Shellfish

Yes, shellfish are good for you. Shellfish have gotten a bad rap because they are said to contain too much cholesterol. If you have been reading this blog for any length of time, you will know what I think of the cholesterol myth. While they do contain cholesterol, shellfish also contain lots of omega 3 fatty acids and are actually low in fat.

My husband was ecstatic when I told him he could really eat shrimp and not worry about the fat or the cholesterol. He wasn't so ecstatic when I told him, that was the sauces and butter that he had to watch a little more carefully. He's happy with the boiled shrimp and low cal cocktail sauce.

Other shellfish that are great for the same reasons are mussels, scallops and oysters.

Nutrients That Make Your Body Work #5

You'll like this next essential nutrient. It's fat. Yes we all need some fat in our diet. Interestingly, women require more than men. Here's just one reason for having some fat in your diet. Vitamins which I mention yesterday are either water or fat soluable. If you're not eating some fat when you take your vitamins, you won't be able to absorb the fat soluble ones.

Fats are also a concentrated form of energy. Some of the things that fats do in your body are to form an insulating layer to prevent heat loss in the body. Unfortunately even though we are sometimes called a "fat head", we don't have a layer of fat between the skull and the skin. It is muscle and that is why we lose so much heat from our heads. Those without hair lose even more heat because the hair acts as an insulator.

Another thing that fat does is act as a shock absorber to help protect organs. Now that being said, it doesn't mean that the fatter you are the more protected you are. Because remember that the more fat we have in our bodies the more that is placed on all of the organs to keep things functioning.

Nutrients That Make Your Body Work #1

There are seven major nutrient groups that are necessary for your body to run in good condition. Most of these you know, but hopefully you will learn a little from this.

The first group is carbohydrates. Yes, you do need them. Carbs are the chief source of energy for the body. You really need them for muscle activity and they help in the regulation of fat and protein metabolism.

Carbs are broken down in the body to form glucose which is converted by the cells into energy. This glucose can be stored as glycogen in the muscle or it can continue to circulate in the blood stream. Diabetics tend to have a lot circulating in the blood stream because they are not able to get it into the cells. Once the glucose is in the cells, it must combine with oxygen to become energy.

The biggest problem we have today is that our American diet incorporates way to many carbs in the form of grains, ie pasta, bread, etc. Your greatest and best source of carbs should be coming from fruits and vegetable.

Time To Touch on Fats Again

I've had several questions about fats recently, so I feel the need to write about them one more time. First I have to say that all fat is not bad. What you have to do is begin to read labels, when it says "Fat Free" what does that mean, what is actually in the product.

The three fats we hear about are unsaturated, saturated, and trans fat. The unsaturated can be good as can some of the saturated fats. The trans fats are a result of processing of the food and are like sticking poison into your system. Even just a little trans fat is very unhealthy for your body. So be sure you're reading the labels.

Now that I've beat into you reading the labels, here's somethings to be aware of. If a label says "zero trans fat" that does not mean there is no trans fat in the food. In fact according to labeling guidelines, a manufacturer can put zero trans fats if there is less than 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving. Your maximum amount of trans fat per day should be no more than 2 grams totally according to the American Heart Association, but for me that is too much. If trans fat is poison to my system why would I want to put any amount into my body?!

Here are the things to watch for on the label: partially hydrogenated oil, shortening, and any food with an extended shelf life. See my postings on fat starting September 6, 2008.

Soy - Not A Great Choice For Men

While soy does lots of good things for women, it can do just the opposite for men. The phyto-estrogens in soy can actually lower testosterone in men, causing their breasts to grow and their libido to drop.

Remember also that men do not require as much fat as women to be healthy. Men should be cautious with soy products.

Eggs - Bad Rap

Eggs have gotten a bad rap for years as a maker of "high cholesterol" and we should not eat them. NOT! Knowing the facts about eggs will make them seem like a much healthier food, which they are.

I want to just give you some facts about eggs. Of course, the best are the ones from free range chickens and are organic. The organic part has to do with what the chickens are eating or being fed. Obviously, free range chickens are eating more natural food instead of just the food given them with all kinds of things to make the eggs bigger and the hens to produce more eggs.

SO what's in an egg nutritionally. There are about 70 calories in a large egg. Eggs are a great protein source, containing about 6 grams of protein mostly found in the white of the egg. There are about 5 grams of fat with 2 of those grams being saturated fats and this is all found in the yolk. One of the things that I often recommend to people is to do 1 whole egg and 1 egg white to make a small omelet. If you want a slightly larger omelet, just add another egg white.

More on eggs tomorrow.

Exercise Muscle and Fat

So if you stop exercising does muscle turn into fat? Understand that muscle and fat are two entirely different tissues and one cannot become the other. What does happen when you stop exercising is that the caloric intake of food that is not needed to sustain the current demand for energy is stored in the fat cells. Muscles that are not worked regularly, will begin to atrophy or decrease in size, requiring less calories to maintain them.

