Oftentimes, we find ourselves bombarded with advertisements for weight loss, muscle-building and athletic-performance-enhancing supplements. 

Do they really work?  Do they really help people lose weight and build muscle?  Let's take a look at some of the more popular supplements in the market today.

 

 

Chromium

Chromium is an essential trace mineral that appears to have a beneficial role in the regulation of insulin action in the body. There have been some evidence that suggest Chromium may help control diabetes and may lower cholesterol.  Many people use Chromium to help reduce body fat and increase muscle strength.  However, it has been proven that Chromium does not enhance weight loss and does not help increase muscle mass.  Chromium is found naturally in broccoli, ham, potatoes, green beans, turkey breast, apples, white rice, bananas and whole wheat bread.  It can easily be found in a regular balanced diet, which renders supplementation unnecessary.

Carnitine

Carnitine, L-Carnitine, is a naturally occurring amino acid.  Red meat and dairy products are rich sources of carnitine. Other natural sources of carnitine include nuts and seeds as well as vegetables and fruits like asparagus, broccoli and brussel sprouts, apricots and bananas.   Supplementation is not necessary for healthy people following a regular balanced diet.  However, people diagnosed with a carnitine impairment may need supplemental carnitine.  Research suggests carnitine may be beneficial for people with cardiovascular disorders and may help slow cognitive impairment in people with Alzheimer’s disease.  Contrary to popular belief there is no research evidence that proves supplemental carnitine can improve athletic performance and enhance weight and fat loss. 

Coenzyme Q10

Coenzyme Q10 is a fat-soluble, vitamin-like substance produced by the human body.  There have been some evidence that it may help improve exercise ability in people with cardiovascular disease. However, it does not appear to increase athletic performance. Red meat is a rich source of Q10, particularly reindeer muscle meat and animal organs such as liver and heart.  Coenzyme Q10 is found naturally in beef, chicken, pork chops, trout, salmon, oranges and broccoli.

It is important to note that statin drugs such as Lipitor and Zocor, which lower cholesterol, can inhibit the body’s ability to create Coenzyme Q10 by as much as 40%.  If you are taking statin drugs Nutrition for You recommends that you ask your medical doctor about taking Coenzyme Q10 supplements.

5-Hydroxy-Tryptophan

5-Hydroxy-Tryptophan, 5-HTP, is derived from the seeds of Griffonia simplicifolia, a plant found in Africa.  It is believed to have anti-depressant qualities and can also enhance weight loss as well as relieve stress and pain.  Supplemental 5-HTP helps raise serotonin levels in the brain.  Since serotonin helps regulate mood and behavior, 5-HTP may be beneficial for people with mood and sleep disorders.  However, no large-scale studies have proven this.  It does not appear to affect weight loss, stress or pain.  Furthermore, there have been reports of 5-HTP dietary supplements causing nausea and stomach pain.  In November 1990, the FDA banned all tryptophan-containing supplements such as 5-HTP in response to an outbreak of Eosinophilia-Myalgia Syndrome (EMS) that was linked to the use of tryptophan.

Creatine

Creatine is a substance created by protein building blocks within the body.  Natural sources of creatine include herring, pork, salmon, beef, cod and milk.  Creatine supplements are often taken by body builders to develop more muscle mass. There is some evidence that creatine may increase muscular strength during short periods of high-intensity short-term exercise. It may also help increase muscular strength in people with muscular disorders.  However, there is no evidence that creatine accelerates fat metabolism. 

It is important to note that people taking creatine should not consume more than 2g to 5g per day.  Furthermore, people with kidney disorders should not take creatine.  Lastly, there is some evidence that suggest caffeine may negate some of the effects of creatine.   For more information on creatine supplements before and after workout please talk to your Nutrition for You coach.

Whey Protein

Whey protein is the liquid material created as a by-product of making cheese.  It is equivalent to the protein quality of low-fat and fat-free dairy products and lean cuts of meat.  Taking whey protein in moderation is perfectly fine for healthy individuals.  There are no known adverse side effects.  It is always best to get your protein allowance from whole food sources, however, whey protein can be a good supplement to take after working out.  Whey protein by itself will not build muscle mass but it will help replace protein in the body after strength training.

