nutrition Archives - Page 26 of 31

Hydration Is Key!

Heather Binns/22 January 2018/ All MFN blog/

How do you know when you’re dehydrated? How do you keep hydrated? Do you mean drinking water? If so, how much water should we drink? These are all very simple questions to which many do not know the answers. Let’s change that.

Meta Slider - HTML Overlay - pregnant woman holding bottle of water Whether you exercise or not, hydration is still an important factor in everyday life. Our body is an intricate matrix of systems that work together so we can function properly. If one of those systems is off, it forces the remaining systems to work harder. It’s like riding a bicycle with a poorly lubricated chain. In order for the bike to progress forward, one would have to pedal harder and faster than if the chain was well lubricated.

Our body depends on water to survive. Every cell, tissue and organ needs water. Without water our body could not remove waste, metabolize food, lubricate joints, maintain its temperature and transport nutrients. Water makes up more than half of our body weight and is the most important nutrient that it uses.

We lose water every day when we sweat, use the restroom and even when we breathe. We lose water at an even faster rate than normal during high temperatures, exercise, sickness, vomiting or have diarrhea. When this happens we become dehydrated.

Have you ever felt so thirsty that when you drank water it was the best thing you ever had? That is most likely due to being dehydrated, meaning the body does not have enough water to function properly. Some signs of dehydration include:

Extreme thirst
Headaches
Muscle cramps
Darker urine or very little urine
Rapid pulse
Dry mouth
Confusion
Sleepiness or fatigue

According to Harris Lieberman, Ph.D, if you go 4 – 8 hours without water you are mildly dehydrated (1.5% drop in body weight) and then severely dehydrated if you go approximately 24 hours without water (3% – 4% drop in body weight). In order to get the body back to its normal state after being dehydrated, we have to go through the process of hydration, i.e.replacing the missing water. This can be done by:

Drinking water and other beverages high in water content such as tea, coffee, lemonade, vegetable juice, fruit juice, milk, etc.
Eating foods high in water content such as cucumbers, watermelon, green peppers, lettuce, radishes, celery, broccoli, cauliflower, strawberries, tomatoes, spinach, grapefruit, baby carrots and cantaloupe.
Consuming ice chips.

water But this still leaves one question unanswered: How much water should we drink? There are a variety of responses, but what I always recommend to my Renov8 Fitness members and clients is to drink half of their body weight in ounces of water everyday. For example, if you weigh 140 pounds, you should drink 70 ounces of water a day.

Increasing water intake abruptly can be a challenge at first. The key is to slowly work your way up to the allotted amount of water each day and eventually your body will compensate. Your body will function properly in everyday life if you stay hydrated!

Reprinted with permission from Renov8 Fitness, LLC.

Heather Binns is a nationally acclaimed fitness expert, wellness educator, certified personal trainer/coach and best-selling author. She loves fitness and has a passion for high-energy and personal fulfillment, and has spent most of her life devoted to helping others achieve their fitness goals.

Should You Eat Healthy Everyday?

Ashley Koff, RD/16 January 2018/ All MFN blog/

Recently I received a note from a trainer saying “things to be done EVERYDAY, eat healthy everyday…”. As I thought about this recommendation, I realized there are three issues it presents for almost all of us.

So before I answer, let me address those:

We have no working definition of “healthy” eating in this country.

Truth. Now that’s sad. We have government definitions. Those have influence from trade associations and also are very one-size fits all. We have practitioners (those who currently work with others – at least two people – on their health), we have coaches, we have influencers, we have authors, and we have currently healthy people sharing their takes, tips, resources and definitions of healthy. Then we have products marketed, even named, “healthy”. But what we don’t have is one definition of what healthy eating is today.

We have many days. Hopefully, you and me, we have lots of days ahead of us.

So to do one thing, several times, for all those days seems daunting, even unrealistic. When we give recommendations or set goals that are unrealistic, in my opinion, we are more likely to fail. I’m not sure humans versus robots are wired to do the same thing everyday.

We can control a lot.

But we can’t control each day, and as such, life happens where eating healthy one day may be not just a choice to skip but a reality – like a winter storm happens, and the stores are closed except the gas station and it’s out of most food. This isn’t an excuse, but rather a reality. Not a frequent reality, but it busts the everyday goal.

So NO you shouldn’t eat healthy everyday. But what you do need to do is give your body the resources it needs to run better, more often. To do this demands that you a) Assess where you are at b) keep what’s better and c) act better, not perfect, more often. That’s right, move over “eat healthy everyday” and enter “choose your better nutrition more often.”

Semantics are everything. What goal are you working towards? Have you written it out? Have you said it out loud? Is it doable? Need help?

Let’s get better, together.

Originally printed on ashleykoffapproved.com. Reprinted with permission.