Your goal is to maintain a higher ratio of muscle to fat. To do this, you need regular activity or exercise that is consistent and has an intensity to maintain the muscle mass. To increase intensity, increase the work load, the number of repetitions or the speed of the movement. You can also try some new type of activity. Most important is to find an activity or exercise that you enjoy, or you will not stay motivated to do it.

From a diet perspective, eat more fruits and vegetables. These are ususally the lacking components in most diets. Remember to get some protein with every meal, but really increase fruits and vegetables.

Manage Your Insulin for Antiaging

One of the most important things you can do to help manage the aging process is to manage your insulin levels. You may think because you are not a diabetic that you don't need to worry about insulin levels. But in fact, you do need to worry about insulin levels.

When insulin levels are balanced, you will see a reduction of blood pressure, a decrease in cholesterol levels, and a reduction in the risk for development of Type II Diabetes. Now you may ask how do I manage my insulin levels.

First, you should be eating protein at every meal. The minute that you smell or see food, the pancreas begins to set up proinsulin which is the precursor of insulin. In other words, the pancreas is getting ready for you to eat. That first bite that you take signals the pancreas to begin production of insulin. Proteins help burn the carbs that you eat, so your first bite should be a bite of protein. Then you can eat whatever you want, well maybe not whatever you want, but you can vary the next bite to something other than protein.

The other way to help manage your insulin levels is to eat complex carbs, ie those found in fruits and vegetables. Limit the number of simple carbs, those found in grains. Be sure that you stick to good fats also.

Exercise and Insulin

Whether you are a diabetic or not, one of the things that you may not be aware of is the effect of exercise on insulin. Exercise increases the bodies sensitivity to insulin. In Type I diabetics (these folks are insulin dependent because their pancreas has stopped working to produce insulin), the more you exercise the less insulin you will need to inject. Part of this is in fact due to the amount of muscle in comparison to fat. The more muscle the more efficient the body is with it's use of insulin and the less you will need. In Type II diabetics (these are folks who may become insulin dependent, but usually start out on oral medications), the same is true, but the difference is that Type II diabetics are over weight and need to lose some weight. As they begin to exercise and change the amount of muscle in comparison to fat, they become less dependent on medications. Type II diabetics can often get off of oral medicines and regulate their disease with diet, once they lose weight.

Even if you are not a diabetic, exercise does increase the sensitivity to insulin. This is a good thing not a bad thing. It will just help you metabolize glucose more efficiently.

Olive Oil

Since I've been writing about fats, I thought I would give you a little extra information about olive oil and what all of the terms mean. You may remember I said to buy extra virgin olive oil. What you may not know is what extra virgin means. This is the highest grade of olive oil because it is produced without using high heat or chemicals. The color of the oil represents the age of the olives when they are picked. A more green grassier olive oil has a stronger flavor and is made from an earlier harvest - the olives are not as ripe. Later harvests yield a milder more yellow oil.

Virgin olive oil is produced the same way as extra virgin olive oil. The difference is in the amount of oleic acid present. Oleic acid is omega 9 fatty acid, which is a monounsaturated fat. The body can produce this if it has enough omega 3 and omega 6. When there is a deficiency of either omega 3 or omega 6, the body will produce omega 9 to try to compensate.

Ordinary olive oil is another form of virgin olive oil. The difference here is that is contains more oleic acid and impurities. It is a lesser quality oil and should only be used for frying or where you do not want the flavor.

Polyunsaturated versus Monounsaturated Fats

The polyunsaturated fats are those found in fish such as salmon, trout, sardines, mackerel and tuna. It's also found in flaxseed, walnuts, canola oil, dark leafy green vegetables such as Kale. The polyunsaturated fats include omega 3 and omega 6. Obviously we want to get more omega 3 than 6. The omega 3 really helps in cutting down inflammation which I believe is the real culprit rather than cholesterol.

Omega 6s are readily available in liquid vegetable oils, nuts, seeds, dairy products, eggs, and meat. Focus on getting some of the omega 6s, but mopre of the omega 3s. Get fish into your diet 2-3 times per week. Walnuts are a great snack as well as having many benefits. Put some flax seed meal into pancake batter, coffee cakes, cookies. Make your own salad dressing with olive oil and some fresh squeezed lemon.

Check labels and really be careful with processed foods as these contain mostly fats that are not good for you.

Good Fats

The good fats for your diet are unsaturated fats. Either poly or mono unsaturated are the fats to get in your diet. Since I've talked about this before, none of this is particularly new, unless you haven't read this blog before.

These good fats can help decrease total cholesterol levels and there is evidence that they may decrease the risk for diseases such as high blood pressure, depression, Alzheimer's, and rheumatoid arthritis.

Some of the fats to choose are olive oil. If you're going to use a fat, it is probably the best one to use. Of course you want to use extra virgin. Canola and flaxseed oil are probably the other two oils I would recommend. Flaxseed oil has a particular flavor that for some is not as tasty as olive oil.

Trans Fats

Since I've been talking about triglycerides, I thought I would mention a few things about other fats as well. The buzz these days is really about trans fats. If you look at cholesterol numbers, then what trans fats do is raise the LDL (bad cholesterol) and lower the HDL (good cholesterol). They differ from plane saturated fats in that saturated fats just raise the LDL.

