About a year ago I happened across an Oprah Winfrey special feature where she was doing an interview about her struggles with weight over the past few decades.
It was a very personal discussion and I was profoundly impressed with the topic and how honest Oprah was being about this very sensitive topic. I can’t remember all of what was said in that hour but what I do remember thinking was how could this incredible person with all the resources anyone could imagine having at their disposal did she still struggle with her weight?
It wasn’t until I started the Health Matters site that I decided to try and find out more.
After doing some reading myself I realized much of what we have to deal with in regards to weight gain has to do with the food we consume and so I asked Melanie Lamprecht to put together this series of articles about what exactly is going on with the food we consume every day.
In fact it is because of this information that I decided to focus this site on natural nutrition and health. In everything we do here we aim to provide our readers with the information to make the right choices when it comes to your health and the health of your loved ones. – Emil
Melanie Lamprecht is a personal trainer who works with clients in Perth, Western Australia and this is her insight into:
The 4 Crucial Things We Need to Know About Food:
Under normal conditions, you could tell a person that they are not losing weight because of their lack of exercise or eating habits.
Unfortunately, nowadays, we are dealing with a lot more than we can chew off! There are hidden facts about modern food and the health problems that it can cause. We need to know the truth about what is happening to our traditional food, this old-fashioned food that used to promote effective digestion and absorption and provide enough nutrients for our bodies but that now – just – does not cut it!
There are so many new-fangled diets and so much inaccurate information that people are being misled into; this is causing detrimental effects and to everyone’s surprise weight GAIN instead of weight LOSS!
Wouldn’t it make a world of difference to have the knowledge in order to choose wise food and prepare it so that we can increase its nutritional value?
To begin this e-course on what you need to know about food, we will focus on the importance of modern food processing and the ugly truth about what it is actually doing to your body. Then we will jump right into the consumption of sweeteners in the form of high-fructose corn syrup and explain why it is contributing to the rise in obesity.
Along with that comes the consumption of saturated fat and its changes in modern world. Lastly, we will look at caloric imbalance, what the average calorie intake for an individual is and how we can curb that extra weight gain by controlling our caloric intake.
The Ugly Truth: Modern Food Processes Causing Obesity
One of the biggest challenges that all of us face in today’s society is the need to eat the modern food that we are supplied with. Some of you have eliminated all the reasons as to why you could be gaining weight and you are still not satisfied, now take a look at modern food and how it is processed.
Manufacturers use various processed techniques on modern food in order to produce goods at low cost and in a bulk form so that they can have a longer shelf life. The first dangerous and common technique is called Hydrogenation. Hydrogenation is a process that alters polyunsaturated fats (which include essential fatty acids such as omega3 and omega6) into fats that are solid at room temperature. These fats are usually liquid at room temperature. By changing these oils into this state, important physical properties are changed and desirable characteristics for human health are lost. This process is applied to most vegetable oils such as soy, cottonseed and canola oil and is much cheaper than sources of animal fats. Be wary of a high consumption of fat blends that have been hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated, the truth is that your body does know what to do but to store them.
Modern vs. Ancient Preservation
Obesity is a confronting and extraordinarily real problem in today’s society. No one supplement, faddish pill or promising quick delivery will fix and suddenly melt those persistent kilograms. Scientists, researchers and top medical doctors are all saying, “Obesity is a risk factor, so lose weight!”
Why are so many of us gaining this unnecessary weight in the first place? Different tactic and trends of modern food processing- over the years- is now bearing its ugly head: with thousands of innocent children and adults suffering from all sorts of ghastly ailments!
Modern preservation is quite alarming when looked at closely. Products are often preserved with preservatives or by processes such as curing, smoking or salting. If we look at preservatives alone, the most addictive one that food manufacturers include is sugar. The facts are that we have gone from eating no added sugar in ancient preservation techniques to almost over a kilogram a week! According to Walter Willet, head of the nutrition department at the Harvard School of Public Health “….the consumption of sweeteners – sucrose plus high fructose corn syrup – has greatly increased in the last 15 years, much of it in the form of soda
Added sugar is a lethal addiction that is in direct relation to our collective weight problem. Therefore, if you are willing to be more aware of this concept and go easy on the confectionery, breakfast cereals, condiments, muesli bars, soft drinks, flavoured milk and fruit juices, you are definitely on your way to countering this addictive ingredient.
Saturated Fat and its Changes in Modern World
Despite the potential risks to our health, modern day society still warns us that saturated fats are ‘bad’ fats-the evil incarnate that should be cut out of our diets in order to lose weight. This is farther from the truth than we could imagine!
Do you know our bodies need this fat? Fat enables the delivery of important vitamins and in turn the utilization of minerals throughout the body. Saturated fats are present in cell membranes and assist in cell protection and function; it acts as an immune system enhancer and has vital antimicrobial properties that protect the digestive tract and liver from destructive micro-organisms and contaminants.
Research shows that the fat in ‘artery clogging’ attributes only 26% to saturated fats and the rest to polyunsaturated fats- more than 50% that is! (Nourishing traditions: the Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats; Sally Fallon).
Currently, there is no immense regulation on polyunsaturated oils and hydrogenated fats. Most of us consume excess amounts of these fats each day in the form of commercial vegetable oils. During food processing, these oils become unstable and harmful and release free radicals that attack our body’s cell and cell membranes. Processed and hydrogenated fats are most likely the cause of the many health problems that we face today-including weight gains- and not saturated fats.
It is important that we start questioning the media and its misinformed opinion about fats and how it applies to the hazardous effect on our health and changes in our body.
Caloric Intake
It is not uncommon that many people find making food choices and eating healthy a very confusing and confrontational area. There are so many ways to eat these days and with all the diets and eating plans around, what do you eat and when do you eat? Typically, it comes down to what is natural and unnatural eating.
It is normal to eat something at least three times a day. It is also very normal to over eat occasionally and under eat occasionally. Eating certain types of food at some time just because of a craving and fluctuating your appetite for foods due to hormonal changes is typically normal. It is not normal to be rigid in food choices or eat the same amount of food and the same type of food every day.
Eating food is one of life’s real pleasures. Without making it too complicated, we can sort out any major caloric imbalances by getting a general idea of caloric intakes values.
On average, an individual’s basic caloric intake should range from 1500 for women to 2000 for men (approximate gauge: 1.3 calories x body weight x 24hrs). However, this is highly dependent on your stature, physical state and medical conditions. In addition, keep in mind that for every hour you train you require another 8.5 calories for each kg of body weight. Within caloric intake, we can also include and categorize percentages of food composition. For example within each meal try to accomplish between:
45-65% of Carbohydrates
10-15% of Protein (approximately a fist)
20-35% of Fat
Once you have figured out your basic calorie intake and added the additional calories due to exercise you will be able to monitor and balance out your eating patterns and your specific goals of weight loss, weight management and/or muscle gains according to the law of universal energy:
Energy in < Energy Out = Decrease in Body weight
Energy in > Energy Out = Increase in Body Weight
Energy in = Energy Out = Stable Body weight
* Energy in = meals/snacks * Energy out = exercise, thermic effect of food, basal metabolic rate and environmental temperature