Ashley Koff RD is your better health enabler. For decades, Koff has helped thousands get and keep better health by learning to make their better not perfect nutrition choices more often. A go-to nutrition expert for the country’s leading doctors, media, companies and non-profit organizations, Koff regularly shares her Better Nutrition message with millions on national and local television, magazines and newspapers. Visit her website at ashleykoffapproved.com. Ashley is also available for nutritional consultations.

Standing man with broken inner mechanism, bad health

Are you training your gut?

Nancy Clark, RD/10 January 2018/ All MFN blog/

Athletes tend to do a good job of training their muscles, heart and lungs. But some of them (particularly endurance athletes and those in running sports) commonly fail to train their gut. As one marathoner reported, “I was so afraid of getting diarrhea during long training runs that I did not eat or drink anything beforehand. I really struggled after 14 miles…” A high school soccer player admitted, “I’m so afraid I’ll throw up if I run with food in my stomach.” He ate only a light lunch at 11:00 and then practiced on fumes at 3:30. No wonder he had a disappointing season.

An estimated 30-50% of endurance athletes (including up to 90% of distance runners) have experienced gastro-intestinal (GI) issues during and after hard exercise. They fear bloat, gas, nausea, stomach cramps/pain, side stitch, diarrhea, vomiting, and urge to defecate. These issues arise during long bouts of exercise because blood flow to the gut is reduced for an extended period of time. When combined with dehydration, elevated body temperature and high levels of stress hormones, normal intestinal function can abruptly end.

If you are an athlete with a finicky GI tract, restricting your diet before and during exercise will not solve the problem. You want to learn how to train your gut to accommodate performance enhancing carbs and water. That way, you can train better—hence compete better—without stressing about undesired pit stops.

Thankfully, the gut is trainable. Competitive eaters have proven this point. Google Nathans’ Hot Dog Eating Competition and watch the video of a champ who stuffed 72 hotdogs into his stomach in 10 minutes. Clearly, he had to train his gut to be able to complete that task.

Competitive eating is unlikely your goal, but you may want to be competitive in your sport. That means you need to fuel wisely in order to perform optimally. While some “keto-athletes” choose to train their bodies to rely on fat for fuel (fat is less likely to cause GI distress), training the gut is a far easier alternative for most of us.

The following tips can help you exercise with digestive peace.

Drink enough fluids. Dehydration triggers intestinal problems. Your goal is to drink enough to prevent 2% dehydration (sweat loss of 2 pounds per 100 pounds of body weight from pre- to post-exercise). If you are a “big guy” who sweats heavily, this can be a lot of fluid. For example, a 200-pound football player could easily lose 4 pounds (a half-gallon) of sweat in an hour of exercise. He needs to train his gut to handle fluid replacement during training. He could need as much as 12 to 16 ounces every 15 minutes during a two-hour practice.

Feeling “full” and “bloated” during exercise indicates fluids (and foods) have not emptied from the stomach. This commonly happens during really hard exercise, when reduced blood flow to the stomach delays stomach emptying. Hot weather and prolonged exercise in the heat can also reduce stomach emptying.

You want to dilute highly concentrated carbs (i.e., gels), so be sure to drink enough water during exercise (i.e. 16 oz. water per 100 calories gel).This will help speed up gastric emptying.

If you plan to eat a peanut butter on a bagel before you compete, you want to routinely eat that before important training sessions. This helps train your gut to accommodate fat (sustained energy) as well as carbs (quick energy).

Once carbohydrate (such as sport drink, gel, banana, or gummi bears) empties from the stomach, it enters the small intestine and is broken down into one of three simple sugars (glucose, fructose, galactose). These sugars need “taxi cabs” to get transported out of the intestine and into the blood stream.

Too many gels or chomps without enough transporters can lead to diarrhea. By training with your race-day carbs, you can increase the number of transporters.

If you typically eat a low-carb Paleo or keto-type diet and then on the day of, let’s say, a marathon, you decide to fuel with carb-rich gels and sports drinks, your body won’t have the capacity to optimally transport the sugar (carbs) out of your intestines and to your muscles. You could easily end up with diarrhea.

When planning what to eat during extended exercise, choose from a variety of carbs with a variety of sugars (i.e., sport drink, gum drops, and maple sugar candy). This helps prevent the glucose transporters from getting saturated. Too much of one kind of sport food can easily create GI problems.

“Real foods” such as banana, raisins and cereal, have been shown to be as effective as commercial sport foods. Your body processes “real food” every day and has developed a good supply of transporters to deal with the carbohydrate you commonly eat. By experimenting and learning what works best for your body, you can fuel without anxiety about undesired pit stops.

For exercise that lasts for up to two hours, research suggests about 60 grams (240 calories) of carb per hour can empty from the small intestine and get into the blood stream. Hence, that’s a good target. For longer, slower, events, the body can use 90 g (360 calories) carb per hour from multiple sources,as tolerated. Again, train your gut!

