Question on Calories vs Nutrients

We thought we would publish this question as it is a common one. The answer is below.

Question

On a nutrition part. I got an interesting book by Mischel Montiniak
(not sure about spelling because the book is in Russian. Author makes
an interesting (to me) statement that calories are NOT why people get
overweight and that cutting calories intake is not going to change
anything. The key to lose weight and MAINTAIN your weight is to cut on
“bad” carbohydrates, such as white bread, potatoes, honey, carrot,
corn, sugar etc. and      “bad” lipids and at the same time increasing
fiber intake. In his view, an extra weight is generated due to
disruption of insulin production by our gallbladder. This dis-balance
is called “hyper-insulin” production. It generates too much of insulin
and the surplus goes into extra fat.

He also (among other things) suggests that fruits must be eaten only on
empty stomach (or at least 2-3 hours removed from our meal) because
fruits tend to be digested (properly) faster than anything else but
eaten with cheese (for instance) got blocked in the stomach and develop
additional ferments and alcohol, thus disrupting digestion.

He also suggests that some products (rice, for example) are very bad
not by nature but because of special treatment they get before being
sold to people. Only wild brown rice is good but it is very rare in
eating places.

What is your opinion?  I just began reading but the fact that calories
intake is not important in losing weight goes against the huge industry
)big surprise, huh!)

sample diet:

sardines
omelet with mushrooms
green salad
cheese

raw vegetables
lamb with beans
green salad
strawberry

tomato salad
tuna with cabbage
green salad
cheese

What do you think?

Answer

Yes, Montiniak is correct about looking to the quality of foods instead of the calories. This is a GREATLY misunderstood subject in dieting and by people generally.

For instance, a gram of fat from a hamburger or butter, is not the same as a gram of fat from a quality vegetable oil. Furthermore, quality is way important than percentage. Dietary rules in the US propose 15% of the diet come from fat. However, eskimos have over 50% of their diet from fat, yet they are not fat and do not show signs of arterialscherosis because their fat is very fresh and of high quality (freshly killed seal meat and fat). So its quality that makes the difference.

Also, high quality foods have more nutrients. It is likely that people on low quality diets are in a situation where there body makes them eat more…because the body is requiring more nutrients. That is, there are several triggers for appetite, and calories are only one trigger.

As far as white rice. White rice is a relatively simple carbohydrate no matter how it is grown. Its also weak in nutrients. Brown rice is way better. This applies across the board, white carbohydrates are bad, brown are good.

All the foods you listed seem pretty good. However, you should know that the US diet is highly denutrified. Quality foods are simply hard to get. Because of this we end up with a lot of conditions that are misdiagnosed. In our culture the first cure is considered a doctor or a pill, the underlying diet is rarely discussed. It should be the first thing discussed, because (obviously) every cell in the body and every organ is created from food in the diet.

I rely on Trader Joe’s for most my shopping, I would not shop at say a Safeway or a Krogers. They are all about processed foods and marketing over substance.

Food Intake and Dieting from CCF

We thought this was a very good explanation of how dieting affects calories consumed. It is from the Center for Consumer Freedom and their publication is named “Small Choices, Big Bodies.”

Pinky Show on GMOs

The Pinky Show is a deceptively simple presentation of very detailed information. Check it out on Genetically Modified Organisms below. 

Calorie Counting and Food Quality

There is a diet approach called calorie counting. The concept behind this is that a person can manage their food inputs based upon matching their food calories with their metabolism. We have noted a serious problem with this approach, the primary problem being that it ignores food quality. That is a calorie is not necessarily a calorie. The body not only desired calories, but nutrients as well. If a low quality diet is consumed, the body can adjust appetite up in order to obtain more nutrients. This must be one of the major reasons behind the growth in obesity. It is not only that food is more plentiful (and exercise less common) but it is also lower in quality. This includes processed foods that have been greatly de-nutrified. 

Proposal

So our proposal is that by increasing the food quality, it is not only better for your health, but it will also decrease the calories consumed….naturally, therefore, the body has a natural balancing capability. However, it can only perform this balancing if it gets enough nutrients from the foods consumed.

Frankenfoods and Single Nutrient Improvements on Junk Food

80 20 Rule in Reverse

Isn’t it interesting how most gyms are set up and how most people spend their time doing weight lifting? We know that 70% of the body’s muscle mass lies below the waist. We can’t be sure, but it must be at least 80% (85%?) that lies below the solar plexus. Therefore its strange how much effort and emphasis is placed on working the upper body. Look around a weight room and it looks like around 80% of the people at anyone time are performing upper body exercises. Clearly this has to do with ego needs, and certainly, it is a greater focus for overemphasis on the part of men than women. In fact, the dominance of bodybuilding in strength training is a testament generally to the appeal of ego over health considerations. Bodybuilding by its very nature is a short term strategy that is not very functional for lifelong exercisers.