Remember that it is always best to get all of the necessary vitamins, minerals and nutrients from whole foods first.  The best way to ensure your body is receiving all the nutrients it needs to be healthy is to eat a diet rich in whole grains, fruits, vegetables, lean protein, some dairy and heart-healthy fats.   Nutrition for You can put together a plan tailored to meet all of your nutritional needs.   If you are interested in building muscle mass please talk to your Nutrition for You coach.

Over the years, sales of supplements have steadily increased and billions of dollars have been spent on supplements each year.  More than 40% of Americans regularly take some sort of dietary supplement. Do we really know what we are taking? Are supplements safe?

In this series of blogs, Nutrition for You discusses the most popular supplements in the market today. We will talk about the pros and cons, which hopefully will help you in making an informed decision.

Are Supplements Safe?

Supplement safety is difficult to assess. Unlike drugs, the FDA does not regulate supplements.  There is no process that approves supplements before they are marketed and sold to the public and there are very few human trials done regarding supplement interactions. In addition, supplement manufacturers are not required by law to provide warnings or information about potential side effects. There are also no standards for potency or dosage. However, there are several websites that monitor supplement safety. One of them is MedWatch, the FDA Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting Program. MedWatch alerts provide timely new safety information on human drugs, medical devices, vaccines, dietary supplements, and cosmetics. 

If you are considering taking supplements, Nutrition for You recommends that you talk to a health care professional first and get as much information as you can about the safety of these supplements.

Remember that it is always best to get all of the necessary vitamins, minerals and nutrients from whole foods first.  The best way to ensure your body is receiving all the nutrients it needs to be healthy is to eat a diet rich in whole grains, fruits, vegetables, lean protein, some dairy and heart-healthy fats.  Nutrition for You can put together a plan tailored to meet all of your nutritional needs.

 

Photograph courtesy of Jun Belen.

Everyone should take care of their eyes.  More so with age, since eye cataracts and age-related macular degeneration are the leading causes of blindness in older adults.  Proper nutrition is always the most powerful preventive medicine and so you may ask what foods can be good for the eyes?

Nutrition for You recommends the following list of foods that can help you keep your eyes healthy and your vision sharp. 

 

 

Leafy greens such as kale and spinach because they are packed with the antioxidants necessary to reduce incidents of eye  cataracts, as much as 18% based on recent studies. Other vegetables that contain these beneficial antioxidants include broccoli, corn and pumpkins.

Eggs, likewise, contain the antioxidants found in leafy greens that are helpful in keeping your eyes healthy.   However, keep in mind that eggs should be consumed in moderation, particularly when you are trying to lose weight.

Vitamin C-rich food can help provide protection from UV light damage. Excellent sources of Vitamin C are citrus fruits, red bell peppers, strawberries, raspberries, broccoli and brussel sprouts.

Vitamin E-rich foods can help in the prevention of cataracts and age-related macular degeneration. Excellent sources of Vitamin E are sunflower oil, peanut butter, wheat germ and almonds. 

Foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids can lower risk of age-related macular degeneration.  Nutrition for You recommends taking 1,000 mg of fish oil daily or eating 8 oz of salmon each week.  Flaxseed and walnuts are also excellent sources of omega-3 fatty acids. 

Information from “Eating for Eye Health,” By Lindsey Getz.  Today’s Dietitian. Vol. 11 No. 9 P. 12 

Photograph courtesy of Jun Belen.

Breastfeeding is one of the best things a mother can do for her newborn. It offers extraordinary benefits for both mother and child. However, breastfeeding can be very demanding, which is why it is vital for a nursing mother to eat a healthy and balanced diet to ensure that both she and her baby are getting all the nutrients they need to support their activities.

More about pregnancy and motherhood

This is a great question!  I would like to clarify the difference between food as pleasure and food as reward.  Enjoying pleasurable food is natural and healthy.  But when you make food a goal, a punishment, a reward, or emotional fix, then you get into unhealthy habit territory.  Food should not be used to fix a bad day or to celebrate a good day.  If you want a cookie, it should be because you want to sit down to enjoy and savor the flavor, not because you feel you "deserve one" for any reason.

