Fiber is part of the carbohydrate group and is present to one degree or another in all grains, fruits, vegetables, pulses, legumes and nuts. Technically a non-starch polysaccharide or NSP for short, our digestive systems lack the necessary enzymes to break fiber down and so, as far as we are concerned, fiber is a calorie-free food. Animals that can extract energy from fiber have more than one stomach or have the ability to produce specialised enzymes so they can digest this tough plant-derived starch. For humans, although fiber does not contribute any energy to your daily diet, it provides numerous other health-related benefits.

Types of Fiber

Fiber can be classified as soluble or insoluble. This refers to its interaction with water. Soluble fiber forms a gel-like substance as it passes through your digestive track. Like a dry sponge, it soaks up liquid as it passes though your intestines and absorbs small but significant amounts of bile acid, cholesterol, fats and other such nastiness in your digestive system. Soluble fibre is found in the soft flesh of fruits, vegetables and grains. Think of soluble fiber as your friendly digestive-tract cleaner!

Insoluble fiber, sometimes called roughage, is found in the tough outer husk of grains as well as the skins of vegetables and fruit. Insoluble fiber passes through your digestive system like an old-fashioned bottle brush and gives it a good internal scrubbing. This helps keep your innards nice and clean!

Fibre Requirements

Despite being calorie and nutrient-free, fiber offers a wide range of health benefits. The RDA (recommended daily allowance) for fiber is around 35 grams per day, split evenly between soluble and insoluble varieties. Your total daily fiber requirement varies according to your age, weight and the amount of food you are eating which is why you may often see a recommended range for fiber consumption of 24 to 35 grams. As fiber is calorie free, there is little harm in making sure you hit the upper ranges of this scale. If you are currently eating too little fibre and decide, as the result of reading this article to eat more, increase your daily fiber intake gradually. Going from a low fiber diet to a high fibre diet overnight is like trying to run a marathon on the first day you take up jogging. Increase your fiber intake slowly and gradually over a few weeks to minimize your chances of suffering digestive discomfort.

Fiber Benefits

Weight Control – as previously discussed, fiber is calorie free. This means that foods that contain a lot of fibre such as whole grains, fruits and vegetables are generally lower in calories than less fibrously-dense foods. To put this in perspective, an apple and a typical biscuit both contain around 60 calories. Because much of the mass of the apple is made up from calorie-free fiber and water, compared to sugar and fat in the biscuit, the apple is bigger, far more filling and much more satisfying to eat. Most of us can eat a few biscuits in a single serving but it’s pretty unlikely you’ll eat the same number of apples!

Filling up on fiber is a great way to prevent overeating. Stretch receptors in your stomach send signals to your brain when it is full so you know when to stop eating. This message can take as long as 30 minutes to be sent and delivered. Fibrous foods cause greater gastric distension than non-fibrous foods. Simply put, this means you feel fuller, quicker which results in your brain getting the “stop eating” signal sooner than usual. This limits your potential for overeating.

In addition to being low in calories, fibrous foods generally take longer to chew and eat and keep you feeling fuller for longer. Fiber is a major gastric inhibitor. This simply means that fibre delays the emptying of your stomachs contents into your small intestine. The longer food stays in your stomach, the longer you feel full. A real-world example of this phenomenon is Chinese food. It’s an old truism that after eating a Chinese meal, 20 minutes later you are hungry again. Why? White rice! White rice is mostly devoid of fiber and subsequently passes out your stomach and into your small intestine very rapidly. This means you can go from feeling full to feeling empty very quickly.

By delaying gastric emptying, fiber also helps to control your blood glucose levels. Large fluctuations in blood glucose can trigger corresponding fluctuations in insulin levels. Roller coasting blood glucose levels play havoc with your hunger. A rapid drop in blood glucose can often result in cravings for carbohydrate (one reason never to go grocery shopping on an empty stomach!) so by ensuring that your stomach empties slowly, fibre helps ensure that your blood glucose levels remain relatively stable.

Digestive Health

The hollow tubes of your intestines are made of smooth muscle and like the muscles of your chest, arms and legs, benefit from a regular workout. Fibre provides the means to exercise your digestive system. A diet devoid of fiber will result in poor intestinal health in the same way that a lack of exercise will result in a flabby, weak body.

To push food though your digestive system, the smooth muscular tubes that make up your digestive tract must squeeze inward in an action called peristalsis. Picture a snake swallowing an egg and the wave-like undulations as the snake squeezes the egg down the length of its body – that’s peristalsis.

Low fiber foods do not travel though your hollow digestive tubes very easily. A large amount of pressure is required to push food along. Imagine trying to get the very last bit of toothpaste out of the tube – it’s a real challenge! Fiber adds bulk to your food and, consequently, it passes though your digestive system much more easily and with far less pressure. Easy food passage and reduced food transit time (the time it takes from ingestion to elimination) has a major impact on digestive health and is strongly linked to a lower incidence of diverticular disease, also known as diverticulitis. This is a painful and serious medical condition where bacteria-filled bulges develop in the walls of your intestines. By consuming adequate fibre, intestinal pressure is kept to a minimum and there is much less likelihood of developing this unpleasant disease.

