Guest Hosting for Muscle & Fitness (Part 1)

I was invited to be the nutrition expert for Muscle & Fitness’ 90-day program called RE:FORM. It was created for the every day man (or woman!), specifically to answer one major question: what’s the best way for someone who doesn’t go to the gym to go from “average” to “fit” in that much time? Tyler Stewart, Muscle & Fitness digital director, took the challenge.

The first part of the video provides great workout tips by Dan Trink, CSCS. The second part is a grocery shopping tour hosted by yours truly! For the food component go to the 3:30 mark. 

Re:Form Video Part 1

Stay tuned for following segments at Muscle & Fitness! 

Fermented & Cultured Foods 101

(Kvass Soup, Kefir, Pickles)

Fermented and cultured foods have long been touted for their health benefits, but do you know why? A staple in many cultures, fermented foods like kimchi, miso, sauerkraut and kombucha, and cultured foods like kefir, Greek yogurt and buttermilk promote the proliferation of good bacteria in our gut, which aid in digestion and boost our immune system. Having a healthy gut filled with good bacteria, known as probiotics, can help us reduce gas and bloating after meals and even shed a few pounds!

Fruits, vegetables and fiber from whole foods can help promote the growth of strong, healthy bacteria, but, unfortunately, many things in our environment wreak havoc on a healthy gut.

Good Bacteria, Don’t Go! 

Step 1: Don’t eat processed foods. Many ingredients in processed foods are foreign to our digestive tract and we are not equipped with the right enzymes to break them down. Unhealthy bacteria feed on these foreign ingredients such as artificial sweeteners, which cause them to proliferate and potentially outnumber the healthy bacteria. An uncomfortable side effect of this process is gas, which makes us feel bloated. Cutting down or avoiding processed foods, as well as adding cultured and fermented foods, can help the good bacteria flourish.

Step 2: Check your antibiotic use. Along with wiping out the bacteria that makes us sick, antibiotics clear the healthy lining of good bacteria in our gut. If you are prescribed antibiotics for longer than three days, you may consider taking a probiotic supplement during and for at least a week after treatment. Recommendations can range anywhere from 1 to 30 Billion CFU’s (Colony Forming Units) per day, depending on age and symptoms. Some of my favorite probiotic supplements include: Align® probiotic, Culturelle® probiotic, Designs For Health probiotic synergy, and Garden of Life raw probiotics. 

How can we bring the good bacteria back?

Eat cultured and fermented foods! (Of course…) These foods contain healthy bacteria, yeasts and/or fungi that set up shop in our gut as we digest them. To start, aim for one serving of these cultured and fermented foods per day.

Here is a list of fermented and cultured foods to try:

Fermented

• Pickles
• Pickled Fruits and Vegetables
• Miso
• Kombucha
• Sauerkraut
• Homemade Ketchup
• Kimchi
• Kvass
• Fermented Salsa
• Sourdough Bread 

Cultured

• Kefir
• Buttermilk
• Cultured Sour Cream (low fat)
• Lebneh Cheese (low fat)

Let me know what your favorite cultured or fermented food is at Bushwick Nutrition! 

Co-Written by Debi Zvi RD, CDN & Alanna Cabrero, MS, RD, CDN 

Originally posted on NYHRC Tumblr 

Reference: Probiotics & Fermented Foods. Sacramento Natural Foods Co-Op. 

Edited by the Tamara Cabrero & NYHRC Team 

Getting back up when you fall down

The clumsiest woman in America takes a Zumba class. Epic fail. Also: You are what you eat.

Working with @NYNewsgirl to help her get healthy and lean for her big day! In her article she included a revamped shopping list and some ideas on healthy breakfasts and snacks. Read more about her inspiring story. 

Featured in Max Sports & Fitness. Awesome tips on how to make your weight loss plans for 2014 stick including a positive attitude, a plan, patience, and accident forgiveness (a plan of action for when that guilty feeling sets in after you make a “mistake” on your health journey). Read more and don’t forget to like! 