The bottom line

Train with relatively large volumes of fluid to get your stomach used to that volume.
Routinely eat carbohydrate-based foods before training sessions to increase your body’s ability to absorb and use the carbs.
During training, practice your race-day fueling. Mimic what you might eat before the actual competitive event, and tweak it until you find the right balance.
If you are concerned about diarrhea, in addition to preventing dehydration, limit your fiber intake for a few days pre-event (fewer whole grains, fruits and veggies).
Reducing your intake of onions, garlic, broccoli, apples, and sorbitol might help reduce GI issues during exercise.
Meet with a sports dietitian to help you create a fueling plan that promotes intestinal peace and better performance.

Sports nutritionist Nancy Clark MS RD CSSD has a private practice in the Boston-area (Newton; 617-795-1875). She helps both fitness exercisers and competitive athletes create winning food plans. Her best-selling Sports Nutrition Guidebook, and food guides for marathoners, cyclists and soccer are available at nancyclarkrd.com. For online workshops: www.NutritionSportsExerciseCEUs.com.

Have You Recruited Yourself?

Kelli Calabrese/3 January 2018/ All MFN blog/

If You Are Making Excuses, You Are Not Sold Out On Reaching Your Goals! Don’t Be A Quitter!

Do you know someone who sets a goal and runs after it with massive action? I have friends who act like androids continually crushing their goals and rising to the top at whatever they set out to do. I realize they are rare, however far too many give up too easily on their dreams.

A select few give their dreams their all. They are in the minority.

So what’s the difference between making excuses and quitting versus putting your head down and being fully sold out and attached to reaching the most excellent outcome?

You need to sell yourself. You need to sign yourself up fully for what ever it is that you want to do, be, have or give. Your belief in the outcome must be unshakable.

If you were Thomas Edison, would you have invented the lightbulb? Would you have failed over 1,000 times and kept believing it was possible and putting all of your resources into making it a reality?

The truth is that some of you already quit on your 2018 goals because you never fully believed it was possible. You might say that you want to lose weight or quit smoking or pay off debt or take that dream vacation, but do you know that you know that you know, deep in your soul that you will make it happen? Are you willing to invest the resources and do what ever is necessary to achieve it?

How can you increase your chances of achieving your 2018 goals?

Write them down, read them daily, make them public.
Build EXTRAORDINARY belief in yourself, your product or service and your ability to make it happen.
Recruit others to share the vision, advise, hold accountable, support and mentor you.
STOP making excuses. Once you complain or make excuses you have one foot on the breaks and are close to quitting.
Find someone doing what you want to do (or be or have or give) and duplicate their success.
Set up rewards along the way and have a celebration planned for when you achieve your goal. Recognition, fun and celebration make the hardness in transforming, stretching and growing more manageable.
Have a daily method of thinking and acting that moves you closer to your goal each day.
If someone quits after a month or 2 or 6 they weren’t truly committed. They didn’t even give the seeds of their work time to grow.

How could you expect someone else to commit and follow you when you weren’t TRULY committed?

The moment you recruit yourself is the moment when everything changes. It won’t typically happen right away but it will happen!

When your goals are achieved you will enjoy the sweet spot of your passion, purpose and profit coming together! It’s priceless.

Reprinted with permission from Kelli Calabrese. Visit her website, kellicalabrese.com

Kelli Calabrese MS, is a 32 year fitness, nutrition and lifestyle professional who is a clinical exercise physiologist, former health club owner, corporate fitness manager and she founded a school that prepared over 3,000 people to become certified fitness pro’s. She was the lead fitness expert for eDiets, Montel Williams and was interviewed for Jillian Michael’s position on the biggest loser.

Everything You Need to Know About Acid Reflux Disease

Joe Fleming/28 December 2017/ All MFN blog/

Have you ever experienced an unpleasant burning feeling in your chest after eating? How about frequent belching? Do you also find it difficult to swallow your food? If you have these signs and symptoms, you might be having an acid reflux.

Acid reflux disease is a common health problem that happens when the acid in your stomach flows back to your esophagus. That’s why the condition is more specifically referred to as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).

Reports have shown that in the United States, 25-40% of people experience the signs and symptoms of acid reflux at some point in their lives while 7-10% have to deal with the symptoms every day. The disease can affect all age groups but the risk is higher in people who are over 40 years old.

The Stomach and the Esophagus

To further understand the signs and symptoms of acid reflux, you need to be familiar first with the structure and function of the body organs affected by the disease.

Your stomach and esophagus are part of your digestive system.
When eating, the food that you swallow travels through your esophagus, a hollow and muscular tube that connects your throat to your stomach.
The esophagus has lubricants and moves in wavelike movements to propel food towards your stomach.
Before the food reaches your stomach, it has to pass through your lower esophageal sphincter, which is a ring of muscle that relaxes to allow food entry into the stomach and tightens to prevent food from coming back up (regurgitation).
The food enters your stomach where it is digested.
Food is broken down by the aid of your stomach acid and digestive enzymes.

