Tag: nutrition

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Gaining Doesn’t Have to be Painful: Sustainable Habits From the Comfort of Your Green Zone

By Dr. Tamara Kung, ND

A couple of years ago I watched a Ted Talk given by Dr. Stephen Seiler, a professor in Sport Science at the University of Agder in Norway. He described a surprisingly contradicting phenomenon he noticed in top-performing endurance athletes that went against the frequently quoted and deeply embedded “No pain, no gain” mentality so prolific in our society. 

So many of us grow up learning that to improve, we have to push ourselves through pain and sacrifice. Cue all the brutal montages in the movies of super-intense training with scrunched-up faces gasping for air and bodies dripping with sweat, and the illusion they are training this way every single day. 

What piqued Dr. Seiler’s interest was when he was out for a run one day and saw one of the top athletes he had previously studied in his lab, approach a hill while on her run. He knew she was capable of high levels of performance, so was taken aback when she stopped running and began walking up the hill. To him, if there was a hill, he’d push himself to run up there as fast as he could, so why was this talented athlete not running when she could clearly do so?

What he discovered was that most of the elite athletes stay in their green zone most of the time. 

  • The green zone is defined as the level of activity where you can hold an easy conversation and feel only a mild level of exertion. 
  • Yellow zones are when you can respond in a few word phrases and feel a moderate level of exertion. 
  • Red zones are where you are gasping for air and feel extremely pushed to your exertional limits (what we see in the movies).

An example was taken from the all-time winter olympian Marit Bjørgen who let researchers gather data from all her training years. During her peak years of training, Marit’s year would be in the green zone for about 800 hours and less than 100 hours in her yellow and red zones. 

Furthermore, the best marathon runner in history, Eliud Kipchoge, takes the same approach. “I perform 80 percent on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday and then at 50 percent Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday”. Lots of green zone in his training.

Spending most of their practice in the green zones allows the most successful athletes to build a strong foundation for those moments of yellow and red zone intensities. It’s a place where they can practice comfortably, enjoy it, and recover, day in and day out. And that’s where the success comes from.

Practice needs to be sustainable, that’s where our bodies and minds rewire and create new adaptations and improve our performance.

Daily moderately high intensity can lead to burnout and stagnation, and unfortunately, this is what happens to a lot of people when they get excited about hitting a new workout regime hard. They believe they will see more benefits if they go all out every day and get frustrated when they can’t sustain this. It’s because it’s not sustainable, and this idea of No pain, no gain is not realistic.

Now, let’s apply this theme to other skills as well.

Nutrition

  • Green zone examples:
  • Replacing one processed snack with berries / your favourite fruits and nuts instead. 
  • Having a hearty, colourful salad for lunch 1 day per week
  • Incorporating one new fruit, vegetable, bean, or any plant food per month
  • Yellow zone examples: 
  • Having a cup of berries on alternating days for your snacks
  • Having a colourful salad on alternate days for lunches
  • Avoiding eating after dinner on weekdays
  • Red zone examples:
  • Avoiding added sugars and processed foods 
  • Having colourful meals that contain all 7 colours daily
  • Enjoying at least 40 different foods a week

Sleep

  • Green zone examples:
  • Putting blue-light-blocking glasses on as dusk approaches to protect your melatonin
  • Turn on a salt lamp or light candles in the evenings
  • Silencing device notifications 2 hours before bedtime
  • Yellow zone examples:
  • Take your phone/ any device out of the bedroom when you sleep
  • Avoid sitting on the couch watching tv at night, and discovering alternate activities to do instead.
  • Red zone examples:
  • In bed at a time where you achieve 8 hours of sleep
  • There are no devices or screen use at least 2 hours before bed

As you can see, we can apply this green zone style of training to the lifestyle habits that we want to practice supporting sustainable health. Your green zone practices should be relaxing, and most importantly enjoyable. Configure a green zone practice that feels best for you, something you look forward to and will be able to sustain and build up your strength and success in!

Reference:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237096628_Does_Polarized_Training_Improve_Performance_in_Recreational_Runners

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This little-known way we can help our overall health – Gut Health Series Part 1, Partners in Slime

Dr. Tamara Kung, ND

Did you know that we produce 10 litres of mucus a day?

That gooey, slimy stuff we cough up, is a lubricant for our food as it makes its way through our digestive tract. As icky as it seems, it has a crucial role. Imagine swallowing a bite of an apple in a mucus-free esophagus, food would stay lodged in there for days! We need mucus.

It’s like living in a house with a sturdy roof that keeps you sheltered, warm, and protected. Now imagine life without a roof, leaving you vulnerable and exposed to harsh elements and triggering pain and suffering.

