All posts tagged maria stevens

Allowances In The Whole Foods Diet: the case for and against certain foods

by Maria Stevens, April 2010

The principle of the whole foods diet is simple: don’t eat processed foods.  In practice, it’s a little more difficult.  Most foods end up processed minimally.  The line between “acceptably” and “overly”-processed is blurred.

The following list will address certain foods and why I think they can or cannot be successfully incorporated into the whole foods diet, and why.

Bread -

Bread is highly processed grain.  There’s no way around it.  The grain has been harvested, polished, and ground into flour.  The resulting product is a powder, more often than not, a white powder.  This white powder in no way shape of form resembles a wheat berry.  White flour is grain that has been stripped of its bran (its vitamins and fiber), refined, and bleached.  What you get is a very light and very sticky compound that bakes beautifully into bread, cakes, scones, cookies, and the like.

White bread is exceedingly popular, and has a mouth feel very unlike wholegrain bread.  It’s light, fluffy–almost like biting into air.  It sucks up jellies, butters, liquids, and it doesn’t compete with other flavors.  No wonder it’s so popular.

But white bread is almost devoid of anything but calories, and were it not a requirement that flour be “enriched,” it would be worthless.  Besides it’s “yummy factor,” white bread contributes nothing.  In fact, white bread has a very high glycemic index, which means is rapidly raises blood sugar, resulting in an over-excretion of insulin by the pancreas into the bloodstream.  Insulin pushes the sugar into the body’s cells very rapidly, and then you experience a crash.  Suddenly you want more bread.  It doesn’t fill, and it doesn’t fuel steadily.

But what about wheat bread? Not all breads are created equal.  Much of the wheat bread you see lining store shelves is cut with white flour.  The 100% whole wheat isn’t much better, as its is shown to have a virtually identical GI value to white flour.

So if whole grain bread is so processed and has a high GI value, should you eat it on the whole foods diet?  That all depends.

Many individuals have a difficult time controlling their intake of complex carbohydrates.  Generally speaking, grain-derived products are bland and simply act as vessels for other high-fat or high-sugar substances: jelly, peanut butter, mayonnaise, etc.  Few people ever eat a plain slice of bread, unless they’re really hungry.

Also, because bread is pre-digested grain (milled flour), it takes less chewing.  The less you chew, the faster you tend to eat, and the faster you tend to eat, the more you tend to eat because you don’t give your body a chance to tell you it is satisfied.

In light of all this information, one should not forget that bread has been a staple of human beings for thousands of years.  It really wasn’t until to advent and popularization of white flour that bread turned into a “bad guy.”

Whole grain and multi-grain breads can be successfully incorporated into the whole foods diet.  Before you decide whether to do so, ask yourself whether bread is a problem food for you.  If it is, you might do well to avoid it until you are better acquainted with the whole foods diet and its effects on your system.  Once you’re ready to eat bread again, explore and enjoy all the amazing things you can do with it.

Pasta -

The case for pasta is almost identical to the case for bread: it is a product of highly refined grain.  The biggest difference, however, is it GI value.  Because the flour in pasta has been so densely packed, it actually takes your body more effort to digest it than bread.  This results in a nice, long release of energy throughout the day.  Again, pasta is a staple of many long-enduring cultures, and should not be dismissed because it technically isn’t a whole food.  Be sure that what you put on your pasta is high-quality, filling, and home-made; you won’t go wrong.

Frozen fruits and vegetables -

If it comes wrapped in plastic, don’t buy it, right?  If canned fruits and vegetables are a no-no, why aren’t frozen fruits and veggies?  The difference lies in the nutrition.  When produce is canned, it ends up very low on the nutritional totem pole.  When you taste, for example, canned carrots, they are soft and soggy.  The nutrients have been cooked out of them.  Frozen produce, on the other hand, has undergone some chopping, yes, but is otherwise close to its original in nutritional density.  Obviously, fresh produce is preferable to frozen, but if you must substitute, don’t worry about it sabotaging your goals.

100% Fruit Juice -

The pulp is still there, isn’t it?  It’s a whole food, technically, right?  Keep in mind that most juice is filtered, leaving only a little pulp.  Also keep in mind that juicing is a form of processing that dramatically raises the GI value of fruit.  If you can’t live without fruit juice, use it as an ingredient, or drink it sparingly, or dilute it with water.