Getting Enough

While getting enough fiber is very important, supplementation is seldom the best way. Fiber supplements such as bran and psyllium husks do indeed provide fiber but they do not provide any of the other nutritious benefits associated with eating fibrous fruits, vegetables and whole grains; specifically vitamins and minerals. An overreliance on fiber supplements may actually result in a vitamin and mineral deficiency. The best way to get enough fiber in your diet is to eat a wide variety of fruit, vegetables, grains and other natural food. Refined foods such as white bread, white rice, white pasta and processed meals contain very little fibre so, wherever possible, seek out foods in their most natural and unprocessed state. Simply following the old advice of eating an apple a day is one way to make sure you are on your way to getting enough essential fibre in your diet.

At some point or another, just about every exerciser commits to a fat loss workout programme and diet. This might because of a significant albeit gradual accumulation of body fat, because you want to get in great shape for a big event like a holiday or because you are contemplating entering a figure, fitness or body building show. Maybe you just want to look good naked?! Whatever the reason, there is a right way and a wrong way to get lean and stay lean.

Only around 2% of people who start diets actually keep the weight they have lost off. This depressing fact illustrates one thing – that many diets are simply too extreme for long term compliance. Diets like cabbage soup, Atkins, the Zone and South Beach may well work but if you can’t stick to them week after week, month after month then they are all but useless.

The secret to successful fat loss is making haste slowly. Fat accumulation can take years to happen, as in the case with “middle age spread” so it’s unrealistic to expect to be able to lose that accumulated body fat in just a few short weeks. Losing fat and, more importantly, keeping it off is about moderation and consistency. The best diet and training programme are nothing but waste paper if you can’t stick with it for an extended period of time.

As you probably know, body fat, properly called adipose tissue, is stored energy and is the result of a lack of activity, eating too much or a combination of both. Excess energy from carbohydrates, fats and even protein are converted to adipose tissue for later use. To use this stored energy, you have to eat less than normal which forces your body to use stored body fat to make up your energy intake shortfall.

The trouble is, if you reduce your calorific intake too much, you can trigger something called the starvation response. As well as being stored energy, fat is a secreting organ that produces a signalling hormone called leptin. If fat levels drop too quickly, so do leptin levels. The hypothalamus region of your brain detects this drop and goes into survival mode – the so-called starvation response. The starvation response results in the following “symptoms” which can completely unhinge your fat loss efforts.

• Reduced metabolic rate
• Break down of muscle into amino acids for fuel
• Increased production of lipoprotein lipase – a fat storage enzyme
• Increased hunger levels

As you can imagine, none of the above is particularly conducive to long term fat loss. The starvation response actually primes your body for fat gain so that, when your will power breaks and you go back to eating a less regimented diet, you not only gain back the fat you lost but also gain a little more! Not good at all.

So what is the solution?

Firstly, only reduce your calorific intake by around 10% below your daily maintenance requirements. If you need 2,500 calories a day to maintain your current weights, cut 250 calories a day from your intake.

Next, perform enough exercise a day to create a further 250 per day deficit. This gives you a combined calorie deficit of 500 per day which will result in a steady and predictable fat loss of around a pound a week.

Finally, follow these tips for eating smarter and not necessarily less. This will take you safely above the pound a week fat loss we have calculated for but without triggering the starvation response.

Build each meal around lean protein – it boosts your metabolism and provides essential amino acids which will help preserve your muscle mass during calorie restriction.

Eat lots of fibrous veggies – they really fill you up without providing much in the way of calories. Lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, courgettes and mushrooms are all excellent choices. 

Only consume starchy carbs like rice, potatoes, pasta etc. directly after exercise – these foods are great for raising blood glucose levels and therefore insulin levels which is essential for shunting nutrients into your muscle cells and speeding up the post-exercise recovery process. On the downside, insulin also inhibits fat burning. Optimize your insulin levels by only eating starchy carbs in the 1-2 hours after exercise.

Consume plenty of healthy fats – specifically omega three fatty acids. In addition to being anti-inflammatory, these fats also promote fat burning. It takes fat to burn fat – crazy but true!

Don’t drink your calories – sugary drinks don’t register at the hunger centres of your brain like food does. It’s very easy to consume a huge number of calories in liquid form and still feel hungry. Water is the best beverage for fat loss.

Build some muscle – strength training builds bigger muscles and muscle is metabolically active. That is to say, the more lean muscle you have, the more calories you need. A single kilo of muscle is estimated to require around 90 extra calories per day. Also, strategic strength training during a diet prevents muscle loss, unlike long duration cardio.

Do interval training – while long, slow cardio workouts may burn fat, they do so at an alarmingly slow rate. Interval training; periods of hard work interspersed with short rests, produces a lot of lactic acid. Lactic acid, in very simple terms, requires a lot of energy to clear it out of your system. This means that your metabolic rate is elevated for hours after an interval training session – a phenomenon called EPOC which is short for excessive post-exercise oxygen consumption and also known as after burn.