Why is mucus so important?

Mucus is our protective shield from the caustic elements of digestion (think stomach acid and digestive enzymes), and is our front-line barrier, preventing food particles and the trillions of microbes that live in your gut from passing through into your blood. The health and strength of our mucus layer mean the difference between resilient health and conditions like ulcerative colitis. 

How do we produce mucus?

Our intestinal cells secrete some, but a significant amount comes from healthy bacteria (aka your microbiome) as well!  The bacteria that produce our protective mucus layer thrive and feed off prebiotic fibers. But less than 3% of us get enough prebiotic fibers daily, finding it a struggle to pack in such fibrous plant foods like lentils, beans, vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds. Add onto that, when we consider the near-sighted benefits of high fat and low carb diets, paving the way to long-term digestive problems and symptoms related to chronic inflammation.

What destroys mucus?

When there isn’t enough food for our healthy bacteria, they turn to munch on our mucus instead! This leads to the destruction or loss of our mucosal layer inviting digestive dysfunction and body-wide inflammation that can take many forms such as constipation, chronic fatigue, irritable bowel syndrome and disease, as well as other autoimmune conditions.


Even worse, processed foods use emulsifying agents. This is how food chemists prevent the separation of ingredients, so things stay creamy and uniform. Think ice cream, salad dressings, and nut butter which are some of the most common culprits for their emulsifying effects. Emulsifiers like polysorbate 80 and carboxymethylcellulose disrupt mucus-like dishwashing liquid and disperse oily film. It thins and breaks apart the mucus layer, opening holes for bacteria, and harmful proteins to get direct access to our intestinal lining. The best way to avoid emulsifying our protective and precious mucus is to eat Real Food and avoid foods that have more than 5 ingredients, or ingredients you can’t picture in your mind.

A 3 Course Meal for Mucus Building

  1. Enjoy lentils and beans ¼-½ cup daily, you may need to slowly ramp up the amount as your body regrows bacteria to help you break this down.
  2. There’s a species of mucus-producing bacteria that thrive off olive oil. So, while there is no fiber in this product, some of the anti-inflammatory benefits of olive oil can be due to this mechanism.
  3. Matcha green tea contains compounds that provide extra scaffolding for our mucosal layer. It makes mucus thicker, stronger, and more resilient to damage.

We are just scratching the surface of what our incredible microbiome can offer us, so stay tuned as the science continues to unfold better ways to understand the components of health and longevity!

Reference:

Charlotte, A. et al., (2020). Impact of diet and the bacterial microbiome on the mucous barrier and immune disorders. European Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 76(3), pg 714-734. Retrieved from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/all.14548

Paone P, Cani PDMucus barrier, mucins and gut microbiota: the expected slimy partners?Gut 2020;69:2232-2243. Retrieved from https://gut.bmj.com/content/69/12/2232

Annika Braun, MD, et al. (2009). Alterations of phospholipid concentration and species composition of the intestinal mucus barrier in ulcerative colitis: A clue to pathogenesis, Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, Volume 15, Issue 11, 1. Pg 1705–1720. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1002/ibd.20993

Davis, W. (2022). Super Gut: reprogram your microbiome to restore health, lose weight, and turn back the clock. Harper Collins, Toronto CA.

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The Best Brain Foods!

Dr. Tamara Kung, ND

The National Institutes of health define brain health as, “the ability to remember, learn, play, concentrate, and maintain a clear, active mind. It’s being able to draw upon the strengths of your brain – information management, logic, judgment, perspective, and wisdom.” 

Let’s face it, our minds are invaluable. When asking my patients what their health goals look like when they’re in their 80’s and beyond, number one is to have a clear, working mind, and sound mental health.

What often missed is that our brains respond to food! Our brains evolved in the context of a food environment that was nutrient rich, full of antioxidants, omega 3’s, and an abundance of vitamins and minerals for brain development, healing, and growth. It was thought that once we reached adulthood, our brains remain pretty inert. We now know, however, that our brains continue to grow, heal, and form new connections (aka neuroplasticity). Food and exercise have a big role to play in this. 

The best foods for a healthy brain incorporate herbs and spices, fermented foods, green leafy vegetables, vegetables (especially dark purple, red and orange coloured), nuts, beans, and healthy fats. These are what brains need to thrive and remain protected from cognitive decline.

The modern diet typically includes ultra processed foods (more than 5 ingredients listed, and plenty of added sugars), little fiber, and too much unhealthy fat. This diet contributes to many cognitive disorders ranging from ADHD, bipolar, depression, anxiety, dementia (Alzheimer’s is nicknamed type 3 diabetes), and increased stress perception. 