What Happens in Acid Reflux Disease?

Your stomach acid can regurgitate to your esophagus when your lower esophageal sphincter becomes dysfunctional or when there is a delay in the emptying of your stomach.

Your lower esophageal sphincter prevents acid and food from going back into the esophagus. When it becomes dysfunctional, the regurgitated stomach acid can irritate the lining of your esophagus.

Lower esophageal sphincter dysfunction can happen in several ways such as when it relaxes temporarily (the most common mechanism), when it relaxes permanently, and when the increased pressure inside the stomach becomes higher than the pressure in the sphincter, forcing it to open.

Delayed emptying of stomach contents can also increase the pressure inside the stomach. The building pressure will push at your lower esophageal sphincter. When it cannot resist the pressure any longer, it can lead to acid reflux.

Signs and Symptoms of Acid Reflux Disease

The signs and symptoms of acid reflux generally get worse after eating, when bending over, and when lying down. These include:

Heartburn (uncomfortable burning feeling in your chest)
A sour taste in your mouth
Inflammation of the esophagus
Feeling bloated or feeling sick (the high pressure inside your stomach makes it distended)
Frequent belching
Vomiting
Bad breath
Painful and difficulty swallowing
Hoarse voice (the acid irritates your vocal chords)
Excessive saliva production (your body’s attempt to neutralize the pH in your esophagus)

What are the Risk Factors for Acid Reflux Disease?

The following conditions can predispose you to have acid reflux disease:

Being overweight. When you are overweight or obese, the excess fat can increase the pressure in your stomach.
Being pregnant. Symptoms of acid reflux disease are common in pregnant women primarily because the growing baby can compress the stomach, increasing the intragastric pressure.
Exposure to cigarette smoke. Whether you are the smoker yourself or you are only exposed to secondhand smoke, you are at risk of developing the disease. The nicotine found in cigarettes relaxes your lower esophageal sphincter, making it dysfunctional in preventing the reflux of acid to your esophagus.

How to Manage the Symptoms?

Eat small, frequent meals instead of large meals
Avoid drinking coffee and alcoholic beverages
Avoid eating chocolate, spicy foods, and fatty foods
Stop smoking and avoid inhaling cigarette smoke
Refrain from eating at least 2-3 hours before sleeping
Lose weight and strive to maintain a normal body-mass index (BMI)
Do not sleep with your body lying flat on the bed. Make sure that the head of your bed is elevated by 6-8 inches. You can do this by putting durable risers for low beds under the head of your bed.
Opt for loose clothing. Wearing tight clothes can compress your stomach and push stomach acid into your esophagus.

When to See Your Doctor

If these home remedies and lifestyle modifications do not relieve your symptoms, talk to your doctor about further treatment. Seek consultation if you observe any of the following:

Recurring symptoms that occur several times in a week
Difficulty swallowing
Persistent vomiting, most especially if accompanied by blood
Sudden weight loss

Early treatment is important when dealing with acid reflux to prevent the development of serious complications.

Joe Fleming is the President at ViveHealth.com. Interested in all things related to living a healthy lifestyle, he enjoys sharing and expressing his passion through writing. Working to motivate others and defeat aging stereotypes, Joe uses his writing to help all people overcome the obstacles of life. Covering topics that range from physical health, wellness, and aging all the way to social, news, and inspirational pieces…the goal is help others “rebel against age”.

Healthy Aging: Your Better Nutrition Guide

Ashley Koff, RD/8 December 2017/ All MFN blog/

Another year older, another year wiser, but will it be another year of better health? Aging can feel like an un-plug-able drain on our internal resources with no way to stop the process and thus maintain your current health status or, even harder, improve upon it for healthy aging. Fret not as with better nutrition you can and you will help support better health whether that means healing, maintaining, preventing or optimizing your health as the body ages. So what does healthy aging look like?

Nourish All Your Systems, Together: The whole body needs better nutrition but we don’t need different nutrition for better health nor for healthy aging. The good news is that key nutrients support the whole body’s total health. So when you consume probiotics, yes you are helping support a healthy digestive system but that also supports immune health which reduces overall stress and enables better heart health and brain health and so on. Same goes for a daily dose of broccoli’s glucoraphanin which enables detoxification, which removes unwanted toxins, which makes it easier for the body to do its daily tasks, which supports healthy skin, immune health and so on.

Probiotic: Here’s what you need to know.
Broccoli’s Glucoraphanin: Eat broccoli, daily, like me and Rerun. But for those days where that doesn’t happen, choose a supplement that contains TrueBroc or make some tea or coffee.
Get the Essentials: Vitamins, minerals, fatty acids and phytonutrient because getting in all the nutrients your body needs, daily, can happen but often doesn’t. AKA favorites include: Mega Food, Natural Vitality, New Chapter, SmartyPants.

