When it comes to eating eggs, nutrition advice has changed. In 1968, the American Heart Association (AHA) recommended Americans consume no more than three whole eggs per week. The belief was eating cholesterol-rich egg yolks would elevate cholesterol in the blood, increasing one’s risk of developing cardiovascular disease and having a heart attack or stroke. By 2015, that belief had changed. Today’s 2020-2025 US Dietary Guidelines no longer limit eggs. (Nutrition is an evolving science. New research led to new understandings about eggs. Though confusing, the “system is working” when new knowledge leads to new recommendations about what’s best to eat to protect good health.)

Studying the role of eggs in our diet has been done, in part, by surveying thousands of egg-eaters from a cross-section of the general population. This led to the conclusion that eating eggs can increase one’s risk for elevated blood cholesterol and heart disease. But that conclusion applied best to the average American (overfat, underfit) who ate fried eggs + bacon + buttery white toast, i.e., a lot of saturated fat. Today’s heart-healthy dietary guidelines focus on saturated fat as the culprit. Of the 5 grams of fat in an egg, only 1.5 g are saturated. (The recommended daily limit for saturated fat is about 15 grams per 2,000 calories.) Athletes who eat poached eggs + avocado + whole-grain toast can more likely enjoy that breakfast worry-free.

Overall, epidemiological evidence suggests enjoying 6 to 7 eggs/week does not increase heart disease risk. For most healthy athletes, cholesterol in eggs does not convert into artery-clogging cholesterol in the blood. That said, some people are hyper-responders to dietary cholesterol, meaning when they eat cholesterol-rich foods, their blood cholesterol level increases. If you have a family history of heart disease and/or diabetes, a worry-free choice is to enjoy more oatmeal breakfasts, made really yummy by stirring in a spoonful of peanut butter. (Both oatmeal and peanut butter are known to be heart-healthy choices.)

Heart health is enhanced by far more than eliminating eggs from your menu. Rather than targeting eggs as a contributor to heart disease, I suggest you take a good look at your overall lifestyle as well as dietary intake. As an athlete, you get regular exercise, but do you get enough sleep? Drink alcohol only in moderation, if at all? Eat an overall well-balanced diet? You might want to focus less on whether or not an omelet for breakfast will ruin your health (doubtful!) and instead make other long-term dietary enhancements. That is, could you add more spinach and arugula to your salads? Munch on more nuts instead of chips? Enjoy more salmon and fewer burgers? There’s no question that whole grains, nuts, beans, fish, and colorful fruits and veggies promote heart health.

Egg truths

• Eggs are nutrient dense. They contain all the nutrients needed to sustain life. The 150 calories in two eggs offer far more vitamins, minerals, protein, and other nutrients than you’d get from 150 calories of other breakfast foods (i.e., English muffin, energy bar, banana).

• Brown eggs are nutritionally similar to white eggs. The breed of hen determines the color of the eggs.

• Yolks contain nutrients that athletes can easily miss out on, including vitamin D, riboflavin, folate, and for vegans, B-12.

• One large egg has about 6 to 7 grams of high-quality protein that contains all the essential amino acids (such as BCAAs) that are needed to build muscles. Half of an egg’s protein is in the yolk (along with most of the vitamins, minerals, fat, and flavor). The white is primarily protein and water.

• Egg yolks contain the (once feared) cholesterol. One egg yolk has about 185 to 200 milligrams of dietary cholesterol. That’s more than half of the 300-milligram limit previously recommended by the American Heart Association (and has been dropped).

• Eggs are rich in a well-absorbed source of lutein and zeaxanthin, two types of antioxidants that reduce risk of cataracts and age-related macular degeneration.

• For dieters, eggs are pre-portioned, which can be helpful. Eggs are also satiating. Research suggests people who eat eggs for breakfast tend to eat fewer calories later in the day.

• What about omega-3 eggs? Are they all they are cracked up to be? Yes and no. Omega-3 fats are thought to be protective against heart disease. Egg yolks from hens fed flaxseed, algae, and fish oils have a higher omega-3 fat content, increasing it from about 50 mg omega-3s in an ordinary egg to 125 mg in an Eggland’s Best egg. This small amount is tiny compared to the 3,000 mg. omega-3s in a standard portion of Atlantic salmon ( 4-5-oz.).

Omega-3 eggs are more expensive than standard eggs: $6 vs $4/dozen. You’ll get a lot more omega-3s by consuming more salmon. That said, for non-fish eaters, any omega-3 fats are better than no omega-3s.

