by Joan Kent | Mar 9, 2015 | Best Practices, Health and Wellness, Latest News
Several months ago, an author known for being a strong proponent of healthful eating wrote an article about a new line of “good” candy bars. You know: organic ingredients, no preservatives, that sort of thing.
The author took an if-you-can’t-beat-em-join-em approach. Candy isn’t going to go away, so let’s make better candy.
Who makes these healthy candy bars? A company aptly named UnReal. Their idea was to duplicate the top-selling candy bars, using different — better — ingredients.
What’s supposedly good about the candy?
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Good taste, better ingredients, and improved nutritional value. That translates to being made without chemicals, artificial colors, artificial flavors, corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, or GMOs.
[Let me stop here to ask a dumb question: How would you get GMOs in a candy bar, anyway? Aren’t those typically found in agricultural products? So are we just talking about non-GMO peanuts?]
What else is supposedly good about these candy bars?
They apparently contain less sugar, more protein, more fiber, and — I’m as confused as I can get about this one — real food ingredients. Does it seem contradictory to anyone else to talk about “real food ingredients” and candy in the same sentence?
Please don’t say agave.
As a final benefit, the candy bars are sold in the same places and for the same prices as the standard junk versions. Because that was my primary concern: convenience.
Okay, what’s actually in the candy?
Here’s a list of ingredients from one bar:
Milk Chocolate (cane sugar, chocolate, cocoa butter, milk powder, organic blue agave inulin, skim milk, soy lecithin, vanilla extract), Caramel (tapioca syrup, cane sugar, fructan (prebiotic fiber), organic palm kernel oil, whey, milk protein concentrate, organic cream, vanilla extract, salt, soy lecithin), Peanuts, Tapioca Syrup, Cane Sugar, Organic Palm Kernel Oil, Skim Milk, Peanut Flour, Salt, Hydrolyzed Milk Protein, Evaporated Cane Syrup, Soy Lecithin.
Could you enumerate the health benefits of that list? They escape me, but maybe I missed something.
Readers weigh in
Several people commented on the article, including me. Here’s my comment, and please keep in mind that I was being polite:
“I saw a display of UnReal candy bars at Staples a couple of days ago. Curiosity made me read the label of one bar, and I couldn’t help laughing at the number of sugars in it. As a recovered sugar addict, I certainly didn’t have the guts to try one…. I honestly can’t see how these products could teach children, or anyone else, about the value of fresh, whole foods or steer them in that direction.”
If you’ve read my articles, that comment won’t surprise you, even a little. It’s just me doing my anti-sugar thing again.
The truly surprising thing was the enthusiasm a number of respondents had for the product: “Go, UnReal!” “Bravo!” “Great idea!” “Kudos to UnReal.” Others described their plans to give out the healthy candy bars on Halloween.
And many of the folks who commented positively seem to have kids.
Fortunately, others indicated disapproval of the candy bars and disappointment with the author (“Have you sold your soul to the devil?”).
That made me laugh. A seminar attendee once summed up my attitude as, “Sugar is the devil.”
Well, sugar can, and absolutely does, outweigh whatever benefits a so-called “healthy” candy bar can claim to have — even one with non-GMO peanuts.
My recommendation?
Stop looking for a sugar loophole. If there were one, I would have found it. No one looked harder than I did 🙂
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by Joan Kent | Mar 2, 2015 | Engage Your Students, Health and Wellness, Instructor Training, KEEPING IT FUN
My college roommate used to turn down yogurt, saying, “I never eat rotten food.” Now, there may be reasons not to eat yogurt, but the fact that it’s rotten isn’t one of them.
Maybe a better term for “rotten” is fermented. Fermentation is highly beneficial for the digestive system, and we’ll get to that. Meanwhile, how do we know if we should eat rotten foods?
Problems with bloating, gas, acid reflux, constipation and/or diarrhea are a sign. Even problems that seem unrelated to digestion could indicate that gut bacteria are out of balance: skin problems (such as acne), sleep problems, headaches, urinary tract infections, weight gain, and strong sugar cravings.
About 85% of the immune system is in the gut, and gut health affects inflammation, allergies, and autoimmune responses.