Dried Fruit -

Unless you’re eating raisins, a lot of dried fruit has sugar added to it. Cranberries, for instance, are too bitter without it.  Dehydration is a form of processing, and there are acceptable and less-acceptable ways of dehydrating fruit.  High temperatures blast nutrients from food; lower temperatures retain the nutrients and also food enzymes.  But it is virtually impossible to know how your dried fruit was processed.  Frankly, dried fruit, being the closest thing to “whole food candy,” should be reserved for special occasions and not heavily incorporated into your diet.

Honey and Maple Syrup -

Aren’t these sugars?  Yes.  The difference: they still resemble their natural form, mostly.  Use these additives sparingly, and try to buy them as raw and unfiltered as possible.

Rice Milk -

If you’re lactose intolerant and you want milk, this would seem to be a nice alternative.  It’s still a processed food, no matter how you look at it.  But, rice milk is relatively easy to make.  You’re better off making it yourself.  Chances are, your whole foods diet doesn’t call for very much milk, since you’re not eating breakfast cereal.

Skim and Non-Fat Milk

With all the hype around having a low-fat diet, you might think that it’s okay to cut a corner here, and avoid the more fattening whole milk.  Milk, first of all, has come a long way.  It’s almost always pasteurized and homogenized–it is processed, but not to such an extent that is has to be avoided.  Whole milk provides very filling saturated fat, and is a more balanced drink (fat, carbohydrates, and protein all in one drink!) than non-fat and skim.

But why can’t you drink skim?  Cream is derived from milk, cheese as well.  How far down the chain of dairy processing do we go without being complete hypocrites for not allowing non-fat and skim milk?  Not far at all.  This is a personal choice.  I will, however, repeat that whole milk is a more balanced drink.

Soy milk –

It’s supposed to be good for you, right?  It’s a very popular alternative to milk.  Just like rice milk, right?  Not really.  First, soy milk requires a more labor-intensive processes than rice milk.  Second, almost all soy beans grown in the United States are genetically modified (which raises brand new issues that cannot be addressed here).  Third, it is far less gentle on the digestive track than rice milk.  Finally, soy has a high concentration of phyto-estrogen (plant estrogen).  Phyto-estrogen looks like regular estrogen (to your body) and can tends to cause hormonal abnormalities.  Soy milk is a new creation, and best avoided.

by demogirl06 on April 29, 2010  •  Permalink
Posted in Nutrition
Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted by demogirl06 on April 29, 2010

http://mariamaestevens.com/2010/04/29/allowances-in-the-whole-foods-diet-the-case-for-and-against-certain-foods/

Making A Transition To The Whole Foods Diet

by Maria Stevens, April 2010

“SAD” is the perfect acronym for that which it represents: the Standard American Diet.  It is indeed sad.  Sadder still is that this generation of young people is the first generation predicted not to outlive their parents.  The primary cause: malnutrition.

Malnutrition?  No, that doesn’t mean starvation.  Not at all.  It simply means poor or inadequate nutrition, and nutrition goes beyond mere calories.  The SAD diet provides an excess of calories and often a deficit of micronutrients.

Okay, so you want to transition to the whole foods diet?  You think, “Okay, if the SAD diet is so bad, the whole foods diet should be a colorful, delicious, welcome change that will fill me to the brim with densely nutritious food and energy.”

Wrong. At least, at first.

Here’s the deal.  If you have been eating in such a fashion as to call a move to the whole foods diet a “transition,” chances are, it will be an uphill battle.  You’re used to eating a certain way, to eating certain foods, to pre-digested food, to convenience, to taste, to salt, to portion sizes big and small, to everything conferred by the SAD diet that just doesn’t come with the whole foods diet.

The whole foods diet, to you, is probably boring if you don’t know how to prepare your own food.  Certainly, a good old-fashioned home-cooked meal is just about the best thing ever–but so few people these days know how to prepare such a meal.  So they skip steps.  They don’t make their own tomato sauce; they simple buy it ready-made from a jar.  They haven’t a clue on how to make their own soup; so they heat it up from a can.  If you are inexperienced in the kitchen, the transition to the whole foods diet will be arduous and you will likely end up eating the same few foods again and again.

It isn’t easy to learn to cook.  It’s a process of trial and error.  It is also time-consuming, and who has the time?  These protestations, in part, are why the SAD diet has proliferated; breakfast in a can, because “Who has the time–and it tastes better than anything I could make in a rush.”