Stay tuned…

Someday, we will have a 100%-clear answer to which foods contribute to high levels of blood cholesterol and if that even impacts heart disease risk. That will put an end to the egg-cholesterol-heart health confusion. In addition, we’ll likely be able to benefit from genetic testing that offers personalized nutrition advice. Targeted research that looks at the genes of specific populations, will enable us to know, for example, which athletes can routinely enjoy three-egg omelets (with or without buttered toast) day after day without any fear of impairing their heart-health.

Until then, if your family is predisposed to heart disease, you certainly want to talk with your doctor and ask about not just eggs but also the possibility of getting tested for biomarkers for heart disease, such as Coronary Artery Calcium score, C-Reactive Protein, and a type of blood lipid called Lp(a). You could also get personalized guidance about a heart-healthy diet from a registered dietitian who specializes in cardiovascular disease. The referral list at eatright.org can help you find that expert!

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Reprinted with permission from Nancy Clark.

Nancy Clark MS RD CSSD counsels both fitness exercisers and competitive athletes in the Boston-area (Newton; 617-795-1875). Her best-selling Sports Nutrition Guidebook is a popular resource, as is her online workshop. Visit NancyClarkRD.com for info.

Understanding how to read a food label, determining appropriate portion sizes, making healthy food choices, calorie consumption vs. burning, fats, carbohydrates, protein, micro and macro nutrients, calorie dense vs. nutritionally dense foods, water and staying hydrated, hidden calories and so much more. These are just SOME of the challenges being faced by people of all ages today – and it’s getting WORSE with each passing day! With these topics I have just scratched the surface of what it means to survive in our toxic world – and ultimately thrive. These and many other issues have contributed to our society’s obesity crisis and as a result, the onset of multiple chronic diseases as a consequence of our inattention to the basic nutritional requirements for healthy living. 

It is appalling to me that in only the span of half of my life, we are seeing the manifestation of this inattention to healthy eating taking many forms such as the onset of type II diabetes in children starting at under the age of 13! This trend – if not corrected or addressed NOW – WILL destroy scores of families if we don’t find solutions for these BASIC pressing issues now. This article is designed for all of us – me as a review – and for those of you who don’t know – an opportunity to “catch up” and maybe make different choices in not only your own lives – but those you love as well!

We associate healthy eating with weight loss and diet programs – everything else is eating for fun. We take care of our emotional and spiritual wounds through food. Families gather to eat at Thanksgiving but in the interim we “eat out”, rarely seeing that special time with family again as our days spiral on one to another. Our lifestyle has become toxic through overeating, unhealthy choices, and massive quantities – all in the desire to “forget” or calm ourselves from the stresses of the day. We are immersed in technology and tied to an unforgiving master who demands more from us than many of us can afford to give. The idea of reading a label, or noticing calorie counts before we eat something seems impossible – so we go for the easy “fix” and just say “I’ll get back to making an effort tomorrow”. It is always going to be tomorrow until tomorrow finally doesn’t come.

I see this problem as a “three pronged” issue or challenge:

1. People are woefully unprepared to deal with the enormous impact of marketing and media and the power they hold over our lives

2. The complexity of foods and their confusing claims about their value is taking our ability to choose rationally away from us

3. The food industry has basically “kidnapped” healthy eating by making it easy to select every possible harmful form of nutrition (packaged, processed foods, fast food, massive portions and so much more).

The basics of healthy eating have become such a “mystery” to most Americans so that every talk show imaginable schedules healthy eating segments and how to lose weight for good regularly! When I was a boy on Maui I ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and bananas and we NEVER went out to eat. All our meals were at home with the family sharing in the effort.

Calories count and there is no difference between them – they just “are”. Burning calories is what we do to stay alive so eating pretty much is a given. Learning about portion control and balanced intake of nutrient dense/calorie deficient foods is not rocket science. It requires a desire to improve your choices by providing our bodies with the fuel they need to survive and thrive – nothing more, nothing less. We need to get back to “eating to live, NOT living to eat”. The calories now proclaimed on menus throughout America should be a wakeup call to Americans of all ages. Should our food be fried or baked? Should it have sauce or no sauce? Should we eat everything we are served or save some for later? What is the source of the primary calories – saturated fat or carbohydrate? Are we getting enough protein in our diet and is it from healthy sources? These and other questions need to be addressed and I will do my part to help answer them. I am not allowed by my professional code of conduct to provide specific advice on what and how much someone should consume – that is for a licensed professional to determine, but I am allowed to talk about nutrition and the role it plays in leading a healthy and happy life. That is part of my job and I take it very seriously!

