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...
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...
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...
Live Your Healthiest, Most Delicious Life P.K. Newby, PhD I attended the 35th Annual Idea World Convention in Las Vegas for five days in July. Among the lectures and workshops I sat in were two given by Dr. P.K. Newby: Nutrition Myth Busters, Science Fact or Fiction and Guiding Others to Create Their Healthiest Most Delicious Life. I’m saving much of the “Myth Busters …” lecture to a future post. In this article, I’ll mainly write about her “Guiding Others …” lecture and adding in some very interesting material from Dr. Newby’s website, www.pknewby.com P.K. Newby received her PhD in...
Why We Eat More Than We Think I attended the 35th Annual Idea World Convention in Las Vegas for five days in July. The Convention brought fitness professionals—including personal trainers, coaches and health club managers—from across the country and even from abroad. I attended 18 lectures and workshops on fitness and nutrition. In this and coming articles I’ll share what I learned. Jim Painter, PhD, RD I’ll start with what I gathered in an entertaining 90-minute lecture on food psychology presented by Dr. Jim Painter, Adjunct Professor at the University of Texas School of Public Health. His current areas of...
