FitSugar

Nutrition Questions Answered

FitSugar — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 14:30:00 PDT

March is National Nutrition Month (here are some quizzes to test your nutritional knowledge) and since the month is about to go "out like a lamb" I thought a short interview with a nutritionist would be a great way to end our celebration of the month.

I met with nutritionist Rania Batayneh, MPH, of Essential Nutrition For You. I had a lot of questions for her and she in turn had some really great answers. So informative, in fact that I wanted to share them with you. Here is a bit of the interview for you to read. You are sure to learn a thing or two from it - I sure did.

FitSugar: Is it important to eat protein at breakfast?

Rania: I always recommend that my clients have a balance of protein and carbohydrate at every meal. You can incorporate protein into your breakfast by eating a ½ cup of non-fat plain yogurt or cottage cheese with fruit. Other ideas include a veggie omelet with 1 whole egg and 2 egg whites and 1 slice of toast. If you are more the cereal or granola type, you will get protein in your milk, or you can try it with ½ cup of cottage cheese which will give you 14 grams of protein.

FitSugar:I have heard that it is good to avoid carbs at night…is that true and why?

Rania: Our bodies use carbohydrates during the day to fuel our brain and muscle. At night we are less active, so that means that we do not need that “immediate energy” that comes along with carbohydrates. Now, realize that vegetables are carbohydrates but they are not the starchy variety that you want to eliminate. Enjoy veggies and a protein source at night.

By limiting your carbohydrates at night, your body will actually be burning fat at night- thus allowing you to become naturally leaner and feel less bloated in the morning.

There are a couple of more questions, so

read more FitSugar: What do you think of fasting as a means to detox your body? Are there foods you recommend for detoxing the liver, and/or kidneys? Rania: I am not an advocate of “detox” diets or fads that exist out there. What most of us do not know is that the body naturally detoxifies itself through our lungs (think….breathing), sweating, and through the liver and kidneys (always check to see that your urine is not too bright yellow- a sure sign that you are dehydrated). For optimal “detoxing” make sure that you are hydrating daily, eating at least 25 grams of fiber/day to keep you regular and limit your consumption of packaged and processed foods. Think fresh is best and natural. FitSugar: Do you have a supplement you recommend? Rania: In all of my years as a Nutritionist I have never recommended a supplement until now- MONAVIE- you can learn more about it on my website at www.essentialnutritionforyou.com. I have been using if for 3 months now and what I notice most is a boost in my energy, my skin looks better ( I don’t’ need to use my Retin-A every night) and best of all, my sugar cravings are down. I used to be a dark-chocolate chip kind of girl and now I go anywhere from 4-8 days without it. I enjoy using this product and I believe that prevention is the key to living well. Check out Rania in action on MSNBC - gives her interpretation on the recent study claiming that diet soda is making Americans fat.

Eating Tips For Weight Loss and Clear Skin

Zelana Montminy — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 11:25:09 PST

Snacking? Protein? Sugar substitutes? With so many questions about food, we turned to our friends and registered dieticians Stephanie Clarke and Willow Jarosh of C&J Nutrition for some tips and tricks. Watch and learn how to eat not only for weight loss, but for your skin, too.

Ask the Diet Doctor: Should I Count Calories or Carbs?

Shape — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 04:22:25 PDT

We are excited to share one of our fave stories from Shape here on FitSugar. This week Shape turns to nutritional consultant Mike Roussell, PhD, for some help!

Q: When trying to lose weight, is it more important to count calories or carbohydrates?

A: If you had to pick one, I’d pick reducing and controlling carbohydrates. Focusing on carbohydrates instead of calories is preferred because when you restrict carbohydrates in your diet, you will eat fewer calories overall.

Back in 2006, a group of researchers sat down to answer the ubiquitous question - what works better: a low-carbohydrate diet or a traditional calorie-restricted, low-fat diet? They found five tightly-controlled studies that met their criteria for comparing low carbohydrate to low-fat. The collective findings from these studies brought two very interesting things to light.

Keep reading to see if a low-carb diet is the way to go

5 Questions Vegetarians Should Ask Themselves

Jenny Sugar — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 02:32:24 PDT

I've never met a vegetarian (myself included) who hasn't been asked a hundred times, "Are you getting enough protein?" But this isn't the only thing vegetarians need to watch out for. Avoiding meat means you need to pay special attention to your diet to make sure you're getting other essential nutrients as well. You also need to be careful about overdoing it with meat alternatives and dairy products, since this may prompt other health issues. If you don't eat beef, poultry, or fish, ask yourself these five questions.