Today I saw a lady at McDonald’s who was eating their terrific side salad but had also ordered the large order of fries – a common staple at McDonalds (what was she thinking – that the one would “cancel” out the other? or was she NOT thinking but going for the joy the fries bought? I don’t know but it happens all the time!). People don’t go to this place for the salads – they go for the fries! McDonald’s is REALLY good at selling those fries and one cannot blame them for wanting to make a profit after all, can they? The idea that one could order a meal that includes the burger and fries and NOT notice it contains over 1200 calories is “mind blowing” to me. I would have to run 8 miles to burn those off at just under 55 minutes of hard running! We need to “connect the dots” as I do every day when I choose and IF I choose the pizza I am absolutely sure I can run that pizza off tomorrow. Every choice has consequences and every day we will live with those consequences until our bodies say “NO MORE”. That day of reckoning is not far off and if today’s children don’t get to live longer than their parents then we will all be to blame to some degree, won’t we?

When you look at food think of it as fuel to keep you alive and ask yourself: Does it have water as a primary part of its makeup?  Is it fried, boiled or baked? Is it good for me? Will it promote my general health and preserve my immune system? Will I enjoy it and possibly eat it again? Can I find a way to eat more or less of this food? If it has lots of chemicals associated with its manufacture will that eventually harm me? Am I being proactive in my food choices and not reactive to the inevitable emotional swings in my mood that occur throughout my day? Do I eat for reasons other than because I am hungry? Am I compulsive when it comes to eating alone and do I overeat for reasons beyond my knowledge and control? These and other questions are a part of the dialogue on healthy eating and MUST be addressed if we are to slow the death spiral being brought on by the obesity crisis – and its cousin the “sitting of America”. 

I see the massive need for ongoing education and communication at ALL levels of society and from all aspects of life that touch the American family. These include the schools, government, the weight loss community, the food manufacturer’s, the restaurant community (including McDonald’s of course who IS actually “trying” to make healthy choices available to its customers although not fully succeeding because of those “damn” fries), supermarkets, the community at large, non profits, spiritual centers and so many more. It will take “that village” referred to earlier to solve the problems we are facing but they MUST be addressed if we are to save lives in the future. I will discuss basic food issues in future articles and identify some of the ways in which we can all participate as part of the solution. If we each just help one person improve something in their nutritional lives TODAY we end up helping “the many” too – and I think that is well worth the effort! Don’t you?

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Nicholas Prukop is an ACE Certified Personal Trainer & a Health Coach, a fitness professional with over 25 years of experience whose passion for health and fitness comes from his boyhood in Hawaii where he grew up a swimmer on Maui. He found his calling in writing his first book “Healthy Aging & You: Your Journey to Becoming Happy, Healthy & Fit” and since then he has dedicated himself to empowering, inspiring and enabling people of all ages to reach for the best that is within them and become who they are meant to be – happy, healthy and fit – and be a part of a world where each person can contribute their own unique gifts to life.

Lugging around excess body fat can certainly hinder athletic performance. Just notice how much harder you work when carrying a heavy bag of groceries up a flight of stairs! That said, if you are an already-lean athlete and contemplating weight loss to supposedly improve your athletic performance, should you think again?

Enjoyment of food should be one of life’s pleasures. Unfortunately, I counsel too many athletes who scrutinize food and talk about eating nutrients (protein, carbs, and fat). They put a lot of energy into counting macros, calories and grams of sugar. Some find meals and snacks to be sources of anxiety, not enjoyment.

Way too many athletes and fitness exercisers consider breakfast and lunch to be somewhat optional. The goal of this article is to share food for thought about these two important meals of the day—and help you fuel your body adequately, enjoyably, and effectively for your sports-active lifestyle.

Breakfast thoughts

• Weight-conscious athletes: please don’t even try to restrict calories at breakfast (or lunch). You need energy during the active part of your day to refuel from your morning workout or fuel up for your afternoon session. Your best bet is to fuel well by day, eat a lighter dinner, and lose weight at night when you are sleeping! As one dieter reported,“I lost weight easily when I ate dinner for breakfast and breakfast for dinner.” Give that a try?