After losing weight, many of our clients wonder how to reintroduce more pleasurable foods back into their diet without going overboard.  Food is one of life's greatest pleasures and you should definitely eat food that you enjoy.  We recommend eating no more than 3 pleasurable foods per week.  Make sure to balance out your allowances so that you may include these in your diet.  If you want to bake cookies, you should.  Eat a cookie and then put the rest away- freeze them, package them up or give them to a friend so you won’t be tempted to eat too many.  Eating pleasurable foods in moderation and with awareness is part of a healthy lifestyle. 

IFs and BUTs

These are two words that often accompany weight loss. I could lose weight IF I had the time, IF I had the money, IF I lived alone, IF I didn't work so hard.  I wish I could BUT I just can't lose weight, I have tried everything BUT nothing works, I know I am not healthy BUT my lifestyle is too busy to change.  The excuses and reasons can stretch on forever.

There is no doubt about it- weight loss can be very difficult.  But why do some people succeed and others do not?  What did they do differently?  Did they have a better diet or is there more to it?

The Truth about Diets

Expenditure greater than Intake = Weight loss

There you go.  Simple as that.  But something is missing from this equation.  If it were this easy Americans wouldn't spend millions of dollars each year trying to lose weight.  What is lacking?  Why do many people have so much trouble losing weight?

The reason is that most weight loss diets and pills don't teach you about you. They don't illuminate the reasons why your weight grew.  They are band aides that only address the pounds and not the root causes of weight gain.  So as soon as you stop the pill/diet or shake, the weight comes back, and then you are left right back where you started because nothing has really been solved.

The Real Key to Weight Loss

Expenditure greater than Intake + MOTIVATION = Weight loss

Before starting a weight loss regimen, it is important to find your ultimate motivation; your deep, passionate and meaningful reason for weight loss - your key that will kick all the ifs and buts to the wayside.

This is one of the reasons why Nu4You works so well.  Your nutrition coach is there to help you understand yourself, the choices you make and the barriers you face.  Not only do they provide you with a great plan that works - they practice behavior modification, so those bad habits become memories of the past. 

We will help you find your supreme motivation - your key to weight loss.  Once you have that firm in your heart, shedding the pounds becomes easier. Then all it takes is a little time, dedication, simple mathematics and the reminder of why you are making changes.

Menopause can be a very difficult time for many women. It is a crossroad in a woman’s life where changes in her body may be unwelcome. During menopause many women experience weight gain and changes in their blood cholesterol levels as well as develop fear of osteoporosis. Despite these unwanted changes, there are many things you can do to alleviate the negative side effects of menopause. Read on to learn more about how Nutrition for You can help you manage these symptoms of menopause in a natural and holistic way.

Full Article: Menopause  - Weight Gain, Cardio Health and Osteoporosis

Whether or not to buy organic or conventionally grown foods is a big topic that many of our members contemplate. Read on to learn more about which items you should consider buying organic and where convential foods are ok.

The Clean and Dirty Details of Organic!
Organic foods can be 50% more expensive than conventionally grown foods. However, the more organic foods you eat, the less pesticides you consume. It is especially important for children to consume organic foods. New studies suggest that pesticides are linked to ADHD, obesity, diabetes and learning disorders in kids who don't yet have the immune system to be able to flush out these toxins.

Produce:
Here are two lists: one for produce that we recommend you buy organic and one for produce where conventional is ok.

Produce "Dirty Dozen" *Highest in pesticide residue: buy organic if you can.	Produce "Not-So-Dirty-Dozen" *Lowest in pesticide residue: ok to buy conventionally grown.
Peaches Apples Sweet bell peppers Celery Nectarines Strawberries Cherries Pears Grapes (imported) Spinach Lettuce Potatoes	Papayas Broccoli Cabbage Bananas Kiwi Sweat peas (frozen) Asparagus Mangoes Pineapple Sweet corn (frozen) Avocados Onions

Meat and Poultry:
It is very important to buy meat and poultry that has not been treated with antibiotics. Public health authorities recognize that antibiotic use in live-stock (used to fatten them up and prevent disease caused by over crowding and unsanitary living conditions) has led to people contracting antibiotic-resistant infections. The World Health Organization and the American Medical Association have urged farmers to stop using antibiotics. However, many farmers still continue to use antibiotics. So, when it comes to meat and poultry definitely buy meat that has not been treated.

