Your habits may be slowing your metabolism?

 Have you ever heard someone say, “I have a slow metabolism”?  I have.  But have you ever heard someone say, “I have habits that are slowing my metabolism”?  There are habits that can help rev your metabolism and there are habits that can slow down your metabolism.  Some of these habits you may not be aware of and some you may have heard of before.  It is always interesting to me to listen to someone who wants to lose weight and then they go on a diet that slows down their metabolism and actually makes it harder for them to lose weight.  Do you have any habits that may be slowing your metabolism down?

What are some habits you may be doing that may be slowing your metabolism?

    1.  Not taking in enough calories –

Everyone knows to lose weight; you should decrease calories and increase your exercise.  But some people decrease their calories too much and end up slowing their metabolism down.  A person going on essentially a starvation diet has a body that will work hard to preserve body fat and slow down metabolism.  If you want to lose weight, you can cut back on calories but not so much to slow your metabolism.  The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) recommends for those wanting to lose weight:

• Women:  eat at least 1200-1500 calories a day

• Men:  eat at least 1500-1800 calories a day

NHLBI also recommends against any diet with 800 or fewer calories a day.  On such a low-calorie intake not only will your body metabolism slow to conserve energy, you will not be able to get the nutrients your body needs.  And surprisingly, on such a low-calorie diet, you will lose some fat but you will also lose some muscle mass. 

Lisa Moskovitz, RD, CDN, notes:  “In an attempt for quick, noticeable weight loss, many people wrongfully believe that eating as few calories as possible is the best solution.  Not only can this lead to numerous nutritional deficiencies as the body is getting less food overall, it can actually have the opposite effect on weight loss.  When you take in too few calories, it forces your body into starvation mode, which causes your body to use muscle mass as fuel.  It also decreases the rate of your metabolism and calorie burn to conserve energy.”    

        2.  Skimping on Protein

 Believe it or not, it actually takes more calories to digest foods high in protein than foods high in carbs or fat.  Having protein at each meal means it takes more calories to digest and metabolize that meal.  Meals high in fat would take the least calories to digest and metabolize.  It takes more calories to digest carbs than fat and it takes the most calories to digest and absorb protein.  It is always interesting to watch someone trying to lose weight who says “No bread” but then goes to the salad bar and puts a half cup of salad dressing on their salad.  They would be much better off with a slice of bread and much less salad dressing on their salad.  And better yet would be to add some cheese, cottage cheese, hard-boiled eggs to that salad to boost the protein intake.  So easy to add some protein to a meal.  Drink a glass of real milk, enjoy some real dairy yogurt, add some cheese, meat, poultry, fish which are all great protein sources.  Eggs provide a very high-quality protein source and are low in calories.  Have a handful of nuts as a snack. 

  3. Get enough sleep

 

Getting too little sleep over time can result in a slower metabolism.  Seth Santoro, a nutritionist, notes, “A lack of sleep can cause several metabolic problems.  It can cause you to burn fewer calories, lack appetite control and experience an increase in cortisol levels, a hormone which stores fat”.

 

4.  Sitting Too Much

 

For those who have an Apple watch, you get reminders throughout the day that it is time to stand up and walk around.  One way to overcome sitting all day it to get up at least every hour and walk around for about 2 minutes.  In the office, go to the water fountain, go see someone in their cubicle or office rather than send them an email.  Walk around the floor.  At home go up and down the stairs, walk into other rooms.  When shopping for a mattress I was going into the store and noticed the salesman walking pretty rapidly around the store.  When I came in, he looked at me and then explained that he was walking around the store to get his steps in.  Believe it or not, these short bouts of walking throughout the day can help keep insulin levels stable.  This helps your body use up the calories from your meal and not store those calories as fat.  

 

        5.       Don’t forget the carbs

I am not a fan of low carb diets.  When my daughters and I go out to eat, we ask for the bread basket.  For short-term weight loss one can go on a low carb diet.  But long-term, you want some carbs in your diet.  Carbs spare the protein you eat for muscle building rather than having the protein foods be burned for energy.  To build muscle, you need some carbs in your diet.  But be sure to choose healthy carbs and not sugar-sweetened beverages like soda or loading up on sweets.  (See How to Choose Some Healthy Carbs.)