• Remember when orange juice was a standard part of breakfast? Today, many athletes have stopped drinking orange juice because “it has too much sugar.” That might be true for unfit people with bodies that metabolize sugar far differently than the bodies of athletes. But for athletes, OJ is OK—a quick, easy, and thirst-quenching form of fruit. The natural sugars in orange juice offer helpful fuel before or after a morning workout— while simultaneously providing a day’s supply of Vitamin C, plus potassium, folate, and other health-promoting nutrients.

Ironically, the same athletes who shun orange juice often fail to take the time to eat a whole orange (or other fruit) instead. All 100%-juices are an easy way to boost the intake of this important food group. Any form of fruit—juice, canned, dried, frozen—is better than no fruit!

• Many athletes take pride in cooking their steel-cut oats, believing they are far more nutrient-dense than good ol’ fashioned rolled oats. Both rolled and steel-cut oats have similar nutritional value. The difference is steel-cut oats are cut, instead of softened and then rolled, and take far more time to cook.

• Please don’t try to “stay away from” peanut butter, believing it to be “fattening.” Rather, enjoy peanut butter on toast and bagels, or blended into smoothies, or swirled into oatmeal. PB’s fat is health-protective, anti-inflammatory, and satiating. It’s slow to digest, which helps keep you feeling fed until lunch.

• Whole grain breakfast cereals that are enriched or fortified (as noted on the label) can be good sources of iron, needed to reduce your risk of developing iron-deficiency anemia. Athletes’ diets can easily be low in iron if they do not eat red meat or cook in a cast iron skillet. Hence, iron-fortified cereals topped with fruit (for vitamin C, to help absorb the iron), milk (dairy or soy, for calcium and protein), and almonds (for a bit more protein) offer an effective sports breakfast—as well as sports-snack.

• Almond milk on cereal or in your coffee is a nutritionally poor swap for dairy milk. Almond milk offers only 2 grams of low-quality protein, as compared to 8 grams of high-quality dairy protein. The protein in dairy milk is 80% casein and 20% whey—the stuff you get in protein powder! If you prefer plant-based milk, soy and pea milks are the best options for protein. Environmentalists, please note: Cars, not cows, will “ruin the planet.”

Lunch thoughts

• If you feel hungry an hour or two after lunch, you did not eat enough lunch. How much lunch is enough? By listening to your body’s signals, you can intuitively eat the right amount. The key is to pay attention to why you stop eating at lunchtime. Do you stop eating because 1) The food is gone? 2) You think you should? 3) You feel content and nicely satiated?

The correct answer is 3) You feel content. An adequate lunch will leave you feeling fed for three to four hours. You’ll no longer crave afternoon sweets within an hour or two post-lunch. A hearty lunch helps curb 3:00 pm snack attacks and helps you arrive home at the end of the day with the energy to cook a decent meal. You will eventually eat the calories, so why hold off until you can no longer white-knuckle the hunger?

• Despite popular belief, sandwich bread is NOT fattening; excess calories of any kind are fattening. You can even enjoy a bagel for breakfast and a sandwich for lunch without “getting fat”! Carb-rich bread will fuel your muscles far better than a carb-lite lunchtime salad.

• If you are among the many athletes who eat a salad for lunch—and then complain you are craving sweets and eating cookies an hour or two later, think again. While salads are a helpful way to boost your intake of veggies, you might be better off satiating your appetite with PB & J or a turkey/cheese/pesto sandwich made on Dave’s Killer Bread or other hearty bread. For veggies, simply, munch on cherry tomatoes, baby carrots, and pepper strips; far easier than making a salad!

• If you insist on eating a salad for lunch, make sure it is an “athlete’s meal” that offers a hefty dose of starchy veggies (sweet potato, beets, corn) and grains (farro, quinoa, pasta, a whole grain roll on the side). A bowlful of greens (50 calories) smothered with 350 calories of dressing will leave you with poorly fueled (i.e., tired) muscles.

To put the need for carbohydrates into perspective, a 150-pound athlete who trains hard for 1.5 to 2 hours a day should target at least 3 grams of carb per pound of body weight per day = 450 g carb = 1,800 calories from carbs/day = 500-600 calories carbs/ meal. A big spinach salad comes nowhere near that!

• Even if you want to build muscle, don’t over-eat protein to the extent it displaces carbohydrates. Poorly fueled muscles won’t be able to lift weights as well as when carb-loaded. Think again before filling up on a high protein, low carb green salad + big chicken breast + dressing for lunch. A sports diet should contain three times more calories from carbs than protein.