Good Bacteria, Bad Bacteria
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As you probably know, we have both good and bad gut bacteria. The good should outnumber the bad by 6 to 1 (or better). Various environmental factors — pollution, chlorinated water, farming pesticides — may throw off that ratio.
Dietary habits can negatively affect gut bacteria. Such habits include consumption of sugar, alcohol, or artificial sweeteners in diet beverages, diet foods and gum. Processed foods in general wreak havoc on the gut and the immune system by triggering inflammation.
Taking antacids or laxatives can disrupt gut flora and, in a self-perpetuating cycle, actually increase the need for the products.
Use of antibiotics is known to interfere with the gut environment. That applies to antibiotics in any animal products we eat, not just to prescription meds.
So How Can We Fix The Gut?
Eat rotten foods. Fermented foods are powerful detoxifiers that break down and eliminate heavy metals and other toxins. Fermentation destroys pathogenic bacteria and optimizes gut flora, balancing the ratio of good and bad bacteria.
Fermented foods produce enzymes and probiotics that help with digestion and improve vitamin and mineral absorption. Fermentation can actually produce B vitamins (which fight sugar cravings). It also “predigests” foods so they’re more easily digestible.
Fermentation can regulate stomach acid production, increasing production when it’s too low and decreasing it when it’s too high. Fermentation preserves the nutrients in foods and can even increase food storage time and prevent the loss of nutrients.
Many countries have their own fermented favorites. Below are several fermented foods common in the U.S., with many more found worldwide.
– Soy is fermented to make tempeh, miso, or natto.
– Cabbage is fermented to make sauerkraut or the spicier kimchi, a popular Korean food.
– Milk is fermented for yogurt or kefir. Stay aware that flavored versions of these products contain sugar, which would seem to cancel some of the benefits.
– Kombucha is a fermented tea that contains small amounts of alcohol. Some people dismiss the alcohol in it as inconsequential. However, do what you feel is in your best interest. I drank it a couple of times and noticed a liking for it that made me suspicious. I stopped drinking it as a result, but that’s me.
Apple Cider Vinegar
No list of favorable fermented foods is complete without apple cider vinegar. The folklore around it is vast. Old, well-worn books describe apple cider vinegar’s value as both medicinal and preventive with daily use.
Apple cider vinegar contains acetic acid, said to be antimicrobial and antibacterial. Cider vinegar has been touted as beneficial for heart health, weight loss, and even fighting cancer tumors. Some of these claims are inconclusive at best.
A documented benefit of apple cider vinegar, however, is its ability to decrease glucose levels in type 2 diabetics. It offers a similar benefit in non-diabetics. Of course, that fact alone won’t compensate for a diet loaded with sugar and/or refined carbs, but it does suggest that cider vinegar could complement a healthful diet.
Apparently, fermentation rocks. And my college roommate was off-target. Besides, she used to drink wine, and that’s fermented.
I guess the real rotten food continues to be sugar. Ya think?[/wlm_private]
by Joan Kent | Feb 16, 2015 | Best Practices, Engage Your Students, Health and Wellness, Master Instructor Blog
As a nutritionist who coaches many clients with sugar addiction, I find myself talking about willpower frequently and thinking about it a lot.
I used to take a hard line against willpower — or rather, against people’s view of it. On behalf of my clients, I resented those who smirked when the clients reacted to sugary temptations with vulnerability and conflict. “You don’t have to eat it,” they would smirk. I’m not a fan of smirking.
Time and again, I remind my clients of how misguided that smirking view of willpower is.
Would we tell a smoker who’s trying to quit to carry a pack of cigarettes in her purse, and place a pack in the car, in the office and in every room of the house, just to prove she has willpower?
Would we tell someone who’s trying to stop drinking to get a job in a bar or hang out with his drinking buddies while they party, just to prove he has willpower?
So why do we expect someone going for weight loss to sit in a room full of brownies and jellybeans and not take a bite?
If your goal is to lose weight, the only thing you have to do is lose weight. You don’t have to show you’re a tower of strength. Keep tempting foods out of the house so they don’t challenge your willpower.
The tower-of-strength willpower view is misguided at best. It typically comes from people who don’t understand sugar addiction or why someone may have trouble resisting sugar that’s readily available.
But have you noticed a shift lately in the attitude toward willpower?