So here is our case for more real foods, and, specifically, these three areas to focus on.

Spice it Up

Let’s start with the heaviest hitter when it comes to the most antioxidant per calorie group – your herbs and spices! High antioxidant density means we protect our brain from getting damaged as antioxidants put out the fires of inflammation. Studies have shown that taking spices daily can help lower anxiety and depression. 

Spices like turmeric are great to incorporate into your cooking (if using turmeric, always add black pepper, as that helps you absorb the antioxidants 2000 x’s better!). For breakfast, adding spices like cinnamon and nutmeg are a great addition. Lunch and dinner can include Italian blends, cumin, paprika, etc. as a great way to bump up the flavour and antioxidant level of your dishes. Also keep spices like basil, oregano, mint, saffron, out on your dining table, so you can top off each meal with even more!

The O.G. of Probiotics

The word probiotic just means healthy bacteria. Fermented foods are the original ways we incorporated healthy bacteria into our gut. While they are not often part of daily Western diets, across the world, this is a necessary staple. The science on how our internal bacteria, the microbiome, impact our health is coming out loud and clear. A healthy microbiome means a healthy you! 90% of our serotonin, 50% of dopamine are produced in our gut, and 70% of our immune system is linked with these friendly microbes as well.

Incorporating more fermented foods on a regular basis has been shown to lower anxiety, depression, and improve stress resilience. Additional bonus are gut healing properties as well. Speak with your neighborhood naturopath or doctor on the pace of introducing fermented foods that work best for you.

Probiotics can decrease anxiety and our perception of stress and increase the level of omega-3 in our body and brain. But probiotics pills are often like a tourist bus that passes through our system and can stimulate the economy here and there, but once it leaves, its effects are gone. 

This is why fermented foods are a win-win. They contain the probiotic (the bacteria), plus the fiber to feed the bacteria so that it can be self-sustaining! Examples of fermented foods include kimchi, sauerkraut, kefir, miso, and tempeh. 

Healthy Fats:  Omega-3

Studies show that including this essential fat in our meals can increase positive outlook on life and reduce depression. Omega 3 fatty acids are what our brains need to maintain its neural connections, and to form and reorganize new connections. Our bodies don’t produce these, which is why countries with diets rich in omega-3 have lower rates of depression.

Treating your brain right isn’t that hard, but if you are finding your habits lacking in the above areas, start small and keep it simple. Slowly but surely, you can feed your brain more of the foods it loves.

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Are You Embracing ‘Micro’?

Tim Irvine

I was reading this article on micro vacations and it reminded me how my thoughts on ‘workouts’ have evolved over the years.

Back when I was a part of a national championship university football team (I had to get that in there 😊), my workouts were much, much different than they are today. High performance sports, full control of my own schedule, lots of free time, etc. I could have worked out for 3 hours at a time and it wouldn’t have made much of a difference to the rest of my schedule.

Today, I run a business with five locations, an amazing team,  and have three children who are all involved in sports. Needless to say, my life as an athlete was much different than mine is as a parent and business owner.

That’s where ‘micro’ concept comes in. 

As a whole, I think we spend too much time pursuing the optimal way of doing things. We look at examples on social media, elite athletics, or people that we know who seem to ‘have it right’. A different approach is necessary to take into consideration the rest of us. 

I encourage you to drop the notion of doing things perfectly or optimally, and instead, take a micro approach to all things wellness and do what you can.

Don’t have 10min to put that salad together? Then crunch on a carrot.

Finding the time to get to the gym in short supply? Go through a body weight routine at home.

Can’t get away for that 10-day vacation? Make it a weekend within a couple of hours of where you live.

The point is, a little is better than none. It can be less stressful and sometimes more enjoyable than the full version. Remember, even small steps get you somewhere.

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How Inflammation Makes You Sick

Dr. Tamara Kung, ND

Inflammation is a protective signalling process from our immune system. It becomes amplified when we need to deal with an infection or injury and then quiets down so our body can regenerate, heal, and free up resources for other important bodily functions. The problem comes when the signal to ‘fire’ is left on for no good reason.

The image of acute inflammation after an injury is hot, red, painful, and swollen. But chronic inflammation can easily fly by the radar in our day-to-day life. Chronic inflammation is something that’s happening in all of us, but the level of intensity and amount of internal buffer we build determines how quickly our tissues get broken down. 

Chronic inflammation can be measured through a blood test called c-reactive protein (CRP), and those who are at the top third range are twice as likely to have a heart attack than those at the bottom third. A similar trend can be found for diabetes, cancer, and Alzheimer’s, as risks for these diseases rise with the level of CRP measured. Cancer for instance was described in the 1870s as “a wound that doesn’t heal” by the father of modern pathology. He observed, and rightly so, that tumours often formed in sites of chronic inflammation. It is a generic fertilizer for every disease, and accounts for more than 50% of all causes of mortality. 