Bottom line

Please enjoy satisfying breakfasts and lunches that keep you feeling fed for three to four hours. You will feel happier, more energetic, have better workouts, be less ravenous at the end of the day—and be less likely to overeat the “wrong” food at night. Experiment?

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Nancy Clark MS RD CSSD counsels both fitness exercisers and competitive athletes in the Boston-area (Newton; 617-795-1875). Her best-selling Sports Nutrition Guidebook is a popular resource, as is her online workshop. Visit NancyClarkRD.com for info.

Many athletes fantasize about losing weight (“Wouldn’t it be nice to lose a few pounds…”). But some athletes have to lose weight in order to meet a specific division for their sport. Athletes such as boxers might have to make weight for a day only once or twice a year, but others such as wrestlers are wisest to keep their weight low for a season. And then there are figure skaters, dancers, and gymnasts who live in long-term “food jail” to maintain a sleek physique for months on end because they get judged on aesthetics. This article will not focus on the problems with long-term under-eating, but rather offer help for athletes who have to/want to lose weight for the short-term.

Weight classes exist to supposedly even the playing field so, for example, a wrestler or a rower competes against someone who is about the same physical size. A problem with weight-class sports is too many athletes target a minimal weight that is unlikely their best performance weight and focus on a number on a scale instead of ability to compete well.  They often resort to last-minute restrictive dieting and dehydrating to make weight. Inadequate recovery between weigh-ins and the event can contribute to early bonking, poor performance, and disappointments. One champion collegiate wrestler shared his winning advice, “I ate well, competed at my natural weight, and clobbered my starving opponents. Easy!” The same goes for athletes in running sports, who believe lighter equates to faster. Not always the case. There’s a lot to be said for running well-fueled at your natural weight.

So what are weight-class athletes supposed to do?

Obviously, they are not supposed to wait until the last few days before an event to lose weight by abstaining from food and water, over-exercising, and abusing their bodies. The better path is to start chipping away at weight loss weeks in advance. If you have to lose 10 pounds, give yourself at least 5 to 10 weeks to do so, if not more.

Ideally, athletes should first have their body fat accurately measured to determine if they even have fat to lose. Females should not drop below 12% body fat, males no less than 5%. Some athletes will need to lose muscle to be able to reach their weight goal.

What’s the best way to lose weight? Push yourself away from the dinner table before you eat your fill! Plain and simple, you have to eat less than your body requires.  Easier said than done. Hence, these tips might be helpful.

• Knock off only 300-500 calories/day from your typical daily intake. Do NOT chop your food intake in half or eat as little as possible! As an athlete, you need fuel to train.

• Fuel by day; diet by night. Plan to lose weight when you are sleeping—not when you are trying to train hard.

• Surround your workout with food, so that you fuel-up and refuel.

• Do NOT cut out all carbohydrates. Athletes need grains, veggies, and fruits to optimize their muscle glycogen stores. A very low-carb diet results in depleted glycogen,  “dead legs,” and inability to train hard.

• Enjoy carb-protein combinations: carbs to fuel muscles; protein to build and repair muscles. Protein is also satiating and can help curb hunger.

• When it’s crunch-time, to lose the last few pounds, some athletes target about 1.5 g carb, 1 g protein, and 0.5 g fat per pound of body weight (3 g carb, 2 g pro,  1 g fat/kg). This means a 150-lb (68 kg) athlete would target about 200 g carb, 135 g pro, and 70 g fat (~1,950-2,000 calories/day).

• Athletes who have to lose muscle mass to hit their weight target should cut back on their protein intake.

• Divide the calories into 4 food buckets and eat a meal at least every 4 hours. (The clock starts ticking when you get up in the morning). An athlete who trains from 6:30 to 7:30 a.m. could divide breakfast into 100-200 calories pre-workout at 6:00ish, then 400 calories post-workout at 8:00; eat early lunch (500 cal.) at 11:00ish; later lunch (400-500 cal.) at 3:00ish, and dinner at 6:00-7:00ish (500 cal.). The rest of the night, chew gum, drink herbal tea, go to bed early? (If you are ravenous, please eat a bit more.)

• If you don’t have fat to lose, plan in last-minute water-weight loss of 2% to 3% body weight. For a 150-lb athlete, that’s 3 to 4.5 pounds. Ways to reduce water-weight include depleting muscle glycogen with a low-carb diet (3 grams of water are stored with one gram of muscle glycogen), restricting fiber (to reduce gut contents),  sweating, and restricting fluids.