Keep The Weight Off For Good

It’s no great secret that we can be pretty hard on ourselves. The wave of guilt that sinks in when we skip a workout or give into our sweet craving can be just as toxic to our health as the cupcake that started that downward spiral. Studies have shown that the feeling of guilt after consuming those “forbidden foods” can cause people to gain even more weight! Let go of the guilt.

The thing is, we all slip sometimes, but we don’t have to unravel or beat ourselves up over it. In fact, it can be good to indulge in a sweet now and then as long as it feels like a treat and not the beginnings of a bad habit. Enjoyment of food is essential for healthy, happy living.  And if you take the time to enjoy your food you are less likely to overeat.

I have never had a client that didn’t “fall off the wagon”, so to speak. Hey, cupcakes happen. My advice is to savor that treat and then hit the reset button. Don’t let choosing a cozy movie night over a trip to the gym stretch into a week on the couch, or that one slice of pizza lead to a bucket of wings. You can always fix it at the next meal!

Tips To Keep The Weight Off

Diets have an expiration date. The word implies a beginning and end, which is why they don’t work. Losing weight and keeping it off requires a lifestyle change, including healthier food and healthier behaviors. The real secret to keeping the weight off is replacing bad habits with good ones. Once you realize and accept that and once you find the fun in keeping fit, you won’t have to worry about backsliding ever again. A few ways to make sure you don’t gain the weight back:

1)    Track your habits. Despite our best intentions, it is surprisingly easy to be dishonest with ourselves about our behaviors. I don’t eat that many carbs. I go to the gym almost every day. Do you really? Keeping a food diary, monitoring your weight once a week and keeping a workout schedule will help you avoid those extra pounds from creeping up. One of my favorite tracking tools are MyFitnessPal, LoseIt, and SparkPeople.

2)    Slow down and chew your food. Most of us can feel completely satisfied eating 20% less food than we normally do; the problem is how to naturally stop ourselves? By chewing more! A recent study showed that by chewing your food more (double what you normally chew), participants ate 15% less. I recommend chewing your food 15-20 times per bite. I love this trick, because there is no deprivation required! 

3)    Promote healthy bacteria in your gut! Preliminary research has shown that eating a variety of fruits, vegetables, and probiotic-rich foods (yogurt, kefir, kimchee, pickles, miso) encourages microbes associated with leanness to quickly become incorporated in the gut actually helping you lose weight (or become leaner). A diet high in saturated fat and low in fruits and veggies does exactly the opposite. 

4)    Get your zzzz’s. Too little sleep (less than 7 hours) has been associated with weight gain. Getting enough sleep helps restore energy, regulate necessary hormones and helps us make better choices throughout the day. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that, after a poor night’s sleep, all you want is a quick sugary pick me up… 

5)    Work with a Registered Dietitian. Like me! Woot woot! We can help you come up with an individualized plan that works for your needs and around your schedule so you can finally say goodbye to that excess weight for good.  Dietitians can also answer your nutrition questions and dispel food myths using evidence-based practices.

6)    Be active. It is imperative to do some form of exercise to maintain weight loss and increase lean muscle. Stick to something that you enjoy doing and be consistent. The American Heart Association recommends at least 150 minutes per week; whether you want to work out 30 minutes 5 times a week or 50 minutes 3 times a week is up to you. 

How are you going to keep the weight off in 2014?

Co-written by Alanna Cabrero, MS, RD and Tamara Cabrero. 

Originally posted on NYHRC Tumblr 

Go Nuts with Bushwick Nutrition: A Focus on Tree Nuts

Happy Belated National Nut Day! Why am I so excited? Because nuts are something to celebrate! Nuts have shown to reduce oxidative stress and inflammation that is at the core of chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes and cancer. Eat a handful of nuts (~1 oz) a day and keep the doctor away? That just might be the case! 

