What is fiber and why is it essential to a healthy diet?
I found that fiber is actual a non digestible starch! I knew fiber kept you "regular" but the reason's for that were unknown to me. Turns out that fiber is a group of bonds that cannot be broken down by our large intestine. This nutrient would promote "good" bacterial growth and increase heart health by lowering levels of cholesterol. Fiber has been found to decrease levels of insulin concentration in those at risk for type 2 diabetes and increase levels of "fullness" or fulfillment with food. Research has suggested that those with a high fiber intake have lower risks for obesity/cancer and other illness! Too much fiber however can find you taking many trips the the bathroom, cramping and loss of some vitamins. Foods that have high concentration of fiber would be edibles like your fruits and veggies, however it is your Legumes (beans) that have your highest levels of fiber 15g for a cup compared to a cup of blackberries which only has 8g. So load up on those veggies beans and all natural foods, to increase your fiber intake keeping you full and energized throughout the day! Women are recommended to have 25g daily and men 38g.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Animal vs Plant Proteins: which is better?
As a health professional proteins and there source seems to be a Hot topic of conversation! I would not say I am a nutrition specialist by any means but I learn new information about foodstuffs everyday. After some brief research on the topic I have yet to find a 100% answer to this question, as if there are any of those in life. I do know however that we Need Proteins and our animal proteins of course are going to be our source of "complete proteins," meaning they have all of our amino acids. When consuming plant proteins we must combine, or find complementary proteins to obtain all of the amino acids that we need. Simply said our lean meats are "easiest" for the untrained to assure we can reach our full protein potential. Problems that we find with our meats, mostly red, is that they tend to come with fats which according to USDA Americans are recommended to try and reduce there amount of saturated fats. By using plants as our source of proteins we increase our amount of Veggies taken in.... which from the majority of all food logs I analyse is lacking in almost all diets, would help us get in our 4-6 servings a day.
How much protein do I need? not a simple question to answer however we can come up with an approximate answer with a simple equation. .8grams of protein for every kg of body weight per day.
kg: weight in pounds divided by 2.2
ex: man weighs 190Ibs
190/2.2 = 86.36kg 86.63 * .8 = about 69g a day
However for a gentleman who is trying to put on lean weight or is endurance athlete may need a little bit more. Those men might take in (.9g) instead. Now the body can only use so much protein in the "muscle building" realm, consumption of protein other than this are taken in as extra calories and or thrown away. Now over consumption of protein is another beast, just know that fiber should be taken in with those diets in order to balance out the excessive protein intake.
As a health professional proteins and there source seems to be a Hot topic of conversation! I would not say I am a nutrition specialist by any means but I learn new information about foodstuffs everyday. After some brief research on the topic I have yet to find a 100% answer to this question, as if there are any of those in life. I do know however that we Need Proteins and our animal proteins of course are going to be our source of "complete proteins," meaning they have all of our amino acids. When consuming plant proteins we must combine, or find complementary proteins to obtain all of the amino acids that we need. Simply said our lean meats are "easiest" for the untrained to assure we can reach our full protein potential. Problems that we find with our meats, mostly red, is that they tend to come with fats which according to USDA Americans are recommended to try and reduce there amount of saturated fats. By using plants as our source of proteins we increase our amount of Veggies taken in.... which from the majority of all food logs I analyse is lacking in almost all diets, would help us get in our 4-6 servings a day.
How much protein do I need? not a simple question to answer however we can come up with an approximate answer with a simple equation. .8grams of protein for every kg of body weight per day.
kg: weight in pounds divided by 2.2
ex: man weighs 190Ibs
190/2.2 = 86.36kg 86.63 * .8 = about 69g a day
However for a gentleman who is trying to put on lean weight or is endurance athlete may need a little bit more. Those men might take in (.9g) instead. Now the body can only use so much protein in the "muscle building" realm, consumption of protein other than this are taken in as extra calories and or thrown away. Now over consumption of protein is another beast, just know that fiber should be taken in with those diets in order to balance out the excessive protein intake.
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