April 16, 2007 by admin.

Of the following foods, which are the ones you eat regularly?

Beans
Berries
Cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, Brussel sprouts, cauliflower)
Dark leafy green vegetables
Flaxseed
Garlic
Grapes and grape juice
Green tea
Soy
Tomatoes
Whole grains

If you said “most of them”, good for you.  But if you said “not often” and that, instead, you look for protection in a bottle of supplements, I’d recommend you rethink that approach and turn to food for your health’s sake.  Even though there are particular phytochemicals (plant chemicals) in each of these foods that research has found to be healthful, having them isolated and put in a bottle may not be the answer.  There is so much chemistry going on in the foods we eat and it’s the interaction of those chemicals that give us the health protection.  Taking just one or two of these chemicals out of foods and putting them in a pill may mean you’re missing out on the best part of the foods they’re found in.

Whenever possible, eat your nutrients rather than popping a pill.  There are some instances, such as fish oil pills, that if you’re not a fish eater, might make sense.  That also goes for calcium.  Not that you couldn’t get, say, 1200 mg of calcium by drinking 3 glasses of milk a day, along with eating dark leafy greens.  Yet, most people don’t.  So, in that case, taking a calcium supplement might make sense.

Remember, we eat not to just fill the belly.  We’re fueling a very sophisticated piece of machinery.

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April 2, 2007 by admin.

Your first response might be to say “yes” just because one would think that if you’ve been burning up calories through exercise, your body’s reaction is to demand food to replace what was burned off.  I challenge you to test the premise.  Try some intense exercise and see just how tempted you are to eat something right after you finish exercising.  If you’re not, then see when you actually start to experience hunger pangs.

Take me up on the challenge and let me know (email me at dtlinfo@advantagediets.com) just how hungry you truly are right after you’ve finished exercising.

You might want to try “Drawing the Line on Calories, Carbs, and Fat” (visit www.advantagediets.com) to keep track of how many calories you’re burning up with exercise.  Then see if, when you do eat, you eat as many calories as you burned.  Do keep in mind that your body is still burning calories long after your exercise session is over.  So if you burned 200 calories with exercise, over the next two hours, you might have burned another 50-100 calories while your body returns to its relaxed state.

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April 2, 2007 by admin.

If you don’t know about omega-3 fatty acids, you should.  We need them for the health of our hearts.  One of the richest sources of these fatty acids is fish and fish oil supplements, along with flaxseed, canola oil, soy and wheat germ. 

When you start shopping for supplements, you may feel a little overwhelmed.  That’s because there are various fatty acids in supplements you need to be aware of.  In fish and fish oil, you’ll find DHA (docohexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid).  These two fatty acids are important for cell membranes and your immune and nervous systems.  Get enough of them and you can lower your risk for heart disease.

Yet, there is another omega-3 fatty acid that hasn’t gotten as much attention.  That’s alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), which comes from such plant sources as walnuts, flaxseed, canola oil, soy and wheat germ.  Because our bodies can’t make ALA, you need to get it from your diet or through a supplement, such as flaxseed oil capsules.  Just a little over one tablespoon of canola oil a day would give you an adequate amount of ALA.

There are many fortified foods with these omega-3 acids and expect to see more in the future.  Some eggs are fortified, along with other products such as pasta.  Daily recommendations for EPA and DHA combined range from about 500 to 1,800 mg per day.  For ALA, authorities suggest we aim for 1,300 to 3,000 mgs.  Don’t forget that omega-3 fortified foods contribute to your totals for the day.

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