Supplement wisely – there are a number of supplements and other substances that can be beneficial in your quest for fat loss including green tea extract, caffeine, cinnamon, chillies and white willow bark extract. These substances work by either giving your more energy for your workouts, increasing your metabolism, increasing your sensitivity to insulin, reducing your appetite or a combination of the above. While not exactly miracles in powder form, these supplements and substances can give your fat loss efforts a real boost.

So, forget the crash diets and too good to be true eating plans that promise amazing results but almost always fail to deliver. Follow the advice above and you’ll be well on your way to losing fat and, more importantly, keeping it off for good.

So, for your New Year’s Resolution you have made the decision to start getting some exercise – that’s great! But where should you start your journey from Couch Potato to Fitness Fanatic? In this article, I hope to help you map out a plan to get you on the road to improved health, fitness and wellbeing. 

Step One: Get a check up. It’s an irrefutable fact that exercise is good for you. It can reduce your chances of suffering many common chronic diseases, help you control your weight, improve your general health, and give you more energy and so on. There is a long list of benefits associated with exercise but exercise also comes with some risks. Because of this it is vital that you get a full medical examination before commencing your new exercise regime. Your doctor will be able to screen you for any medical conditions which may worsen because of your new routine. It is very VERY rare for a medical practitioner to tell you not to exercise, but they may suggest certain restrictions if a particular condition is discovered – e.g. low impact exercise for morbidly obese exercisers or avoiding overhead weight lifting in hypertensives. If in doubt – get checked out! 

Step Two: Decide on how much time you can realistically spare for exercise. The truth is that if you are short of time and your exercise programme becomes an inconvenience, it is very likely that your plan will be a non-starter or certainly a short runner. Calculate exactly how much time you have spare each day and look for ways to maximise that time. Are you really going to want to commute for an extra hour to get to the gym across town? Or are there better ways to use your valuable spare time? Remember it is not necessary to spend hours and hours exercising every day. 20-30 minutes, 3-5 times a week will yield amazing benefits. The average person spends 4 hours a day watching TV…you need to find less than 4 hours per week for exercise! 

Step Three: Explore your exercise options. There are literally hundreds of ways for you to exercise. Some will suit you perfectly, others will be completely unsuited to your needs, your personality or your goals. You can choose from aerobics classes to weight training, from Pilates to swimming, from jogging to tennis. From the almost endless list of possibilities, choose activities which you think you will enjoy. If you have “two left feet” then maybe hip-hop aerobics isn’t going to be for you. Not a great fan of loud music, shiny chrome and mirrors? Maybe the local Fitness Studio isn’t for you. I guarantee you that there are plenty of activities out there which will suit your personality and physicality so do some research, look around and then select something you feel comfortable with and not intimidated by. The caveat is that whatever your chose, you should enjoy. 

Step Four: Make a commitment. A plan is just a meaningless piece of paper unless you commit to following it. Decide on a start date for your new, healthy lifestyle and zero in on it. Make it an appointment in your diary and stick to it. Work towards it so that when you reach your intended commencement day, you are ready to start. Plan ahead for this day. Have you booked your place in the class? Bought some appropriate work out clothing? Arranged a baby sitter? Do everything in your power to make this as easy a process as possible. The last thing you want is for uncontrollable details to derail your new healthy lifestyle. 

Step Five: Do it! Get off the couch, out the door and get started. Procrastination will ruin even the very best intentions. A journey of 1000 miles starts with a single step or so they say, so make that first step now. Your old life of inactivity has an inertia all of its own and it’s absolutely vital that you make a clean break from it. Put it behind you and move onwards and upwards into your new healthy lifestyle. Treat this change like a battle – attack it with tenacity and aggression and you WILL win. 

Step Six: Stick with it. You’ve done the hard part – you got started. Now you need to keep that momentum and maintain your new active lifestyle. Tell your friends what you are doing, keep a workout diary, and set your self some goals. Take a look at my article “Habits of Effective Exercisers” and you’ll learn about a number of excellent strategies designed to help should your motivation levels start to wane. 

Step Seven: Enjoy it! Look back on what you have achieved and take pride in it. At the very least you have broken away from the gravity of your couch and have now made moves towards a new, healthier lifestyle. And remember, it’s not a race – there’s no hurry, take it a day at a time, a workout at a time and you WILL make improvements and progress. You will have done what many people never manage to do – taken positive steps to improve your health and fitness. Good for you! 

I hope that gives you a plan of action to get up, out and exercising. It’s time to stop thinking about getting fit and start doing something about it – Just do it! The rewards are huge!

Food is one of life’s necessities—your body needs an almost constant supply of food and water to keep it functioning properly. A good diet, consisting of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, meat, fish, eggs and dairy provides etc not only provides energy but vitamins, minerals and fiber too. Modern convenience foods, treats such as candy and ice cream, many breakfast cereals and pre-prepared foods contain plenty of energy but are often devoid of the essential nutrients needed to maintain your health. There are a number of dangers that can be attributed to a bad diet.