How can you rev up your metabolism this week?  Try one of the suggestions above?  Sitting for an hour, get up and walk around.  Add some protein to each meal.  Get in those 8 hours of much needed sleep.  Add some healthy carbs to your meals.

Sources:  metabolism, starvation diet , notes , digest foods , nutritionist, notes , How to Choose Some Healthy Carbs  Image Sources:    Starvation Diet,  Sitting all day , High protein foods 

Should You Avoid Ultraprocessed Food?

Hard to avoid “processed” food.  Some of my students say that to eat healthy one should avoid “processed” food.  But most of the food we eat is “processed” to some extent.  Eating whole wheat bread is healthy but bread is “processed” as they harvested the grain, milled the grain, made the flour and then made the bread.  Cereal, even whole grain cereal, is processed.  Canned vegetables are processed as is canned fruit in syrup.   

But some food is “ultraprocessed” so much so that this processing adversely affects the nutritional processing of the food.  What are ultraprocessed foods and how is the nutritional value of this type of food affected?  Are there any consequences to your health if you eat a lot of ultraprocessed food?

What are ultraprocessed foods?

Not only are these foods processed but often these foods have lots of added sugar, salt, and fat as well as preservatives and many have artificial colors.  Foods that are considered ultraprocessed include:

• Frozen meals : premade meals
• Processed meats: Hot dogs, cold cuts like bologna, sausage, bacon
• Fast food – chicken nuggets, French fries, etc
• Packaged desserts like cookies and cakes
• Salty snacks like Cheetos

I am always surprised when reviewing student’s 24-hour diet recalls.  Many students have few, if any, real food.  For some students, almost everything they eat is processed or ultraprocessed.  Some have no fresh fruit or vegetables and the “juice”, if there is juice, is often fake juice like Sunny D or they think lemonade is “juice”. 

A study in BMJ looked at 9317 study participants and found that ultraprocessed foods accounted for a whopping 57.9% of the daily calories.  Most of the added sugar in these participants diets came from these ultraprocessed foods at about 89.7%.  Probably because the ultraprocessed foods consumed consisted of added sugar making up about 21% of the calories.  They noted this amount of added sugar is eight times the amount in processed foods.  A conclusion of this study was that just by reducing ultraprocessed food intake, one would reduce their added sugar intake.   Reducing added sugars is one of the goals of the Dietary Guidelines. 

Learn to recognize ultraprocessed foods.  (adapted from processed food and cheese) 

Minimally processed foods	Processed foods	Untraprocessed foods
Apple	Apple jelly	Apple pie
Baked potato	French Fries	Potato Chips
Real cow’s milk	American Cheese	Cheese Food
Whole wheat flour	Whole wheat bread	White bread

 How is the nutritional value of ultraprocessed foods affected by the processing and additives? 

More calories eaten – Another study in Cell Metabolism, found that people eating ultraprocessed foods ended up eating about 500 more calories per day as compared to people eating a more unprocessed diet.  As noted above, ultraprocessed foods often contain more added sugar and often are low in protein and higher in carbs and fat content. 

Weight gain – the study found that people eating an unprocessed food diet ended up gaining about 2 pounds a month.  When they switched to an unprocessed food diet plan, they lost about 2 pounds a month.  What is interesting is that the study participants were offered 3 meals a day with the SAME amount of calories.  But, those on the ultraprocessed food diet ate about 500 more calories a day.  There are many diets for obesity but one way to help lose weight may be to cut back on ultraprocessed foods. 

Health Risks – eating more ultraprocessed foods can adversely affect your health.  A study in France, found that people eating diets high in ultraprocessed foods had increased risk of heart disease. 

Recommendations:

1. Choose real food over ultraprocessed food.  Make your own peanut butter and jelly sandwich and don’t buy Uncrustables.  Enjoy some whole wheat toast and jelly and skip the POPtarts.  Eat an apple or other fresh fruit instead of fruit Roll-ups.   
2. Cold cuts – choose fresh cut deli meat over bologna, salami.
3. Choose real cheese over processed cheese food.  If it says, “cheese food” or “cheese product” it is not real cheese.  In fact, cheese food might be only 51% cheese. 
4. Eat “close to nature”.  One of my students said he eats food close to the land.  His diet was actually very healthy as most of his food was unprocessed or minimally processed.  He ate the apple, not applesauce, the whole grain cereal, not the POP Tart. 

