highly active and eating a good, healthy diet played a big role in why my energy wasn’t zapped. Sleeping in is a luxury for parents with kids of school going age and I am under no illusion that the effects of being a real parent may accumulate over time but eating well and fitting in some exercise when you can will have a profound effect on your ability to stay healthy, energetic and keep in good shape.  Most parents health status is far below optimal I would imagine.

Do you wake up and feel groggy every morning?  Do you claim to need a coffee to get you going?  Do you dread the thought of getting out of bed?  If you answered yes to any of these then you need to make a change (Chek, 2009).

More often than not the reasons for these issues are so obvious it will make you sick. You could be eating foods that don’t work well with your body, not sleeping enough, not exercising, not exercising properly or under a lot of stress.  We are not all designed to eat the same types of food.  As an example; different cars take different types of fuel, right?  What makes you any different to a car?  Fill your body with the wrong type of fuel and it will tell you.  Just because you don’t break out in hives doesn’t mean all food is good for your body. Fatigue is the #1 example of how we react badly to different foods. Do you feel a little sluggish after a particular meal?  If so you will be best served to avoid it.  In my case pasta makes me extremely tired almost immediately after eating it.  Large amounts of low fibre carbohydrates in one sitting generally make me feel bloated and sluggish.  These are my body’s way of telling me it doesn’t want these foods (Chek, 2009).

Do You Get Enough Sleep?

Most people underestimate the value of adequate sleep and most people tend not to get enough sleep as it is. For optimal body function you need between 7-9 hours of sleep each night.  You may be saying to yourself you get enough sleep but just because you spend 7-9 hours in bed doesn’t necessarily mean you are getting quality sleep.  Sleep quality is far more important than sleep quantity.  You should not feel groggy after 7-9 hours in bed (Wilson, 2006; Chek, 2009; Holford, 2012).  You should wake up without an alarm and want to get at the day.  Fatigue can induce impaired gluconeogenesis (your body’s ability to use fat and protein for energy), rapid hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), sodium loss and potassium retention (Wilson, 2006). What’s interesting about this situation is due to the stress your body is under, despite having low blood sugar, there tends to be rather high levels of blood insulin meaning you are going to become progressively more overweight and at risk of type 2 diabetes. The net result of these is a miserable, tired feeling.  Small things can make an inordinate amount of difference in the quality of your sleep;

1. Turn off all electronics.  Yes this includes your phone.  With the advancements in phones of late almost everybody has some sort of notification waiting for them every morning be it from email, twitter, instagram or your ‘hardcore’ friends posting annoying late night Facebook updates and photos.  If you leave your phone on at night your are more likely to be woken.  Turn it off, whatever it is can wait until the morning.  For those of you that use your phones as alarm clocks Invest in an alarm clock (preferably a battery-powered one) (Gooley et al. 2011;Chek, 2009).
2. Have no lights shining.  That even means covering the red LED from your alarm clock. Get curtains that leave the room in complete darkness.  You may not think it but light from the night sky also affects your sleep quality.  I can never understand how people can sleep without drawing their curtains (I have a few people in mind) (Gooley et al. 2011; Chek, 2009).
3. Stop playing video games or doing anything that gives your brain a lot of stimulation. You should be winding down an hour before bed.  Ever find that your brain won’t stop going when all you want to do is sleep?  Try and read before bed and dump all your work or college thoughts until the next day. Many people worry about what they have to do tomorrow.  A good technique I have starting doing lately is making a list of everything I have to do in order of priority in the evening.  It is often referred to as a ‘brain dump’, it helps you to forget about what has to be done until the morning (Chek, 2009).
4. Have a cool room temperature.  This one might sound a bit ridiculous to some of you.  A cold room is far more conducive to high quality sleep than a warm room.  Your body temperature naturally drops through the night. The cooler your body is the better your sleep will be. Try taking a cold shower before bed. This is ideal for anybody that works out late at night.  And no you shouldn’t be wearing socks and a hoody to bed that’s just downright ridiculous.  Unless you live in a house with below freezing temperatures, then you should wear a hat to bed, I’m speaking from experience here from my poor student days.
5. Eliminate caffeine after 3pm.  I am a culprit for this one myself.  You may think having a coffee after your dinner is not problem as you fall asleep just fine. Again, I come back to the sleep quality issue. You may fall asleep easily but caffeine is a stimulant and will in fact continue to stimulate your central nervous system throughout the night this upsetting your sleep quality (Chek, 2009).
6. Eliminate high carbohydrate meals 3 hours before bedtime. Remember that carbohydrates cause a large spike in blood sugar which in turn gives you a boost in energy.  Try a moderate protein and fat meal is you want to eat close to bedtime (Richards, 2005).
7. Go to bed earlier.  Midnight is not a good time to go to bed.  You should be sound asleep by 10.30 at night (Richards, 2005). 