In addition, when the immune system is already revved up, a small insult like a cold or flu virus can trigger our system to overreact. This is when we see people who may meet the same virus but have drastically different responses. Those who have more chronic inflammation tend to have exacerbated symptoms and feel way more ill. Compare those who seem to never get sick. Those people are likely dealing with the same viruses, but their systems are strong enough that they don’t need the ‘big’ reaction which shows in the form of symptoms.

Physical activity is one way we can consistently lower inflammation. Did you know muscles also secrete some hormones? Specifically, when they contract, they release hormones that help reduce inflammation throughout the body. A large meta-analysis was done on over 1 million participants across Europe and the United States and found those who achieved 150 minutes of movement per week saw a reduction in risk for cardiovascular deaths by 23%, and type 2 diabetes by 26%. Another study found that hitting this number for physical activity reduced the risk for Alzheimer’s by 40%.

Staying active can mean anything that gets your body to move. Walking with a group of friends to your favourite spot in the city, gardening, taking a group class, rock climbing with co-workers, doing some neck rolls, stretches during work breaks, or air squats while you brush your teeth. Getting your muscles engaged, contracting to release anti-inflammatory hormones, and pumping your lymphatic system (immune system’s superhighway) are both ways to protect you from getting sick now and into the future. 

The bottom line is, keep inflammation down and you will be sick less, and when you do get sick, it won’t be as bad.

Reference:

https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/inflammation-a-unifying-theory-of-disease

Furman, D., Campisi, J., Verdin, E. et al. Chronic inflammation in the etiology of disease across the life span. Nat Med 25, 1822–1832 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-019-0675-0

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-019-0675-0

Santos-Lozano A, Pareja-Galeano H, Sanchis-Gomar F, Quindós-Rubial M, Fiuza-Luces C, Cristi-Montero C, Emanuele E, Garatachea N, Lucia A. Physical Activity and Alzheimer Disease: A Protective Association. Mayo Clin Proc. 2016 Aug;91(8):999-1020. doi: 10.1016/j.mayocp.2016.04.024. PMID: 27492909.

https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1161/jaha.115.002495


Santos-Lozano, A. et al. Physical activity and Alzheimer disease: a protective association. Mayo. Clin. Proc. 91, 999–1020 (2016). Retrieved from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27492909/

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Why Inflammation Makes You Old

Dr. Tamara Kung, ND

The definition of aging is a progressive change that leads to increased debility, disease, and death. Wow! That sounds depressing. Don’t despair, there are things you can do to make it a much more pleasant picture.

As we age, there is a reduction in our cells capability to read the right genes at the right time. Genes are locked in our DNA and are highly specific instruction sets that govern everything that happens in our body. The loss of specific steps, or the inability to read instructions properly, leads to cells messing up their functional roles and tissues and organs falling apart. 

The question is what causes the loss in information? 

This is where chronic inflammation comes into play. I often describe this process as the Marvel character the Hulk racing around in our body, smashing up cells, and tripping over DNA. This causes damage and a loss of stored information. 

But the Hulk is, for the most part, his harmless alter ego, Bruce Banner, a nerdy scientist who doesn’t cause harm. He stays calm until he gets triggered, and this is analogous to oxygen in our body. We need oxygen to live, it’s a functional part of our metabolism. But it can get amplified and become a superoxide, free radical. Another way to think of it is wildfires burning within us. The more inflammation, the bigger the fire.

What are the major triggers of our internal Hulk?

  1. Refined sugar / processed foods. Essentially the Standard American Diet (SAD)
  2. Alcohol/ Drugs
  3. Sleep deprivation
  4. Stress

Strategies to reduce inflammation:

  1. Reducing inflammatory triggers (refined sugars, processed foods, alcohol, toxic substances).
  2. Protect your body with high levels of antioxidants found in colourful fruits and vegetables.
  3. Intermittent fasting – recent studies are confirming that it’s not just what we eat that’s important, but when we eat as well. Fasting (different from starvation), has been shown to activate genes for longevity and is a whole other lever we can pull to increase our lifespan and health span. A future article will delve more deeply into this topic. 
  4. Increasing the number of healthy bacteria – aka the Microbiome we discussed in our previous article here. 

These strategies help protect your cells from damage. Less Hulk, less damage. Avoiding processed foods and added sugars, getting on top of our sleep are powerful ways to reduce the triggers. Loading up on antioxidant rich foods give you an added buffer of protection as these calm down any signs that could trigger the Hulk, or they will get him to change back into Bruce sooner rather than later. 