Obesity
A poor diet will probably include numerous processed foods which often contain lots of refined sugars and fats. These foods will be very energy-dense and, if consumed in excess, will result in weight gain. A significant gain in weight is referred to as obesity. Defined as an accumulation of body fat to the degree that ill health may result, people with obesity are more prone to coronary heart disease, osteoarthritis, high blood pressure, stroke, respiratory infections and premature mortality.

Diabetes
When you eat carbohydrate foods, such as bread, your blood glucose levels rise. Your body produces insulin which transports the glucose from your blood and into your cells for energy or storage for later use. A diet that results in obesity or that contains too much sugar can result in diabetes. Diabetes is a chronic disease that affects your ability to process carbohydrates. There are two main types of diabetes—type one where no insulin is produced and type two where insulin is produced but is unable to perform its job properly. Both types of diabetes result in a rise in blood sugar levels which can be fatal if left unchecked. Although diabetes can be genetic, a poor diet can significantly increase your chances of developing both forms of the disease.

Hypertension
Hypertension or high blood pressure is often associated with a high salt intake. High blood pressure can have a negative effect on the health of your heart, eyes and kidneys. Many convenience foods, commonplace in a poor diet, contain large amounts of salt, for example pre-prepared TV dinners, processed meats and savory snacks such as potato chips. Although not physically addictive, salt is something that some people find very hard to cut back on, especially if they enjoy the taste.

Coronary Heart Disease
Coronary Heart Disease or CHD for short is the narrowing or occlusion of the arteries that keep the heart supplied with oxygenated blood. If the blood that supplies the heart is cut off, sections of the heart will become damaged which can result in a heart attack which may be fatal. CHD is often attributed to an over consumption of saturated fat which is sometimes described as artery-clogging fat. Many convenience foods are high in fat which, in addition to being very calorie dense, may increase the risk of developing CHD.

Tooth Decay
Many of the foods that are considered to be unhealthy contain large amounts of refined sugar. This may be in the form of glucose syrup, refined corn syrup, fructose or any number of other variants. All sugars are very acidic and will attack the tough enamel that covers your teeth. Sodas—some of which contain upwards of eight teaspoons of sugar per serving, processed fruit juices, candies, cakes, cookies and even breakfast cereals all contain large amounts of some form of sugar.

I’ve tried to find out who first uttered the phrase “You are what you eat”. Originally I thought it was my mum but I have since discovered that, as old as she is, someone else can probably lay claim to this particular nugget of nutritional truism. Some historians reckon it was Lucretius, a Roman philosopher and poet in 50 BC whereas others suggest it was in fact Hippocrates, a Greek scholar of medicine and philosophy in 450 BC. More recently, “you are what you eat” has been attributed to nutritionist Victor Lindlahr who, in 1923 wrote “Ninety per cent of the diseases known to man are caused by cheap foodstuffs ergo (therefore) you are what you eat” and don’t forget Scottish nutritionist Gillian McKeith hosted a channel 4 TV show with this very title.

So, while this is clearly a popular expression used in connection with food, what does it really mean to you, me and our respective waistlines?

Without getting overly technical (it is Friday after all) your body is a big salty bag of watery chemicals. I know your parents told you that you were special but in actuality we all share common chemical and biological traits. This means that, by and large, you, me, David Beckham and our illustrious (!?) Prime Minister David Cameron are all the same once the skin comes off.

When you eat a food, any food, your digestive system breaks the food into its chemical constituents and then your body takes these chemicals in and uses them. These chemicals are then used as fuel, for numerous biological functions or to make structures such as bones, muscles, fat and skin. The food you eat literally becomes part of you at a cellular level. So now you know what “you are what you eat” actually means.

So, if you eat lots of healthy food, packed with essential nutrients and devoid of pollutants, refined sugars and other nastiness, you will you get everything you need to function well and also avoid turning your miraculous body into a steaming pile of junk because, as we know now, everything you eat becomes part of you so if you put low quality food in, it’s pretty obvious what you will become.

This leads me nicely onto a recent development in the Netherlands where a tax is being introduced on foods that contain a large amount of saturated fat. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-10-02/denmark-introduces-food-fat-tax/3205392?section=business While such a strong stance on nutrition and health should be applauded, this national position does nothing to address the real culprits of poor health and obesity; refined sugars, trans fats, junk food and a sedentary lifestyle in general.

So, this all begs the question – what constitutes a “good” diet. Firstly, the term “diet” conjures up periods of restrictive eating for fat loss so please understand that I mean diet in terms of a long term eating regime for optimized health, well being and performance as opposed to a “lose 20 pound by next week” type weight loss diet. Is the answer the typical food pyramid proposed by most governments?  While I think this high carbohydrate, moderate protein and low fat approach to eating is better than the takeaway/ sweets/soft drink diet many people follow, I don’t believe it is optimal for everyone.