What labels mean:

BEST: Certified Organic: Meat that bears this label is raised without the use of antibiotics or related drugs and meets other rigorous standards set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). When organically raised animals become sick, they are treated with antibiotics but do not receive the organic label. A third party certifies these standards.

BEST: No Antibiotics Added/Raised without Antibiotics: This label indicates that the animals have not been fed antibiotics at any point in their lives. Meat from sick animals treated with antibiotics cannot be sold under this label claim. Although the USDA approved the use of this claim, compliance is not certified by a third party.

OK: Natural/All-Natural: The USDA defines a "natural" meat product as one that "contain[s] no artificial ingredient or added color and is only minimally processed." Meat labeled "natural" may or may not have been treated with antibiotics.

DOESN'T MEAN MUCH: Free-Range/Free-Roaming: These labels have been approved by the USDA for poultry that have been allowed access to the outdoors (though they may never actually go outdoors) but the claim implies nothing about the antibiotic use practices of the producer.

Milk:
Many dairy farmers use the bovine growth hormone (bGH) to increase cattle weight as well as milk production. Though the FDA concluded that there are no risks to drinking milk from cows treated with this hormone, the issue is still being researched. bGH has been banned in Europe and Canada. Since there are so many dairies that don't use this hormone, we suggest buying from them if you can. Buy milk/milk products labeled organic or "rbGH free."

Whether you buy organic or not, here are some tips:

• Buy local produce whenever possible.
• Reduce pesticide residues and other contaminants by:
  *Washing and scrubbing all produce (even produce with skin) under streaming water (don't use soap).
  *Remove peel from fruits and vegetables.
  *Remove outer leaves of leafy vegetables.
  
• Discard produce that has been out of refrigerator for more than 4 hours.
• Trim visible fat and skin from meat and poultry (pesticides residues collect in fat).
• Eat a variety of foods from different sources.
• Prioritize: The majority of your organic food dollars should be spent on avoiding produce which carry the most pesticides.

Created by Kate Haisch, BS, Dietetic Intern

Resources:
Brannon, Carol Ann. "Organics: Separating Science Fiction from Fact." Today's Dietician 10.4 (2008): 8-14
Bareuther, Carol. "Mission Organic: 2010." Today's Dietician 10.4 (2008): 30-34
UCS: What's in the Meat You Eat?

We continue our five part series where we talk about the five biggest conclusions of the National Weight Control Registry's research.

5 Proven Behaviors for Long Term Weight Management:

1. Follow a low-fat diet
2. Record keeping
3. Monitor weight frequently
4. Eat breakfast daily
5. Exercise

Part 2: Record Keeping

You may have heard or read about one of the many news stories last week about Food Record Keeping. A recent study by Kaiser Permanente reported that keeping a food diary, on average, doubled the weight loss as compared to those that did not record keep. Record keeping is so important that it's one of our key Success Tracker tools available to all of our members.

For weight loss, we recommend practicing daily food record keeping. If you don’t food record keep for a day or two, don’t worry about backlogging. Just pick-up again from where you are. It is important not to let a bad day (or week!) throw you off completely. Start fresh from where you are and do not stress about past choices. Even if you are not proud of the food you are recording, just keep going.

Record keeping isn't just for those losing weight. It is also important for those that are doing weight maintenance and weight gain. Food record keeping helps to keep you on track and makes you aware of your eating habits and choices. When on weight maintenance you do not need to food record keep everyday, but it is helpful to check in every once and a while, just to see how many calories you are consuming and to ensure you are eating from all of the food groups to ensure adequate nutrition. We recommend checking in for a total of one week every month.