Worse yet, you’re probably “hooked” on the SAD diet.  More and more research is going into the subject of food addiction, and how certain foods, namely sugar, have a drug-like effect on the brain.  Why is it that women frequently use pints of ice cream to cope with their feelings?  Why do we get intense food cravings in general?  And why, oh why, when you transition to a whole foods diet, does it feel like your withdrawing from a drug addiction?

Exaggerating?  Not at all.  Sugar is everywhere, it’s in almost everything, and sugar has a strong impact on both brain chemistry and hormones (which are powerful things themselves).  If you don’t believe me, give it up for one week.  Really.  Don’t eat anything that has sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, dextrose, and the like added to it.  Be sure to check the ingredient list of everything, from mayonnaise to ketchup to your “healthy” breakfast cereal.  It’s in there.  Trust me.  If you can give up for a week, then you’re ready to transition to the whole foods diet.

So if your ready, here it is–how to make the transition:

Step one: slow down your life. Nothing is so important that it should detract from nutrition and sleep, the two fundamentals of healthy living.  If don’t have the time to commit to preparing your own food, then you will lose your enthusiasm for the diet after eating the same fall-back foods day in and day out.

Step two: make it public. You’ll be surprised how much social pressure will befall you within days of your transition.  This is a food-based culture.  Every social event seems to revolve around food: lunch dates, parties, events, church… they all offer food, and you’ll find that most of that food is processed.  So when someone asks at your book club meeting why you’re only eating the carrot sticks, it would make sense to explain that you’re trying the whole food diet.  But be prudent.  Food talk gets more personal than politics; food is a personal choice, several times a day, and it literally shapes who you are.

Step three: stock your kitchen. Once you are no longer reliant on all the added flavors, salt, and sugar in your foods, you’re in for an unpleasant surprise: bland food.  At least at first.  The truth is, your tongue has been bombarded with imput and has what you can consider to be a “tolerance” for additives.  Cutting this out abruptly makes your food taste boring.  (Don’t worry.  The tongue takes as little as a few days to adapt to new foods and will find the natural sweetness of your whole foods–later, if you dapple in the SAD diet, you’ll be surprised by how salty and uber-sweet all those foods you were eating actually were!)  In the meantime, make an investment in your kitchen.  Buy high quality–preferably in-season and organic–fruits, vegetables, oils, spices, seasonings, nuts, grains, and other ingredients.  It’s a big investment, but not bigger than say, wasting money on powders and supplements.

Step four: plan ahead. Know in advance what you’re going to make, or at least have an idea.  Jump online and search dinner recipes that include ingredients you already have in your refrigerator.  The more thought and attention you put into your meal, the more satisfying it will be.  Foods that are thrown together in a hurry tend to be eaten absently, standing, or on-the-go.  Also, remember that we’re creatures of habit; when you find a meal or type of cuisine you really like to eat, and it works for you, stick with it; get more adept at making it, learn to put variations into it, and learn how to make substitutions when necessary.  The more practised you become, the more flexible, and hence, more creative.

Step five: allow yourself to cheat. Wait.  Really?  Absolutely, but keep it within limits, for example, you might allow yourself up to 300 calories of “processed food” up to three times per week.  First, it is very difficult to quit the SAD diet cold turkey, and these “cheating sessions” should be considered a tool for weaning.  Second, the SAD diet is such a pervasive part of our culture, you will risk social exclusion if you do not allow yourself to eat SAD foods on occasion.  Finally, everything is okay in moderation.  Make sure you make a mental note of how SAD food affects you each time you eat it.  You will learn over time which foods you can pass up, and which foods are really worth it.

by demogirl06 on April 28, 2010  •  Permalink
Posted in Nutrition
Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted by demogirl06 on April 28, 2010

http://mariamaestevens.com/2010/04/28/making-a-transition-to-the-whole-foods-diet/

Shopping Guide To The Whole Foods Diet

Shopping Guide To The Whole Foods Diet

“If I didn’t make it myself, I can’t eat it.” — Jane Perneel

RED LIGHT!

Most things found in the center aisles of the supermarket…

Anything that contains ingredients a third-grader couldn’t pronounce.

Anything bearing an ingredient list that takes longer than five seconds to read out loud.

Anything with added sugar, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, dextrose, maltose, and all the other fancy-“ose” words for “sweetener”.

Anything that might be considered “junk food.”