How much ultraprocessed food is in your diet?  Can you cut back on some ultraprocessed foods and reach for the healthier minimally processed food?  

Choose real cheese and not cheese food or cheese product.

Sources:  ultraprocessed foods , BMJ , recognize , processed food , cheese , Cell Metabolism , study , cheese food    Image Sources:  Ultraprocessed food , Unprocessed to processed foods , American cheese 

Is popcorn healthy?

Who doesn’t enjoy some popcorn?  Many people love to indulge in some popcorn when they go to the movies or pop their own at home when watching a movie on TV.  So, what is the bottom line? Is popcorn good or bad for your health?  Well, that depends on how you prepare the popcorn and what you put “on” the popcorn.

Does popcorn have any nutritional value?

Popcorn is actually loaded with good nutrition.  A few years ago, I was preparing for class and a student came in early and was eating a snack.  I happened to walk by her seat and she hid the snack bag as fast as she could.  I asked her what she was snacking on and she sheepishly pulled out a bag of popcorn.  I told her popcorn is whole grain and a very healthy snack – good choice.  She then proceeded to openly enjoy her bag of popcorn. 

Popcorn is whole grain.  Corn is unusual in that it can be a vegetable when we eat corn on the cob, whole kernel corn, creamed style corn, etc.  But corn can also be a grain, like popcorn.  USDA notes that corn can be considered a grain or a vegetable depending on when it is harvested.  If the corn is harvested when it is fully mature, then the corn is considered a grain.  It is milled into cornmeal, and used in cornbread and tortillas.  Popcorn is also harvested when mature, and is considered to be a whole grain.  When corn is harvested as fresh corn, the kernels are soft and we eat it as corn on the cob, corn kernels, etc. and this soft corn is considered a vegetable.  

Popcorn is whole grain.

As a whole grain, popcorn provides many vitamins and minerals.  Whole grains are great for your health and are linked to a reduction in risk of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, reduced inflammation and helping you maintain your weight. 

Popcorn provides fiber – as noted in a recent blog post, A power nutrient your diet may be lacking, about 95% of Americans lack fiber in their diet.  A good way to add some fiber for adults and for kids is to enjoy some popcorn.  USDA notes that 3 cups of popcorn provide a good amount of fiber, about 3.5 grams.  This fiber helps fill you up.  I like to enjoy some popcorn as a mid-afternoon snack.  It fills me up until dinner time.  It is the fiber in popcorn that gives you a feeling of fullness.  Interesting that a 2012 study published in the Nutrition Journal “found that 15 calories of popcorn was just as satisfying as 150 calories of potato chips.” 

Enjoy some popcorn and add some fiber to your day.

Antioxidants – these are healthy substances in plants that aren’t vitamins or minerals but are good for your health.  (See:  Antioxidants and good health .)   There are many, many different antioxidants in foods. Popcorn provides high amounts of the antioxidant, polyphenol. 

Calories – plain popcorn is very low in calories.  Air popped popcorn provides only 31 calories a cup.  But it is pretty tasteless.  I have had air popped popcorn and no thanks.  If you pop your own popcorn using about 3 Tablespoons of a healthy oil like olive oil or sunflower or canola oil per ½ cup popping corn kernels, each 1 cup of popcorn will provide about 55 calories.   But the calories are much higher in movie popcorn.  The Center for Science in the Public Interest did lab tests on movie popcorn.  A medium sized popcorn from Regal Cinemas had many more calories than Regal Cinemas noted.  Regal said a medium popcorn provided 760 calories but the Center for Science in the Public Interest found it provided a whopping 1,200 calories.  What oil is used by the theater also affects how “healthy” the movie popcorn is.  The Center for Science in the Public Interest noted Regal and AMC both use coconut oil which is high in saturated fat and not a heart healthy choice.  Want some “butter” on that movie popcorn?  One tablespoon adds an additional 120-130 calories.  How many times do you see people asking for extra “butter” and I watch the staff pump more and more calories onto the popcorn?  If you like movie popcorn, skip the “butter”, choose “small” and share it with someone.