Know Your Numbers (and Levels): While there are certain nutrients every body needs, your body ages better when you know what you specifically need to replenish, restore, and support.

Get labs drawn every six months including your vitamin D (25OH), your sed rate and CRP (markers of inappropriate inflammation), your HgBA1C (once a year is fine unless you are working on yours) to assess pre-diabetes/diabetes, heavy metals to assess toxin burden(s) and other labs may include stool or breath test for bacteria, omegas, and Berkley Heart Lab for knowing what your cholesterol really looks like.

R&R for Building Better Habits: You are never (EVER) to old to build better habits and that includes recognizing and replacing those that aren’t serving you with ones that will enable better health. While your myelin production may have slowed (learn more about this important brain matter in an awesome book “The Talent Code” by Daniel Coyle building better habits can and should happen.

Identify what habits you currently have – list them all out on a piece of paper – ranging from taking the dog out to checking your email or social media. Then vet them into lists – better health enabler, better health deducting.
For the better health enabler habits, write down what it is that motivates you to do these? How did they become habits? How would you feel if you didn’t do them one day? Several days?
For the better health deducting habits – pick 1 or 2 that you really want to change and that will give you the biggest bang for better health by changing them to a better health enabling habit. Maybe you don’t take your supplements or you are having 3 glasses of wine a day or you have stopped being active or you have trouble sleeping.
Now look back at the better health enabling habits descriptions – what motivates you for these, how do you make them happen – and write down a few thoughts for the 1 or 2 habits you picked – what could you do differently today and tomorrow and this week and next month? What would motivate you to do these? What would you have to give up to do make these happen?
Just Do It… give yourself one month to see if you can create a new better health enabling habit by improving one that was previously deducting. Then put a calendar reminder each week for the rest of the year (the year that you are remodeling this habit not the calendar year) to check in on how you are doing.

Aging can and should be awesome. Like anything, healthy aging takes work – you have to train daily to age better – but the work is worth it when you age with better health. Have personal questions about your better aging Rx? That’s what I am here for – so make an appointment for an initial consult with me today.

Originally printed on ashleykoffapproved.com. Reprinted with permission.

Protect Your Peripheral Nerves: Top 5 Supplements for Optimal Foot Function

Dr. Emily Splichal/5 December 2017/ All MFN blog/

We all know that keeping our feet strong is key to proper posture, optimal movement patterns and staying pain-free as we age. In my workshops I’m a huge advocate of Barefoot Baby Boomers and keeping barefoot stimulation a key part of our lifestyle. However to truly stay #barefootstrong as we age we need to do a little more than simply train sans footwear.

Biohacking Your Barefeet

With changing nutritional values, toxins in our food and combating everyday stress we no longer can rely on diet and exercise to ensure our youngest, healthiest selves. This is where I advise my patients to turn to vitamin supplementation and simple ways to #biohackthebody.

Below are some of my favorite supplements that are all designed to enhance nerve function, reduce inflammation and combat free radicals before they damage our peripheral nerves and fascial network.

Supplement #1 – Wild Blueberry Extract

You may have heard that blueberries are brain food. What makes blueberries so beneficial is that they are packed with polyphenols or compounds unique to plants. Polyphenols which can also be found in coffee, dark chocolate and spices carry some of the strongest anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

A 2004 study by Youdim et al. found that wild blueberry supplementation enhanced neurogenesis in the aging brain with their flavonoids being able to cross the blood brain barrier. Now you may have been told that we do not grow new brain cells or our peripheral nerves cannot regenerate – this is not true! The research in the field of neurogenesis is a super exciting area of medicine and is showing some exciting advances in aging, neuropathy and neurodegenerative diseases.

To maximize the benefits of blueberry polyphenols I recommend taking wild blueberry extract daily to avoid the excess sugars of eating so many blueberries daily. Also make sure the blueberries are *wild* as these contain the highest levels of polyphenols!

Supplement #2 – Krill Oil

This is one of my newest fav supplements for my patients. Krill oil is similar to fish oil supplements in that they are packed with beneficial Omega-3 fatty acids (DHA & EPA). However unlike fish oils, krill oil phospholipids have a special carotenoid called astaxanthin attached to it. Astaxanthin is an extremely powerful antioxidant that – get this – can cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB)! This makes Krill Oil so powerful to maintaining nerve function.

In addition to crossing the BBB omega 3’s have such a powerful anti-inflammatory benefit that they make a great replacement or alternative to traditional NSAIDs such as Advil, Aspirin or Aleve. These anti-inflammatory benefits have shown to reduce arthritis pain, nerve inflammation and connective tissue pain.

Recommended: Dr Mercola Antartica Krill Oil

Supplement #3 – R-Lipoic Acid

This was one of my favorite supplements when I was going through medical school and was a big forerunner when it came to anti-aging supplements. It’s great to see that it is still one of the strongest anti-oxidants on the market – and has actually been formulated to be even more powerful when taken in its sodium-R-lipoate form!