Exercise

Find me someone who exercises PROPERLY and eats relatively well that doesn’t feel good.  Unless they have some other underlying health issue then you won’t find one. Even if you do think you find someone you will never know unless they change their diet and exercise regime to see if it makes them feel better.With regard to exercise let me clarify from the beginning; walking is not exercise, it’s locomotion, meaning it’s something you have to do for life.  If you feel like crap, are tired don’t think walking will fix your problem. Granted it has it’s place for overall longevity but for health & fitness purposes you may as well just stay in bed if walking if your medicine. For those that are short on time, all you need is 10-15 minutes a few days each week. Everyone has this time; it;s just a matter of allocating it to exercise.  You may feel like you don’t want to exercise but you have to force yourself at the beginning.  Examples of the initial benefits for those with chronic fatigue and health complications include (Wilson, 2003; Harrower HR. 1922);


1. Increased blood flow which helps prevent plaque accumulation in your arteries and stimulates your liver which enables it to perform its 3000+ daily functions more effectively
2. Exercise will also help to normalise cortisol, insulin, blood glucose, growth hormone, thyroid hormones among others
3. Drives oxygen to your brain.
Do some HIIT at home e.g. pick an exercise like burpees, mountain climbers, squat jumps etc, do it as fast as possible for 15-30 seconds, rest for the same time and repeat for 10-12 minutes. Try it out and tell me it was easy.




Diet

Your diet is the overall key.  Reduce or eliminate sugary foods e.g. biscuits, cakes, sweets, ice cream, pastries.  Also eliminate poor carbohydrate sources like pasta, white rice, almost all breakfast cereals and most breads (except spelt or rye for example) (Pollan, 2008). Base your meals around proteins such as; chicken, turkey, salmon, tuna, herring, mackerel to name but a few, include a large base of vegetables and highly fibrous, slow releasing carbohydrates such as; quinoa, oatmeal, beans, brown rice, basmati rice and cous cous (Taubes, 2009).  If your main meals are in check then you will see and feel amazing improvements. Make small changes at first and build on them over time rather than instantly changing your entire diet.  Remember that you must aim to eat REAL FOOD.  Things with wrappers and more than three ingredients aren’t food rather they are diseases disguised as food (Gussow, 2003).  Check out this recipe site, that shows you how to cook healthy versions of your favourite desserts.



Closing Thoughts

Make some of these changes to your life, you will reap the rewards.  Remember, nobody is asking you to be perfect.  Just make small changes and you will see the benefits.
1. Sleep Better
2. Exercise Smarter
3. Eat Better
4. Eliminate Needless Stressors in Your Life (This basically encompasses every one of the above four points)

Recipe: Plantain Protein Pancakes

I’m a firm believer in whole, nutrient-dense foods to maximize training and recovery, so most of my meals look like meat or eggs, veggies, fruits, and healthy fats. That being said, every once in a great while, you may want something to mix up your routine. Carbohydrates are an important dietary macronutrient for athletes, especially those athletes training for high-intensity or endurance sports. Partitioning a big chunk of carbohydrates to the post-workout window (somewhere in the range of fifty to a hundred grams) works well for many athletes - and these pancakes fit that application.
Sweet potatoes are probably the most famous paleo source of nutrient-dense carbs, but one of my favourites is the lesser-known plantain. Plantains are far starchier than their banana doppelgangers and must be cooked before eating. You can recognize plantains because of their more angular, less curved shape and really tough, thick skin. They take several days to ripen, so if you’re going to make this recipe, plan ahead. You’ll know your plantains are ripe when the skin turns dark yellow and develops black patches. It’ll feel softer than when you bought it, but not as mushy as an overripe banana. To achieve a smooth batter, you’ll need to run the ingredients through a food processor, though a blender will also work.
For an optional protein boost, add half a scoop of your protein powder of choice, but it’s definitely not a mandatory ingredient. The entire batch is approximately 130g carbs, 30g protein and 15g fat (not including cooking fat). This recipe makes approximately ten two-inch pancakes.