Many health benefits can be found specifically in tree nuts i.e. nuts that grow on trees. Peanuts are technically legumes (because nutrition isn’t confusing enough) that grow underground and are more closely related to soybeans, peas and lentils. This explains why some people are allergic (even deathly allergic) to peanuts and not almonds. Don’t get me wrong, tree nut allergies can be just as severe as peanut allergies, but they are much less common.

Tree nuts include almonds, hazelnuts, macadamias, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios, Brazil nuts, cashews and walnuts.

Health Nut

Nuts are a good source of protein, healthy fats, vitamin E, folate, fiber and phytochemicals. They are also filled with minerals such as magnesium, zinc and copper. One handful (~1 oz) packs a protein punch of 2-6 grams! In that same handful, and what most people are concerned about, are 160-200 calories and 13-21 grams of healthy fat. 

Cracking it Open

Nuts have been touted for their ability to improve heart health by reducing the “bad” LDL cholesterol and inching away belly fat. It has been proved that even though nuts have a significant amount of calories from fat, they are the healthy type of fat—specifically monounsaturated (MUFA) and polyunsaturated fat (PUFA)—that are heart-health protective.

Did you know that tree nuts can help manage and even prevent diabetes? The high content of healthy fats and low sugar content promotes better glucose control.

Nuts have shown a positive association with cognitive health, specifically walnuts, which contain omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids have shown to reduce inflammatory markers. Some other health benefits have been associated with increased fertility, increased bone health and cancer prevention. Now that is something to chew on.

How Much Is Enough

Nuts are caloric, true! But studies show that if you replace (not add) some of your calories with nuts, they can help with weight maintenance and weight loss. The high fat and fiber content help satiation. In addition, they are fun to eat. There is much variety and each flavor is unique.

 As part of a healthy diet, 1-ounce has shown great health benefits. The USDA National Nutrient Database has an easy breakdown of 1-ounce equivalents such as 23 almonds, 7 Brazil nuts, or 48 pistachios to mention a few. As a vegetarian protein source—½ ounce of nuts or 1 tablespoon of almond butter would be considered one serving of protein.

Favorites

Absolutely! Almonds, walnuts and pistachios are my favorite.They not only have the highest amount of protein and lowest calorie range but they all have a little something special. One serving of almonds has 37% of our daily value of vitamin E. Walnuts have a good source of essential omega-3 fatty acids (Alpha-Linolenic acid- ALA). And I love pistachios as a snack. The shell forces you to slow down and enjoy!

Nutty Dish

Nuts can be a great addition to any dish. Yogurt, cereal and French toast can be garnished with nuts. Nuts can add a nice crunch to salad or pasta. Some of my favorite side dishes include nuts, for example, green beans with toasted almonds and squash with pistachios.

 A Few General Tips

• Opt for low sodium options.
• Store in an airtight container, like a mason jar. Putting them in the refrigerator will also extend their shelf life, because of their high fat content.   
• If you are allergic to peanuts be careful with tree nuts. Even though they are technically not the same family, people with peanut allergies tend to have additional allergies.
• Whether you are using the stove or the oven, toast nuts BEFORE chopping them into smaller pieces. It keeps a nice fresh taste.

What’s your favorite nut dish?

Written by Alanna Cabrero, MS, RD 

Originally posted on NYHRC Tumblr 

Nuts for Nutrition. UNL Food: Food, Nutrition & Health.  

Go Nuts for Health. Environmental Nutrition, November 2012. 

Edited by TCabrarr 

Picture from DeusXFlorida on Flickr

Doughnut vs. Fruit: Does it really make a difference?

I was once asked if a doughnut a day versus fruit really makes a difference? And especially, what happens if you are on a health-kick, doing really really well (eating fruits, veggies, drinking lots of water) and poof! it all starts failing again. What can you do to get back on track?

My answer still stands.

Point 1- An average doughnut (no glaze, no filling) has at least 200 calories and the average piece of fruit has 60 calories. Eating a doughnut every day increases your caloric intake by 140 calories, which is 4,200 additional calories a month. That’s approximately 1 pound of additional weight gain per month. In a year, you can add up to 12 pounds to your frame by making one dietary change. Therefore, one dietary change CAN make a difference to your overall health.