Overall, popcorn is a healthy snack.  A great after school snack for kids and a good snack for grownups.  Stopping off for a snack in a grab and go type of store?  Skip the chips and choose a bag of popcorn such as SkinnyPop.

Sources.  popcorn , USDA , health , A power nutrient your diet may be lacking , USDA , Nutrition Journal , Antioxidants and good health , pop, Center for Science in the Public Interest   Image Sources:  Popcorn is whole grain , Popcorn and fiber ,  SkinnyPop    

 

Watermelon – so good for your health

Who doesn’t enjoy some fresh watermelon?  So juicy and naturally sweet.  We have some sliced watermelon in our fridge as my husband went to the farmer’s market this week. Many people enjoy watermelon and don’t realize how healthy it is.  A dietitian, Julie Upton, provides some great news about watermelon in her article, One Major Side Effect of Eating Watermelon, Says Dietitian .  We do hear a lot about superfoods like blueberries but we don’t hear much about other fruits like watermelon. 

Watermelon packs a big nutritious punch.

One reason why watermelon is so good for your health is that it is loaded with many vitamins and minerals as well as fiber. 

Vitamins: watermelon is a good source of vitamins A, C and many B vitamins.  One cup of watermelon balls provides 12.5 mg of vitamin C, almost 25% of daily needs.  One cup also provides 876 IU of vitamin A, almost 20% of daily needs. 

Minerals:  think potassium.  Almost all fruit provides this important mineral which helps counteract the bad effects of sodium.  Loading up on potassium rich foods helps fight high blood pressure.  Watermelon also provides some magnesium, copper and other minerals. 

Low-calorie – eat up as a cup of watermelon provides only 46 calories. 

Hydration – many people think only plain water is hydrating.  Not true.  Fruits, like watermelon, contain a lot of “water” and are good for hydration.  Kids playing sports can enjoy watermelon to help them stay hydrated.  You may be surprised to learn watermelon is about “92 percent water”, so a great choice for hydrating. 

Fiber – I recently blogged about how important fiber is to your health (See:  A power nutrient your diet may be lacking ).  One way to get more fiber is to eat fresh fruit like watermelon. 

Phytonutrients: “Phyto” means plant.  And plants have many phytonutrients that are not just good for plants but are good for our health.  I have noted many times how important phytonutrients are to good health.  (See:  Why are berries and other fruit and veggies so good for your health?).  Fruits that are reddish in color provide the phytonutrient or antioxidant, lycopene.  Researchers have extensively studied the health benefits of lycopene.  Lycopene is not a vitamin or mineral but is good for eye health, helps prevent cancer by slowing “the growth of cancer cells”, reduces heart disease risk by lowering the bad cholesterol, LDL, , is anti-aging, helps protect your skin, (See:  Health Benefits of Lycopene from WebMD.)  And the fruit that is a great source of this healthy lycopene?  Watermelon.  

Watermelon is a good source of lycopene.

So, enjoy that slice of watermelon.  On a diet?  Choose some watermelon as it is low in calories and the fiber in it will help fill you up.  And while enjoying this healthy food, you also are doing good things for your eyes, skin and heart.  

 Sources:  One Major Side Effect of Eating Watermelon, Says Dietitian  , A power nutrient your diet may be lacking , Why are berries and other fruit and veggies so good for your health? , Health Benefits of Lycopene   Image Sources:  Watermelon  , Watermelon and nutrients , Lycopene

Healthy After-School Snacks for Kids

Many kids are going back to school in August and not just via Zoom.  Kids need snacks after school – but healthy snacks. Some parents won’t give their kids snacks thinking snacks are unhealthy, snacks spoil a kid’s appetite, or that kids just don’t need snacks.  But kids do need snacks. Pre-school kids need snacks twice a day -morning and afternoon.  School-age kids need an after-school snack.  One reason kids need snacks is because they have small stomachs and eat smaller amounts at meals and then get hungry between meals.  They also need snacks to meet their daily nutritional needs. If you give kids healthy snacks, the snacks contribute nutrients and good nutrition that kids need to grow.  Snacks should be small enough to help curb hunger pains but not too filling the child eats less at meal time.