The antithesis of the food pyramid is the Paleolithic or so-called cavemen diet which consists of high protein/high to moderate fats/low carbs. Personally I like this approach but realize that for many people it is too restrictive for long term adherence. For the majority, the best diet is one that falls between these two extremes.

Whatever type of eating plan you choose, it’s important to remember the underlying principle of all nutrition – you are what you eat. This is often overlooked in the search for the next best super effective fat-fighting diet that promises a new you by the end of the week. If you eat for health, body composition (levels of fat versus muscle) generally sort themselves out without out too much effort.

At the risk of ensuring I can never make any money from writing a diet book – here are my top five guidelines for healthy diet that will get 90+% of people 90+% of the results they seek regarding their health and body composition.

1.       Eat protein at every meal

2.       Eat vegetables and/or fruit at every meal

3.       Eat carbohydrates (in the form of whole grains) according to your activity levels – the more active you are, the more you need and less active you are, the less you need

4.       Don’t drink your calories – drink mainly water

5.       Cut down or mostly eliminate sugar, salt, dairy and refined grains

There are plenty of other dietary interventions that you can implement but I honestly believe that following these five simple rules will do the job for the vast majority of the population.

So, eat what you like this weekend but then, on Monday, start afresh and start putting more thought into your diet. Remember, you are what you eat so eat unhealthy, fatty and sugar laden junk and that’s just what your body will become. I’m off to eat some prime lean steak!

Dietary fats are much maligned and misunderstood. The media frequently vilifies them and food marketers take advantage of our “fat-phobia” by actively promoting low-fat products. While conservative dieticians and mainstream nutritionists usually suggest cutting reducing your fat intake, proponents of Palaeolithic and low carbohydrate diets insist that fat is good and should be well represented in your daily diet. Who is right and who is wrong is a book in the making so the intention of this article is to discuss how your body uses fat and the different types of fat you will find in your diet.

Fat is Fuel

Fat is the most energy dense food group and provides around nine calories per gram. Protein and carbohydrate provide four each. This high energy density is one of the primary reasons that many weight management plans focus on reducing fat intake. A relatively small decrease in fat intake will result in a significant decrease in calories consumed.

Fat is your primary source of energy during low intensity aerobic activity. Right now, as you sit and read this article, you are using almost exclusively fat for fuel. As activity intensity levels increase, fat oxidation begins to decrease and carbohydrate-derived glucose oxidation increases until the point where you are working anaerobically and your body switches almost exclusively to using carbohydrates for fuel. The phenomenon is responsible for the so-called “fat burning zone” that suggests that low intensity exercise is the best tool for weight management. Is this actually the case? Like the high fat/low fat discussion, that’s a subject for another article!

Types of Dietary Fats

There are four main types of dietary fats – saturated, monounsaturated, polyunsaturated and trans fats. Each fat has a very specific chemical structure which dictates its role in your body.

Saturated Fats

Often considered the “bad boy” of dietary fats, saturated fats are comprised of chains of carbon atoms that are packed or saturated with hydrogen. This makes them, with the exception of palm oil and coconut oil, solid at room temperature and chemically inert. Saturated fats do not react very much to heat, light or oxygen which makes them ideal for cooking. Foods such as butter, animal produce, eggs and dairy contain large amounts of saturated fat.

Your body likes to use saturated fats for energy during aerobic activity, as stored energy for later use within your adipose tissue, protection of vital organs, cell membrane integrity, transport and storage of fat soluble vitamins and is also essential for protein utilization.

Monounsaturated Fats

A monounsaturated fat is missing some hydrogen and, as a result, a double bond is formed in the carbon chain. The double bond causes a bend in the carbon chain and, in chemistry, shape dictates function. This means that a monounsaturated fat behaves differently to a saturated fat.

Monounsaturated fats are moderately reactive and more susceptible to changes caused by heat, light and oxygen. Liquid at room temperature, monounsaturated fats are linked to cardiovascular health and feature heavily in the olive oil-rich Mediterranean diet. Other sources of monounsaturated fats include nuts and nut derived oils and butters, beef, avocados and numerous seeds. The relative chemical instability of monounsaturated fats means that, while they can be heated and used for cooking, overheating them can make them less healthful. To avoid turning your good monounsaturated into less healthy trans fats (discussed later) do not overheat olive oil or nut oil when cooking. You can tell when you have overheated an oil when it begins to smoke. For cooking, choose oils that have a high “smoke point”. Olive oil, for example, has a smoke point of around 200 degrees centigrade compared to flaxseed oil that will smoke at around 100 degrees centigrade.

Polyunsaturated Fats

Polyunsaturated fats contain two or more double bonds in their carbon chains. This characteristic makes them highly reactive when exposed to heat, light or oxygen. Examples of polyunsaturated fats include oily fish, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, walnuts, soya beans and any oils subsequently extracted from these sources. The inherent reactivity seen in polyunsaturated fats means that exposing an otherwise healthy polyunsaturated fat to high temperatures is likely to result in the formation of trans fats. Polyunsaturated fats are not ideal oils for cooking and more stable saturated and monounsaturated fats are the better choice. Consume the majority of your polyunsaturated fats in a raw state to maximize their healthfulness.