How would you react if someone told you that you could live into your 100’s remaining healthy and mentally sharp? This may sound like science fiction, but scientists like leading aging expert David Sinclair, a professor in genetics at Harvard Medical School, says this is more fact than fiction. In his book, Lifespan: Why We Age, and Why We Don’t Have To, he spells out why we should reframe the way we think of ourselves across time, sharing evidence to the theme that aging as we know it doesn’t have to be so. His quote “A painful descent into old age isn’t something you have to accept” resonates so well.

In short, inflammation is an accelerator of aging. The more we inflame ourselves, the quicker we break down. If we incorporate small practices that protect us from inflammation, we can keep ourselves running better…and for longer. 

References

Sinclair, D. (2019). Lifespan: The revolutionary science of why we age – and why we don’t have to. Atria Books.

Chung, H. Y., Kim, D. H., Lee, E. K., Chung, K. W., Chung, S., Lee, B., Seo, A. Y., Chung, J. H., Jung, Y. S., Im, E., Lee, J., Kim, N. D., Choi, Y. J., Im, D. S., & Yu, B. P. (2019). Redefining Chronic Inflammation in Aging and Age-Related Diseases: Proposal of the Senoinflammation Concept. Aging and disease, 10(2), 367–382. https://doi.org/10.14336/AD.2018.0324

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6457053/
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Three Things I Never Knew About Inflammation

Tim Irvine

This article falls into the category of ‘you don’t know what you don’t know’.

Presenting to companies over the last two years has provided me the opportunity to have a passenger seat to some incredibly bright people form Totum who have presented their expertise to thousands. It has been like being in a university class you just can’t fall asleep in. Although I consider myself an expert, I also consider myself a realist and the older I get the less I think I know. Through all of this, one area that I have had my eyes opened is nutrition. 

I’ve become fascinated by inflammation, to the point I’ve sat our kids down for ‘the talk’, but instead of it being about the birds and the bees, it was about inflammation. Even with decades of experience, the knowledge has influenced me so much that I’ve changed my eating, my sleep, I’m moving more, and I’m more focused on avoiding things that contribute to inflammation. I’m not quite ready to start The C.A.I, (Church of Anti-Inflammation), but I’m close.

Using my somewhat ‘expert’ background, combined with this important new information the layman in me has learned, I’d like to try and convert you to my new religion.

Here are three key things I think you need to know about inflammation

  1. Inflammation makes you old
  2. Inflammation makes you sore
  3. Inflammation makes you sick

With the help of some of those incredibly bright people, I will dive a bit deeper into each of these topics, but for now, I’ll highlight some of the reasons we get inflamed.

Acute inflammation is generally good. You scrape your knee and an inflammatory response to heal the cut is triggered.

Chronic inflammation is the one you need to avoid. It damages cells and is the road to many chronic diseases. It can be caused by auto immune disorders, exposure to certain chemicals, or acute inflammation that never heals properly. Besides these, the body of evidence around lifestyle factors is growing and it’s clear, certain things we do on a day-to-day basis pre-dispose us to more inflammation.

In an article from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the following are identified as lifestyle factors that have been shown to contribute to inflammation:

  • Being overweight
  • Consuming too many bad fats (think trans fat) and not enough good fats (think omega 3)
  • Eating too many refined carbohydrates (most packaged foods in the grocery store)

We also know being chronically stressed, under slept, or consuming sugary foods and beverages (yes, alcohol is included here) will also contribute to an inflamed body.

The bottom line is inflammation is bad and anti-inflammation is good.

It’s time to start putting out the fires.

And check out the additional articles on inflammation making you old, sore and sick to find out how this is happening and what you can do about it.

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Plant vs Meat Protein

By Tamara Kung, ND

The growing awareness of plant-based meals coupled with our long history of enthusiasm for protein is coming to an apparent clash and leaving us wondering how are we supposed to get enough quality protein on just plants!

Before we get into that, let’s get some context regarding how much protein we should have for optimal health.

In 1890, the USDA recommended 110 g of protein per day for working men. The drive for protein peaked in the 1950’s when the United Nations declared that “deficiency of protein in the diet is the most serious and widespread problem in the world.” because of a prevailing condition called Kwashiorkor disease. 

However, there’s no real evidence of prolific dietary protein deficiency in Westernized countries. Our most pressing health problems, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, pain, migraines, are not a result of protein deficiency, yet we continue to fixate on this single nutrient. 

