Vegetarians – Should I go green?

Lots of opinions abound when discussing whether or not to go Vegan. Those that support the lifestyle would tell you that they feel healthier, more energized, and overall better than when they ate meat. Those opposed state that most Vegetarians have trouble keeping a balanced diet, and that if it was good enough for the cavemen, then we shouldn’t look down on the meat. I’m not here to decide for you one way or another which diet is right for you. No matter what your choice of diet, I always say 3 things.

1. Eat a balanced meal

2. Don’t avoid whole macronutrients

3. No two people are the same, so no diet is going to be right for everyone.

The first point is obvious. Balanced meals are necessary for everyone. Our body has multiple needs and consumes great quantities of all forms of food each year. They say that we eat 2.5 million pounds of pizza each year. Not to be outdone we also eat 1.5 billion pounds of peanut butter! Point is that we consume a lot of food, so we need to watch how we are balancing our diet and not just consume a single meal-type each day. Variety is the spice of life they say!

The second point is where most opponents of the Vegan or Vegetarian lifestyle enter. Most Vegetarians are very good at eating all kinds of vegetables, but because complete proteins require multiple types of beans and grains, it can be much harder for a vegetarian to get all the protein their body requires. Not that they will not be getting the amount of protein in grams, but more importantly the specific different types of amino acids.

The body has 9 essential amino acids. They are:

• Isoleucine
• Leucine
• Lysine
• Methionine
• Phenylalanine
• Threonine
• Tryptophan
• Valine
• Histidine

There are 12 ‘nonessential’ amino acids which are:

• Alanine
• Arginine
• Aspartate
• Cysteine
• Glutamate
• Glutamine
• Glycine
• Proline
• Serine
• Tyrosine
• Asparagine
• Selenocysteine.

The difference between these amino acids is simply that the body NEEDS to consume the first 9 no matter what, but the other 12 are not absolutely required in a diet. The first 9 are not synthesized by the body but are taken in from the food that we eat. The fact that these 9 are found in animal products makes people believe that this is the only way to eat a balanced diet. Proponents of the Vegan/Vegetarian lifestyle would point out that you can find these same proteins in vegetables as well, but you just have to do what is called Protein combining.

Protein combining is where we take a vegetable with several of the essential amino acids and combine it with another grain or vegetable that has the rest of those essential amino acids. This does not have to be done at the same time either. According to a study published in the American Society for Clinical Nutrition, “Consumption of complementary proteins at different meals over the course of the day should assure the achievement of an adequate state of nitrogen(protein) retention and utilization. Therefore, an undue emphasis on amino acid balance at each meal is inappropriate in the context of usual diets in healthy populations.”(http://www.ajcn.org/content/59/5/1203S.full.pdf#page=1&view=FitH pg. 8)

The third point I make is simply an extension of everything I have said on this blog so far. You are different than your parents, you are different than your siblings and you are different than your friends. No two people have the exact same needs and so if you are someone who feels like they would like to go Vegan or just doing a short vegetarian diet, make sure that you are fulfilling your body’s needs and not trying to do something that isn’t right for you.

Conclusion

Regardless of if you are Vegan or not, it is important to understand the lifestyle and how it affects your body. For those that feel that it is the right way to live, I urge you to make sure that you are watching what you are consuming and make sure that you are balancing out your diet properly. A quick google search will turn up multiple ways to balance out the grains and vegetables that you are planning to enjoy. Personally I couldn’t give up all meat myself, but during a cleanse, or just to switch things up it is always something to consider.

Protein – Legos for your body.

When I was a child LEGOs were one of my favorite toys. I’d spend hours with my brothers building massive towns and castles, cities with bridges and spaceships! We had our own language of pieces we were looking for and had entire plans to make massive superstructures a reality. Now that I’m a little older I don’t get to play with the LEGOs but when I pass by the toy aisle I always remember those times.

What in the world does this have to do with protein? Simply put, protein is the LEGOs of your body. Fat provides long-term energy sources, Carbohydrates provides instant-energy and initial burn of fats, and proteins are the recovery part of your body. Protein is responsible for repairing damaged cells and providing the building blocks to repair any tearing of the muscles.

You might have heard of them in a different format called “Amino Acids” or perhaps as DNA/RNA. There are many other purposes for protein as well such as hormones and enzymes but since this series is on nutrition, I’m going to stick to the idea of consumption of protein as a macronutrient.

Many different people will tell you different things about protein. Some bodybuilders will tell you to take a particular supplement or to eat 6 eggs every morning, etc. While this might have worked for that particular individual, it is not always the best for the average individual. Protein is not something that we can consume in large quantities at a single sitting. Rather the optimum amount of protein for the average individual is around 1.2-1.4g per kg of body weight.  Any more than this and you’re risking taxing the body causing issues with your kidneys and hydration. This ratio is increased for those who are athletes or involved in weight training where the body can process upwards of 1.8g per kg of body weight. Some body builders will even take 2.2g or even higher without major issues, but I would not recommend this for anyone reading this blog.

The important thing to take away from this is that most of your protein supplement needs can be taken care of through proper diet vs extra supplements. Personally, the only time I take protein supplements is when I am on a strength-gaining phase of my workouts. If I’m trying to cut weight, instead I drop my protein intake to around 1.4g per kg. I cut off all my protein supplements and just get my protein through my diet.