I remember motivating slogans. Things like, “Willpower is a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it gets.” Things like, “Where there’s a will, there’s a won’t.”
The slogans seem inspiring — but they can make someone feel like a failure for not exerting willpower in certain situations.
Willpower 2015[wlm_private ‘PRO-Platinum|PRO-Monthly|PRO-Gratis|PRO-Seasonal|Platinum-trial|Monthly-trial|PRO-Military|30-Days-of-PRO|90 Day PRO|Stages-Instructor|Schwinn-Instructor|Instructor-Bonus|28 Day Challenge']
The new view of willpower is that it’s finite, and actually in short supply. It’s now considered a conscious state that’s strong early in the day but diminishes as the day wears on. Apparently, it’s not a muscle that strengthens with use. It runs out because of something called Decision-Making Fatigue.
The more decisions we have to make over the course of the day — choosing between a donut or egg whites for breakfast, skipping a muffin at the morning meeting, avoiding dessert at lunch, ignoring the tray of cookies in the snack room at 3:30 p.m. — the more difficult it becomes to say “no” when we get home at night.
So is willpower a lifestyle habit that can be developed and strengthened? Or is it a limited resource that has to be meted out and saved for the moments it really counts?
And I wonder whether the limited-willpower viewpoint reflects rising obesity rates. Is it an attempt to explain them?
I’ll boldly go where no one seems to be going. Could this new Law of Diminishing Daily Willpower have anything to do with the fact that sugar is everywhere, and in everything?
Because sugar is everywhere, it’s an external trigger, making us want the goodies we see or smell. Cinnabon, anyone?
Because sugar’s hidden in everything, it’s an internal trigger, changing brain chemistry and priming us to eat more.
If sugar didn’t run our food industry, maybe we’d have stuck with the old view of willpower. It was around for a long time. I recall hearing those “inspiring” sayings before the obesity epidemic.
Maybe sugar is the reason for diminishing willpower — and the change in viewpoint about it.
Maybe. But I still say you don’t have to prove you’re a tower of willpower to get your nutrition goals. Set things up so you can win and just get them.[/wlm_private]
by Joan Kent | Feb 9, 2015 | Health and Wellness
Sugar is big nutrition news these days, and sugar addiction is getting the attention it deserved a long time ago when only a few nuts (like yours truly) were talking about it.
I searched recently for the mainstream “wisdom” on getting rid of sugar cravings. The suggestions I found display a poor understanding by the various authors of what makes us crave sugar.
Below are some of those suggestions, and why I doubt their effectiveness. Of course, almost everything will work for some people, but as a rule, these aren’t things I’d recommend to my clients.[wlm_private ‘PRO-Platinum|PRO-Monthly|PRO-Gratis|PRO-Seasonal|Platinum-trial|Monthly-trial|PRO-Military|30-Days-of-PRO|90 Day PRO|Stages-Instructor|Schwinn-Instructor|Instructor-Bonus|28 Day Challenge']
- Turn your attention to something else. This approach is a good match for the next one on the list.
- Change the scenery & take a walk. Whoever proposed these two solutions thinks cravings are “all in your head”, so the solution must be to focus your thoughts on something else.
- Talk to a friend. If you believe that a sugar craving is an emotional phenomenon, this suggestion seems reasonable. It’s less reasonable if you look at the physiological side of cravings.
- Meditate. If you think cravings are the result of a way of thinking or feeling, or a result of stress, this may seem reasonable. And it can change brain chemistry, so it could work.
- Avoid stress. Of course, that sounds fantastic. Who wouldn’t want to avoid stress? But it’s not always realistic. Besides, what if you’re already stressed? What do you do then?
This advice also doesn’t distinguish a craving from the urge to eat. That urge to eat when stressed may actually be an inborn reaction. Even animals do it. It’s not always the same thing as a craving.
- Drink water. This is ALWAYS good advice. But a craving isn’t necessarily the result of dehydration. Thirst can be mistaken for hunger, and, apparently, the urge to eat is sometimes mistaken for a craving (see “Avoid stress” above). But they’re not really the same.
The following suggestions might be effective temporarily, but could backfire in the long run.