Am I getting enough protein? There's no black and white number that's right for everyone since your protein intake depends on body weight and activity level; the number ranges between 40 and 90 grams. Check out this handy chart showing how much protein you need each day. Good sources of vegetarian protein include beans, soy products like tofu and soy milk, nuts, and whole grains.
Does my diet offer enough vitamin B12? Women need 2.4 micrograms of vitamin B12 each day, and since it's found in animal products, be sure you eat enough milk, cheese, yogurt, and eggs if you're a lacto-ovo-vegetarian. Vitamin B12 is also found in nutritional yeast, so sprinkle some on your popcorn or make this Vegan Mac and Cheese.

Continue reading for three more questions vegetarians should ask themselves.

DrSugar Answers: Caffeine, Coffee, and Diuretics

FitSugar — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 13:32:45 PDT

DrSugar is in the house! To celebrate National Coffee Day, she's answering an age-old question about how your cup of java affects your day.

DrSugar,
I am confused about coffee. I remember reading somewhere that coffee is only a mild diuretic and doesn't contribute to dehydration. But after I drink a cup of coffee or an espresso drink, my mouth feels dry and I need to pee more frequently. So I am hoping you can clarify this. Is coffee a diuretic? And how exactly do diuretics work? Is coffee dehydrating, or is it the caffeine?
- Confused Coffee Lover

Don't worry, you are not the only one out there confused about coffee! For years, medical experts had been saying that the caffeine in coffee acts as a potent diuretic, which leads to excessive urination resulting in dehydration. But, like you mentioned in your question, recent research has been published on this topic and the results appear to contradict the prior notion about coffee. Most studies have shown that in moderate amounts, the caffeine in coffee only has mild diuretic effects and does not lead to dehydration. To learn why, keep reading.

Straight From the Mouth of a Zumba Instructor: Tips For Class Newbies

Jenny Sugar — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 01:02:39 PDT

Want to know why Zumba is all the rage? Or are you already hooked on Zumba and want to know what it takes to teach a class? Our interview with Michele Schmidt, a certified Zumba instructor, answers all of your burning questions.

FitSugar: What is Zumba?
Michele Schmidt: Zumba is a fusion of Latin and international music combined with a heart-pumping cardio workout that's easy to follow and fun to do. It was founded in the '90s by Alberto "Beto" Perez, a fitness instructor from Columbia, when he forgot his music and improvised a traditional aerobics class with Latin music and moves that he grew up dancing to.

FS: What makes it such a great workout? Will it help a person lose weight?
MS: Zumba is an intense cardio workout, so it can help a person lose weight! Typically an hour long, classes include interval training and strengthening movements (like squats and lunges) to maximize your calorie and fat burn, as well as to improve overall body tone. Proper diet and nutrition is also an important part of any weight loss program - many Zumba teachers have said that "you can't out dance a bad diet!"

Learn beginner tips for your first Zumba class and how to become a Zumba instructor after the break!

Dietitians Dish: Bloating Foods

Guest Writer — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 11:00:49 PDT

The following post was written by the registered dietitians of C & J Nutrition, Stephanie Clarke and Willow Jarosh. We turned to them for their expert advice to answer a FitSugar reader's question.

Hi,
I am dealing with some serious bloating issues and it isn't pretty - especially since it's Summer and I plan to hang out in a bikini as much as possible. Can you tell me what foods cause bloating that I should be avoiding? Also, are there any foods out there that alleviate bloating? Thanks!
- Puffy Tummy

When dealing with bloating you need to approach the problems from a couple of different angles to find the source of the problems and figure out what is causing the bloating. A common cause we see with our clients is eating too much, too fast. The remedy for this is to slow down and be more conscious both before and during eating. Don't let yourself get famished between meals - because then you'll want to eat a ton of the first thing you see, quickly. Have a snack in between meals so that you're hungry but still able to make wise portion decisions and slow down at meals. In other words, try eating smaller amounts more often.

If your bloating is PMS-related, skip sodas/carbonated water/etc., as the same bubbles that give carbonated drinks their fizz can enter our digestive tract and cause bloating. Also go easy on salty foods/snacks - too much salt causes our bodies to hold onto water, leading to that puffy feeling of fluid retention. Finally, don't skimp on protein and your meals and snacks. Protein can actually help pull excess water out of your body (especially handy during water-retention prone PMS time).

