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Coffee – Good Or Bad For Your Health

admin — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 06:32:16 +0000

Is your morning coffee an ok option on your healthy eating plan? If coffee really bad for you or is it actually good?

I get these questions about coffee and health all the time and as a coffee drinker myself; it is smart to take a look at both the good and the bad.

Now, I’m not here to tell you that coffee is good for you. If I did, I would be telling only the good side of the story and I’m not a politician. I am here to give you the good and the bad and tell you how you can incorporate your favorite coffee or tea into your healthy meal plan.

The Ugly Side of Caffeine

Most coffee and tea contains a lot of caffeine. This is usually the primary reason people make coffee their drink of choice in the morning. Caffeine is a drug like any other and comes with a long list of side effects. Have you ever tried not having your coffee in the morning? Yeah, pass the Excedrin, right? The headache that comes on when you try and kick this habit can be brutal (just like with other drugs) and creating a dependency and addiction like this is harmful to the body.

Second, coffee is extremely acidic. Our bodies function at optimum levels when they are slightly more alkaline (the opposite of acidic). It is best for us to greatly reduce any foods that will drive our body’s pH to be more acidic and eat more foods that are alkaline (like fruits and veggies). An acidic body pH is like a magnet for all kinds of illnesses. Also, an alkaline body has a much stronger immune system, making illness much less likely.

Last but not least, the caffeine in coffee and tea is abuse to your adrenal glands. Your adrenals release your “fight or flight” hormones basically giving you a nice “boost” when needed. Unfortunately, people who drink coffee all day long are consistently beating on their adrenals. This is equivalent of whipping a tired horse even when he is exhausted. Eventually he will not move at all.

The Pretty Side of Caffeine

Coffee tastes oh so yummy and makes me feel great in the morning. (What? Is that not a good enough reason to drink it?)

Many studies have shown that coffee can help in the prevention and treatment of diseases and illnesses as varied as Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, liver disease, skin cancer, Parkinson’s disease and more. Although, I don’t believe coffee will be the cure to any of these diseases, many ancient cultures did rely on the coffee bean to cure a long list of ailments. Not to mention, small doses of caffeine can increase performance and mental focus.

Green tea is also a great drink to include with a long list of benefits. If nothing else, green tea is a wonderful source of antioxidants which are important in cancer prevention. Green tea has even been found to raise metabolism and aid in fat burning. Before you go take a green tea bath, its effects are really minor when compared to the effects of sound nutrition and exercise plans. Now that I’ve said that, don’t think you can eat junk food and just wash it down with green tea!

What is a coffee and tea drinker to do?

1. Limit your coffee and tea intake to 2 – 8 cups per day. No, not 2 of each, 2 total. Any more than that is considered as a heavy addict. (I know. I’ve been there).

2. If you are currently dependent on a lot of caffeine each day, replace 1 or 2 cups of coffee with green tea instead. Green tea has much less caffeine than coffee and will help to combat the ugly detox symptoms.

3. Do not jack up your coffee with sugar, milk, syrup and whip cream (So I guess that means no Starbucks, huh?). Use stevia or xylitol to sweeten and avoid all the empty, harmful calories. A teaspoon of half won’t hurt either. Please oh please, do not use any of those flavored creamers. They are closer to someone’s chemistry experiment than they are to real food.

4. Make sure to make your food choices healthy. Avoiding other acidic foods like sugar, artificial sweeteners and processed foods will lighten the acid load on the body.

5. Make sure the coffee you drink is organic. Conventional coffee is filled with pesticides and chemicals and should be avoided at all costs.

There is no need to give up your morning coffee but it is important to drink the right types of coffee, without the added unhealthy extras and as with most things, in moderation.

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Are Calories Good or Bad?

admin — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 11:04:55 +0000

Q. Is calorie a bad word?

A. No, it’s not bad-just misunderstood! Most people who use the word calorie simply don’t know what it means. Also, in my experience, most people to go pale at the mere mention of the word. Based on those facts alone, I would eliminate calorie from the English vocabulary if I could.

Q. Why is calorie such a misunderstood word?

A. The American public has been told, time and time again, that people who consume more calories than their bodies burn will gain weight. As I explain in The Diet Solution: Start Eating and Start Living, this statement is only partially true. All calories are not created equal; calories consumed from healthy foods and unhealthy foods are quite different.

Q. What exactly is a calorie, then?

A. According to Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (11th edition), a calorie is “a unit equivalent to the large calorie expressing heat-producing or energy-producing value in food when oxidized in the body.” In plain English, a calorie is a unit of energy released from the food you eat to power the body.

Q. How are calories “burned”?

A. The body needs energy from food-calories-to perform many functions, the most obvious of which are physical activity and exercise. However, the body also requires energy to function at the most basic level: to breathe, digest food, and maintain organs and systems.

Q. How many calories should I eat each day?

A. The short answer is “enough.” The calories you consume must provide enough energy for your body to perform all necessary functions and activities-and bring about optimum health. The long answer is that the number of calories needed varies from person to person and depends on weight, foods consumed, sleep, stress and activity levels, age, and a long list of other factors that affect metabolism. In The Diet Solution: Start Eating and Start Living, I provide a calorie equation to help you estimate, according to these factors, how many calories you should consume to lose weight or maintain weight. It also includes charts to help you choose the right sources of those calories to support your efforts.

