Type 2 diabetes is epidemic in this country, and typically begins with insulin resistance. What we usually read or hear about insulin resistance is that it’s a result of overweight/obesity. This is not always the case, since the reverse can be true. Insulin resistance (IR) may actually cause overweight. What’s important to remember is that no matter which comes first – IR or overweight – the metabolic consequences are exactly
Eat Till You’re Bored (& Other Red Flags)
A client at her final prepaid session recently said, “I think I’m okay on my own. I’m not bored yet.” From that, I knew she’d fail if we didn’t continue. Now I confess. I’m a nutritionist who finds standard nutrition boring. Important, but boring. Here’s one historic example. In 1991, the Food Guide Pyramid was released. We were also promised ’91 food labels that, among other things, would list the
Labeling Loopholes: Do You Know They Help Sneak Sugar Into Your Food?
Let’s use this post on labeling loopholes to cover three of them. The first is glycerin. Glycerin (or glycerol) is an alcohol. It’s not like ethanol, so it won’t give you a buzz, but it is an alcohol. So what? Maybe you haven’t heard of it or haven’t paid much attention to it, but it’s used as a sweetener. It’s in many foods – including about 99.999% of the food
Milk: It Does a Body No Good
Clients ask me about lactose all the time. A brief survey of facts about lactose had to begin with milk. Many books and articles exist on the health problems associated with milk. They include breast, prostate and ovarian cancers; allergic reactions in infants; and increased risk of bone fractures, type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, acne, ear infections, and constipation. Obviously, the health hazards of milk deserve a full discussion of
Pedaling Backwards?
Talk about opening “Pandora’s Box” – this is bound to get a few conversations going… Cameron Chinatti from Stages Indoor Cycling alerted me to this. ACE (American Council on Exercise) published a scientific study that looked at the effectiveness of pedaling backwards. Please download the PDF and read it in it’s entirety, so you have a complete understanding of the purpose and results of the study. That ACE chose to study
Withdrawal and Sugar Cravings
By Joan Kent One significant reason for sugar cravings is withdrawal. Withdrawal can promote cravings under various circumstances. If someone has recently stopped drinking alcohol, cravings for sugar can be strong and frequent. This involves the brain chemicals stimulated by alcohol. The same three chemicals (dopamine, beta-endorphin, and serotonin) are also stimulated by sugar. The similarity makes sugar a short-term substitute for alcohol when cravings occur. It also explains why
Can Workouts Hide a Sugar Addiction?
“I don’t understand. She trains well.” The program manager made that comment when a participant in our weight loss program didn’t get results. I was both an athletic coach and the lead nutritionist. His comment exasperated me. Of course she trained well. She was an expert at that because of her food issues. She’d junk out, then “train well” to burn off the unwanted calories. It wasn’t always the same
Fructose: The Sugar No One Thinks Is Sugar
By Joan Kent My last few posts have dealt with aspects of sugar addiction, including sugar’s effect on health. It’s important – you want to be healthy, right? Still, I’ve avoided one topic because it’s almost guaranteed to alienate people – fructose. The sugar found in fruit. It’s nasty. We’ll get to the details on that soon enough. Some people are surprised that fruit could be bad. After all, it’s
Cholesterol: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
By Team ICG® Master Trainer Joan Kent As many of you know, cholesterol is absolutely vital to our lives and our health. It’s a waxy, pearl-colored, solid alcohol that’s produced primarily in the liver, but is so important every cell in the body can make its own. Cholesterol has widely varied and important functions. It’s the precursor of all steroids: adrenal hormones, sex hormones, vitamin D and bile acids. It
Sleep, Health and Weight: How Are They Connected?
Early cycling classes. Late nights. Approaching holidays. Fall quarter can be a busy time, and it might be difficult to get enough sleep each night. But it’s important to do so because sleep deprivation affects several factors related to health and weight management. For one thing, sleep deprivation, even short-term, can lower leptin levels. Leptin is a powerful satiety hormone that tells the brain/body it’s had enough food and doesn’t
Beta Blockers Q&A
Q: “I’ve been on a beta-blocker (atenolol) for my high blood pressure. Lately I find that I can’t keep up with the profiles my instructor presents in the Spinning classes I take. When I push to the target energy zones, I feel like I am overexerting myself. I’m exhausted. Can you help me understand how this medication might be affecting my heart rate?” – J.T. Melissa writes: An excellent question
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