Hello!
Good news! You can officially stop feeling guilty about your coffee habit:
Two new studies suggest that coffee can prevent, and maybe even somewhat reverse, Alzheimer's Disease. What's more, many studies show that caffeine can improve mood, alertness and energy, help prevent diabetes, Parkinson's disease, and liver cancer, decrease the risk of stroke and may help prevent skin cancer and eye damage from the sun. It also increases endurance in athletes.
But BEFORE you rush out to buy a latte & stock in Starbucks, here are some warnings about increasing your caffeine intake too quickly:
1. Watch out for insomnia, edginess, the jitters, diarrhea, etc.
2. It will act as a diuretic for the first few weeks, until your body adjusts to it, so watch out for dehydration and eat extra minerals like calcium to replace what you lose.
3. Keep in mind you'll become addicted--you will probably have headaches if/when you don't have your normal amount.
4. It will probably raise your blood pressure for the first few weeks also, so if you have blood pressure issues, check with your doctor first.
Have a good week,
Jill
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
Hyponatremia is life-threatening
Hello!
I know that many of you are working soooo very hard to exercise lots, eat right and drink your water or green tea. So listen up because this is serious:
DRINKING TOO MUCH WATER, especially when sweating and eating low sodium, CAN BE LIFE-THREATENING.
Hyponatremia is the name given to the sodium imbalance that can lead to coma and death. This is very rare, but there have been several cases recently among local folks just doing their best to lose weight. You are at a higher risk when:
--You exercise often and/or sweat a lot (which depletes sodium)
--The weather is hot (you perspire more than you may realize)
--You eat very few processed foods (big source of sodium)
--You don't add salt to your food
--You drink lots of fluids throughout the day.
There are no clear-cut symptoms of hyponatremia until it is often too late, so take a look at your sweating/drinking/salt habits and make sure they aren't too extreme. You should not be chugging water and you should not be avoiding salt altogether. The more you sweat and drink, the more salt you should consume.
Click here and here for more information on hyponatremia, along with recommendations of how much water and salt to consume.
All my best,
Jill
I know that many of you are working soooo very hard to exercise lots, eat right and drink your water or green tea. So listen up because this is serious:
DRINKING TOO MUCH WATER, especially when sweating and eating low sodium, CAN BE LIFE-THREATENING.
Hyponatremia is the name given to the sodium imbalance that can lead to coma and death. This is very rare, but there have been several cases recently among local folks just doing their best to lose weight. You are at a higher risk when:
--You exercise often and/or sweat a lot (which depletes sodium)
--The weather is hot (you perspire more than you may realize)
--You eat very few processed foods (big source of sodium)
--You don't add salt to your food
--You drink lots of fluids throughout the day.
There are no clear-cut symptoms of hyponatremia until it is often too late, so take a look at your sweating/drinking/salt habits and make sure they aren't too extreme. You should not be chugging water and you should not be avoiding salt altogether. The more you sweat and drink, the more salt you should consume.
Click here and here for more information on hyponatremia, along with recommendations of how much water and salt to consume.
All my best,
Jill
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Kumquat with me...
Hello & Happy Sunday,
Hopefully you will go grocery shopping today to stock up on convenient, healthy foods for the week. For something novel, try kumquats:
This year's crop of kumquats is amazing--sour on the inside with sweet skins (yes, you eat the skin.) Willie Wonka himself couldn't have created a funkier taste experience. PLUS they are nature's perfect convenience food--keep 'em in your pocket all day long and pop one in your mouth whenever you get hungry. 8 of them counts as 1 serving of fruit. Enjoy!
Have a good week,
Jill
Hopefully you will go grocery shopping today to stock up on convenient, healthy foods for the week. For something novel, try kumquats:
This year's crop of kumquats is amazing--sour on the inside with sweet skins (yes, you eat the skin.) Willie Wonka himself couldn't have created a funkier taste experience. PLUS they are nature's perfect convenience food--keep 'em in your pocket all day long and pop one in your mouth whenever you get hungry. 8 of them counts as 1 serving of fruit. Enjoy!
Have a good week,
Jill
Friday, June 19, 2009
Eat for 3 hours and lose weight?!
Hello!
Here's an interesting finding:
In France, the average person spends over 2.5 hours per day eating and drinking.
In America, the average person spends about 0.6 hours per day eating and drinking, yet is more overweight.
No fair! What gives?!
Turns out that they just eat slower and manage to eat FEWER calories, despite spending so much MORE time eating.
How's that for simple? We just need to SLOW DOWN! Chew more, set down your fork, eat left-handed, do whatever it takes to make the pleasant experience of eating last a little longer.
Bon Apetite!
Jill
Here's an interesting finding:
In France, the average person spends over 2.5 hours per day eating and drinking.
In America, the average person spends about 0.6 hours per day eating and drinking, yet is more overweight.
No fair! What gives?!