Trans fats are present in meat and dairy products naturally. But the majority of trans fats that we consume in our diets are created by processing of food today, which turns liquid oils into solid fats. the trick is that you don't need to cut out meat and dairy, the best thing to do is to read labels and cut out processed foods that contain trans fats.

More on Triglycerides

There are other contributing factors that can raise triglyceride levels. Some of these are things like obesity, excessive alcohol intake, diabetes, diet high in saturated fats, chronic liver disease, low thyroid hormone, and chronic kidney disease. In addition to these factors, certain medications can also raise triglyceride levels. Some of these include prednisone, estrogen, certain diuretics (thiazides specifically), tamoxifen (used in breast cancer patients), accutane, and some of the beta blockers.

To avoid the medication regime that you may get put on, you can do somethings to keep triglyceride levels down. First and foremost is to eat a well balanced healthy diet with emphasis on fruits and vegetables, along with more unsaturated fats. Decrease your alcohol intake and get at least 30 minutes of exercise 4-5 days per week.

Some Notes on Triglycerides

Someone asked me the other day about triglycerides. First, you should understand that triglycerides are the form that fat takes in the body. If you eat a high fat meal, you can expect that your triglycerides will elevate. Good example of this, my husband had some fasting lab work drawn. Right before he began fasting for his blood work, he ate a jar of peanuts. When his lab work came back his triglycerides were much higher than they had ever been. I asked him if he had eaten anything after dinner and he admitted to the jar of peanuts. Then I knew the cause for the elevation. He also got to see first hand what happens when you eat high fat. He has eaten a jar of peanuts since then.

Triglycerides that are not used immediately for energy, are stored in the fat depots in the body. Some individuals have a genetic predisposition that makes them have high triglyceride levels all of the time. Medications do not lower the triglycerides in those individuals.

More of the Anti-Inflammatory Diet

Continuing with the anti-inflammatory diet, next is to eliminate polyunsaturated vegetable oils, margarine, vegetable shortenings - basically anything that contains hydrongenated or partially hydrogenated oils. I have written a series of posts about hydrogenated fats starting on September 6, 2008. The listing for this piece of the diet goes on to say to avoid any foods which contain trans-fatty acids. This seems to be the new designer word for unsaturated fats. What you should be using is extra virgin olive oil.

Next on the anti-inflammatory diet list is to increase your intake of Omega 3. There is more on omega 3 starting in my posts on September 10, 2008. You will usually need to be taking some form of dietary supplement with fish oil. Contact me via this blog if you would like more information.

The last 2 components of the anti-inflammatory diet will come tomorrow.

More to Almonds

While yesterday's note on almonds said a lot, there is still more to the almond story. One of the main components in almonds is fiber. We all know that we need fiber in our diets and most of us know that we get way to little fiber in our diets. I mentioned yesterday that almonds decrease the absorption of carbohydrates, but they also decrease the absorption of fat.

While the fiber assists as mentioned above, it also serves to keep the bowel functioning normally and may prevent colon cancer as a result. Also, remember that it contains antioxidants which can boost the immune system and help prevent cancer as well.

Almonds also help reduce c-reactive protein which is an indicator of inflammation in the body. This helps prevent artery damaging inflammation. And as you might expect homocysteine levels are also decreased.

Wheat Germ - Benefit or Not

Wheat germ is the kernel of the wheat. There are many nutrients in this kernel, including protein, vitamin E, vitamins B1, B2, B5 (pantothenic acid) and B6, fiber, magnesium, zinc, and thiamine. These are essential nutrients that our body uses, so there are many benefits to wheat germ.

Once thing you should know about wheat germ is that it has a fairly short shelf life once the container is opened. Once opened, wheat germ should be stored in a tight container in the refrigerator where it can keep for up to 9 months. Because of the unsaturated fat content, the whet germ tends to become rancid in a short period of time if no refrigerated.

Wheat germ is a brain food in that it helps the brain become more alert. This in part is due to the increase in oxygenation utilization that wheat germ facilitates. Octacosanol is the part of the wheat germ responsible for improved tissue oxygenation. Another benefit here is an increase energy in the muscles and as a result endurance and overall stamina increases.

Diet Tip #8

Use oils that are less refined like olive oil. The corn, sunflower and safflower oils are highly refined and contain preservatives that are difficult for your liver to break down. For a more information on this go back to September when I wrote about good and bad fat.

Remember that most of the oils that you buy at the grocery store contain hydrogenated fats and that is what you definitely want to avoid.

Be concerned about the kind of fat you eat rather than the amount of fat you're eating. The best fats are found in omega 3 foods like fish and flax seed oil. Avoid fried foods, margarine and foods that contain hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated fats or oils in them.

Diet Tip #7

Get your dairy with reasonable amounts of cheese and regular yogurt. The "light" or "fat free" yogurts have larger amounts of sugar in them. Best if you can cut out cow's milk for a period of time.

If you absolutely have to have milk, see my tips on milk. There are multiple posts on milk in the blog and you may want to go back and review them.