Rapid refueling pre-event

After weighing in, some weight-class athletes have only 1 to 2 hours to refuel and rehydrate before they compete; others have 12+ hours if they weigh-in the night before. To rapidly refuel, they should consume carbs they know they can tolerate well—and be sensible so they don’t vomit during the event. Enjoy (well-tolerated) salty foods like soup, pretzels, and crackers.

• A large bolus of fluid gets absorbed faster than smaller amounts, so dehydrated athletes want to drink 20 to 30 ounces of fluid followed by repeated sips. Salty broth and lowfat chocolate milk retain water in the body better than sports drinks and plain water. Co-ingestion of some protein can help with glycogen restoration (Turkey sandwich? Chocolate milk?)

Post-event weight regain

While the standard advice for weight-class athletes to just lose the weight and keep it off makes sense intellectually, it is the opposite of what the body wants to do physiologically. After having been underfed, hungry athletes experience a very strong drive to eat, if not over-eat, and regain all the lost weight. This happens with most dieters, athletic or not.

The urge to devour food after having made weight is physiological, and not simply due to lack of will-power. Here’s the analogy: If you hold your breath for too long, you will uncontrollably gasp for air. If you rigorously restrict calories for too long, you will uncontrollably grab for food and easily binge-eat. No wonder eating disorders blossom in weight-focused sports!

The bottom line

Any way you look at it, losing weight when you really are not over-fat in the first place is not much fun. Yes, it creates a bond with other athletes doing the same thing—misery loves company—and is embedded into the culture of weight-focused sports. Ideally, it’s time to change that culture to focus more on health (both short and long term) and injury reduction. How about establishing height classes instead of weight classes?  Or at least offer better access to sports dietitians to help with the weight-reduction process? 

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Nancy Clark MS RD CSSD  counsels both fitness exercisers and competitive athletes in the Boston-area (Newton; 617-795-1875). Her best-selling Nancy Clark’s Sports Nutrition Guidebook is a popular resource, as is her online workshop. Visit www.NancyClarkRD.com for info.

References

Langan-Evans C. at al. 2021. Nutritional considerations for female athletes in weight category sports. European Journal of Sports Science

Burke, L, et al. 2021. ACSM Consensus Statement on Weight Loss in Weight-Category Sports. Current Sports Medicine Reports

For many, negative feelings, such as anxiety and depression, lead to out-of-control eating…and ensuing weight gain. Knowing which foods can bust the blues, without weight gain, could reduce the odds of emotional eating episodes. Meet the foods that may help.

Mac and cheese. Chocolate chip cookies. A pint of Ben and Jerry’s. Some call it “comfort food”; others say it’s “food as friend.” However you phrase it, turning to food to soothe unpleasant feelings—from depression and anxiety to anger, loneliness, even fatigue—is the key cause of Emotional Eating. As a matter of fact, our research revealed that eating to cope with negative feelings is the #1 reason we overeat; and the key cause of weight gain.

Theories abound about the causes of out-of-control eating. Is it linked to brain chemistry? Or is it a behavioral addiction? Or both? What is clear is that when some people experience unwelcomed feelings such as fear, anger, anxiety, or depression— because of physical (such as back pain), emotional (negative feelings), mental (stress-filled thoughts), or spiritual (emptiness) distress, they may turn to food to feel better. Why? Because food does, indeed, have the power to bust the blues! Here’s why.

Anatomy of Emotional Eating

Have you ever felt frustrated, and turned to carbohydrate-dense fries, cake, cookies, or potato chips—seemingly unable to stop until the whole bag (or bags) is gone? If so, it’s possible you’re self-medicating unpleasant feelings with food. How so? Certain hormones—naturally occurring “chemical messengers” released when you consume certain nutrients (such as carbohydrates, protein, fat, and so on) in food—have the power to “replace” negative emotions with feel-good feelings. This is because high-carb foods, such as chips, stimulate the production of serotonin, an emotion-friendly hormone that calms and soothes the psyche.

It seems so easy: load up on carbs, feel better. But you pay a price for this feel-good fix. This is because processed, sugar- and fat-laden junk food—from donuts, cookies, and cake, to chips, fries, candy bars, and soda—ultimately, are “downer” foods. This means these often tasty, high-carb foods may provide some short-term comfort by releasing soothing serotonin, but you won’t get long-term relief. Rather, sugar-laden comfort foods could worsen negative feelings, because after they drive up insulin (a hormone that controls blood sugar and energy absorption), your blood-sugar levels inevitably plummet, leaving you even more depressed and fatigued then prior to eating them.