Neuropathy has a oxidative stress theory which means that to keep the nerves of the feet (and hands) healthy we need to keep our oxidative stress low! Super R-Lipoic Acid is more bioavailable, stable, and potent, achieving 10–30 times higher peak blood levels than pure R-lipoic acid.

I also recommend taking R-lipoic acid with the next supplement and nerve-protective powerhouse ALC!

Recommended: Life Extension Super R-Lipoic Acid

Supplement # 4 – Acetyl-L-Carnitine (ALC)

ALC is another favorite supplement when I was going through medical school and doing research in diabetic peripheral neuropathy. Again super excited to see it’s still one of the best nerve-protective supplements on the market.

ALC like all of the above supplements has the unique ability to cross the BBB which means it’s crucial to nervous system health. Studies have shown that ALC may have potential in exerting unique neuroprotective, neuromodulatory and neurotrophic properties that are not limited to just the central nervous system. Study after study has shown great effects of ALC on peripheral neuropathy patients.

Recommended: Life Extension Acetyl-L-Carnitine

Supplement #5 – L-Cittruline (Watermelon)

Watermelon is one of my favorite pre-workout drinks due to its effect on vasodilation and circulation! The vasodilation effect of watermelon is found in the amino acid L-Citruline which is a precursor to nitric oxide (think Viagra!).

Nitric oxide is integral to relaxing blood vessels which is necessary for healthy blood flow to the heart, muscles, nerves and throughout the entire body. Nitric oxide helps the blood vessels maintain their flexibility so that blood flow is unrestricted – even to the smallest vessels to the peripheral nerves.

To get enough L-Citrulline for optimal circulation you’d need to eat 6 cups of watermelon or you can cut out the sugar and take a supplement. Amino acids are always recommended to take on an empty stomach for maximum absorption.

Recommended: Source Naturals L-Citrulline

To learn more about how to protect your nervous system from inflammation and oxidation and how to #biohackyourbody please visit, dremilysplichal.com

Originally printed on the Barefoot Strong Blog. Reprinted with permission from Dr. Splichal.

Dr. Emily Splichal, Podiatrist and Human Movement Specialist, is the Founder of the Evidence Based Fitness Academy and Creator of the Barefoot Training Specialist®, Barefoot Rehab Specialist® and BARE® Workout Certifications for health and wellness professionals. With over 13 years in the fitness industry, Dr. Splichal has dedicated her medical career towards studying postural alignment and human movement as it relates to foot function and barefoot training.

Updates from the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics

Nancy Clark, RD/1 December 2017/ All MFN blog/

Nutrition misinformation and food confusion surrounds today’s health-conscious athletes. To arm myself with knowledge to better educate my clients, I (along with 10,000 other registered dietitians) attended the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics annual convention to learn the latest food and nutrition updates. Here is some information that might help you on your health journey.

Stress fractures are a common sports injury. Among 42 Division-1 cross-country runners, 35% of the male and 41% of the female runners reported having had a stress fracture. Inadequate nutrition could have contributed to the problem. Their diets tended to be low in calories, calcium and/or vitamin D. If you are going to push your body to the limits, at least fuel it optimally!

If intestinal distress sidetracks you during exercise, try reducing your intake of apples, onion, garlic and broccoli —particularly for 2 to 3 days before a competitive event.These are just a few commonly eaten foods that are high in fermentable (gas-producing) carbohydrates; they might contribute to undesired pit stops. You could also meet with a sports dietitian to help you systematically discover triggering foods. The referral network at www.SCANdpg.org can help you find your local sports food expert.

Exercise increases harmful free radicals within muscles that can lead to oxidative damage and inflammation. Should athletes supplement with anti-oxidants to counter this? No. The better bet is to let the body adapt to these higher levels (and eat abundant anti-oxidant rich fruits and vegetables). Adaptation creates a change for the better in an athlete’s physiology.

Alcohol contributes to hypoglycemia (low blood glucose) by suppressing the release of glucose from the liver into the blood stream. If an athlete hasn’t eaten much food (as can easily happen after an event), alcohol in an empty stomach can easily lead to hypoglycemia (a lack of glucose for the brain) and a drunken stupor. The same happens when a person with diabetes has low blood glucose; he or she can get mistaken for being drunk (when the brain just needs food).

In contrast to recreational marijuana, which is used with the intent to impair normal functioning, medical marijuana (MM) is used to relieve pain, reduce nausea and vomiting, and to overcome loss of appetite (as with cancer). If you have parents or friends who are new to using MM, caution them about using edibles. When MM is eaten, its pain relieving benefits are delayed for 30 to 120 minutes, as opposed to smoked MM, which offers immediate benefits. The problem with the delayed response with edibles is that a patient can easily overdose while waiting to feel an effect…

Meal timing affects circadian rhythms —as well as weight management. A study (Garaulet, 2013)with 420 subjects who ate an early lunch or a later lunch reports the early lunch eaters lost more weight, despite consuming the same number of calories and getting the same amount of sleep. Your best bet is to eat more food earlier in the day. As you have undoubtedly heard before: Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, dinner like a pauper.