So a revision of protein guidelines was reduced from 110 grams to an average of 42 grams per day, or to be more accurate, 0.8-0.9 grams /kg ( 0.36 g per lb). This is according to the current recommended daily intake guidelines to avoid sickness and deficiency. 

Females by Age GroupTotal Grams of Protein Per Day
9-13 years 34
14-18 years46
19+ years46
Males by Age GroupTotal Grams of Protein Per Day
9-13 years 34
14-18 years52
19+ years56

But we want to do better than just avoiding sickness. We want to thrive and make sure we are achieving levels that optimize our health, fitness, and well-being. 

Many of us are in fact consuming more than what we need to just survive as found by one of the largest studies on nutrient amounts in varying diets. Observing over 70,000 individuals, researchers gathered the data to see how much of each nutrient omnivores were getting compared to their spectrum of vegetarian counterparts. 

Regarding protein intake, they found that omnivores get way more than the recommended 42g, almost doubling that… and so does everyone else. 

Vegetarians and vegans were also found to get 70% more total protein than recommended. 

We can see omnivores and their vegetarian and vegan counterparts are achieving more than the minimum daily intake. In fact, just less than three percent of adults don’t meet protein requirements, and these are typically severely ill and malnourished individuals. A whopping 97% of adults easily meet their total protein needs so to worry about not getting enough may not be as pressing of a problem as we originally thought.

Side note: What 97% of adults are deficient in is fiber, consuming less than the recommended 30 grams per day. A focus on increasing fiber intake can move the needle in terms of improving longevity and increasing the number of healthy years lived. Plant rich diets contain significantly less fat, cholesterol, fewer microbial and parasitic infections than omnivorous diets, while at the same time providing more fiber, folate, vitamin C, and antioxidants in addition to protein. All of which are essential for preventing disease and supporting optimal health and longevity 

It should be noted that there is no upper limit set for our macronutrient guides because we are lacking the data here. But omission of upper limits doesn’t mean it’s safe to have overly high amounts for extended periods of time. We can only absorb 25-40 g of protein per meal, so overdoing it can also lead to unused protein.

A study conducted by Harvard followed 130,000 people over 32 years and found that the amount of protein didn’t translate to health, rather it’s the quality. 

Complete vs. Incomplete proteins 

So what are quality proteins? Animal protein has been touted as a complete source of all nine essential amino acids (protein’s building blocks), and therefore historically ranked superior to plant sources. 

Complete proteins contain all nine essential amino acids and include:

  • Fish
  • Poultry
  • Eggs
  • Pork
  • Beef
  • Dairy
  • Whole sources of soy (edamame, tofu, tempeh, miso)
  • Quinoa
  • Chia seeds

Incomplete proteins contain some but not all amino acids:

  • Legumes (peas, lentils, beans)
  • Nuts
  • Seeds
  • Whole grains (wild rice, farro, rye, spelt)
  • Vegetables! (Spinach – remember Popeye? Avocado, asparagus, brussels sprouts, broccoli)

We can see from this chart below that essential amino acids can be found in a variety of plant foods as well. 

If you’re eating a variety of protein foods, chances are, you don’t need to give this a second thought. Enjoying a rotating repertoire of vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds will cover your needs.

Plus, our cells are continuously breaking old parts down and recycling usable components – like amino acids, and combining them with the nutrients we take in. This means we don’t need to eat complete proteins with each meal, rather a variety on a consistent basis will do us just fine.

The science is showing that it’s the source, rather than the amount of protein that makes a difference in our health. This is referred to as the protein package because food comes not in isolate. What’s included in the package are carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and minerals, and antioxidants.

Red meat is packaged with saturated fat, sodium, and zero fiber, minimal antioxidants and is linked with increased risk for heart disease and stroke. While swapping out for plant proteins such as soybeans, lentils, legumes, nuts, fish or poultry reduce these risks. Similar studies show this is also true for diabetes, cancer, weight gain, bone health, and premature death. 

This is because of the protein package idea. Plant proteins are packaged with unsaturated fat which lowers LDL cholesterol, has no cholesterol, plenty of fiber, and plenty of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. All great health protectors!

The takeaway here is straight forward. There is little danger of a protein deficiency on a plant-based diet, as long as you enjoy a variety and have a rotating repertoire of different lentils, beans, with your stews or curries, or whole grains with your meals, seeds and nuts with your salads, you’re covered!

If you are planning on eating less meat and more veggies and are not certain of how to make sure you are getting the protein quality, talk with a nutrition professional to make sure. Your body, performance and health will thank you.