Plantain Protein Pancakes

Ingredients:

• 2 ripe plantains
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon coconut flour
• 1/2 scoop protein powder, optional
• Pinch of sea salt
• 1-2 tablespoons coconut oil or your fat of choice

Directions:

1. Peel the plantains and cut them into large chunks. Load all the ingredients into a food processor. Run the processor until all the ingredients are smooth and a batter has formed.
2. Heat a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add about 1 heaping teaspoon of coconut oil or your fat of choice to the pan and let it melt. Form pancakes using about 2 Tablespoons of batter. Cook approximately 3 minutes on each side or until each side is golden brown. Repeat until all the batter is gone.
3. Serve with fresh berries and a side of eggs and bacon for a complete breakfast.

Recipe: Delicious Coconut Macaroons

It’s time to get fat - as in, intake good, healthy, essential fats. Without fat and protein, we expire. These two nutrients are essential to our joints, organs, and brain function. So, chew on these yummy balls. Tip: These are a good (and easy) recipe for holiday parties, too!

Ingredients:

• 3 cups dried unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1/4 cup organic blackstrap molasses
• 1/4 cup organic raw cacao powder
• 2 tbsp stevia powder
• 6 egg whites

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Add dry ingredients into mixing bowl. Next, add molasses and egg whites. Mix thoroughly.
3. Use hands to mold mixture into 20 1 1/2" balls. Put on cookie sheet. Cook for 12 minutes.
4. Allow to cool.
5. Eat! Enjoy.

Nutritional Information:

Servings 20, Serving Size 1 Ball
• 95 calories
• 8 grams of fat
• 7 grams of carbohydrates
• 2 grams of protein 

Recipe: Strawberry Lemonade Gelatin Gummies

Gelatin is gaining popularity in the real food and athletic communities for its gut- and joint-soothing properties. It's a protein derived from collagen - another type of protein found in animal connective tissue - that's been cooked. Collagen is well known for its role as a supportive protein, helping form skin, tendon, ligament, and bone. It's also important for gut health. As athletes, maintaining healthy joints, which go through a lot of wear and tear, and a healthy gut, which keeps us from getting sick, is really important.

Normally, we get gelatin from cooked animal tissue. Bone broth (soup stock) is a great way to get it naturally. If you've ever cooked, then refrigerated a chicken and come back to find jiggly meat juice at the bottom of the pan - that's gelatin.

Since gelatin is a protein, people commonly think it's good for post-workout recovery, but that's incorrect. Gelatin is high in the non-essential amino acids proline and glycine, and while those are good for building connective tissue, they're not great at building muscle. For post-workout recovery, choose protein sources such as meat, eggs, and fish, which are rich in the branched chain amino acids (BCAAs), leucine, isoleucine, and valine. These BCAAs are critical for muscle protein synthesis.
While bone broth and soups are great, you may want to switch it up and include these gummies to supplement gelatin in your diet. Look for high-quality brands of gelatin powder such as Great Lakes, which derives the gelatin from grass-fed animals. This recipe is only slightly sweet, so you won't want to eat the whole pan at once. As a supplement, the recommended serving of gelatin per day is about one tablespoon, so if you cut this recipe into sixteen servings, then four squares will get you there.

Strawberry Lemonade Gelatin Gummies

Ingredients:

• 1 pound (455 grams) strawberries
• 1 cup (240 mL) coconut water
• Zest of 2 lemons
• 1 Tablespoon (15 mL) lemon juice
• 1-1/2 Tablespoons (22 mL) honey, optional
• 4 Tablespoons (40 grams) high-quality gelatin powder
• 1 teaspoon (5 mL) coconut oil

Directions:

1. Grease an 8"x8" (20 cm x 20 cm) glass baking dish with coconut oil. You can really use any sort of pan you'd like, but if it's larger, the gummies will be really thin.
2. Cut the green tops off the strawberries, then roughly chop the berries.
3. In a medium pot over medium-high heat, bring the strawberries with the coconut water to a boil. Then, reduce the heat to low and simmer until the berries soften and release their juice, about 10 minutes.
4. Carefully pour the mixture into a blender or food processor, and blend until it's smooth. (Caution: Take care when using hot liquids in a blender!)
5. Pour the blended mixture back into the same pot you used earlier. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice and honey (optional). Gently stir to combine.
6. Now it's time to add the gelatin. If the fruit mixture is boiling hot, wait until it's cooled down a bit. If the fruit mixture is only slightly warm, turn on the heat to low. One tablespoon at a time, slowly add the gelatin and whisk it constantly until it completely dissolves. Continue until all four tablespoons of gelatin have been dissolved.
7. This recipes makes an 8"x8" (20 cm x 20 cm) pan. Pour the mixture into a baking dish and refrigerate at least two hours or until the gelatin is firm to the touch. Cut into squares as large or small as you'd like. Store covered in refrigerator for three to four days. 

Recipe: Strawberry Blood Orange Sorbet

We had a mini heat wave here in the UK this past week, and it’ll start heating up in other parts of Europe in short order. I was burning up this weekend and needed to cool off with a refreshing snack, so I came up with this sorbet. The results are astoundingly simple and refreshingly tart.
Blood oranges are just coming into season and are my absolute favourite citrus fruit, not to mention one of the most nutrient dense. If you don’t have blood oranges, use one navel orange and a squeeze of lemon instead to achieve a similar flavour. Easy desserts like this make me wonder why store-bought sorbets include so much extra sugar, this one is sweet enough!

Strawberry Blood Orange Sorbet

Ingredients:

• 12 oz (1 bag) organic frozen strawberries
• 2 blood oranges

Directions:

1. In a high-powered blender or food processor, blend ingredients until smooth.
2. Enjoy immediately. Serves two

The Right Way to Lose Fat: What to Eat

Let’s set the record straight from the outset: the goal of any weight loss, pound-shedding, “trimming,” or whatever-you-label-it program is body FAT loss, not necessarily scale-weight loss. So, bubble-wrap your weight scale and put it in the basement or attic and focus on your body composition: the fat to muscle ratio.

I am not a Registered Dietician so I cannot offer you specific advice on what you should be consuming. I will, however, lay out bits and pieces of some of the most recent issues and arguments in the fat loss world, such as:

• Is it simply creating a calorie deficit, so your body is forced to tap into adipose fat?

• Is a calorie a calorie regardless if it comes from protein, carbohydrate, or fat?

• Regarding the last question, what is better: a high carb/low fat or a low carb/high protein diet?

• What about the glycemic content of carbs and blood sugar levels?

Calorie Deficit

There is no question that a reduction of calorie intake coupled with high-level energy expenditure results in weight loss (all other factors being equal). But what guarantees the weight loss to be fat only? Consider these facts:

• It is a long-standing fact that a pound of fat equals 3,500 calories.

• A pound of muscle renders around 600 calories.

• People with a higher percent of body fat will lose more fat and retain more muscle with a significant calorie deficit.

• People with a lower percent of body fat will lose more muscle and retain more fat with a significant calorie deficit.

Let’s do some maths. A 500 calorie deficit per day over one week could result in two outcomes: a loss of one pound of fat (3,500/3,500 calories = 1) or a loss of nearly six pounds of muscle (3,500/600 calories = 5.8).

Obviously, the loss of muscle is not desirable. This is why attention must be paid to the correct calorie deficit based on your existing percentage of fat and your activity level. If you possess a significant amount of body fat, you can probably get away with a larger deficit in the early stages. As you become leaner – or if you are relatively lean to begin with – the calorie deficit needs to be adjusted to preserve lean tissue. This also explains why it is so difficult to shed those elusive few pounds to get completely “ripped".

Calories from Proteins, Carbs, and Fats: Is There a Difference?

Regarding the first law of thermodynamics, a calorie is a calorie. That is, no matter what source it is from, one calorie is the energy required to increase the temperature of one kilogram of water by one degree Celsius. Energy can be neither created nor destroyed. It can only be transformed.