Polyunsaturated fats, many of which are considered essential for health hence their common moniker “essential fatty acids” or EFAs for short,  can be subcategorised as omega three of omega six fatty acids. Omega, the final letter in the Greek alphabet, refers to the position in the chain at which the last double bend is located i.e. three from the end or six from the end.  These extremely healthful fats are responsible for the a wide range of functions within your body including the formation of cellular hormone-like substances called prostaglandins, the regulation of inflammation, mental function and development and skin, hair and immune system health. Your granny may take cod liver oil to help “lubricate her joints” but, in actuality, cod liver oil is an effective anti-inflammatory agent and helps reduce joint pain rather than increasing lubrication!

Trans Fats

Trans fats occur in nature and, when consumed in relatively small amounts, do not present any real problems for your health. However, many manmade foods and modern food preparation methods result in an abundance of trans fats being formed and consumed. Over consumption of trans fats is strongly linked to immune system dysfunction, bone and tendon weakness, sterility, coronary heart disease, high cholesterol and triglyceride levels, inability to lactate, learning difficulties and low birth weight babies.

Trans fats “block” healthy mono and polyunsaturated fats from entering cells resulting in impairment of cellular function which may lead to poor health.

You can minimize your consumption of trans fats by not overheating mono and polyunsaturated fats, cutting down on processed and takeaway foods, using saturated fats for high-temperature cooking and avoiding food products that contain hydrogenated vegetable oils. It is also a good idea to keep your mono and polyunsaturated oils in dark glass air-tight containers, buying extra-virgin cold-pressed oils and consider using butter instead or margarine as many margarine-type spreads contain hydrogenated vegetable oils. Check the label to be sure.

Fats – maybe not as bad for us as we are often lead to believe…

Many of the health problems associated with fats are due to the fact they can make you fat. Being over-fat presents a much greater health risk than fats alone ever could. Your body needs a certain amount to fat for health and eliminating fat from your diet can lead to a host of medical problems. By being more “fat aware” you can make sure you consume the fats that are best for you while avoiding those that can cause you harm.

A good night’s sleep will not only refresh you and lift your mood but it will increase your energy, your productivity levels and can even help with weight loss due to its effect on hormone regulation.  But how can you ensure that you get a good night in the first place?

1.    Limit Caffeine.
Caffeine is a drug and a stimulant; it is known to reduce fatigue. When you have a coffee or a caffeine based drink it will enter into your bloodstream through the stomach and start affecting you within 15 minutes, your heart rate will increase and you will feel much more alert.  It is known that these effects will stay with you for up to six hours, although everyone may metabolize caffeine in different ways. If caffeine is part of your diet then try to limit your intake at least six hours before you go to bed. Remember caffeine can be found in varying amounts in not just coffee but in green teas, soft drinks and energy drinks and chocolate as well.

2.    Limit Alcohol.
Had a tough day? Feeling stressed? A couple of drinks will help you switch off and relax- right? No! Quite the opposite in fact. The alcohol itself might make you feel tired but when it comes to sleeping it will interfere with your natural sleep patterns and hours spent asleep.  Alcohol affects the REM portion of your sleep. It is this section of your sleep that occurs in six or seven cycles a night that allows you to wake feeling refreshed. If you drink even a moderate amount of alcohol then you will only have one or two REM cycles. This is one of the reasons why you feel so tired the next morning!

3.   Switch Off.
Our lives are busy, with the advent of smart phones and the development of gaming technology your brain is constantly being stimulated. How many of you catch up with emails when in bed, or watch TV? Make the bedroom a gadget free zone. If your bedroom is your main room and your computer, gaming station is there then make it a rule that you will log off before you feel yourself dropping off.

4.   Exercise.
How many times have you heard people say that they are not going to train because they are too tired! Exercise will actually have quite the opposite effect due to the chemical reactions that take place in the body when training. It is the rise and subsequent fall in these chemicals that will allow you to sleep more soundly. However training just before bed may lead to disrupted sleep patterns.

5.   Get into a Routine.
Our sleep and waking pattern is controlled by our circadian clock. Circadian rhythms follow a 24 hour cycle and are physical, mental and behavioural; they are affected by natural factors within the body, such as its reaction to light and dark. So when the master clock that sits just above the optic nerve, receives a signal that it is getting dark, the body reacts accordingly and we start to feel drowsy.

It is possible to manipulate these rhythms when working shift patterns though it may take a few days. Either way, the best way to get a good night’s sleep is to establish a regualr sleep schedule – just like you do with children.

6.   Keep cool.
Studies are now starting to show that in order to get a good night’s sleep we need to turn the thermostat down. Optimal temperature for sleeping is thought to be 60 – 70 degrees. A decrease in core temperature is believed to induce sleepiness. OK then, so why does a warm bath before bedtime help you sleep? Your body then has to work extra hard to cool you down and so sleep happens.