Reference:

Nutrition Today – The Family of dietary fibers: dietary variety for maximum benefit 

Comparison of nutritional quality of vegan, vegetarian, semi-vegetarian, Nutrients, 2014

Nutrient profiles of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dietary patterns Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics  2013

Srikanthan P, Karlamangla AS. Muscle mass index as a predictor of longevity in older adults. Am J Med. 2014;127(6):547-553. doi:10.1016/j.amjmed.2014.02.007

Public Health Nutrition , Volume 8 , Issue 6a , September 2005 , pp. 701 – 705

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1079/PHN2005766

https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/food-nutrition/healthy-eating/dietary-reference-intakes/tables/reference-values-macronutrients-dietary-reference-intakes-tables-2005.html

Protein

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/how-much-protein-do-you-need-every-day-201506188096

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Are Artificial Sweeteners Causing Big Problems?

By Tamara Kung, ND

Sugar is bad, so artificial sweeteners without all the extra calories must be good, right??

Let’s look at the facts to improve our understanding of this critical area of nutrition. It’s important to first understand how insulin works and how added sweeteners affect it.

Insulin is your growth and storage hormone (“Hormone of Abundance”) and it allows your body to either use sugar (glucose) for energy, or to store it (fat) for when our intake of energy is low. Our body isn’t good at multitasking, so when it’s storing, it’s NOT burning. This is imbalance number one and why weight gain happens when we have too much fuel of certain types.

Insulin is triggered most by processed foods because they contain added sugars, artificial sweeteners, and simple carbohydrates like white flour. A diet rich in processed foods can lead to Insulin resistance which occurs when our cells no longer respond to overly repetitive signalling of insulin. This means cells won’t open their doors to let blood sugar (energy) in, thereby keeping our blood sugars elevated.

Picture This:

  • Imagine insulin to be the kids who ring your doorbell to trick or treat. If that doorbell keeps ringing after Halloween, that will get annoying, and you will eventually stop opening the door. 
  • Your cells do the same. If insulin is always around, ringing your cell’s door (ie. eating sugar/artificially sweetened foods or drinks regularly), your cells will ignore it and become insulin resistant.
  • In response, your body will increase the amount of insulin (more doorbell rings), and increased insulin drives the development of diabetes, and other diseases related to weight gain.

When people are in this state, the first step is to take a break from insulin-triggering foods and curb the cravings so our cells can become more sensitive to insulin. Less insulin means less time storing fat and promoting energy production and growth. Less insulin means more time burning fat. 

Now that you have the basics of insulin, let’s look at artificial sweeteners specifically.

When we consume artificial sweeteners, insulin still goes up despite not having any actual sugar calories coming in. This is because our bodies are smart, and our taste buds sense sweetness which signals our gut to prepare for sugar. The insulin spike from artificial sweeteners causes our body to store blood sugar in our cells, and this can lead to low blood sugar. Low blood sugar can, in turn, make us feel weak, hungry, or even hangry.  That’s why people who consume diet sweeteners can eat more, and feel less satiated and thus, overconsume. 

The studies on artificial sweeteners are starting to come in due to the increased use and interest in their long-term effects. Here are two incredible examples.

One study divided volunteers into four groups who had the same diet for over six months, except for the following differences:

Group 1 = A litre of sugared soda a day

Group 2 = A litre of diet soda per day

Group 3 = A litre of milk per day

Group 4 = A litre of water per day

  • The soda group gained 22 lbs, the diet soda group gained 3.5 lbs, the milk group stayed the same, the water group lost 4.5 lbs. 

A gain of 3.5lbs is better than 22lbs, but why did they still gain weight without the extra calories? And why did the milk group not gain any weight despite having the same number of calories as sugary soda? It has to do with insulin, meaning diet sweeteners still cause an insulin release, while the lactose and fat in milk, didn’t. In a follow-up study, they took diet soda drinkers and switched them to only water, and they lost another 6 lbs. Both diet soda and water contain no sugar, so why did their weight change? You guessed it, insulin! The sweet taste alone can stimulate appetite and insulin release which drives fat storage. 

The second study was long-term and followed 918 women for 7 years to better understand the regular consumption of artificially sweetened beverages (ASB). The study found that artificially sweetened beverages during pregnancy can affect the birth size and increase the risk that a child will be overweight/ obese by seven years of age. 

  • Specifically, there was almost a two-fold increase of overweight/obese children seven years later in the mothers who drank ASB daily while pregnant (compared to mothers who never did).  
  • The study also looked at the difference when mothers substituted their regular sodas for diet sodas (with the hope of making a healthier choice), but the results didn’t show any significant reduction in risk in childhood overweight/ obesity. 
  • There was a reduced risk in mothers who substituted sugar sweetened beverages for water! 