Damage Control: Calming Carbs Without the Crash

If you’re an emotional eater—if you cope with unpleasant emotions by overeating and bingeing on high-carb, super-sweet foods—there are many proactive steps you can take to turn the tide. For starters, consider consuming some blues-busting foods that bring the benefits of serotonin—without the downside of the emotional “crash” and the weight gain that bingeing on processed, high-calorie, “downer” food (products) can cause.

Here are some quick-fix, mood-friendly foods and snacks that not only may bust the blues, they may crush cravings and curb your urge to splurge.

FLASH TIP: BE SURE TO WAIT AT LEAST 20 MINUTES AFTER YOU EAT TO GET THE CALMING AFFECTS OF SEROTONIN. THIS IS HOW LONG IT TAKES FOR YOUR BRAIN TO REGISTER THAT SEROTONIN IS WORKING ITS WONDERS.

Smoothie. Combine 2 cups chopped dark leafy greens, 1 cup blueberries, 3 walnut halves, 1 cup milk of choice (cow, soy, almond, rice), ½ cup juice of choice, 3 walnut halves, 1 teaspoon flax oil. Blend.

Avocado spread. Toast a piece of multi-grain bread or choose whole-grain rice crackers. Mash ½ avocado, add salt and pepper to taste. Spread the avocado on the bread. Or a tablespoon of nut butter (peanut, tahini, etc.) on it.

Popcorn. Pop some air-popped popcorn. Spritz lightly with olive oil. Sprinkle with a dash of salt and pepper. Toss.

Cereal. Enjoy a bowl of cracked oatmeal with a handful of blueberries and milk of choice.

Nuts/Seeds. Try a ¼ cup of raw, unroasted nuts or seeds of choice. A sampling: walnuts, cashews, almonds, pumpkin or sunflower seeds.

Veggies. Munch some carrots, celery, cherry tomatoes; crunch kale or Romaine lettuce leaves. Optional: Use the nut butter blend, above, as a dip or spread for your veggies.

Fish. Enjoy a tuna or salmon salad. Mix together water-packed tuna fish, 2 tablespoons mayonnaise, diced celery and red onion, juice from ½ lemon, salt and pepper.

Fruit. Have an apple, papaya, orange, frozen grapes, banana, kiwi, cherries, pineapple pieces, tangerine, or any other fruit you like.

Chocolate. Savor a piece or two of dark chocolate with 70% or higher cocoa content. Or make hot chocolate with 100% cocoa powder and milk of choice.

The take-away: Enhancing emotions by consuming fresh, whole, blues-busting foods—instead of processed foods that are high in sugar, fat, and calories—is a sound step toward overcoming Emotional Eating, the #1 overeating style our research on Whole Person Integrative Eating has revealed.

In other words, if you turn to food that enhances feel-good feelings, but that also nourishes your mind and body—without the “downer” crash—you’re more likely to lower your odds of Emotional Eating episodes. How so? You’ll keep your mind-body in balance.

Visit Deborah’s website, makeweightlosslast.com, for free evidence-based, credible information and education about optimal eating for weight loss and well-being. You can also visit her blog, integrativeeating.com.

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Originally printed on integrativeeating.com. Reprinted with permission from Deborah Kesten. 

Deborah Kesten, M.P.H., is an award-winning author, specializing in preventing and reversing obesity and heart disease. Her expertise includes the influence of epigenetics and diet on health, Lifestyle Medicine, and research on the Whole Person Integrative Eating dietary lifestyle to treat overeating, overweight, and obesity. She and her husband, behavioral scientist Larry Scherwitz, Ph.D., collaborate on research and writing projects. 

Whether you’re a fan of a crisp, refreshing green juice or a velvety vegetable smoothie, here’s what you need to know about these two delicious, health-supporting beverages. 

Green juices and smoothies are an easy – and tasty – part of a Nutritarian diet. But while either will help you ramp up your intake of raw leafy greens and other veggies, there are a few things to remember: Don’t go overboard on the fruit. Do be aware of calorie density (more on this later). And don’t substitute them for your daily main dish salad. 

Supporting satiety and healthy blood glucose levels

Whether you call it a blended salad or a green smoothie, this mix of leafy greens, fruit and nuts and/or seeds is an excellent, portable morning meal. It contains all the fiber from the greens and fruit, plus fat from the nuts or seeds to keep you full and limit the rise in blood glucose from the fruit. 