We compromise our well-being every time we have a mismatch between the environment and our internal biological clock. (Think jet lag, shift work, sleep apnea, and watching late-night TV.) Every cell has a biological clock; all these cellular clocks need to be synchronized. If not, bodies become unhealthy. For example, shift workers experience more high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes than people who work 9:00 to 5:00. For athletes, jet lag means poorer performance.

Sleep is restorative and helps synchronize cell’s biorhythms. If you have trouble sleeping well:

avoid caffeine at least 4 hours before bedtime and limit it to 2 mugs (400 mg. caffeine) a day.
turn off your computer screen/TV an hour before bed.

Consumers are self-defining “healthy food.” It needs to be organic, natural, non-GMO, free of dyes/additives/ colors, and have a “clean” label with no strange words. Will this trendy definition lead to unintended health consequences as food producers try to meet consumers’ demands? Likely yes.

If you make your food decisions based on trends rather than science, you might want to take a step back and look at the whole picture. For example, enriched foods offer added nutrients that can make a label look “dirty” but the extra ingredients are good for your health. Added iron reduces your risk of becoming anemic; folic acid reduces the risk of birth defects; iodine reduces the risk of goiter. Preservatives that have been generally regarded as safe help bread stay fresh for longer, reduce the growth of mold on cheese, and reduce the amount of food you waste. These ingredients can be beneficial for you and for the environment.

Sugar-sweetened beverages are the biggest source of dietary sugar in the US diet. Hence, research on sugar and health has focused on soft drinks. The question remains unanswered: Is sugar added to nourishing foods a health hazard? That is, is sugar added to spaghetti sauce (to make it less acidic) bad for you? What about the sugar added to bread (to help make the dough rise) — Is that a cause for concern?

Doubtful. Yet, too many consumers freak out when a product lists sugar on the food label. Please note: sugar is just one of many nutrients listed on the label. Please look at the whole nutrient package. For example, chocolate milk has sugar (that refuels muscles) but it also offers protein (to repair muscles), sodium (to replace sweat loss), calcium & vitamin D to enhance bone health. Dietary guidelines say 10% of total calories can come from added sugar. That’s 200 to 300 calories a day for athletes. Do you really need to freak out about a little sugar that makes that spaghetti sauce taste better? I think you can find bigger things to worry about.

Reprinted with permission from Nancy Clark.

Sports nutritionist Nancy Clark MS RD CSSD has a private practice in the Boston-area (Newton; 617-795-1875), where she counsels both fitness exercisers and competitive athletes, teaching them how to eat to win. Her popular Sports Nutrition Guidebook, and food guides for marathoners, cyclists and soccer are available at nancyclarkrd.com. For online workshops, see NutritionSportsExerciseCEUs.com.

5 Food to Help You Shed Weight Faster, Smarter

Evie Harrison/27 November 2017/ All MFN blog/

Life has become so fast that most of us don’t find the time to hit the gym regularly and end up feeling helpless as we watch our waistlines grow. This increased weight then begins to affect our self-esteem as well as health, and consequently we end up resorting to fad and restrictive diets to lose weight quickly.

These commercialized weight loss tactics place considerable burden on the human body as they eliminate entire food groups that are essential for its optimum functioning. So, what happens next?

We feel low on energy as well as morale and eventually succumb to the cravings that these restrictive diets cause. It is important here to understand that for getting leaner, healthier and more attractive, you need to ensure that you shed the right type of weight. For instance, you want to lower fat levels while holding on to lean muscle mass.

So, to lose weight in a smart yet swift manner, you need to make clever adjustments to your overall diet. You can do so by incorporating foods in your diet that alter your body’s functions such that you churn weight more readily whilst providing your body with ample nutrition at the same time.

Here we have outlined 5 of the most beneficial foods for smart and quick weight loss.

1. Fruits

Astonishing is the thought that something as delectable and satiating as a sweet and ripe fruit can become the crowning jewel in a weight loss regime. This, however, stands completely true as fruits are not only packed with essential nutrients, they have actually also been found to modify bodily functions such that you are able to churn fat much more easily.

The best fruits that can catapult your weight loss efforts include:

Apples

Apples are a worthy addition to your weight loss diet as they are a potent source of a dietary fibre called pectin which inhibits the amount of fat absorbed by your cells. Moreover, they have a high water, antioxidant and vitamin A content that make them ideal for curbing hunger without loading up on calories.

