diets - Keyboard Athletes

Food: Key #9 to Summiting Kilimanjaro

I have the misfortune of being extremely food-friendly.

I love to eat just about anything. I can’t eat gluten, and soy and I don’t do well either, but I assure you if I could eat them, I would.

4,000-9,000 calories per day

Turns out, my love of food suited me quite well on Kilimanjaro. I have no idea how many calories I did burn per day, but estimates range from 4,000-9,000 per day burned on the climb. All I know was that it was pretty awesome, being able to eat as much food as I wanted and not have to worry about it. That will never, ever happen again in my life!

Food intolerances

I was pretty worried about the food before I got there. Being gluten-free can be a huge pain in the butt in the States sometimes, and I knew they like to serve plenty of carbs on Kilimanjaro for energy. I had visions of these plates of pasta being served to the rest of my group, and me trying to subsist on my Perfect Foods Bars. Those bars are like crack to me, but trying to subsist on them could prove to be a different story.

Fortunately, Tusker Trails was amazing. They ensured that everything I ate was gluten-free.

I had brought all sorts of digestive aids and supplements just in case, but by the fourth day I said to myself, “OK, they aren’t going to poison me” and stopped taking them. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Lifestyle

Childhood diet and future health

By Jen Waak Leave a Comment

Still on my nutrition kick….

Knowing just how bad my diet was in my childhood, this article definitely caught my eye.

A University of Calgary study of rats found that different diets fed to the rats as youth impacted how their bodies processed food as mature mice.

“There’s a growing body of work that indicates a relationship between our health as adults and our early diet, and even our mother’s diet. This research shows for the first time that our early childhood diet may have a huge impact on our health as adults.”

This is interesting to me for a couple of reasons.

I grew up in a rural middle-class household where frozen foods and carbs were our primary staples with little fresh produce. My parents did the best they could, but it was the reality of our situation.
I guess I’ve taken the SAID principle pretty literally, and assumed that a clean diet today can hide the sins of old. Turns out that that may not be the case. I do recognize that eating clean now is better than poor eating in terms of overall longevity, so I’m not saying there is no point. Perhaps I just need to take a more holistic approach and realize that we really are a summation of EVERYTHING in the past, and while good reps will ultimately outnumber bad reps, the bad reps still count for something.

I don’t have any children of my own, but this post makes me doubly-glad to see that my brother and sister-in-law are raising my niece eating lots of fresh produce and veggies.

Filed Under: Healthy Eating

Diet more important than activity levels

By Jen Waak Leave a Comment

Conventional wisdom states that diet and exercise are the key to weight loss – you either need to lower calories or increase exercise to lose weight. Long ago I did the math, and quickly concluded that I’d rather eat less than train longer – just seemed to be the more efficient route. As kettlebell instructor David Whitley likes to say, “you can’t out-snatch a donut”.

This study from Loyola University found there was no association between weight gain and calories burned during physical activity. It is just simply too hard to exercise enough to really make a difference.

That having been said, there are a million other reasons why regular exercise is a great idea, from better sleep to improved memory and brain function, to reducing the likelihood of chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and various cancers. You aren’t as likely to develop osteoporsis and significantly more likely to age gracefully and avoid assisted living situations. But, if you are planning on treadmilling yourself thin, you might want to think again.

Filed Under: Weight Loss

Low-carb diet and diabetes

By Jen Waak Leave a Comment

The results of this study actually somewhat surprised me – there seemed to be quite a bit of decent research about the benefits of a low carb diet and a logical correlation between that and diabetes. I guess I never thought to compare these two together, however.

To sum it up where it REALLY counts, diabetes medications were reduced or eliminated in 95.2% of low-carb dieters vs. 62% of Low GI dieters. WOW!

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Dietary carbohydrate is the major determinant of postprandial glucose levels, and several clinical studies have shown that low-carbohydrate diets improve glycemic control. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that a diet lower in carbohydrate would lead to greater improvement in glycemic control over a 24-week period in patients with obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Research design and methods: Eighty-four community volunteers with obesity and type 2 diabetes were randomized to either a low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diet (<20 g of carbohydrate daily; LCKD) or a low-glycemic, reduced-calorie diet (500 kcal/day deficit from weight maintenance diet; LGID). Both groups received group meetings, nutritional supplementation, and an exercise recommendation. The main outcome was glycemic control, measured by hemoglobin A1c.

RESULTS: Forty-nine (58.3%) participants completed the study. Both interventions led to improvements in hemoglobin A1c, fasting glucose, fasting insulin, and weight loss. The LCKD group had greater improvements in hemoglobin A1c (-1.5% vs. -0.5%, p=0.03), body weight (-11.1 kg vs. -6.9 kg, p=0.008), and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (+5.6 mg/dL vs. 0 mg/dL, p<0.001) compared to the LGID group. Diabetes medications were reduced or eliminated in 95.2% of LCKD vs. 62% of LGID participants (p<0.01).

CONCLUSIONS: Dietary modification led to improvements in glycemic control and medication reduction/elimination in motivated volunteers with type 2 diabetes. The diet lower in carbohydrate led to greater improvements in glycemic control, and more frequent medication reduction/elimination than the low glycemic index diet. Lifestyle modification using low carbohydrate interventions is effective for improving and reversing type 2 diabetes.

Image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/veganfeast/ / CC BY 2.0

Filed Under: Healthy Eating

The perimeter of your grocery store

By Jen Waak Leave a Comment

We all have heard that for healthy eating we should stick to the perimeter of the grocery store. Produce, meat, diary, veggies. Boxes = bad, fresh = good – is the general idea. I know that I have tried it and thought, “This is really expensive. Can it be worth it?”

The January issue of Wired magazine has a fantastic infographic that outlines the cost per calorie, calorie per weight, and sugar per weight. You know what, that old advice turns out to be the best. To get the most volume for the least sugar and the least calories you do need to avoid the aisles and stay around the perimeter.

These healthy eating habits will cost you more in the short-term, but the long-term reward is reduced likelihood of a chronic condition such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. Oh, and you’ll live longer, too!

InfoGraphic