prebiotics, probiotics - what are they?

Doubtless you've heard of the terms 'prebiotic' and 'probiotic' tossed around more and more over the past couple years or so. If you've seen an add on TV for yogurt, then you know what I'm talking about.

But for all the hype, and for all the millions of prebiotic and probiotic cultures they exclaim have been added to their yogurt, they don't really do a very good job of telling you what exactly these cultures do in your body. If I just went on the commercials alone I might be inclined to think that eating certain brands of yogurt may instead just increase my belly-dancing prowess.

Probiotics

In your intestines live literally trillions of microorganisms that do everything from help you digest your food, to preventing the growth of harmful bacteria, to producing vitamins. These microorganisms together are often referred to as 'gut flora'. Probiotics are cultures of bacteria that can help your gut flora re-establish itself after taking a round of anti-biotics for instance, as the anti-biotics don't discriminate. They get rid of bad and good bacteria alike.

While research is still limited, some studies suggest that probiotics may offer the following health benefits:

• Prevention of colon cancer
• Lowering cholesterol
• Lowering blood pressure
• Improving immune function
• Improving mineral absorption
• Improve the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome

It is important to note that there are many different types of probiotics, and not all health benefits are associated with every type.

Prebiotics

If probiotics are assisting the rest of the gut flora on the front lines, who's helping the probiotics? That's where prebiotics come in to play. Prebiotics are like nourishment for probiotics that help these good bacteria increase in number and activity.

Dietary sources of prebiotics:

• soybeans
• artichokes
• raw oats
• wheat
• barley

Something to keep in mind though is that if you are going to suddenly add substantial quantities of prebiotics to your diet, you may want to keep a Beano or two around as you may experience a temporary increase gas, bloating, or bowel movements.

How should this information affect my diet?

First of all, if you're currently dealing with an imbalance of good bacteria due to illness or some other reason described by your doctor, talk to your doctor. They know your health the best.

However, if you're just looking for a safe way to keep your probiotic count up, a good option is to keep them happy and healthy by keeping your prebiotic count up. The best way to do this is to get lots of fruits, vegetables, and fibre in your diet. Try adding a few of the foods listed above a few times a week for a boost of prebiotic cultures. Yogurt fortified with probiotic/prebiotic cultures is also a good way to meet your body's needs these cultures, but it's usually more expensive. Yogurt may also come with other 'goodies' such as saturated fat, sugar, or other additives. Not to mention you miss out on the many great nutrients and minerals found in high fibre foods.

reader question: "if i want to burn fat and build muscle, is it better to do cardio or weight training first in a workout session?

This is a great question. I've asked myself the same. Being a thin guy, for a long time I wanted to gain muscle, while at the same time, not compromise my svelte physique ;) As it turns out, there is a pretty simple answer to the question!


During the course of your workout, regardless of what type of training you are doing, you will be expending energy. Most will also agree that they become more fatigued in the latter half of their work out than in the first half. So, if you were to do your cardio first, then yes, you will be burning fat. However, you're not going to leave yourself with as much energy for your strength training. This means you will be less effective during your strength training, and in addition, run a greater risk of injury due to fatigue.


Your best bet, if you decide to both strength train and do cardio in the same session - and I say 'IF', because I'll recommend another option - is to strength train first to allow adequate energy for the task (no sense wasting your time with a half effort), then do your cardio and burn away those excess calories. Keep in mind though that during either exercise, you're going to be burning calories. In fact, some people may burn as many calories weight training as they do during cardio training.


Alternatively, your interests may best be served by scheduling your cardio and strength training for different days. This way you can focus 100% of your energy to the task at hand that day.


Ultimately, as long as you're strength training and ensuring that you're taking in fewer calories than you're burning, you're going to achieve both of your goals!

opinion: sureslim

Recently you may have seen an ad on TV for a new weight loss program in Canada called SureSlim. Now, there are a ton of different diet plans out there as you all know, but this one caught my attention when I heard their catch phrase:

'Remember, it's not you, it's your metabolism' - What!?

We truly do live in the age of no personal responsibility, don't we? I can't disagree more with that statement.

What is metabolism?

Metabolism boils down to a complex series of biochemical processes that your body works through in order to break down proteins, carbohydrates, and fats in order to convert them into the energy you need. It is also the responsibility of your metabolism to constantly rebuild your body, constructing the components of your cells such as proteins and nucleic acids. Your metabolism is the process of converting food into energy.

Contrary to popular belief, your metabolism does not play as large of a role in determining whether or not you gain or lose weight. Most experts agree that the greatest single factor determining weight gain or loss is your ratio of calories in versus calories burned.

You burn most of your body's daily calorie requirement - about 2/3 to 3/4 - just living. These calories are spent keeping you breathing, your blood flowing, and your body functioning. This is called your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate). It is very difficult to change this! And keep in mind, this constitutes 2/3 to 3/4 of your energy burn.

Another 1/10 of your body's daily calorie requirement is burned providing the energy required to digest and process the food that you eat. This rate of energy burn is also very difficult to change.

