One can write a book on muscle building and diet.  Even though science is fairly straightforward, researchers have determined that a person trying to build muscle needs between 1.5 to 2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight each day. Many nutritionists like to use the lower number of 1.5 grams per kilogram of body. Trainers in health centres tend to round the number up to 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight daily for building muscles.

A lot of extra protein ie more than 2 grams per pound of body weight may not help for muscle building. Protein has two qualities that help in weight loss and may curtail weight gain. First protein is metabolically expensive for our body to process, our body burns 20% of each protein calorie just digesting it (for carbs is 8% and  fats 2%).This is called thermic effect of feeding, second protein keeps you feeling fuller for longer, this is great tool for fat loss but not advisable  when you trying to gain muscle. On the other hand for fat loss via strength training we need to take in more than the recommended upper limit of protein while cutting back on fats or carbs. Without extra protein your body could lose muscle mass with fat, and lost muscle means a slower metabolism which can stall weight loss and fat can be regained at a faster pace.

The highest quality protein is found in meat, fish, eggs, milk and other dairy products. And the use of whey protein and meal replacement powders seem to be grudging support among nutritionists because of the convenience, the high quality of protein and safety of these supplements.

The timing of protein intake has gotten more attention recently. Research at university of Texas shows that ingesting a protein-carb supplement before strength training leads to more protein synthesis than a post workout supplement does. The most likely reason of this is that the blood flow increases during exercise, so if we have more protein in blood during exercise, more protein goes to the muscles thereby helping in muscles building.

Weight loss has always been an issue for many people who are struggling to loose weight.

Obese people are at a higher risk for many health problems like diabetes, heart attack etc. Fat deposits in our bodies when the calories or energy we consume from our daily food becomes greater than the energy used by the body in performing daily activities. Weight Loss is not an easy journey; there are times when you want to give up. Patience and strict discipline is one of the key factors that help in weight loss apart from doing exercise and proper.

Weight loss is a long-term commitment with your mind and body.

To keep you motivated and to help you achieve your weight loss goals, here are the top ten weight loss tips for you:

1. Go for low fat dairy products. Dairy products are good source of protein & calcium. Calcium helps in preventing the absorption of fats in our body. This may help in weight loss. If you want more details about fats, you can read my articles on Types of fats

2. Often we check fat in the nutrition label, and ignore the sugar content, which are disguised as carbohydrates in some labels. It’s best to go for lowest amount of sugar in your diet. It’s just empty calories without any nutrition, a big hurdle in your weight loss journey.

3. Cut down or eliminate alcohol and fizzy drinks and switch to Green tea, which is loaded with anti oxidants. Make sure you drink plenty of fresh water. We all know that muscle is Protein + Water.

4. Avoid processed foods, and fast food such as pizza and burgers are full of empty calories and virtually has no nutritional value. Try to eat good carbohydrates such as oats, brown rice, and sweet potatoes and low starch vegetables with protein for dinner.

5. Exercise keeps your metabolism up and you end up spending more calories. Your RMR (Resting Metabolic Rate) increases with exercise, which means you burn more calories even when you are resting. If possible, try to do weight training with help of a professional personal trainer or fitness expert. Weight training will help you to gain lean muscle mass, which means your body will burn more calories thereby helping loosing weight.

6. Portion Control is very important for weight loss as well as weight gain. Try to eat at least 5-6 meals in a day. By eating small portions throughout the day, your digestive system is not overstressed and it helps in keeping your metabolism up and in loosing weight  as well.

7. Never skip your breakfast. Your body has been without food for 8-10 hours, so fuel it in the morning to have an energetic start of the day. Try to include eggs, oats, milk etc in your breakfast. Skipping breakfast or any other meal would not help you loose weight.

8. Fibre makes you feel full and also takes care of your bowel system. Try to include fibre in your diet. When you feel full, you will have less craving for sugar and other junk food.

9. As fibre, lean Protein helps you keep full for longer periods, and prevents sugar cravings and energy falls. It maintains and builds muscle mass, and as already mentioned above good muscle mass is crucial in the fat burning and weight loss process.Try to consume protein rich food  with every meal.