Routine Bias

Many workout routines that we see have 4 days focused on the upper body and 1 day focused on the lower body. Abdominal work is oftentimes spread throughout the days with few routines spending the entire day on the midsection. Does this make a lot of sense when one considers where most your muscle is located? Its easy to fall into the trap of thinking that because their are fewer exercises for the legs that you can get it all done in one day. There are in fact many exercises for the lower body, but not many people do the full complement of them. We are not including any machine exercises in this category.(in fact we only do machine exercises when we are injured). Many lower body exercises which are oftentimes ignored are side and plie lunges and cable attached leg movements in all four directions (front, back, and right and left side). This combined with the traditional squat, dead-lift, clean, front and back lunges and calf raises, can easily comprise two days in an exercise routine. The midsection, when done completely, can take another whole day. That leaves three days for the upper body (back, shoulders, chest + arms) and that balances the upper body and lower body a little better in terms of workout emphasis. The logic is pretty straightforward, emphasis with weight the areas of your body that can put the most muscle into action. This burns the most calories and builds the strongest overall body. This is not what most or even the vast majority of people do, however, there is no reason to follow them.

IPod Notes for Your Workout

Have a method for keeping notes with you. Carrying a book or notepad is one way. However, it is cumbersome. With most exercisers having IPods now, an IPod is a great way to store some of this information. There are programs for Mac and Windows that allow you to copy simple text files to the Notes area of the IPod menu (under “Extras”) We use Macs, so we like the program “IPod Notes.” However, there are several programs that will do. Even an IPod with a very small amount of memory can hold hundreds of text files along with music. Types of information to keep include:

1. Keep your entire workout
2. Maintain notes and workout advice

It is very easy to migrate away from basic principles of exercise unless those principles are written down and can be frequently reviewed. Keeping notes on your IPod is a great way to make sure you don’t drift. As boring and uncreative as it may seem, staying in condition is mostly a function of executing mindlessly on a specific instruction, week after week, month after month. Your body is going to tend to want to do what is easy, rather than what is correct.

Once you become proficient with storing notes on your IPod, you can store a number of items like shopping lists, and to do lists. The only issue is that IPods are frequently and easily stolen. so you should fight the temptation to place sensitive information or phone numbers in the IPod.

Basic Workout

Most people we meet are looking for a very basic workout for those with a limited amount of time. The workout below is designed to workout the entire body and focuses on some of the most important exercises. Before we get into the individual exercises lets provide some bullet points on how this routine should be executed:

Aerobics

Begin with at least 20 minutes of any form of aerobics. This will burn calories and warm your body.

Stretching

Stretch at any time between doing the weight exercises. Be careful not to allow your heart rate to decline significantly. Hold each stretch for a minimum of 1 minute.

Sets

Perform roughly 14 to 20 sets per workout

Weight and Reps

The weight should be heavy enough so that completing 6 repetitions is challenging. Many people are under the impression that they should be doing more repetitions in order to increase endurance and create muscle tone. Weights are not the best method for building endurance. Weights are best used for building strength and increasing muscle mass. Everyone, not just athletes need both of these things. Research demonstrates that most the muscle fibers drop out of the exercise after around 11 seconds, and further repetitions are not conducive for building strength.

Cadence

See the post on this blog on negative training for details on this

http://healthimprove.wordpress.com/2008/01/21/do-not-focus-on-max-lifts/

Generally, the upstroke should take roughly one second, while the downstroke should take roughly 3 seconds.

Individual Exercises

Day 1: Shoulders and Chest

1. Bench Press
2. Downward Cable Flys
3. External Cable Rotation Bottom to Top (standing in the middle of a cable crossover machine and facing the mirror, using a handle attatchment and with the cable controller at the ground level, begin with holding  the cable handle down and your holding arm across your body, raise handle at an angle in line with the cable)
4. External Cable Rotation Top to Bottom (standing in the middle of a cable crossover machine and facing the mirror, using a handle attatchment and with the cable controller at the highest level, begin with holding  the cable handle upward and your holding arm across your body, lower handle at an angle in line with the cable)
5. Cable Lateral Pull Down (standing in the middle of a cable crossover machine and facing the mirror, with the cable controller at the highest level, holding both handles high, pull both handles down until your hands touch your hips.)

