The power of protein

You are what you eat

By nutritionist Sarah West

Build it up:

Proteins are the basic building blocks of the human body. When you eat foods that contain protein, your digestive system breaks them down into basic units called amino acids. These amino acids are then re-used to make the proteins needed to maintain your hair, skin, nails, muscles, bones, blood and internal organs. So you really are what you eat!

Rapid recovery:

High-intensity workouts are a form of stress, which triggers muscle breakdown and makes you feel tired and sore. They also deplete critical amino acids such as glutamine, valine, isoleucine and leucine. It’s only after you've completed exercise that your muscle tissues begin the rebuilding process, so it’s important to replenish lost nutrients to help the body recover.

Studies suggest that consuming high-quality protein following a tough workout helps provide your body with the necessary amino acids to help repair muscle fibres damaged during exercise. Protein also promotes growth of new muscle as an adaptation response to your training, helping to boost your metabolism and increase fat burning.

Time to refuel:

The ideal post-workout meal or snack should contain a combination of protein for growth and repair, plus carbohydrates to restore depleted glycogen stores. Try the following suggestions-

• Nut butters (almond, cashew or hazelnut) lightly spread on rice cakes or Ryvita
• Scrambled eggs with grilled mushrooms & bacon
• A smoothie blended with yogurt or milk and fresh fruit
• Porridge topped with chopped nuts or seeds
• Lentil or bean soup served with oatcakes
• Reduced salt baked beans on wholemeal toast
• Hummous and mixed salad in a wholemeal pitta
• Chicken or tuna salad with sliced avocado and hard boiled eggs
• Vegetable and cheese frittata
• Salmon steak with creamed lentils and spinach
• Chilli with kidney or pinto beans & brown rice
• Stir-fried tofu with mixed vegetables and cashew nuts.

The dangers of sugar addiction

After something sweet?

By nutritionist Sarah West

Are you addicted?

Do you feel the urge for a sweet snack every day? Can’t get through the day without several teaspoons of sugar in your tea? You’re not alone. Sugar addiction is believed to be one of the driving forces behind Britain’s obesity epidemic. 

So how does it work? The more sugar you consume, the greater the rise in blood sugar and consequently insulin levels within the body. Insulin not only converts sugar into an instant energy source; it also encourages the storage of fat. Keeping your blood sugar levels stable is therefore one of the most important factors in sustaining energy levels and maintaining a healthy weight.

Get balanced

Research has shown that long-term, regular exercise can significantly improve the body's ability to control fluctuating blood sugar levels. During strenuous activity, your muscles require extra energy to perform. Your body therefore transports any available sugar directly to your muscles, thus helping to reduce excess sugar within the bloodstream (and preventing it from being stored as fat).

Furthermore, scientists have found that a single weight-training session can reduce the effect of a high-sugar meal on blood sugar levels for more than 12 hours following a workout. A combination of cardiovascular exercise and strength training three to four times a week can help you to achieve a healthier blood sugar balance and really feel the benefits.

Get it under control

The following suggestions can help you to obtain a steadier source of energy from your food:

• Go wholegrain. Swap white bread, rice and pasta for nutrient-dense wholegrain alternatives which take longer to digest. These foods release their sugar more slowly into our bloodstream, thereby helping to reduce rapid insulin release and keeping our energy levels and hunger under control.
• Eat more protein. Consuming a source of protein (such as eggs, oily fish or lean meat) with every meal serves as a blood sugar stabilizer as it allows sugar to enter the cells at a much slower rate. Meat is also a source of chromium, a mineral which regulates the action of insulin.
• Eat regularly (every 3-4 hours). Going for long periods between meals can make you feel tired, shaky and more susceptible to choosing sugary foods or drinks to provide a quick energy boost. By eating smaller meals more regularly you’ll feel stable, satisfied and won’t crave as much sugar.

Too much of a good thing..

Are you overdoing it? 
By nutritionist Sarah West

 

Exercise and good nutrition are vital for good health, but like anything else it's possible to overdo it. With people becoming more and more body-conscious, many are resorting to drastic measures to achieve the physique they desire.

Excessive exercising or crash dieting can not only result in injury and fatigue but can also slow down your metabolism, inhibit muscle growth and repair, promote fat storage and reduce the effectiveness of your immune system. This can not only stall your health goals but may lead to irreversible health problems in the future. So don’t push it too hard!

Over-training:

 

It’s easy to assume that to see better results you should increase the time spent on your exercise routine – but in actual fact you may need to do less. Resting is an important part of a workout; if you don't take time for proper rest, your body won't adapt to the stress of your training and you won't get stronger or faster. Follow these tips to avoid exercise burnout and get more from your routine-  

•  Listen to your body; the simplest way of knowing if you are over training is if your progress has stopped or slowed and if you are constantly tired and sore. This signals time to take a break and make some changes.