10 Mind is the most powerful thing in this universe. If you believe you can achieve your weight loss goal, you can. If you think you cannot do it, you can’t. With all the hard work, dedication and diet, try to visualise your dream body in your mind everyday and feel it. Mind Power helps in everything including weight loss.

I’ve been getting feedback from people who have so got into the “dieting without dieting” and the “exercise without exercise” that I’ve been promoting.

Some of these people are getting such good results that they are feeling motivated to get properly into the whole gym and fitness thing, and they have asked me how to find a good Personal Trainer.  I can definitely give you some good pointers on this !

There are a lot of guys who have “done a course” and got a Certificate and then set up as a Personal Trainer.   But, in itself, a Personal Training  “certificate” is not an indication of anything.   I look at it this way…in School, I studied Maths for 5 years, and I got my Certificate OK.   But I only got 70%, which means that I was wrong on 30% of it, and by now I’ve forgotten another 50% of all that, so I certainly couldn’t set myself up as a Maths trainer !   On the other hand, I have a mate who can’t add 2 + 2, and yet he can tell you who won the AFL Grand Final every year for the past 50 years – which is going back long before he was even born.   He can tell you the teams who played each year, he can name all the players in the teams, he can even tell you the score of each game, and the names of the players who scored the goals !

This is because the AFL is his passion.   And this is what you need in a Personal Trainer – not a Certificate, but a passion.   Your Personal Trainer should have a passion for fitness, a passion for keeping his fitness knowledge up to date with all the latest research and discoveries, and a passion for passing on his knowledge and helping other people achieve their fitness goals !

And your Personal Trainer should know about diet.   Diet is the foundation of training, and without a proper diet your workout, exercise and training won’t get you anywhere.   For example, did you know that you can eat as much calcium as you want, but it won’t give you strong bones unless you also get the right proportions of Vitamin D and Magnesium, because without them your body won’t absorb the Calcium.   Your Personal Trainer should know all about diet as well as exercise.   Carbohydrates, proteins, amino acids, fats (yes – that word again !), and all the other things your body needs to fuel itself and to build itself.

Also, your Personal Trainer should look the way you want to look.   If you want to look toned and fit, you should find a Personal Trainer who looks toned, healthy and fit – because if he can’t get himself toned and fit then for sure he can’t get you looking toned, healthy and fit.  And if you’re a guy who wants to build bulk and muscle, then you should find a Personal Trainer who has bulked himself up nicely.   If he can do it for himself, then he can do it for you !

And your Personal Trainer should look smart – he should be fit, and healthy and he should be tidy.  Anyone who takes care of their health and fitness is also going to take care to get a smart hair cut and wear smart clothes.   Think of it this way, would your hire a Personal Trainer who was fat, with long greasy hair, and who was wearing the same dirty T-shirt and torn jeans every time you met him ?   You want to get fit and healthy so you can look good, right ?   So don’t rely on a guy who looks like a slob to make you look good !

Finally, find a Personal Trainer who motivates you, motivates and inspires you through his own positive and enthusiastic attitude to fitness and to life.   Depending on your Personal Trainer’s attitude, your journey to fitness can either be hard work and drudgery, or it can be full of enthusiasm, it can be rewarding, and most of all, it can be fun !

Find yourself a good Personal Trainer, and you won’t look back !

Come back soon – I’ve got lots more good stuff for you.   In the meantime, email me here if you have any questions, or any ideas for anything you’d like to see featured in a future blog.

Most of us do.   But in fact, do we need to join gym to be fit?  No – not necessary, if you don’t like!

Many of us have jobs where we sit most of the time, and in general there are less opportunities to get fit with our modern lifestyle of cars, labour-saving appliances, and machines which save us from having to do any kind of heavy manual work.  This means that we are not physically active, and therefore we feel physically tired, and maybe we become susceptible to coughs and colds and general poor health. However we need to be active for fitness.