Diet sweeteners also change the composition of the microbiome in your gut, shifting the balance from good to bad bacteria. Studies have shown that this leads to glucose intolerance and may contribute to leaky gut, inflammation, and increased deposition of visceral fat, driving metabolic syndrome. The research is starting to come out, but many studies still need to be done on this topic so stay tuned!

The bottom line is, the impact of hyper-sweet, sugary or artificially sweetened food is negative for our health. This is especially true for our children because their taste buds become groomed to crave intensely sweet foods. No longer will a juicy peach, or flavourful strawberries satisfy them as their taste buds will be too ‘numb’ if exposed to hyper-sweet tastes too often. For adults, it’s not too late! Our taste buds can change completely in as little as 10 days if we let them.  Water is your ultimate beverage, and fruit, nature’s candy, has your back since they are packed with a bounty of antioxidants and fibre to nourish and give you health in return for a sweet treat. 

More research is needed, but the early message is clear. Trust real food and you will avoid these insulin high jacking sweetener issues.

Health Reports: Added, free and total sugar content and consumption of foods and beverages in Canada. (2020). Retrieved from https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/82-003-x/2020010/article/00002-eng.htm

Harvard Health Publishing. Artificial sweeteners. sugar free, but at what cost. Retrieved from

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/artificial-sweeteners-sugar-free-but-at-what-cost-201207165030

Yang, Q. (2010). Gain weight by ‘going diet?’ Artificial sweeteners and the neurobiology of sugar cravings: Neuroscience, Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine 83(2): 101-8. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2892765/pdf/yjbm_83_2_101.pdf

Purdue University. The study of soft drinks including diet sodas contributes to increased sugar intake and calorie consumption in children. Retrieved from:

https://www.purdue.edu/hhs/news/2019/05/study-soft-drinks-including-diet-sodas-contribute-to-increased-sugar-intake-and-total-calorie-consumption-in-children/

Ruiz-Ojeda FJ, Plaza-Díaz J, Sáez-Lara MJ, Gil A. Effects of Sweeteners on the Gut Microbiota: A Review of Experimental Studies and Clinical Trials [published correction appears in Adv Nutr. 2020 Mar 1;11(2):468]. Adv Nutr. 2019;10(suppl_1):S31-S48. doi:10.1093/advances/nmy037. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6363527/

Tandel KR. Sugar substitutes: Health controversy over perceived benefits. J Pharmacol Pharmacother. 2011;2(4):236-243. doi:10.4103/0976-500X.85936. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3198517/

Zhu Y, Olsen SF, Mendola P, et al. Maternal consumption of artificially sweetened beverages during pregnancy, and offspring growth through 7 years of age: a prospective cohort study. Int J Epidemiol. 2017;46(5):1499-1508. doi:10.1093/ije/dyx095. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5837735/

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More Plants = Health

More Plants = Health!

The title of this is an obvious fact. I’m sure that 100% of adults are aware of this. So why do we have such a hard time getting more fruits and vegetables into our diet?

There are two main reasons. Convenience and taste.

The first is just a function of our modern lives, filled with busyness that didn’t exist 50 years ago. We want or need, to save time anyway we can, and sometimes that means sacrificing nutrition for convenience.

Taste is the second reason. For most people, if they are hungry and there is a bowl of raw carrots beside a bowl of chips, most would choose the chips because our taste buds have been trained to crave those foods. You’ve been tricked over the years by very crafty manufacturers and now our taste buds are just looking for the ‘overdrive’ option and have a very difficult time ‘tasting’ natural foods.

This is the ‘why’ behind our lack of fruits and veggies. I’m sure you are not surprised.

Recent research underscores the importance of why more fruit and vegetables, and less processed foods and meats, can lead to better health outcomes. An August 2021 paper in the Journal of the American Heart Association identifies a diet rich in plants and with fewer animal products, showing a 52% lower rate of developing cardiovascular diseases. This was a thirty-year study with almost 5000 participants so the data is really good.

Knowing that your tastebuds have been hijacked by manufacturers using salt, sugar and fat, and that time is limited so we search for convenience, we can start to make some small changes…just for a start. Add on the hard facts that Plants = Health, literally, and we have a great foundation to make some change.

This is the action part. If you made it this far in this article, you know what you need to do. Now is the time to take one action (or more) to make a change.

My advice is to make it ridiculously simple. If you typically buy lunch, instead of a sandwich, go for a wrap with lots of veggies in it. Or go for a very tasty and substantial salad. This is a really easy way to introduce way more veggies into your diet.

This is one example of many, but the key is, make it really easy for yourself and over time, you will start to take back control of your tastebuds, and you’ll make more time for eating better. These positive habits build on one another.

Happy fruit and veggie eating!