It is an important habit to maintain that will help you for life. It takes just a little time each day to record keep. If you need tips on how to speed up your record keeping or to understand how it works don't forget to ask one of our nutrition coaches.

Snacks are a very important and often underrated part of the day.  With work, family, errands, obligations, it can be tough to take the time to pack a lunch much less multiple snacks.  But when it comes to weight-loss, snacks really make all the difference.

When I got serious about losing weight, snacking was a hard habit to learn.  Eat more, lose weight - it just seems so contradictory!  But when I journaled my foods for the days that I snacked, I actually ended up eating less calories.  I realized that snacking kept me from overeating when it came time to break for meals.  Plus, because I wasn’t starving I made better choices.

Snack Tips:

1. Over the weekend, pre-portion snacks into little baggies or plastic containers.
2. Pack snacks that you like and look forward to eating.
3. Leave snacks out on desk so you don’t forget to eat them.
4. Eat snacks at a specific time (e.g., 10:30am and 3:00pm) - before you get hungry so you aren’t tempted by a better looking/unhealthy snack.  Set an alarm or computer reminder (I put a snack reminder in my calendar).
5. Leave multiple snacks at work so you can choose what you are in the mood for.
6. Keep an “in case snack” in your bag, purse, car and/or desk drawer, so you will always be prepared when hunger strikes.
7. Don’t eat out of the bag or container - it is too easy to overeat!  Take a portion size out and place it on a napkin/plate, etc. and eat from there.
8. Mix and match allowances, a.k.a “Food Combining” - you will stay fuller for longer.

Ideas for Snacks:

Salty

•    Low-fat microwave popcorn
•    Pita chips
•    Whole-wheat crackers
•    Baked chips
•    Pretzels/pretzel nuggets
•    Beans
•    Low-fat cheeses (laughing cow, baby bell, string cheese)
•    Nuts (watch portion size)
•    Turkey Jerky
•    Dried soy nuts
•    Wasabi peas
•    Seeds (watch portion size)

Dips/spreads

•    Hummus
•    Salsa
•    Canned refried beans
•    Fat-free ranch/blue cheese
•    Jam/jelly
•    Spreadable cheese (Laughing Cow)
•    Guacamole
•    Sweet mustard
•    Bruschetta topping

Sweet

•    Fruit
•    Dried fruit (watch portion size)
•    Flavored low-fat/fat-free yogurt
•    Frozen yogurt bars
•    Frozen fruit bars
•    All fruit roll-ups
•    Cereal bars
•    Skim milk latte with 1/2 tbsp sugar, topped with cinnamon
•    ¼ oz dark chocolate
•    Fat-free hot chocolate
•    Cereal

Other

•    Veggies (carrots, celery, bell peppers, green beans, cucumber, jicama, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, radishes, broccoli, cauliflower) with dip
•    Canned soups
•    Deli Slices (turkey, chicken, ham, roast beef)
•    Tuna, canned in water
•    Whole wheat breads, pita breads, tortillas

Kate’s Favorite Snacks:

Morning

•    1 apple, 4 walnut halves
•    1 granola bar (Kashi), 2 tbsp raisons
•    ¼ c dry soy nuts, 1 all fruit roll-up
•    Cereal bar, ¾ c berries
•    1 hard-boiled egg, 1 orange
•    ¼ c trail mix
•    Celery with 2 tbsp low-fat peanut butter (Better than Peanut Butter), 20 mini rye toasts

Afternoon

•    6oz low-fat yogurt, ½ c high fiber cereal, 1 tbsp sunflower seeds
•    ½ c pinto beans heated with 1 slice low-fat cheese (Jarlesberg Lite), topped with ¼ c salsa (or fat-free sour cream)
•    Veggies dipped in 1/3 c hummus, 6 almonds
•    5 dried apricot halves, whole-wheat crackers (Ak-Maks) with low-fat spreadable cheese (Laughing Cow)
•    8 mini-rice cakes dipped in salsa, 15 pistachios
•    ½ c low-fat cottage cheese topped with sliced fruit, 1 tbsp pumpkin seeds
•    1 oz deli turkey slices wrapped around cucumbers sliced lengthwise and dipped in sweet/spicy mustard