GLUTEN-FREE: IT’S HARD TO SEPARATE FACT FROM FAD Earlier this year I attended the Gluten Free & Allergen Friendly (yes, that’s what it’s called) Expo at the Del Mar Fairgrounds near San Diego. The hall it was held in was packed with eager attendees who had come for all the free samples plus the lectures. Exhibitors were promoting gluten-free granola, chips, pizza, bread, pasta, cookies, crackers, soups and even gluten-free beer (no samples). The folks attending the expo were just a small fraction of the millions and millions of people who are part of an anti-gluten explosion that’s grown over...
CYCLING—ROAD BIKE TECHNIQUE TIPS Ever since I was a kid growing up in Denver I’ve done lots of cycling. From the age of 12 to 16, I delivered the Rocky Mountain News from my bike every morning from 5:00 to 6:00 to some 150 customers. And before I got my driver’s license I rode everywhere around town. Even after I started driving, I took long-distance cycling trips on my old coaster brake bike with my best friend into the Colorado Mountains including one up and over Loveland Pass. In the 90s and early 2000s I rode my trusty mountain bike...
PROTEIN—HOW MUCH DOES A BODY NEED? With all the protein-heavy diets plus protein bars, shakes and powders we’ve been offered lately, you’d think we didn’t get enough protein. However, recent studies show just the opposite. For example in the article Are you getting too much protein, Kristi Wempen, a Mayo Clinic registered dietitian nutritionist says, “Contrary to all the hype that everyone needs more protein, most Americans get twice as much as they need. Even athletes are often getting more protein than they need, without supplements, because their calorie requirements are higher. And with more food comes more protein.” Along...
EASY CORE STRENGTHENING EXERCISES Happy Thanksgiving! Are you running a turkey trot this morning (giving yourself a chance to lose a few calories before piling them on later today)? As promised, I’m sharing some easy, non-machine exercises to strengthen your core. Because it’s a holiday, I’m making this week’s blog short and sweet. The Functional Aging Institute, sponsor of a certification course I’m taking, especially suggests core exercises recommended by Dr. Stuart McGill. McGill is a professor of spine biomechanics in the department of kinesiology at Waterloo University in Ontario, Canada. (https://uwaterloo.ca/applied-health-sciences/hes-got-our-backs). With more than 30 years of clinical research...
FATS—THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE QUESTIONABLE Just banish fats from our diets and our weight loss challenge would be met. But it ain’t necessarily so. We actually need fat from food. It’s a major source of energy, provides essential fatty acids, and delivers fat-soluble vitamins and minerals. Fat is also necessary to build cell membranes and the sheaths surrounding nerves. There are several types of fat. Fats found in foods from plants and animals are known as dietary fat, a macronutrient. Your body can also make its own fat from taking in excess calories; If you eat more than...
ENGAGE YOUR CORE! You’ve heard it before. “Engage your core!” “Tighten your core!” while you’re performing such exercises as a plank or squat. But strengthening your core muscles has real-world benefits in addition to perfecting your workouts What is Your “Core?” The core is composed of the lumbar spine and a group of muscles that can co-contract to stiffen the torso. These core muscles include the rectus abdominus (your “abs”) the transversus abdominus, internal and external obliques, plus major muscles in the pelvic floor. The core is supremely important because it joins your lower and upper body helping them work...
SUGAR—THE SWEET & BITTER TRUTH As much as we’ve heard about the evils of sugar, our bodies actually require it. Every single cell in our body needs carbohydrates to provide energy. And all carbs are made up of sugar of one form or another. These are the three main types of carbohydrates: Sugar. Sugar is the simplest form of carbohydrate and occurs naturally in some foods, including fruits, vegetables, milk and milk products. Types of sugar include fruit sugar (fructose), table sugar (sucrose) and milk sugar (lactose). Starch. Starch is a complex carbohydrate, meaning it is made of many sugar...
YOGA—A TERRIFIC WAY TO KEEP YOUR BODY & MIND IN GOOD HEALTH I’ve been going to yoga classes for 20 years. I was hesitant in the beginning. I remember that I kept getting backaches after running. I mentioned this to my friend Steve Haimovitz and he said, “Try yoga.” But I resisted and instead saw a chiropractor, and then an acupuncturist. My backaches persisted. Again Steve said, “Just try yoga.” I finally did. After a couple of weeks my back pain from running disappeared and I was convinced. But yoga gave me a great deal more than that. In time,...
COFFEE—YOUR ULTIMATE HEALTH & FITNESS DRINK I’ve been drinking two or three cups of coffee a day for more than 50 years. And over that time have read many articles, both pro and con, on its health affects. But lately, study after study is showing that coffee drinkers actually have a much lower risk of several serious diseases. And that it can greatly improve physical performance. Thus, coffee has now become the supreme health and fitness beverage. Bob Arnot, MD, writes in the October 2017 issue of BottomLine Health (www.bottomlineinc.com), “In a 16-year study of more than 500,000 people, published...
MINDFULNESS CAN TRANSFORM YOUR FITNESS TRAINING Mindfulness has lately become a hot topic. Actually, though, it’s rooted in ancient traditions—it was originally conceived as a way to ease suffering and cultivate compassion. There are various descriptions of mindfulness, but in short, it’s living in the moment. It’s a conscious effort to be completely present—to take your attention away from the past or future and simply focus on what’s happening with you right now without interpretation or judgment. I’ll talk about mindfulness in general and then how we can use it in our fitness training. The Mayo Clinic cites studies that...