General health and fitness has become more and more of a hot topic with lot’s of fitness strategies in the market, and now many people are interested in making an effort to eat a more healthy diet. With this increased awareness of the value – and fragility – of our health and fitness, many of us are also wishing we could incorporate some physical activity and exercise into our daily routine in order to complement our improved eating habits.

Of course, overall fitness improves quality of life.  Being fit help us to keep healthy and looking great. Fitness helps to increase body flexibility, which in turn helps to reduce aches and pains.   Fitness routines and exercise helps build stronger bones. It helps to keep us from the perils of obesity, stress, insomnia, diabetes, depression, heart disease – the benefits of fitness and exercise are endless!   Fitness is the magic bullet.

So how do you motivate yourself to do what you need to do to achieve all the benefits of fitness?

Here are some fitness tips to help you stay motivated.

Walk and move whenever you get an opportunity, take the stairs instead of the elevator, especially if you’re only going up or down one or two floors. Get off the tram or bus one or two stops before your destination, and then walk the rest of the way.

If you have the time and the facilities, and the dedication, you may get to enjoy swimming, or cycling, or running – whatever you like, so long as you enjoy it and don’t push yourself too hard. Combining your hobby with the fitness goals will help you achieve results faster.

The latest research has shown that the benefits of exercise can be gained even from low-intensity activity, like gardening, golf, and others – it doesn’t have to be hard and sweaty work out to help you keep fit!
And then there’s another way to achieve your fitness goals which opposite of exercise – relaxation.  I’m talking about more subtle “exercise” like yoga, meditation, or tai chi.   It’s a good idea to take sometime off from your schedule and relax like this, as these are all good ways to relieve stress.   And this is important, because stress is one of the common factors in many diseases, from headaches to heart attacks.

Exercise and Fitness routines combined with meditation is the best medicine to help you sleep better, relieve stress and renew your energy for the coming day.

As we’ve been discussing in earlier blogs, healthy food plays a very important role in fitness. And always remember one rule of Fitness – Diet comes before exercise, whether you want to gain muscle mass or reduce excess body fat, healthy diet combined with a good work out will help you achieve your fitness goals soon.

As an example, labourers who work hard for eight hours a day, they are getting a real good physical workout, but you see them with fat guts and double chins because when they get home they eat twice as many calories as they’ve worked off during the day – and then they go to bed so all the food turns to fat.

I hope these ideas will help you stay motivated and achieve your fitness goals.

For those of you who are new to this, I’ve been giving advice about fitness routines and fitness tips and how to make great improvements in your diet without making any major changes to the food you eat, and how to have a good exercise workout without taking any time out to exercise in a gym.

We’ve talked a lot about healthy diet, but last week we focused on exercise, and I’d like to continue with Fitness Routines and exercise tips this week.   The great news is that you can get an essential minimum amount of exercise in daily life without going to the gym, and without even setting aside time to exercise at home.   Refer back to last week’s article about exercise at home to get a couple of great workouts  for your legs and abs.

You probably drive to work, and even if you don’t, then you probably spend some time in the car going to the shops or wherever.   And isn’t it frustrating and boring when you get stuck at the lights, or caught in the peak-hour traffic!   Well, here’s a way to make it not so boring, using my system of fitness routines in your daily life while you are driving.

Next time you have to stop at the lights, put your hands on the wheel in the “quarter to three” position.   Now, pull outwards as though you were trying to stretch the wheel out to the sides.   You don’t have to strain, just use about 70% of your strength.  You’ll feel a very pleasant stretch in the muscles of your shoulders and your back.    Pull like that for a slow count of 5, and then relax. This kind of stretching fitness routines helps you do your stretching exercises while doing other chores.

If the lights have changed, then that’s passed the time for you, but if you’re still at a standstill, hold the wheel again, in the same position, and this time push inwards, as though you were trying to compress the wheel flat.  This time, you’ll feel a very nice stretch in your pecs. You may also notice a good stretch in your lats – these are the big muscles that run down outside of your back from your shoulders down towards your waist. Remember by following these fitness routines, you will be able to motivate yourself to go at a next level of your fitness journey. Just hold this squeeze for a slow count of five, and that’s all you need to do.   Probably the lights have changed now so you can go with this great workout and your daily fitness routines while driving.