Here’s a little bit of historical science behind the accepted caloric value of protein, carb, and fat in the diet. The past work of Rubner and Atwater is the standard used today. Using a bomb calorimeter to measure the heat of combustion of various proteins, carbs, and fats, they determined the energy density of dietary protein = 4.1 calories/gram, carbs = 4.1 calories/gram, and fat = 9.3 calories. Rounded off, it is 4 calories/gram of protein, 4 calories/grams of carbs, and 9 calories/gram of fat that we currently use (and why many panic when they see fat is more than double in potency).

Past thinking was to eat .7 to 1.0 grams of protein per pound of body weight, load up on the carbs for energy, and minimize the fat. After all, 15 grams of fat has 135 calories and 15 grams of carbs has only 60, so to help shed the pounds, back off on the fat intake. But it’s not that simple. The type of protein, carb, and fat must be considered as well as how the body processes them.

High Carb/Low Fat or Low Carb/High Protein?

A review was conducted that evaluated studies comparing weight loss and energy expenditure in adults consuming high protein and/or low carbohydrate with low fat diets. I believe this is where all the support for low carb diets got its momentum.

The review analyzed nine studies where diets composed of high protein and/or low carbs resulted in a 5.5 pound greater weight loss after twelve weeks as compared to diets of high carbs and/or low fat. However, neither macronutrient-specific differences in the availability of food energy nor changes in energy output could explain these differences in weight loss.If a calorie is a calorie, then what other factors could account for the differences in weight loss between the two diets?

Low carb diets facilitate the loss of glycogen stores and associated water, which can be as great as 4.4 pounds.

Because the Rubner and Atwater factors used to calculate metabolizable energy are not exact, the standard macronutrient values are not perfect, and small errors can occur. The substitution of one macronutrient for another has been shown in some studies to be statistically significant regarding the effect on the expenditure half of the energy balance equation, especially in high-protein diets. Because the energy expenditure is minimal, however, it may account for less than one-third of the differences in the weight losses reported between high-protein or low-carb diets and high-carb or low-fat diets.

Carb Glycemic Level and Blood Sugar Stabilization

In general, high glycemic carbs create a large, temporary rise in blood sugar (glucose) because they are quickly digested. Low glycemic carbs take longer to digest, thus produce a smaller and slower rise. A rapid rise in blood sugar means:

•More insulin is released. A high insulin level promotes a quick storage of sugar in muscle and the liver. It also inhibits the hormone glucagon, which normally tells the body to burn stored fat. Obese people tend to be “sugar burners”– they mainly burn stored glycogen. Their forthcoming meals restore glycogen (especially if high glycemic) and the cycle keeps repeating. Thus, fat stores do not get touched and usually grow larger.

•Blood sugar levels then drop quickly, leaving you hungry sooner. Suddenly, the body needs more fuel. But because glucagon is still in short supply, the body does not tap into its fat supply for energy. The inevitable result? Hunger. You will eat again, needlessly, which can lead to increased fat gain over time.

Facts to consider:

 • Highly processed foods that contain refined sugars (cookies, crackers and corn syrup) usually have a higher glycemic level.

• Other factors affecting the glycemic level is whether the food is liquid or solid, raw or cooked, and the amount of fiber it contains.

• The more grams of carbohydrate consumed the higher the glycemic response because there is an increased glycemic load. So, one can over-consume even low glycemic foods.

• Most people usually eat foods in combination. The fat and protein also consumed at feedings can help lower the overall glycemic level.

• Not all simple sugars are high glycemic. Fruit, for instance, contains the simple sugar fructose. Fructose has a slow rate of digestion and absorption and thus a lower glycemic response.

Moderate and high glycemic foods are recommended during and after exercise. Consuming a high glycemic food within 45 minutes after exercise elevates plasma glucose concentrations and facilitates muscle glycogen replenishment. Post-exercise insulin secretion increases protein synthesis by increasing amino acid uptake in the muscles. Insulin also enhances blood flow into muscle, thus facilitating the removal of lactate and carbon dioxide.

Final Thoughts

Information abounds on all aspects of fat loss. Who and what can you believe? My advice would be to consult a registered dietician or a nutrition specialist for specific diet recommendations based on your fat loss goals. Even if your goal is to gain weight (muscle), there are certain dos and don’ts the dietician can address.