- Eat a little of the craved food, then divert your attention. This shows a misunderstanding of the neurochemical effects of sugar. Yes, eating sugar will take away the craving — after all, you’re eating what you craved. But it will probably come back later with a vengeance. And if you eat sugar and the craving goes away, why would you even need to turn your attention to something else?
- Eat the craved food, then something healthful. Sorry, you’ll never convince me that sugar cravings will be “cured” by eating sugar plus kale. The craving will return big-time later, and the sugar may make kale (or other healthful food) seem unappealing.
- Eat a decadent, delectable version of the craved food and savor it. How slowly and voluptuously you eat the food has nothing to do with eliminating the craving. Eating sugar will always stop a sugar craving — but that’s short-term at best.
- Eat fruit. As if fruit isn’t sugar. If you recognize that it is, this suggestion is the same as the rest of the food suggestions above.
My recommendation is to treat a craving like what it truly is: a neurochemical phenomenon. Since it’s neurochemical, it’s physiological. Would we tell someone to get rid of the flu by changing the scenery? By diverting her/his attention? Those are good things to do, but they might not be an effective answer to a physiological problem.
In a previous post, the causes of sugar cravings were described, and all were neurochemical.
Addressing neurochemistry may be a better way to fix a neurochemical problem. Use liquid B-complex, suggested in a previous post, for short-term relief. (It really works.) Change your diet for a long-term cure. (It really works.) Get a coach for ongoing support, because those two suggestions can be easier said than done.
Coaching really works.[/wlm_private]
by Joan Kent | Jan 19, 2015 | Engage Your Students, Health and Wellness, Instructor Training, Master Instructor Blog
“I don’t stop when I’m tired. I only stop when I’m done.”
It surprised me to learn that the above quotation came from Marilyn Monroe. How many times have we heard those words in connection with athletics?
In the training and weight loss program I taught for 14 years, participants would sometimes wish for a day off, or even several days. They’d tell that to the strength-training coach, for example, and his reply was an annoyed, “There are no days off! This is it — the way you eat, the way you train — all the time.”
Men can get away with saying things like that more easily than women can, I think. Regardless, I appreciated him for saying it — and, of course, agreed with him.
One participant asked me if she could stop keeping her food log on the weekends. She acted as if (and maybe actually believed) she just wanted a break from logging.
It seemed obvious, though, that those days off would only encourage her sugar addiction. I imagined her stopping the log not on Saturday, but on Friday morning, eating sugar nonstop for three days, and re-starting her log sometime on Monday.
What I pictured most vividly, however, was her discovery that she wasn’t losing weight and asking for my help. But we’d have no records of her weekly binges.
I told her the truth: I couldn’t stop her from doing that but wasn’t going to approve it. How could I agree to help her fail and then tell others that our program didn’t work?
Toward the end of 2014, I read an article for entrepreneurs on finishing a great business year. The author explained that the only way to finish the year strong was absolutely to understand that there would “never be a day that (would) not require dedication, discipline, perseverance, accountability, and the need to execute relentlessly.”
Wow. That article may have been written about business but is all about fitness, athletic training, even weight loss. We know success in those areas depends on consistent and persistent action, not on temporary changes till the pounds are lost or the goal is reached.
I must be in a quotation kind of mood because Dan Millman comes to mind:
“There are no ordinary moments.”
Isn’t that what wishing for a day off is — a wish for moments that simply don’t count? Moments with no repercussions, when we can do what we know we shouldn’t and not suffer the consequences?
I’ve wanted those moments, too: when the alarm wakes me at some ridiculous hour to go train, for instance, or when I was flat-out tired of writing my dissertation.
We’ve probably all had moments when we wish for ordinary moments. But since I’m quoting everyone else’s wisdom today, here’s the proverb I like best in this context:
“When climbing a mountain, give up a thousand times; just keep your feet moving.”
That one really works. We can mentally go in any direction — discouraged, foolish, negative, fanciful, absurd — but never let it affect our behavior or change our plan of action.
At this point in January, some of our participants or clients may already be struggling with a motivation slow-down. Instead of trying to recharge everyone’s battery, which will need to be done over and over, why not encourage them just to keep their feet moving, no matter what?
And on that note, how about one final quote:
I do not believe in a fate that falls on men however they act, but I do believe in a fate that falls on them unless they act. — G.K. Chesterton