You had to stop at the lights anyway, and instead of getting frustrated and filling your bloodstream with all those anger-chemicals, you’ve actually had a little workout or a nice and easy exercise that comes under the fitness routines it helps tone up your upper body, and worked off some of that traffic frustration !

Here’s another one of the easiest  fitness routines for you.   Next time you have to stop, put the handbrake on and try this.   Put your hands on the wheel and push yourself back into your seat to hold you steady, and just lift your feet off the floor.   Just a couple of centimetres is all that’s needed, as soon as your feet aren’t supported on the floor any more you’ll get a really good stretch on your abs, your stomach muscles.   Just hold your feet like that for a slow count of 5, and then put them back down.   If the traffic is still stopped do it once more, then put your feet back on the pedals and get ready for the traffic to move again.   This is a great one, it’s one of the excellent fitness routines and stretching workout for your abs, and it only takes a few seconds.

The beauty of all this is that you don’t have to put aside half an hour of your precious home-time to exercise, because you‘ve done one of your fitness routines while you were driving home!   These 3 exercises or you can say your fitness routines will help to tone your body.

Exercise without exercise, that’s the secret.  Now, like I said last time, these fitness routines will give you more energy, and might motivate you to actually take it to the next level of your fitness journey and start going to a gym, and if that happens then I can give you some seriously good fitness routines to follow in the gym.

Contact me today for any questions about how to get fit doing your daily fitness routines.

Now, as everyone keeps saying, there are two important elements to keeping healthy diet, which we’ve covered, and exercise.   To keep slim and fit, you also need to exercise.

Well, I’ve shown you “dieting without dieting”.   Now let me show you Exercising without Exercising !

We will look at some tips to exercise at home. OK, imagine this.   You’re standing in your kitchen.   You’re waiting for the coffee pot to boil, or for the microwave to ding.   Or for the toaster to pop.   These things only take 60 seconds, but it seems like you’re standing there for ages, doesn’t it, and it’s boring too.   Right, so just put one hand on the kitchen counter to balance yourself, and squat down.   Yes, just squat down.   Now, if you’ve been sitting and standing all day, you will immediately feel this wonderful stretching feeling in your thighs and calves, ahhhhh, that’s nice.   And, if you think about it, you can also feel a gentle releasing and loosening in your ankles and knees.   Feels good, doesn’t it.   OK, that’s it, now stand up again.   And as you stand up, feel that nice exercise in the muscles of your hips too.

So what have we just done ?   Well, the reason so many old people end up not being able to walk without the support of a walking frame is because they lose the strength and flexibility in their ankles and knees.   But if you do this squat each day, you will keep your ankles and knees toned and supple for life.   And not only that, but also you will keep your calves, thighs, and hips toned and strong.   And that will make your legs look firm and sexy, which is good whether you’re a guy or a gal.

Of course, this is not a substitute for half an hour in the gym on the Stairmaster, but if you just want to be able to walk around comfortably for the rest of your life, this is all you need to do.

And talking of walking, next time you’re walking, pay attention to your feet.    Don’t just clump along on your heels, instead put your heel down and then feel your whole foot roll on the ground, and finish the step by flexing your toes, so that you exercise your whole foot from your heels to your toes.   This is another great flexibility exercise for your ankles, and it’ll also keep your calves toned and firm.   On top of that, walking will seem much easier, you’ll feel lighter, and you’ll look good with these simple tips of exercise.

Do you take the tram to work ?  Or the train maybe, or the bus.   Have you noticed how even a five-minute wait seems to last forever ?   So next time you’re standing there getting frustrated, try this.  Tense the muscles of your stomach.   That’s right.   See if you can isolate, and tense up, your stomach muscles, all the way from the lower muscles below your belly-button all the way up to the muscles below your ribs.   No-one else will know what you’re doing, so see if you can hold that whole area of muscle flat and hard for five seconds.   That’s right – that’s all it needs, five seconds.    When you can do it, then do it again, and again, it gets easier with practise.   Do this waiting for the tram to work, and the tram home, and after a week you’ll begin to notice that your stomach is getting flatter and firmer, because not only are you strengthening the muscles that hold your stomach in, but you’re also massaging away some of the fat that is beginning to accumulate there.   You have to stand and wait anyway, so if you can spend 5 seconds or 10 seconds of that waiting time exercising your stomach, then you might even find yourself building up a little 6-pack there after a while !