Keep reading for a few more tips and foods to avoid.

Must-Do Moves For Summer

Sponsor — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 03:00:00 PDT

This sponsored post was written by Olympic skater Kristi Yamaguchi.

As a professional athlete, keeping my body in tip-top shape was my number one priority. Now that I’m a mother, my number one priority is making sure my kids are happy and healthy, which means my fitness routine can sometimes take a backseat. In fact, before my time on Dancing With the Stars, I hadn’t been in a gym in almost three years. That experience rekindled my love of fitness and inspired me to look for more ways to fit exercise into my life. With summer travel season just around the corner, it’s even more important that I get my body in shape without sacrificing time spent with my family on vacation.

I’ve found that an exercise DVD can be just the ticket, which is why I created Kristi Yamaguchi: Power Workout. It is an easy way to get a quick workout in while my daughters are off playing. Here are a few of my favorite moves to get your muscles moving and heart pumping:

Grapevine Step-Touch

An easy move to warm up!

Start with your feet together and move your right foot one step to the right. Step your left foot behind your right foot, then step your right foot to the right one more time. Bring your left foot together with your right foot, then step your left foot once to the left, and bring your right foot together. Repeat from the beginning with the opposite foot. Got it?

That’s not all! Keep reading for some more must-do moves..

DrSugar Discusses Mommyrexia

DrSugar — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:38:53 PDT

DrSugar is in the house! This week she's discussing mommyrexia and the implications of eating disorders during and after pregnancy.

I recently read an article from the New York Post on "mommyrexia," a phenomenon garnering a lot of public attention recently. Mommyrexia describes pregnant women obsessed with staying skinny during pregnancy and then doing whatever they can to get back, as quickly as possible, to their prepregnancy weight/size after delivery. According to the article, these women count calories, exercise excessively while pregnant, and sometimes even forgo breastfeeding after delivery to free their schedules for tons of personal training and exercise. Society today is so obsessed with celebrities and body image, and in my opinion, is placing unwarranted pressure on women to maintain their slim physique during pregnancy, like Victoria Beckham and Rachel Zoe, and to be bikini-ready three weeks after delivery like Bethenny Frankel. As if there isn’t already enough pressure on the general population to be ridiculously skinny, this pressure now extends to the sacred time of pregnancy?

I feel compelled to write about eating disorders and their potential implications in pregnant women. However, I must add that there is a large spectrum of what can be considered normal regarding weight gain and activity during pregnancy. Every woman is different and will gain differing amounts of weight. Both activity and weight gain in pregnant women depend on multiple factors and should be determined on a case-by-case basis between a woman and her OB-GYN. By no means am I here to judge anyone on how they behave during their pregnancy. The purpose of this week's DrSugar column is to provide information on how eating disorders can affect pregnancy. To learn more, keep reading.

Ask the Diet Doctor: The Best Post-Workout Snack

Shape — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 04:11:23 PDT

We are excited to share one of our fave stories from Shape here on FitSugar. This week Shape turns to nutritional consultant Mike Roussell, PhD, for some help!

Q: I'm starving after my workout! What can I do to stop that or to avoid canceling out the calories I just burned?

-Regina, Facebook

A: It may seem a little counterintuitive, but immediately after your workout is the best time of day to eat, so even if you're not starving, you should still eat something.

The good news is that you can't cancel out the calories you just burned during your workout. Weight loss and the human body don't work like that. When you're working out, your body burns fat to be used as energy. If you eat right after your workout, those calories won't be used to replace the burned body fat. Your body only stores food as body fat when it doesn’t have anything else to do with the extra calories you eat. After your workout, your body needs to start restoring and repairing itself from your training session. In other words, it needs calories.

The calories you eat after your workout will be used to replace energy stores in your muscles that got used up during your training session. Your body also uses any protein you eat to build and repair your muscles that were broken down as a result of you pushing them to their limits.

Eating immediately after you finish a workout is beneficial for many reasons. Your body will automatically use the calories you eat for good (repair and recovery) and not bad (fat storage). In fact, research shows that your body's ability to refill muscle energy stores decreases by 50 percent if you wait to eat just two hours after your workout compared to eating right away. Eating after your workout may also increase your body’s insulin sensitivity or its ability to use carbohydrates - an important factor for weight loss and health for the following 24 hours.

Find out which foods you should eat post-workout after the break!