7.   Get Comfortable.
It goes without saying that if you are not comfortable then you won’t sleep. Make sure that you have a supportive mattress and that you are able to maintain the natural curves of your spine with the pillows that you use. Mattresses should be turned regularly and changed every 8 – 10 years. Space is also important to consider. Can you easily move around and stretch? Are you wearing restrictive clothing? Even a little discomfort can play havoc with your sleep.

8.   Manage Stress.
Residual stress from the day or even anger can make it tricky to sleep. I always aim to think about something nice that has happened during the day or something that went well. I make this my last thought as I drift off. If you can’t do this then try progressive muscle relaxation and tell yourself that you are just doing this to relax not to sleep. Start by focusing on your feet and work your way up towards your head.

9.   Magnesium.
If you are deficient in certain minerals then this will affect your sleep. Magnesium is found naturally in nuts and green leafy vegetables. However we still don’t always ingest enough of these nutrients. Magnesium will help to relax your muscles and have a calming effect on your central nervous system. Transdermal magnesium therapy is a recognised technique used in oriental medicine to reduce insomnia and induce a good night’s sleep.

10.    Know when to see a Doctor.
If you have tried all of these and you still have trouble sleeping, then maybe it’s time to seek out professional help. If you find that you are having problems falling asleep, are waking up unrefreshed, falling asleep at inappropriate times or even suffering with frequent morning headaches then it may be time to seek professional help.

Sleep is when your body repairs and recovers.

Aim for 8 hours a night.

Sweet dreams!

The dust is settling on 2012 and 2013 is all shiny, bright and new. It’s the time of the year when many of us decide to make life-changing resolutions that, with luck, will mean when 2013 rolls around, we are fitter, wealthier, slimmer, healthier or just generally a better version of our current selves. Unfortunately, relatively few New Year’s resolutions reach fruition.

Statistics suggest that you are much more likely to reach your goals if you make them SMART. This acronym can be applied to all manner of goals but for our purposes, we’ll stick with health and fitness related ones. So, take your piece of paper and write the letters SMART down the left-hand margin.

Specific
It’s all too easy to set yourself arbitrary goals like lose weight, exercise more, drink more water and so on. The problem with this sort of goal is that it’s just too vague to generate any kind of long-term adherence. Instead, make your goals really specific. How much weight do you want to lose? What do you want to be able to do once you are fitter? How much water do you want to build up to drinking? By having something specific to aim at, you are more likely to hit the target!

Measureable
How can you assess your progress towards your goal if you are unable to measure it? How will you know if you have achieved it or missed it by a mile? Unless your goal is measurable, you are likely to find that you merely drift along and end up achieving a whole lot of very little. Put figures to your goals. If weight loss is your goal, you’ll need to log your starting weight and also specify a goal weight. For fitness, you might choose to measure your VO2 max or, more simply, your running or cycling performance. You could even enter a race and use that as your progress bench mark. You may have to be creative to put a measure to your goal but it will be worth the effort.

Achievable
For a non-runner, running the April 2012 London marathon in two and a half hours is, most likely, an unachievable goal. It’s just too lofty. Set goals that are challenging but leave you with a fighting chance of reaching in the foreseeable future. There is nothing wrong with lofty goals but really big challenges should be broken down into smaller goals which act as stepping stones to your ultimate success. Like any good business model, it is better to under-promise and over deliver than the other way around. Set yourself up for success and not failure by keeping your goals realistic.

Recorded
Psychologically, writing your goals down makes them seem more real. It’s almost like a contract with yourself. Once you have decided on your goals, write them down and stick them somewhere prominent so they can act as a regular reminder of what you are trying to achieve. Nutrition and weight loss goals could be stuck on your fridge or fitness goals could be displayed on the inside of your gym locker. You could even start an online blog to make your goals really public. Either way, writing down your goals makes them real.

Time-bound
It’s very easy to put off actions if they are not deemed urgent and setting an end-date to your goals will give your actions greater focus. Don’t set yourself up for failure by not giving yourself sufficient time to achieve your goals but, conversely, don’t give yourself such a long period that you aren’t under any pressure at all. Decide what you want to achieve and work backwards to where you are now. This should give you an idea of how long it will take you to get from your present levels to your end-goal. For example, for weight loss look for around a pound/half a kilo per week. If your goal is especially big, feel free to break it down into smaller goals of around 8 to 12 weeks in duration. Add a couple of extra weeks as a “fudge factor” to allow for slip ups, holidays and life generally getting in the way.

SMART goals are really useful for getting you to where you want to be. The process of setting these goals will only take you a few minutes but the results can last a lifetime. If nothing less, by setting SMART goals, you are less likely to be one of the many casualties of New Year’s resolution rot and will be still working towards you goals when almost everyone else has given up the ghost.