See what I mean – exercising without exercising !

That’s a start for this week, to introduce you to this great concept.

Forget the gym, forget setting aside 30 minutes at home each day, just exercise at home without really exercising and you’ll feel good and look good.   And you never know – it might get so easy, and you might feel so toned, and you might starting to look so good, that you might find that you have the energy and the motivation to start going to the gym to get really fit !

So come back soon, and I’ll give you some more of these non-exercises to do.   Without taking any time out to exercise, you can give your whole body a complete workout every day !

See you soon !

Ash.

In the last post, we saw that there are thirteen Vitamins, and sixteen (or more) minerals currently recognized by science.   We learned that, of these 13 Vitamins, there are two basic groups – Fat Soluble and Water Soluble.

This time I’d like to give a bit of detail as to what each Vitamin can do for you, and how much you should aim to get, in order to be sure that you have a healthy diet.

Let’s start with the Fat Soluble Vitamins:

Vitamin A

Vitamin D

Vitamin E

Vitamin K

Vitamin A: (Also called Retinol)

Functions:

• Vitamin A is called the “anti-infective” vitamin because the human immune system cannot function without it. Vitamin A plays a central role in the development of lymphocytes – the white blood cells that play critical roles in the immune response.
• Vitamin A keeps skin flexible.
• It increases mucous secretion.
• It helps Night vision – carrots really are good for your eyes, just like your Mother used to tell you !
• Vitamin A is necessary for the growth and repair of body tissue
• Beta carotene (Pro Vitamin A) is a powerful antioxidant.

Sources: Colored fruits and vegetables are generally high in vitamin A. Spinach, Carrots, Broccoli, eggs, and other dairy products are some of the excellent sources of vitamin A

RDA: 2333 IU for adult women and 3000 IU for adult men.

Degradation: Vitamin A is reduced by heat, light, and oxygen.

Vitamin D (Also called the “Sunshine Vitamin” )

Functions:

• Vitamin D is essential for keeping your bones and your immune system healthy
• Vitamin D regulates the Calcium absorption and thus helps in building strong and healthy bones (and warding off osteoporosis) and keeping your teeth strong and healthy.
• Vitamin D can help prevent certain forms of cancer

Sources: Sunshine is the  healthiest source of Vitamin D, Milk Products, Salmon etc.

RDA: The RDA, for men and women, 25 to 50 years old, is 5 mcg per day.

Vitamin E (Also called Tocopherol)

Main Functions:

• Vitamin E is special because it’s especially good at protecting your cell membranes against free radicals – it’s what is known as an anti-oxidant.
• Vitamin E also teams up with Vitamin A, beta carotene, and Vitamin C, the other major antioxidant vitamins, to give you extra protection
• Vitamin E, when added to creams and lotions, can help in reducing the natural effects of aging on your skin.
• Vitamin E helps in the treatment of some skin diseases such as psoriasis and excema.

Sources: almonds, sunflower seeds, and cold pressed oils, wheat germ, and whole grain products.

RDA: adolescents and adults, 22.5 IU (15 mg); children, 6–16 IU (4–11 mg).

Degradation: can be oxidized during food preparation or storage.

Vitamin K (Also called the “Green Leafy Vitamin”)

Functions:

Vitamin K helps the clotting of blood and the healing of wounds. This vitamin can be obtained from green vegetables, milk products, cod-liver oil, apricots and whole grains.

Vitamin K is also produced by the natural healthy bacteria that are found in your large intestine.   These “friendly” bacteria are killed off if you’re taking a course of antibiotics for some infection, and this will reduce your levels of naturally -produced Vitamin K.   It will also reduce the levels of the other Vitamins which you absorb from your food, because the temporary lack of these “friendly” bacteria will weaken your digestion which in turn will reduce your system’s ability to process and absorb the nutrients in your food.