Avocados

Hailed for their superfruit qualities, avocados are the best fruit for weight loss. This is because they are rich in healthy monounsaturated fats such as the omega-9 fatty acids that speed up your metabolism thus allowing you to burn fat more readily. It is also high in fibre content (a quarter avocado contains 3.4 grams) which is satiating and enable us to reduce our overall food intake. Moreover, it also improves your digestion; thus allowing you to process food more efficiently

Grapefruit

Studies have shown that grapefruit facilitates weight loss by preventing spikes in insulin. It is also a delicious addition to your dietary regime that can keep you motivated to achieve your weight loss targets

Strawberries

Strawberries are recommended as they possess polyphenols that help regulate blood sugar and inhibit the storage of fat.

Blueberries

Blueberries should be consumed as they have been found to disrupt the storage of fat by nearly 73%.

2. Lean meats

If your goal is not just to lose pounds but to lose them in a smart manner, be sure to incorporate lean meats in your diet. This is because lean meats possess fat burning properties whilst containing bucket loads of body essential nutrients.

They are also high in protein which has thermogenic properties and therefore prompt your body to burn calories more readily. This thermogenic effect of lean meats is greatest in chicken and turkey that have a relatively low fat content.

Other lean meats like salmon, tuna, mackerel and sardines, on the other hand, facilitate weight loss owing to the presence of healthy omega-3 fatty acids. These fatty acids prompt the breakdown of fat by influencing the leptin hormone such that your body begins to store less amount of fat and begins to breakdown its existing fat reserve to produce energy. Moreover, lean meats suppress your appetite and reduce stress as well, enabling you to enjoy your journey to a leaner and healthier you.

3. Leafy and starch free vegetables

Vegetables are a hallmark of healthy eating. However, when you’re aiming to shed unwanted pounds it is best to incorporate particular categories of vegetables such as dark leafy greens and starch-free varieties to your everyday diet.

Here are the most potent vegetables for weight loss.

Onions

Onions contain a high amount of the element chromium which helps your body manage its blood-sugar levels. This, in other words, means that your body is able to avoid sudden slumps in energy that have you reaching for unhealthy snacks. Moreover, they also contain a type of flavonoid called quercetin that prevents inflammation.

Broccoli

Broccoli is a dietician’s favourite as it contains healthy amounts of fibre (2.4 grams per 100 grams) such that it makes you feel full for longer spans of time and also works to improve your overall digestion.

Spinach

Spinach contains loads of manganese which is an essential nutrient required by our body. It also helps in the breakdown of fat reserves, therefore, allowing you to shed pounds easily.

Sweet potatoes

Sweet potatoes belong to the category of low-GI foods that facilitate weight loss by avoiding spikes in blood sugar levels.

4. Legumes

Perhaps the most under-appreciated weight loss food, legumes have been found to be more filing than lean meats. Here are the most effective legumes for weight loss:

Lentils

Lentils contain generous amounts of both soluble and insoluble fibre that assist in the lowering of cholesterol levels and improve digestion.

Flageolet beans

Flageolet beans are recommended as they assist in the absorption of fat and sugar and contain appetite reducing antioxidants. They, however, should not be consumed by people with irritable bowel syndrome as it leads to bloating.

5. Herbs and spices

In addition to breathing flavour into cuisine worldwide, herbs and spices have been proven by realms of research to help the body churn unwanted fat.

Some of the most ideal varieties that can magnify the potency of your weight loss regime include:

Green tea

The tea-lovers favourite, green tea contains mounds of catechins that help boost metabolism and consequently are ideal for weight loss. They do so by lowering the levels of the catechol-O-methyltranferase enzyme which in turn leads to the degradation of norepinephrine; the hormone that burns body fat. However, to see visible results, it is recommended that you consume 2 – 3 cups of green tea every day.

It is best to opt for green-tea brands like Buddha’s Herbs that have been tried and tested to offer the best results for weight loss.

Turmeric

Turmeric has been found to facilitate weight loss by warming up your body and consequently increasing your metabolic rate. It can be added directly to meals or can be consumed in the form of turmeric tea that is all the rage these days.

Cinnamon

Cinnamon possess cinnamaldehyde; a compound that not only gives cinnamon its unique flavour but also causes the breakdown of fat reserves so that it may be converted in to energy.

Cayenne

Owing to the unforgiving intensity of this spice, it is seldom a part of our everyday meals. However, research has found that this spice, when added to meals, allows us to churn up to 100 calories which can take you leaps and bound ahead in your weight loss journey.

Black Pepper

Black pepper sets itself apart from other weight loss foods by inhibiting the formation of new fat cells. So, as you attempt to lose smart, be sure to add some of this pepper to your meals to ensure that you do not build any new fat reserves.

All the foods mentioned above can always be mixed and matched to develop a wide range of menus that can be delicious and healthy at the same time.

Evie Harrison is a blogger by choice. She loves to discover the world around her. She likes to share her discoveries, experiences and express herself through her blogs. Find her on Twitter:@iamevieharrison