Q. Is it possible to eat too few calories?

A. Believe it or not, yes! The most serious problem with low-calorie diets is that although they may bring about weight loss, they also can cause serious health problems. One common side effect of low-calorie diets is muscle breakdown, which can occur when the body doesn’t consume enough calories from protein. Especially vulnerable is the heart, a muscular organ. If a person does not consume an adequate amount of calories each day, the heart muscle begins to break down, possibly leading to serious cardiac conditions (e.g., cardiac atrophy).

Q. What are the consequences of following low-calorie diets off and on over time?

A. Low-calorie diets typically do not supply enough energy to keep organs and systems healthy. In effect, they can lead to malnourishment. For clients who have repeatedly followed such diets, I recommend high-calorie meal plans that will provide their organs with adequate fuel to repair themselves and regain healthy function. Most of my clients are surprised, at first, to see how much food they can consume on a healthy weight-loss diet-not to mention the high level of health that they can achieve.

Q. Hey, wait-didn’t you say that you don’t like the word calorie? Then why does the Diet Solution Program suggest calculating calorie requirements?

A. In the Diet Solution Program, calorie calculation is simply a means to an end. You use the ideal number of calories that results from the equation to determine the correct number of servings of each food type for each meal. That’s it-from that point on, you can forget about counting calories!

Q. If I don’t count calories, then how will I control my eating habits?

A. Use the Allowable Servings Guide in The Diet Solution: Start Eating and Start Living to plan meals. However, over time, you will learn how to meet your body’s nutritional needs without referring to the servings guide. Humans are born with the ability to “know” when the body has received enough nourishment and when it needs more. My professional experience indicates that, unfortunately, most yo-yo dieters and other people who have battled weight problems don’t know how to “listen” to the body’s cues in response to the foods and portions they consume. The good news is that this ability can be (re)learned.

Q. What do you mean by “listen” to my body?

A. The Diet Solution Program is a lifestyle shift that teaches you how to determine the best foods and portions for your metabolic type. Even after just days on the plan, you will learn to pay attention to how you feel after eating. For many people, this experience of “listening” to the body will be new. However, by letting your body be your guide, you will learn how to eat your way to optimum health.

Q. Can I really expect to maintain a healthy weight without counting calories or referring to servings guides or other charts?

A. Yes! It’s how I live my life now, and you, too, can learn to recognize when your body is adequately nourished. After many years of dieting, I reawakened my body’s innate ability to tell me when I’ve had enough food and when I need more by following the same plan I present in the Diet Solution Program. Every day is different; some days I require more food and others less, depending on my levels of exercise, stress, and even hormones. But I don’t need to count calories to know whether I’ve had enough; my body tells me, and I know how to listen. Whatever you do, don’t be lured into the trap of forever counting calories, because that approach is not sustainable-or healthy-in the long term.

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Simple Answers For Popular Dieting Misconceptions

admin — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 10:54:36 +0000

There are literally hundreds of dieting plans out there that give misinformed advice on how to eat healthy. But many people will propagate false information regarding diet which can actually harm your health rather than tuning it up.

Here are a couple of these misconceptions and simple truths to counter them:

Myth 1: Fewer calories means instant weight loss

· Wrong! Calories are energy units to the body. With fewer calories than normal, you might not have enough energy to make it through the day. The important part is not actually the value of calorie intake in numbers, but where these calories are coming from. For instance, brown rice is a good source of calories. The right source of calories is actually weight loss foods, providing you with energy without the stubborn unnecessary fats.

Myth 2: Eating low fat will help to lose more fat

· Wrong again. Most of the time people are tricked into this little lie because it appeals to common sense. It’s simple, right? Eat low fat and your body won’t have enough fat to stack in those love handles. This is perhaps the most popular misconception.

The truth is that there are healthy kinds of fat. For instance, the natural fats and oils of salmons, tunas, coconuts, avocadoes, citrus fruits, and many others, are all fats that the body actually needs. You need to consume fat in order to burn body fat.

Myth 3: Low carb intake will help to lose weight faster

· Similar to the low calorie myth, a low carbohydrates diet can actually harm your body. The body needs a moderate amount of carbs to function which you get from fruits and vegetables.

Myth 4: Supplements and fat burners to be fit

· Perhaps the biggest ripoff the multi-million dollar diet industry’s shoved down people’s throats, you don’t need these in order to lose weight.

Think about how people in the past, who didn’t have access to these supplements and burners, how did stayed fit? The answer is simple; they consumed right food and exercised well. While supplements and burners may help, none of them will work without the right attitude and informed effort put into dieting.

Myth 5: diet foods are weight loss foods

· Some diet foods may contain less unnecessary fats, but that doesn’t make them a necessary component of any weight loss dieting program. Whatever you eat, whether it’s labeled lite, diet, or not, if you eat too much of it, you will gain weight. Some ingredients of these so-called diet foods may actually promote weight gain. Check the label carefully and make informed decisions.

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