The Basics

We all have heard of vitamins and minerals and their importance in our daily diet for good health.

The sheer variety of vitamins and minerals that is available in health shops and supermarkets may seem confusing and even a little scary – what to buy, and for what benefit ??

Vitamins are a fundamentally important part of the human diet, and in order to take the best care of your health and well being,  it’s useful to understand what each vitamin does – and why you need them. Once you understand the  basics and functions of each of the vitamins and minerals, then you’ll be able to shop wisely and choose food, and vitamin supplements, that will help improve your health and well being.

It’s not necessarily the pills containing the highest quantities of vitamins that are the best, and the more expensive ones aren’t necessarily better than the cheaper brands.

Given that most food today is highly processed, it is recommended that you check to see that you are getting your daily requirement of vitamins and minerals from your daily diet.   If  you’re not, then it’s worth making up the lack by taking supplements.

Some vitamins are actually produced by the body rather than being absorbed from food, but even then certain conditions are required to make this happen.   Vitamin D, for example, is produced from exposure to sunlight, and so our vitamin D levels fall in the Winter, and can be low if you work indoors.

What are Vitamins and Minerals?

Vitamins and Minerals are micro-nutrients which are required for the normal functioning of the body. Though they have no energy or calories, the body needs vitamins and minerals because of their various functions, and the chemical reactions they enable in the body and brain.

For example -

• Some Vitamins, including the B-group vitamins, convert food into energy, and help strengthen your nervous system – good if you’re overworked or stressed-out !.
• Vitamins are required to make enzymes and hormones.   Hormones are important substances used by the body and the brain to perform a number of essential functions
• Vitamins promote normal growth by aiding metabolism and helping to build protection against germs and viruses.
• Vitamins are very important for normal growth and development in children
• Vitamins and Minerals help in healthy bones and teeth
• These micro-nutrients are good for healthy skin, hair and nails and keeps you mentally strong

Vitamins D and K are INTERESTING IN THAT THEY ARE ACTUALLY produced naturally by the body. Vitamin D can be formed in the skin, given adequate exposure to sunlight, while vitamin K is normally produced by our natural healthy intestinal bacteria. However, it’s necessary to supplement the naturally-produced amounts of these two Vitamins because, partly due to the conditions of modern life, they are generally not produced in adequate amounts for your on-going needs.

So How Many Different Vitamins and Minerals Are There ?

There are thirteen Vitamins, and sixteen (or more) minerals currently recognized by science.  Of these 13 Vitamins, there are two basic groups – Fat Soluble and Water Soluble.

Fat-Soluble Vitamins

Fat-soluble vitamins are stored in the fatty tissues in the body and in the liver. Vitamins A, E, D and K are fat-soluble – that is, they dissolve in fat, but not water.  Since these vitamins are stored in the body, it’s important not to take too high a quantity of them in a healthy diet.   Because the body stores them, their levels will build up in your body if you get too much of them, and in excess quantities they can be toxic and even cause health problems.

Water-Soluble Vitamins

The other group of Vitamins are the water-soluble vitamins. These Vitamins pass into the water in your body and pass out again when you pass water.   Vitamin C, and the B-group Vitamins are water soluble vitamins.   The good news is that, if you take too much of them, the excess is passed out of the body when you visit the toilet.   But the downside is that you need to keep taking them every day for the very same reason.   Also, when you cook your food, especially when boiling food such as vegetables, these vitamins are lost as they leach out into the cooking water.

In my nest post I’ll go into the details of the function that each Vitamin and Mineral plays in the body.   As I said above, once you know the function of each vitamin and mineral – and how much of each one you need – then it’s easy to pick the right combination that will maintain and improve your health.

Vitamins are Famous !

Of all the nutrients a healthy body needs, almost everybody has heard of Vitamins, and while most people have heard that “Vitamin C can help prevent you catching a cold”, most of us don’t know much about these essential micro-nutrients.   Hopefully now you’ve gained a bit of knowledge that will help you know what you’re looking for when you want to make some small changes to your diet that will improve your health.