Deana Hildebrand, a nutrition specialist with the Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension Services notes:  “The trick is to provide snacks that are just filling enough to curb hunger pangs until dinner is ready. It also is a great idea to have snacks readily available that kids can get on their own.  Fruit, string cheese, low-fat yogurt, cereal bars, graham crackers, whole-grain crackers, pretzels, light microwave popcorn, no-added sugar fruit bars are quick and easy snacks.  Be sure to keep these snacks visible and easily accessible in the kitchen.”

Some ways to keep portion size in control and focus on healthier options for snacks (adapted from  Make healthy choices for after-school snacking)

• Single serving – put a single serving of whole grain crackers, whole grain chips, pretzels in a baggie.  Purchase foods in a single-serving size like a 4-ounce yogurt cup, a small container of applesauce with no sugar added, or individually wrapped cheese sticks.
• Focus on fruits and vegetables – many kids aren’t eating 5 fruits and vegetables a day. Snack time is a great time to add to their fruit and vegetable intake.  Think fruit kabobs, veggies and dip such as hummus and carrots.  

Make some mini fruit kebobs.   

• Peanut butter – a very healthy choice and peanut butter goes with so many foods – peanut butter on apple slices, on celery, on rice cakes, on whole grain crackers.
• Dips – kids love to dip veggies and fruit.  Dip fruit slices in vanilla yogurt, veggies in hummus, or veggies dipped into some low-fat Ranch dressing.  My kids loved the cheese that came in a can – they could “spray” crackers with the cheese and make designs.  They got some protein, calcium and a serving from the grain group and had fun making their own snack.

The Oklahoma State University Extension Services has some easy tips for after-school kids snacks (adapted from Tips for Making Snack Time Healthy.)

• Keep snacks visible and easy to grab – have some cut-up veggies in baggies in the fridge. Have fresh fruit on the kitchen counter.  Have small, 4-ounce, size yogurts in the fridge.  Have cheese sticks in the fridge. In the pantry have peanut butter, whole grain crackers and bread.
• Time the snacks – After-school means after-school, not a few minutes before dinner time.  Aim for snacks about 2-3 hours before meal time.  Then your kid will still have an appetite for dinner.  Try to have snacks ready the same time every day.  When my daughter was young, she got off the school bus, came in to the babysitter’s house, washed her hand and the sitter had a healthy snack ready for her every day. 
• Offer snacks routinely after school and not as a “reward”.  Using food as a “reward” can teach kids to overeat.
• Snacks can “fill the gap”.  A kid that doesn’t eat fruit or vegetables at lunch may eat them at snack time.  But serve them snacks they can manage.  At school I watched kid after kid throw a whole apple away. The apple was hard for them to eat.  Serve apple slices or apple sauce to make it easier for them to eat.
• Make snacks “fun”.  Fun shapes, colorful, come up with a funny name for a snack.  One study found that putting a funny sticker on a piece of fruit got more kids to take and eat the fruit.

• Desserts – when serving cookies or other “dessert” foods as a snack, choose wisely.  Offer oatmeal cookies with chocolate chips or oatmeal and raisin cookies and serve with real milk.  You then add some whole grain and a dairy serving to the kid’s day.  Offer pudding made with real milk.  An easy way to get more calcium and vitamin D into your child’s day.

Serve some oatmeal raisin cookies with real milk.

•  Cereal – this can make a great after school snack.  Choose any General Mills cereal and you add whole grains to your kid’s day.
• Fruit pops – my daughter loves the no-sugar Outshine frozen fruit pops. They come in many flavors, made with real juice and taste good.
• Beverage – many parents think water is the healthiest choice at snack time.  But so many kids are lacking real dairy and real juice in their diets.  Snack time is a great time to serve some real 100% juice to add fruit to the child’s day and some real milk to get in the calcium and vitamin D they need to grow. 

 Let your kids enjoy some healthy after-school snacks this year.  Make snack time fun. 

Sources:  notes , Make healthy choices for after-school snacking , Tips for Making Snack Time Healthy  Image Sources:  Fruit Kebobs , Fun snack toast , cookies