Day 2: Legs

1. Deadlift
2. Squat (start off with low weight and focus very heavily on your form. Squatting can take months to perform properly)
3. Lunge (as many as you can complete, either side, front, back or plie lunge)

Day 3: Back

1. Pull Up (either with bodyweight, or with  the help of a machine)
2. Close Grip Pull Up (either with bodyweight, or with  the help of a machine)
3. Diagonal Pull Down (standing in the middle of a cable crossover machine and facing the mirror, with the cable controller at the highest level, holding both handles high, and while on your knees, pull both handles in, but pulling your elbows into your sides.)
4. Seated Cable Row

Day 4: Midsection

1. Hanging Leg Lifts
2. Cable Wood Chop Down (standing in the middle of a cable crossover machine and facing the mirror, with the cable controller at the highest level, using a rope extension and holding with both hands, pull the cable across you body, focusing on powering the exercise with your midsection)
3. Cable Wood Chop Down (standing in the middle of a cable crossover machine and facing the mirror, with the cable controller at the lowest level, using a rope extension and holding with both hands, pull the cable across you body, focusing on powering the exercise with your midsection)
4. Swiss Ball Curl (Laying back on a Swiss Ball and positioning a dumbbell on your chest, crunch upwards, then release, allowing your head and shoulders to drop back and allowing your back to take the shape of the ball.)

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Keep The Sugar to a Minimum

Simple Sugar Sources There are four very significant categories of sources of simple sugars in the US diet:

1. Soft drinks, mixed drinks, iced tea and smoothies
2. Fruit drinks
3. White bread, potatoes and rice
4. Ice cream, cake, pastries

It is as surprise to many that white bread and rice fall into the simple sugar category. They certainly don’t look like sugar or taste sweet, however, their lack of fiber means that they are metabolized by the body as simple sugars. Smoothies are another food that catches people off guard. Yes, they often contain nutrient rich fruits, but stripped of their fiber (many smoothies are supplemented with fruit juices) they contain large amounts of simple sugars. Problems with Simple Sugars These sugars are a problem because simple sugars have the following traits:

1. They are calorically “dense”
2. They convert to fat very quickly
3. They do not satisfy hunger long term
4. They cause your pancreas to excrete insulin (which is hard on the body and hard on the pancreas and can lead to insulin resistance)
5. They are poor for creating and maintaining energy, and a diet with a moderate to high amount of sugar will result in low energy levels as the body spends its time regulating sugar levels. Its important to realize that humans did not evolve with access to such high concentrations of sugar and the body is basically not designed to deal with it.

The Understanding of Simple Sugars There is a large discussion and understanding that its goods to stay away from fats (which is only partially true as it ignores the quality of fats) however, much more poorly understood is the effects of sugars on weight and health. For instance, sugars can cause people to gain fat as easily as those following a high fat diet. Simple sugars are similar to fat in that they are both calorically dense. Simple sugar is converted to fact very quickly in the body.
Substitutes
Plain Sugar

We have had a lot of success replacing white sugar with Splenda (while only a few years in the marketplace, the underlying chemical of Splenda – Sucralose was invented in 1971) Read more about Sucralose at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Splenda.

It is one of the few sugar substitutes that tastes like real sugar, this is very much unlike the taste of Nutrasweet or the abysmal Saccharine. However, the problem is that Splenda is most likely a cancer causing chemical which is completely hazardous to the environment. It contains free chlorine, which is a main component of chlorine gas, and is a known carcinogenic. Much better is Stevia, which is an all natural sugar substitute.

Drinks
The amount of soda Americans drinks has increased radically in the past several decades. As people move to adulthood, they often move to diet drinks. However, diet drinks have a large amount of phosphoric acid (this is what gives the drinks their “tangy” bite). The problem with phosphoric acid is that it is such a strong acid it cause the body to look for a base in order to neutralize it. The body is particular about keep a certain blood PH as it both is optimal for cell activity and is important for neurotransmitter function. The largest available store of a base is in the bones, therefore, the body will leach calcium from the bones in order to bring the blood PH back into balance. For this reason alone, diet drinks should be avoided. However plain water becomes tiresome to drink.

Electronic Exercise Helpers

Exercise can be greatly enhanced with feedback. Two tools we have found very helpful include heart rate monitors and stopwatches.

Heart Rate Monitor

We have used Polar heart rate monitors for over 9 years and find them very necessary for understanding the right intensity for training. We prefer models that can both count the heart rate and calculate the number of calories burned. (Polar is a good brand, but be careful as we have found them fragile) There are very much more sophisticated models that tan estimate fitness level and provide computer output that can be very important for competitive athletes, however for normal people, just the heart rate and calories burned is fine. This is important for weight management as you can set the amount of exercise to match your weight loss goals. For instance we try to burn at least 900 calories per day. If we only get into 500 calories in one session, we know we have to come back for a second session to burn the next 400. Furthermore, if we have one hour to work out, but have only burned 300 calories, we know we need to pick up the pace.

Timer / Stopwatch

The second very useful electronic helper we have used is a timer or stopwatch. This is for stretching. Most people do not hold their stretches for adequate amounts of time. Its been shown that it takes around a minute for muscles and fascia to fully stretch. Without a timer of some type the inclination is to focus on the time mentally and this reduces how much you can get into the stretch. With a timer you can set it and forget about time until the stretch is complete.

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