Next Time

Come back soon, I’ll be going into more detail on what each Vitamin can do for you, and how much you should aim to get, in order to be sure that you have a healthy diet.

That was a lot of information, so we stopped with a promise to come back and talk about the Trans Fats, or trans fatty acids.

What do you spread on your bread ?

Trans fatty acids, also called hydrogenated oils, are man-made processed fats.   The good thing about them is that they keep the fats solid at room temperature, and yet still easy to spread.  You know how butter out of the fridge is hard, and tears up your bread when you try to spread it ?  Well, margarine is just so smooth to spread on your bread, straight out of the fridge, and that’s what the trans fats do. But they come at a price.  So, please be careful to check if your margarine  contains any hydrogenated oils or Trans Fats.

Trans fats are a type of unsaturated fat that is very bad for your health. It increases the risk of heart disease by raising the “bad” cholesterol (LDL), and lowering the “good” cholesterol (HDL) (more about Cholesterol later).

Trans Fats should be kept out of your healthy diet plan, for a number of reasons.

Truth about Trans Fats (?)

The trans fats pollute the cell membranes of your body and interfere with their functions. They may affect the reproductive functions by decreasing the levels of testosterone (remember this, men !), and they can  weaken your immune system, especially if you’re already a bit run-down or stressed-out.

If you want more bad news, then there’s a whole list of diseases that have been linked with hydrogenated oils including Diabetes, Obesity, and certain types of Cancer.

It is also called “brain poison”, because it may lead to depression, mood disorders, fuzzy thinking and sleep disturbances.

Fats and Facts

Having said above that trans fats are man-made, let me just clarify that with the detail. There are actually two types of Trans Fats:-

- Natural Trans Fats, found, in small amounts, in dairy products and meat, and
- Artificial Trans Fats, which are manufactured when the liquid oils are hardened into partially hydrogenated fats which are still easy to spread.

Natural trans fats are better than the artificial trans fats, especially if you choose low fat dairy products. The worst ones are the artificial trans fats which are used in fried foods, cookies, and some margarines.

Experts recommend that you reduce your trans fats intake to no more than 2 grams per day and that is of natural trans fats only.  Forget the artificial ones altogether.

According to FDA (Food and Drug Administration) there is NO recommended daily allowance of Artificial Trans Fats, since these trans fats should be entirely avoided in your daily diets.

Remember, all hydrogenated oils contains trans fats, and when you eat refined and processed foods, it is very difficult to avoid hydrogenated oils or trans fats.

So what should you do?

Here are a few more guidelines for you to avoid Trans Fats and switch over to healthy eating:-

- Always, with all foods you buy, look at the nutrition table at the back of the packet to check the Trans Fats.

- Also, check the ingredients list, looking for “partially hydrogenated vegetable  oils”. Avoid hydrogenated oils.

- As we discussed last time, try to limit fatty foods, take-away meals, and packaged foods to once a week, maybe just as a “treat” (no-one can be good all the time).

- Grill, Bake or opt for stir fry rather than deep fry, this will help to reduce a lot of fat intake, especially “bad” fat.

- With all dairy products including milk, yogurt, cheese etc, go for “lite” or low fat varieties.

- Use polyunsaturated oils like canola or olive oil in cooking.

- Remember, even “innocent” foods like crackers, that pastry desserts, potato chips (sorry, it’s true), microwave popcorns (yes, no kidding) all contain hydrogenated oils.   These trans fats  “hidden” in “innocent” foods mean that that many people are un-knowingly consuming quantities of trans fats and hydrogenated oils, on a daily basis, in quantities that could be considered toxic.

Don’t Worry Be Happy

But but but – my main message, as always, is that, in order to be healthy you don’t have to give up all those good things in life.  No, with just a few gradual small changes here and there, you will move towards a much fitter, healthier, and slimmer body without even noticing that you’re trying.

Follow my blog, and pretty soon you will realise that you have more energy, you feel better, and you look better than you did a couple of months ago. Stay with me, I will give you more good information each time, and I will keep you motivated !