Anything that you could have made yourself, (i.e. canned soup)

Things that have been de-natured (i.e. skim milk, canned vegetables)

Things don’t resemble their original ingredients in any way (corn flakes, white bread, pancake “syrup”)

Canned vegetables, canned soup, breakfast cereal, breakfast bars, potato chips, candy, soda, microwave dinners, jelly, cakes, quick stove-top dinners, frozen casseroles, sweetened beverages, sweetened yogurt, juice from concentrate, condiments, etc.

ORANGE LIGHT…

Foods that are important in one’s traditional diet that cannot be easily produced in the home…

Miso, rice milk, white rice, pita bread, tortillas, matza crackers, pasta (whole grain), alcoholic beverages, pickles (unsweetened), canned fish, canned beans (unsweetended), etc.

GREEN LIGHT!!!

Foods that are in their whole form and resemble what can be found in nature…

Foods that have withstood the test of time (have persisted in traditional diets for millennia), but are probably not easy to produce in the home (butter, whole grain bread, olive oil, etc.)

Foods that have been milled, but otherwise untouched (i.e., whole grains, legumes, etc.).

Foods that have been dried, but not sweetened (dried fruit, cured meat)

Spices and seasonings.

All fresh fruits and vegetables, cheese (not cheese “product”), whole milk (not low fat), olive oil, butter, coconut butter, cream, yogurt, eggs, meat, poultry, fish, legumes, whole grain pasta, nut butters, honey, maple syrup, rolled grains (like oats), spices and seasonings, etc.

by demogirl06 on April 28, 2010  •  Permalink
Posted in Nutrition
Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted by demogirl06 on April 28, 2010

http://mariamaestevens.com/2010/04/28/shopping-guide-to-the-whole-foods-diet/

Balance, Stability, & Proprioception

by Maria Stevens, April 2009

>>>>>

Balance – a state of bodily equilibrium

Stability – firmness in position

Proprioception – The unconscious perception of movement and spatial orientation arising from stimuli within the body itself

These three things cannot be trained seperately. Balance is important because it allows for harmony within the body, and between individual muscles. Injuries generally are caused from either overuse, or imbalance. Muscular imbalance is a problem for most athletes, who overtrain the muscle groups most important for their performance. This places an unbalanced load on the body.

Stability… don’t fall over. More importantly, it means that you are solid. Core stability is crucial because it is the central link in your bodily chain. During a squat thruster, for instance, you drive with the legs, then press the weight over your head with the arms. But the core had to activate in order to do this–to pass that weight over a threshold from legs to arms. Everything is core training! Stability has more to do with your core than anything else. Core is everything between the bottom of your butt and your sternum. Stability lies in that region. It also turns out to be the biggest region of the human body.

Proprioception… in laymans terms, is the body’s ability to anticipate change. Your muscles learn to fire in anticipation of each other’s movements, to that stability can be corrected before it is lost. (When you drink too much alcohol, your body loses its proprioception. The muscles get stupid.)

Training balance, stability, and proprioception burns calories and challenges muscles in a completely new way.  For example, as you attempt to train a large muscle group on an unsteady platform, you find that other smaller muscles begin to tremble in an effort to keep you stable.  These smaller muscles are demanding a large percentage of your body’s available energy; the resulting effort is greater than simply lifting a heavy weight, thereby burning for mare calories. Think about it. Things that require you to change direction require the most energy. In balancing exercises, you are changing direction (trembling) at a high frequency.

by demogirl06 on April 26, 2010  •  Permalink
Posted in Exercise Physiology
Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted by demogirl06 on April 26, 2010

http://mariamaestevens.com/2010/04/26/balance-stability-proprioception/

11 Ways To Boost Metabolism

by Maria Stevens, April 2019

>>>>

METABOLISM – (simple definition) the rate at which your body burns/utilizes energy.

About 70% of a human’s total energy expenditure is due to the basal life processes within the organs of the body. About 20% of one’s energy expenditure comes from day-to-day physical activity and another 10% (rough estimate based on average thermic effect) from digestion of food.