Turns out that they just eat slower and manage to eat FEWER calories, despite spending so much MORE time eating.
How's that for simple? We just need to SLOW DOWN! Chew more, set down your fork, eat left-handed, do whatever it takes to make the pleasant experience of eating last a little longer.
Bon Apetite!
Jill
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Biggest Healthy Loser Update
Hello Big Losers!
I hope you are having great success with your healthy weight loss so far. We're almost half way through the challenge, so keep up the good work!
It is common for weight loss to plateau after about 3 weeks, when most of the "easy" weight has come off. To keep you seeing great results, I'll be giving a free nutrition workshop where I share the latest research on sports nutrition strategies for getting better results. All are welcome, so please come:
Sports Nutrition Tricks:
How to burn more fat & build more muscle with less pain & suffering
1-2pm Sunday, June 28th
Main Room of the La Canada Community Center
4469 Chevy Chase Dr. (just south of Foothill)
please RSVP if you plan to attend
No charge
If you can't make it, remember you can always make an appointment for a sports nutrition consultation....however that costs $225 and the workshop is free!
Hope to see you there,
Jill Brook
Nutritionist & Owner
Diet for Health
I hope you are having great success with your healthy weight loss so far. We're almost half way through the challenge, so keep up the good work!
It is common for weight loss to plateau after about 3 weeks, when most of the "easy" weight has come off. To keep you seeing great results, I'll be giving a free nutrition workshop where I share the latest research on sports nutrition strategies for getting better results. All are welcome, so please come:
Sports Nutrition Tricks:
How to burn more fat & build more muscle with less pain & suffering
1-2pm Sunday, June 28th
Main Room of the La Canada Community Center
4469 Chevy Chase Dr. (just south of Foothill)
please RSVP if you plan to attend
No charge
If you can't make it, remember you can always make an appointment for a sports nutrition consultation....however that costs $225 and the workshop is free!
Hope to see you there,
Jill Brook
Nutritionist & Owner
Diet for Health
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Sports Nutrition Tricks
Hello!
Sports nutrition is so much fun--for several reasons. First, you notice the results right away (whereas weight loss is comparatively slow). Second, there are lots of *simple* tricks for getting much more out of your workout--in terms of burning fat, building muscle and boosting your metabolism. Third, there is always exciting, new research you can use in your own workout routine.
Come learn the tricks!
1-2pm Sunday, June 28th
Main Room of the La Canada Community Center
(4469 Chevy Chase Dr., La Canada--just south of Foothill)
No Charge. Please RSVP if you plan to attend.
All are welcome. Please join us!
All my best,
Jill
Sports nutrition is so much fun--for several reasons. First, you notice the results right away (whereas weight loss is comparatively slow). Second, there are lots of *simple* tricks for getting much more out of your workout--in terms of burning fat, building muscle and boosting your metabolism. Third, there is always exciting, new research you can use in your own workout routine.
Come learn the tricks!
1-2pm Sunday, June 28th
Main Room of the La Canada Community Center
(4469 Chevy Chase Dr., La Canada--just south of Foothill)
No Charge. Please RSVP if you plan to attend.
All are welcome. Please join us!
All my best,
Jill
Monday, May 25, 2009
A reason to Buy the Cow
Hello!
As you may know, I'm not a fan of post-workout shakes & drinks unless you work out very intensely and can't get enough calories from food...a rare and lucky problem! But new research shows that even if you would benefit from a protein drink, there's a surprising best choice: Milk.
Yes, plain old boring nonfat milk.
In a recent study, bodybuilders drank either nonfat milk or one of several protein shakes right after their heavy workouts. Every few weeks, body fat and muscle were measured.
Surprisingly, the nonfat milk beat out all of the fancy schmancy protein drinks--both soy-based drinks and whey-based. Milk was the best in terms of both fat loss AND muscle gain!
This is just one more finding that shows Mother Nature serves us better than our own man-made creations. So quit wasting money on fancy protein drinks, unless you are lactose-intolerant AND can't get enough post-workout calories from food. In that case, a soy protein-based drink may be right for you.
Have a good week!
Jill
As you may know, I'm not a fan of post-workout shakes & drinks unless you work out very intensely and can't get enough calories from food...a rare and lucky problem! But new research shows that even if you would benefit from a protein drink, there's a surprising best choice: Milk.
Yes, plain old boring nonfat milk.
In a recent study, bodybuilders drank either nonfat milk or one of several protein shakes right after their heavy workouts. Every few weeks, body fat and muscle were measured.
Surprisingly, the nonfat milk beat out all of the fancy schmancy protein drinks--both soy-based drinks and whey-based. Milk was the best in terms of both fat loss AND muscle gain!
This is just one more finding that shows Mother Nature serves us better than our own man-made creations. So quit wasting money on fancy protein drinks, unless you are lactose-intolerant AND can't get enough post-workout calories from food. In that case, a soy protein-based drink may be right for you.
Have a good week!
Jill
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