Conclusion

Many times people who are cutting out carbohydrates, will substitute protein intake for those carbs and this could be extremely harmful in large amounts. High-protein diets increase risk of dehydration, kidney issues, constipation, fiber issues, and even increase your risk for heart problems. This is not something I would wish on anyone. So check your diet at the door, ignore the idea that you or I could become instantly muscular and dedicate yourself to an entire lifestyle of being healthy and balanced. Daily activity, balanced diet and a healthy outlook are the goals here! You can do it!

Fat – Not as dangerous as people would have you believe!

As the title suggests, fat gets a lot of flack that it shouldn’t. Due to fat being stored in the body in excess, the medical community used to think that this was caused by a simple connection of fat intake producing fatter people. So society declared a giant war on fat. No fat in anything! Companies were scrambling to create the newest form of substitute fat. Remember Olestra? Just a little while ago, ABC came out with an article showing how some of these substitute fats actually caused the body to gain MORE fat and weight than actual real fat. For more about the story check out the link below!

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Diet/eating-fake-fat-makes-real-fat-olestra-study/story?id=13893613

So how do we find a nice balance between zero fat diets and just not caring? The truth is that the body requires a certain amount of fat just to survive. If anyone tries to tell you that they are less than 5% body fat, be concerned! Most males are around 18-23% body fat and women are 24-30% body fat. This is NORMAL. A fit individual will be around 10-15% body fat and elite athletes will be even lower at 8-10%. But this is not always a good thing. Fat provides insulation from the cold letting the body not spend as much energy trying to stay warm, it provides storage for several vitamins that are used in the body, fat provides padding for the bones and organs as well. So it’s good to have ‘some’ fat, but just like everything else, moderation.

Something else to consider when thinking about fats is the caloric consumption. Oftentimes we think about fat as a bad thing because of the density of calories within fatty foods. Each gram of fat has 9 calories in it compared to carbohydrates or proteins which have 4. So yes, fat has more calories, but consider this, fat also has a higher satiety value. So you need a smaller amount of good fats to feel full. In 2004, a study was done on almonds which are high in fat vs regular complex carbohydrates. The study found that instead of consuming the carbs, if you replaced it with 84g of almonds a day, the individuals lost more weight, lowered their water weight, waist ratio, lowered their blood pressure, etc. Basically they reduced everything! For the more scientific minded, here’s a link to the actual study: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14574348

This is not to say that we should start chowing down on bacon all day. Or to start eating only almonds! I know that some people will cry sacrilege at my saying that bacon is not the best food, but what this means is don’t feel guilty if you are consuming a small amount in the morning. My belief? Eat a breakfast with some fat and lower the amount you consume throughout the day till the evening. This will keep you more satisfied during the morning and early afternoon allowing you the energy to make it through the day without having to consume as much sugar to produce the same energy.

Conclusion

Just because society says something is horrible for you may not always be the case. There are different types of fat so don’t look at just fat content. Look for unsaturated fat, polyunsaturated fat, and stay away from the saturated fats. Omega-3’s which is a buzz word right now is also a good fat to look for! Just be aware of what you are consuming when you go shopping. Read the labels! It’ll make you a more educated shopper which in turn will help you to achieve your goals.

Nutrition – Will they ever get it right?

No matter where we turn we’re inundated with the latest and greatest dietary craze. Do I eat like cavemen as the Paleo diet suggests? Or maybe I reduce drastically the amount of carbohydrates in my diet as the Atkins would tell us to do? Maybe it’s not a matter of a specific macronutrient that I am consuming but perhaps it’s the time of day? Or maybe it’s my blood type? When will I ever know what is the right things to eat and drink????!!!!!

Here’s a secret. No one truly knows.

This sounds rather crazy but it’s the truth. There isn’t a right diet for the entire world. There is a right diet for YOU. Remember when we were talking about exercise principles and we discussed individuality? The same applies to the idea of nutrition. Think of it as a lifelong challenge to know your body better than anything else. You might benefit from eating vegetarian or maybe a red-meat diet might be better for you, but there are a few things that you need to be aware of when deciding how to eat and what to eat.

The main thing to remember in nutrition is the concept called the ‘energy equation’. As we consume calories and process these foods/drinks into our body, we store the energy and this energy stored in our bodies is what produces weight. So if we limit our consumption of calories OR increase the amount of calories we use in a day, we will have a net loss and therefore lose weight. It’s literallly that simple. Reduce calorie intake or increase calorie output.

The argument begins when we try to determine what way we lower our calories. This debate will continue for eternity as no two people have the same caloric needs and activity levels or metabolisms for that matter.

In the next few articles I will discuss the three different macronutrients and what they do for us inside our body. These three nutrients have distinct roles in the body and how we utilize the energy that each provides.

Conclusion

Don’t get caught up in the latest diet. Diets are meant to be broken. Instead get caught up in a lifestyle. If you’re wanting to gain weight, you have to consume more. If you want to lose weight you need to consume less OR burn more calories. If you aren’t sure how to start burning more calories, try getting outside and going for a brisk walk. You won’t regret it!