Tips on how to boost it:

  1. Exercise – OBVIOUSLY. But more importantly, building MUSCLE. Muscle burns three times the energy as fat to maintain itself. Muscle gets hungry. As you build more muscle, you will be allowed to eat more.
  2. Frequency of eating – Digestion demands a significant amount of energy. This is why you often feel tired after eating—especially after eating a lot. Each time you put food into your stomach, your body has to shift direction, send blood to the stomach, and process food. The more often you eat, (in theory) the more energy gets burned.
  3. Type of food you are eating – Not all calories are created equal. Each food has a thermic effect. On average, 10% of the calories you eat go to fueling digestive processes, but this is a very rough estimate. Protein takes up to 30% to digest. Fat, as little as 2-3% (and let’s not forget that a gram of fat has twice the amount of calories)! This is why we are told to avoid calories from fat. Fat is the easiest thing for the body to break down (this is why the low heart rate “fat burning” training sessions can be sustained for hours and hours). Simple carbohydrates are quick to digest; complex carbs are not—they require a multi-step digestive endeavor for the body. So, make sure to eat plenty of complex carbs not JUST because they sustain levels of energy, but also because they BURN more energy to digest. Obviously, protein is the most ideal for this thermic effect (yes, the Atkins diet gets results fat), but too much protein, especially from animal sources, is not worth the associated impacts on your health (the Atkins diet is bad bad for your health).
  4. Have a stable blood sugar level – We know that the pancreas creates insulin, which is a hormone whose job it is to push sugar from the blood and into the cells (where it is used for energy). Refined grains and simple sugars, because of the speed at which they are digested, jack up the blood sugar so fast that the pancreas gets shocked into working overtime—in order to produce enough insulin to handle that sugar load. Also, that surge of insulin tells your body that there is (obviously) plenty (surplus) of energy present in the body, and so the body should stop burning fat and start storing it. However, the even greater concern is that the insulin surge causes too much blood sugar to be transported out of your blood (because the pancreas freaked out about the excessive sugar load, and responded with excessive insulin), and this results in your blood sugar dropping below normal AGAIN! That leaves you feeling tired and hungry, wanting to eat again to restore to dipped blood sugar level. When blood sugar is low, the body sends a message to eat. The more stable the blood sugar, the less pre-occupied you will be with food.
  5. Do not skip meals or calorie-restrict – This might start sounding redundant, as these issues all tie into each other, but it is another possible pit-fall. When you skip a meal, your metabolism slows down to conserve energy; when you lose weight too quickly for a few days, your body thinks it is threatened with starvation and goes into survival mode. It fights to conserve your fat stores, and any weight loss comes mostly from water and muscle. If your body loses weight in muscle (the most metabolic tissue that enables you to eat more and boosts your metabolism), then it FURTHER slows the metabolism! So, Eating frequently prevents hunger pangs and the binges that follow, provides consistent energy, and may be the single most effective way to maintain metabolism efficiency.
  6. Exercise in the morning – metabolism will run at a higher rate after a workout. You have more waking hours after your training session in the morning (say 12?) to enjoy this higher rate, vs. the waking hours you have in an evening session (say 6?). You simply get a greater return.
  7. Water, water, water!! – Water helps the body metabolize fat. Water makes up 70 to 80% of your blood and brain, so it’s essential to good health. And drink cold water. First, cold water is more quickly absorbed to assist your body. But second, and more importantly, your body is 98.6 degrees, and cold water is definitely not. In order to maintain your regular, optimal functioning temperature, your body will burn energy to heat that water up. Also, thirst is often mistaken for hunger.
  8. Be cold – Shivering burns a lot of energy. All your muscles are contracting simultaneously! The body has to build a fire (burn calories–”firewood”) to keep you warm.
  9. Spicy food – Spices like chili are thought to raise metabolism by up to 50 percent for up to three hours after eating. Even if it isn’t that much, spicy food will slow down consumption of that meal, better enabling your body to receive the signal that it is full before you go for another helping.
  10. Green tea – boosts the metabolism, if only marginally. Everybody says so.
  11. Move more – tiny changes in behavior add up to big shifts. Park at the far end of the parking lot and walk to the store. Never ever use an escalator again, but take the adjacent stairs. Allow yourself to take more trips in and out of rooms if you are clearing, let’s say, the dinner table.

Taken singly, you might not notice an effect.  As you work to make each of these strategies long-term habits, you’ll see a major impact in how your body burns and stores its energy.

by demogirl06 on April 26, 2010  •  Permalink
Posted in Fitness & Lifestyle
Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted by demogirl06 on April 26, 2010

http://mariamaestevens.com/2010/04/26/11-ways-to-boost-metabolism/

« Older Posts
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 48 other followers