Come back soon

Ash

There are various types of Fats in your diet, let’s discuss them in detail:

Saturated Fats:

Everybody knows that the Saturated Fats are the “bad” fats and you should avoid them, right ?  Wrong !

Provided you eat  the recommended daily intake  of saturated fats of no more than 20 grams per day, and no more than one third of your total fat intake in a day, then saturated fats are actually good for you.

They help in the absorption of Omega 3 fatty acids, which are good for a number of things, including healthy lungs (smokers take particular note !).

Saturated fats also help in the absorption of calcium, and are therefore good for strong bones and for helping protect against osteoporosis as you get older (and this applies to men as well as women). Saturated fats will also help protect the cells in all parts of your body against invading infections and diseases.

However, like most good things, Saturated Fats are bad if you take them in excess. These are the fats that raise your blood cholesterol levels and clog your arteries.   These are the fats that cause heart disease.

Watch out for Saturated Fats in the diet.   Animal products (such as meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, dairy products, lard and butter), as well as coconut, palm and other tropical oils are all rich in saturated fats. Butter, and the fats in meat and dairy products, are all especially high in saturated fat.   And margarine, you know – the stuff that the ads on TV say is good for you – margarine is also a supplier of saturated fats in your diet.

So what should you do ?

Although it sounds like all bad news, by just making a few changes in your diet, you can make a huge difference in your health, and in your life, by avoiding an excess of saturated fats as a part of your healthy diet.

At breakfast, choose skim milk verses full cream milk for your cereal.   Throughout the day, switch to skim milk in your coffee and tea.

Cakes and muffins have a lot of saturated fats, it is good if you can avoid them in your regular daily diet.   Then allow yourself to have the occasional one as a special treat now and then, and you will enjoy it all the more !

And here’s an interesting calculation – if you change to low fat dairy products instead of full cream, in one year you will reduce your intake of Saturated Fat by around 4 kilos.

Wherever possible, choose margarine instead of butter. Study the labels on the containers in the supermarket, and select a good low fat margarine that is better than regular butter.

As a final tip, reduce your intake of refined and processed foods such as white bread etc, and go for wholemeal products instead.   Not only will this reduce your fat intake, but also the extra fibre in wholemeal products will actually help to absorb and flush fat out of your body.   The fibre in the wholemeal bread will counteract the fat in the margarine that you spread on it.

Unsaturated Fats:

Unsaturated Fats are good for you, right ?  Right !  So most of your fat intake should be from unsaturated fats.

There are two types of unsaturated fats: Monounsaturated and Polyunsaturated.

When you replace “bad” saturated fats with “good” unsaturated fats in your diet, they both (Mono-unsaturated and Polyunsaturated) help in lowering your cholesterol levels. Not only that – Monounsaturated Fats actually help in raising the amount of “good” cholesterol.

Polyunsaturated fats contain essential fatty acids that our body can not produce itself  –  Omega-6 and Omega-3.  Since the body needs these fats, but can’t manufacture them itself, we have to get these fatty acids from the food we eat.

So what should you do ?

Most cooking oils are unsaturated fats. Canola oil and olive oil are the best options for cooking, because of their ratio of monounsaturated to polyunsaturated fatty acids. But be aware – when you see a label on cooking oil that says “light”, this refers to the taste or the colour, and not the fat content. All oils are 100% fat, “oil” and “fat” is really just the same thing.

Mono- and Poly- unsaturated fats are found in most vegetable products and oils. Avocados, nuts and seeds, and olive oil, peanut oil, and canola oil,  these are excellent sources of the “good” unsaturated fats.

But don’t forget – “good” fats are still fats, and if you eat them in excess they will cause you the same problems as “bad’ fats in excess.   If you eat more than your body needs, then your body will still save them for you, adding them in handy layers around your nice slim waist, hips and thighs !

And Then There are Trans Fats

The more we hear about Trans Fatty Acids, the more we hear that they are the real fat villains.   But is this the true picture ?

Let’s discuss it in the next article! Come back soon