• Always ensure you leave 24 hours between hard workouts to rejuvenate your body to be ready for the next exercise session. Try to sleep a full seven hours and eat varied, nutritious meals during this time.

• Experiment with additional rest days or doing slightly less in each workout until you find a routine that keeps you progressing without feeling exhausted.

Feeling hungry?

Diets that severely restrict calories or the intake of entire food groups deprive your body of the vitamins, minerals and nutrients that it needs to sustain itself. Furthermore, studies have shown that crash dieting can result in unhealthy behaviours such as eating disorders and increases the chance that the lost weight will be quickly re-gained. 

The key to remaining healthy and keeping weight off long-term is instead to make sensible changes to your diet that you can stick to for life. Follow these tips to achieve weight loss the healthy way-

• Never eat fewer than 1,200 calories a day. Calorie restriction to this extent actually impedes your weight loss goals since your body goes into famine-mode.
• Accept a steady rate of weight loss rather than aiming for overnight success. A loss of 1-2 pounds per week is a sensible goal.
• Small changes make a big difference. One extra biscuit a week can lead you to gain 5lb a year – so by cutting that biscuit out of your diet you'll lose the same amount.
• Try not to eliminate whole food groups (i.e. fat, protein or carbs)- instead you are working toward a sustainable lifestyle change which involves having a healthy relationship with all kinds of food.
• Be patient and persevere. It might take a week or two before you notice any changes, but they will steadily appear. When it comes to weight loss, slow and steady wins the race!

Weight loss made easy

Introducing our first weekly guest blogger, nutritionist Sarah West, who will today be talking about making weight loss an achievable goal.

What’s your goal?

When embarking on a weight loss programme you should start by asking yourself what your purpose is. Whatever your reasons, write them down and keep them to hand. Then when frustration and temptation strike, concentrate on the benefits you will reap from being healthier and leaner.

It is also important to use tools that help you track your progress. Keep a food journal and measure yourself regularly, keeping track of each inch lost. By closely monitoring your weight loss efforts, you’ll see the results in black and white which will help you to stay motivated.

Move it to lose it:

In order to achieve the body shape you dream of, you may have to add something new to your life: exercise! Dieting without exercise can result in weight that's lost from your muscles rather than body fat. This can actually reduce your resting metabolism and stall your progress.

A combination of cardiovascular and resistance exercises (using weights) will make the biggest improvement to your body shape in the shortest possible time- try a Body Pump class to easily combine the two. Seeking advice on suitable exercise programmes from a personal trainer can also help keep you motivated and ensure that you get the best results from your gym visits.

Healthy swaps:

Dropping the pounds can be as simple as making small adjustments to your daily food choices. You should always aim to choose foods that provide the maximum amount of nutrition for the least amount of calories. Try these easy food swaps to help things along:

Breakfast

• Swap sugary cereals (such as cornflakes, rice cereals and anything honey-covered) for fibre-rich wholegrain alternatives such as porridge, low sugar muesli or Shredded Wheat. Not only do highly-refined breakfasts add to your overall calories, but they can lead to a mid-morning sugar slump which will leave you craving more.
• Pour a little less cereal into your morning bowl to make room for some blueberries, strawberries or raspberries. You’ll still enjoy a full bowl, but with a lower calorie count (plus one of your five a day!)

Lunch

• Swap shop-bought sandwiches for pre-prepared sushi, to get a healthier balance of carbohydrates and protein as well as many additional vitamins and minerals.
• Swap normal baked white potatoes for baked sweet potatoes. These are more nutrient-dense and in spite of their sweetness have a lower glycaemic index, helping keep you fuller for longer.

Dinner

• Add more vegetables to your favourite main courses to make your meals go further. Dishes such as curry, pasta and stir-fries are more diet-friendly if they’re less heavy on the carbs and more focused on lean protein and vegetables.
• Swap creamy or cheesy sauces for homemade tomato or vegetable-based sauces for more nutrients with less of the calories. Try adding lentils or beans for a fibre and protein boost.

Treats (because we all need the odd treat)

• Swap milk chocolate for dark chocolate containing at least 70% cocoa. Dark chocolate has less saturated fat, less added sugar and is much richer, so you’ll be satisfied with a smaller amount.
• Swap a bottle of beer (160 calories) for a small glass of white wine (97 calories) on a night out. Alternating alcoholic drinks with water will save even more calories and also lessen the hangover!

One step at a time, focusing on improving your behaviour rather than the outcome, will get you to where you want to be.