Many exercisers dream of a flat, toned and shapely stomach. You only have to look in popular media to see that flat stomachs are the “must have” accessory being sported by stars of music, sport and film. Developing a flat stomach requires a combination of approaches including nutrition, exercise and posture. Genetics can also play an important role in your ability to develop a flat, washboard stomach.

Eating For a Flat Stomach
To develop a flat stomach, you may need to lose some weight. Fat stored internally around your abdominal organs—called intra abdominal adipose tissue— will cause your stomach to push outwards. To lose weight consider following a calorie controlled diet and increasing your general activity levels. The combination of cardio exercise and strength training is best for sustainable weight loss.

Avoid Foods that Cause Bloating
Some people find that certain foods cause their abdomen to become bloated. For example, if you have intolerance to gluten you may find your stomach swells with trapped gas. If you have any food allergies such as gluten, nuts or lactose you should avoid these foods to ensure you stomach is not bloated. You may not realize that suffer food intolerance until you abstain from foods containing common allergens. Try eliminating all grains and/or dairy for seven days while monitoring your waist measurement. If you find that your waist measurement goes down during your week of abstinence than it is very likely you suffer mild food intolerance.

Developing your Abdominal Muscles
The muscle at the front of your stomach is called the rectus abdominus or abs for short. Your abs is the muscle that gives a flat, lean stomach that six-pack shape. Perform crunches, leg raises, planks and sit ups to strengthen your stomach muscles. You can also increase the condition of your abs by performing isometric exercises. Isometrics is a form of exercise that involves tensing your muscles as hard and as long as you can. To perform an isometric stomach exercise, tighten your abs as though you are about to get punched in the gut. Hold this contraction for 10 to 20 seconds before relaxing and repeating. Make sure you don’t hold your breath when performing isometrics.

Better Posture for a Flatter Stomach
If you round your lower back your stomach muscles will bulge forwards. To develop a flat stomach you must learn to stand up straight and avoid slouching. Although stomach exercises are important, you should also strengthen your lower back muscles so that you are better able to stand up straight. In addition, overly tight stomach muscles can pull you forward into a slouched position so make sure you stretch your abs after exercise to minimize this.

Caution
If you are new to exercise, have been sedentary for a long time, are significantly overweight or suffer from any meaningful medical condition such as severe back pain, high blood pressure or diabetes, you should consult your doctor before starting a new exercise routine. Failure to do so may result in injury and/or ill health.

Competitive wrestling, boxing and MMA requires you to fight at a particular weight. Weight lifters and rowIf you fail to make weight, you will be ineligible to fight. There are a number of tricks you can use to ensure that making weight is as straight forward a process as possible and that will allow you to concentrate on your preparation for the bout.

Drink Mostly Water
Hydration is vital for your health as well as sporting performance. Drinking fluids replaces those lost through perspiration and respiration. Many common soft drinks contain unwanted calories in the form of sugar. This is even the case for sports drinks. To avoid consuming hidden calories that will promote fat gain rather than fat loss, in the period leading up to a match, consume only water or sugar free drinks.

Fill up on Fibrous Foods
Hunger can be a real problem when trying to lose weight. To help keep hunger pangs at bay, eat plenty of foods that contain fiber. Fiber is indigestible by humans and is effectively calorie free. Consuming fibrous vegetables, fruits and whole grains will keep you full up without providing you with lots of calories. Fibrous foods generally take longer to eat and also stay in your stomach for longer, all of which will help dieting to make weight an easier undertaking.

Avoid Mixing Fats and Carbs in the Same Meal
We use both fats and carbohydrates for energy but, if we consume large amounts of both in the same meal, there is what nutritionist Anita Bean calls a competition for fuel. Consuming carbohydrates causes the release of insulin which transports glucose (broken down carbohydrate) into cells. Insulin inhibits fat burning and promotes nutrient storage so consuming large amounts of fat and carbs at the same time is likely to lead to weight gain and not weight loss. Avoid meals such as pizza, pasta with creamy sauces, cakes, cookies and confectionary. Not only are these foods high in calories, they also promote fat storage which will not help you in your quest to lose weight.

Don’t Get Too Heavy Between Matches
Many athletes make the mistake of gaining excessive amounts of weight between matches which then has to be lost, often in a hurry, before making weight. Having to lose weight rapidly can make you feel weak and tired, both of which may interfere with your training. A better strategy is to stay within a few pounds of your fighting weight so that in the weeks leading up to a competition you can focus on preparing for your bout. If you cut down on the intensity and volume of your training between bouts, you should also reduce the amount of food you eat to avoid gaining too much weight.

Sweating to Make Weight
If, on the day of the weigh in, you are overweight, you can temporarily lose weight by sweating. One pint of water weighs around one pound. To sweat off some excess weight, try jumping rope, jogging or using a sauna whilst wearing a plastic sweat suit or a garbage bag with arm and head holes cut in it to make you sweat more. This method of weight loss should only be used as a last resort as purposely dehydrating yourself can leave you fatigued and weak and may also be dangerous to your health. Make sure you rehydrate as soon as possible after the weigh in by drinking plenty of water.