On the other hand, a vegetable juice with a small amount of fruit, depending on size, may be as calorie-dense as the smoothie, but will not be a satisfying meal on its own. For this reason, if you have a substantial amount of weight to lose, I wouldn’t recommend juicing too often (in addition to your meals) because it will likely add too many extra calories without the feeling of satiety and compromise your weight loss efforts. 

Whether you’re making a smoothie or a juice, remember to put the focus on the vegetables, not the fruit, to limit calorie density and glycemic effects.

Intermittent fasting

If you do have weight to lose, a green juice can be used in place of a meal as part of an intermittent fasting program that reduces calorie intake dramatically a few days per week. A juice provides a rich source of nutrients in place of lunch or dinner on low-calorie days, and a smoothie works as a satiating, greens- and berries-packed breakfast.

Even if you don’t have weight to lose, episodic restriction of calories to extend the overnight fasting period enhances the body’s ability to heal and repair. The body has natural detoxification and repair mechanisms that kick in when we are in the fasting state. Occasionally replacing dinner with a vegetable juice is a great way to achieve this.

Micronutrient content and availability

Blending and juicing both disrupt the mechanical structure of plant cells, which increases the accessibility of many micronutrients. Many beneficial micronutrients – carotenoids, polyphenols, and folate for example – are often bound to structural components or large molecules within the plant cell like fiber, proteins, and starches. Processing, heating, and chewing break down these cellular structures to increase the availability of the bound micronutrients; however, many may not be accessible for our absorption by chewing alone. Blending increases our likelihood of absorbing these nutrients. Some micronutrients – those that are bound to fiber within the plant cell – may be removed with the fiber by juicing, and therefore be more available via blending than juicing.¹

With green smoothies, you are adding nuts or seeds as a healthful fat source. Although blending alone increases the accessibility of carotenoids, since the presence of fats is known to increase carotenoid absorption from leafy greens,^1,2 it is likely that nuts and seeds in a smoothie could increase absorption further. 

Green juices pack in extra nutrients using a quantity of vegetables that would be difficult to eat in one sitting, or even in a smoothie. You can get two pounds of vegetables into one glass of juice. This lets you quickly increase the level of phytochemicals in your tissues or simply increase your intake of carotenoids, isothiocyanates, and other beneficial phytochemicals.

For those who have nutrient absorption problems, gastrointestinal conditions, or other medical conditions, vegetable juices (especially cruciferous vegetables) are often useful as a supplement to a healthful diet, providing additional beneficial nutrients to promote healing. For people with gastrointestinal issues, juicing can be a good way to rest the digestive system while maintaining a high intake of these beneficial nutrients.

Guidelines for juicing and blending

• A green smoothie can be a meal substitute, while a vegetable juice is better viewed as a supplement to add extra leafy green-derived nutrients to a healthful diet.
• Limit smoothies and green juices to one per day
• It is important to chew some vegetables every day, so eat a raw salad daily.
• Juices should be made up of one-third green cruciferous vegetables (such as kale, collards, and/or bok choy), one-third non-cruciferous green vegetables (such as lettuce, cucumber, and/or celery), and one third high-antioxidant flavorful vegetables (carrots, beets). 
• Having a green juice occasionally instead of dinner can help you practice episodic caloric restriction and increase the body’s time in heal and repair mode.
• Maximize the nutritional value and limit glycemic effects of both smoothies and juices, by using mostly leafy greens and other vegetables and adding only a small amount of fruit for flavor (such as half of a green apple or 1 cup of berries in a juice). 
• Don’t juice spinach, parsley or Swiss chard because of their oxalic acid content (which limits calcium absorption). 

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Sources
1. Food microstructure affects the bioavailability of several nutrients
2. Carotenoid bioavailability is higher from salads ingested with full-fat than with fat-reduced salad dressings as measured with electrochemical detection

Originally printed on Dr. Fuhrman’s blog. Reprinted with permission from Joel Fuhrman, MD.

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Joel Fuhrman, M.D. is a board-certified family physician, seven-time New York Times bestselling author and internationally recognized expert on nutrition and natural healing, who specializes in preventing and reversing disease through nutritional methods. Dr. Fuhrman coined the term “Nutritarian” to describe his longevity-promoting, nutrient dense, plant-rich eating style. For over 30 years, Dr. Fuhrman has shown that it is possible to achieve sustainable weight loss and reverse heart disease, diabetes and many other illnesses using smart nutrition. In his medical practice, and through his books and PBS television specials, he continues to bring this life-saving message to hundreds of thousands of people around the world.