Point 2- Nutrition is not one dimensional. It is not based ONLY on what you ate for breakfast or what you put in your coffee. If you messed up at breakfast, don’t wait until the next day to fix it, just eat a healthier lunch! People always do weekly (or even monthly) resolutions saying, ‘Monday I will start my diet’ or 'I will start running by next month.’ When we “fail” (fyi- I abhor that word…), we tend to give up and say we’ll fix it later. So, instead of waiting a week or even a day, get back on track one meal at a time. It lessens the guilt and the pounds. Fix it at the next meal, it works!

Adapted from Girl Habits Interview.
Pic by uberculture on Flickr

To Eat Less Calories or Carbohydrates?

That is the question- at least for weight loss.

We as a nation are severely plump. About a third of us are obese- meaning that an averaged height woman (5'4") is approximately 60 pounds over her ideal weight. Sixty pounds! I am not talking about a dress size bigger. I am talking about A LOT of ADDITIONAL calories and A LOT of ADDITIONAL calories from carbohydrates. I say “additional” in my obnoxious CAPITALS because we all need both calories and carbohydrates to properly function, but not in the amounts we are currently eating. 

Therefore, when the oh so tantalizing nutrition debate on whether calories makes us fat, or the quality of calories (i.e. carbohydrates) makes us store fat, I say BOTH.

It’s a fact. When we eat too many calories, we store them as fat. The fatter we get, the bigger our fat cells get and the more they wreak havoc on our hormones affecting our metabolism and inflammation that can increase our risk of developing diabetes, hypertension, and other metabolic conditions. A good rule of thumb (if you don’t have a pre-diagnosed thyroid or hormonal condition) is: if you can’t lose weight or have been gaining weight, you are probably eating too much and are not expending enough energy.

I agree, calories are NOT created equal. If you look back to the 1970’s you will see that with the rise of sugar intake and other refined grain products came a rise in overweight/obesity. Carbohydrates stimulate insulin secretion, a hormone that helps utilize glucose for energy and store fat. Therefore, the quality of our food is definitely important, and the more we focus on balancing our blood sugar with healthy/complex carbohydrates rather than sodas and white foods, the more control we’ll have over how we use and store our energy. 

A few practical things you can do to reduce both calories and refined carbohydrates are the following:

*Do not skip meals, especially breakfast, since it’s been linked with higher calorie intake throughout the day.

*Eat fiber-rich foods: vegetables, fruits and whole grains. A piece of bread should have at least 3 grams of fiber and a serving of cereal should have 5 grams.

*Snacks should not exceed 200 calories and should ideally be a mix of carbohydrate, protein, and fat. Examples are: Greek yogurt, a piece of fruit with a handful of nuts, a slice of partly-skimmed cheese with a whole grain toast.

*Specifically for lunch and dinner, half your plate should be fruits and/or vegetables (preferably vegetables).

*Do NOT, for the love of g*d, eat fried food.

*Do not drink your calories. Most sugary drinks have no nutrition, only calories.

*KNOW & UNDERSTAND that the US spends about $60 billion a year in marketing unhealthy foods like fried chicken, soda, sugary cereals, and pizza; therefore, if you can’t stop thinking about that burger & fries from Burger King, to a certain extent, it’s understandable. Just be aware and try to logically think if you would’ve wanted that burger & fries if it wasn’t advertised on every TV, computer, and magazine in your immediate surrounding. 

As Dr. Nestle said so eloquently, we “must learn to eat less but eat better.” And this simple notion- takes time and energy, pun intended.

If you are interested in a 10-minute free consultation on weight loss and other nutrition-related issues, please contact me at alanna.cabrero@gmail.com. Include your name, number, and a good time to reach you.

Dr. Marion Nestle addresses “Why Calories Count”

G. Taubes “What Really Makes Us Fat.”