So now we're up to almost 9/10th of your daily energy burn already attributed to a Metabolic Burn Rate that we don't have much control over.

What does that leave us with to cover off the difference? Physical activity! And this happens to be the one area you do have a lot of control over. Do I sit on the couch and watch one more episode of The Biggest Loser? Or do I get outside for a walk instead. This is where you can really burn through those excess calories your consuming. Forget about trying to slightly increase your metabolism. Regular exercise burns calories fast and builds muscle. More muscle on your body means you will also burn more calories when you're resting (HINT: That is a way to increase your Basal Metabolic Rate!).

Back to SureSlim

So while SureSlim touts that your metabolism is the key to losing weight and keeping it off easily, they aren't being totally honest in my opinion. Yes, your metabolism does play a role in how fast your body burns calories, but not nearly as much as your diet and rate of exercise do.

They also claim that they'll give you a blood test ($$$) in order to determine the 'right' foods for your body. But ultimately, 100 calories is 100 calories, no matter whose body it goes into. Depending on your size, age and sex, your energy requirements may be different, but it still comes down to calories in versus calories burned. Eat less than you burn and you will lose weight.

It's my guess that (just like most other diets) you will be put on a calorie restricted diet (they will suggest foods that are low calorie and make you feel fuller longer, like whole grains) and it will be recommended you exercise.

I don't know how much the program costs, but why spend extra money for information you already know? So when they tell you, 'Remember, it's not you, it's your metabolism', I'm here to tell you that it is you and the choices you make that will ultimately affect whether or not you gain weight or lose weight.

References:
Mayo Clinic - http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/metabolism/wt00006
Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metabolism
Savvy Fat Burning Food - http://www.savvy-fat-burning-food.com/food-that-increase-metabolism.html

quick tip: multivitamins got you feeling queasy?

Sometimes when I take my multivitamin I get a queasy feeling my my stomach about 30 minutes later. After doing a little research on the subject, it looks like the best thing to do is to take your multivitamin with some food. If that doesn't help, consider trying other brands until you find one that's a little more friendly with your system.

Also, it's good to make sure you're taking in a little fat with your multivitamin. Some of the vitamins that your body needs are fat-soluble and therefore require fat to be present to be properly absorbed into your system.

nutrition: of salt and bananas

Last night I was out with a few friends and the topic of salt in one's diet came up. While most people know that a diet high in sodium can cause high blood pressure and lead to an increase risk of cancer and other cardiovascular diseases, many do not know that potassium plays a key role in the balance of sodium in your diet as well.

So how are sodium and potassium linked?

Both are electrolytes. An electrolyte is a mineral salt that can conduct electricity when dissolved in water. They both function in the maintenance of your kidneys, muscle and nerve cell function, as well as heart function. Each one of your cells has a little sodium/potassium pump. This pump regulates the amount of sodium and potassium in your cells. Too much sodium in your cells and not enough potassium, and your cells can swell with water, eventually bursting.

Many studies show that reducing the amount of sodium in your diet alone is not enough to improve blood pressure. An increase of potassium intake is also required. Today, most Americans (and likely most Canadians too) have a sodium to potassium ratio of 2:1 in their diets. For optimal health, our diets should consist of a ratio of approximately 5:1 (potassium to sodium respectively).

So what are some foods that are high in potassium, but low in sodium?

Vegetables

• Asparagus
• Avocado
• Corn
• Lima Beans
• Tomatoes

Fruits

• Bananas
• Peaches
• Plums
• Apples

Meats

• Chicken
• Lamb
• Cod
• Tuna
• Salmon

So do your body a favour and avoid the salt shaker next time. Instead try getting creative with other spices. It has also been my experience that if you eliminate as much salt from your diet as possible (all the sodium you need is naturally found in the foods you eat), your taste buds will eventually acclimate to less salt and things will taste wonderfully flavourful without the need to add more salt.

Reference: Encyclopedia of Healing Foods (2005), Michael Murray MD

nutrition: got milk? got prostate cancer?

If you're a man, you may want to think twice about having that second glass of milk.

Given the bombardment of advertising from the dairy industry, people might think they need more calcium in their diet. Personally, it bothers me to see the way diary products are advertised as the 'best' way to get your calcium and vitamin D. Dairy is full of saturated fat, and if you're not drinking organic, hormones and anti-biotics too. But that's another story.

Studies are beginning to show that there is a link between the development of prostate cancer and the consumption of calcium from dairy sources.

A 1998 Harvard School of Public Health study showed that men consuming about 1500 to 2000 mg of calcium per day had almost double the risk of being diagnosed with metastatic cancer (the kind that spreads to other parts of your body) as those getting 500 mg or less.

The recommended daily allowance for calcium for men is 1000 mg. A single cup of milk (250 ml) has about 352 mg of calcium, regardless of fat content.

Later in the year researchers published another study of dairy product intake finding a 50% increase risk of prostate cancer among men consuming large amounts of dairy. They concluded that this was likely due to the high total amount of calcium in such a diet.

One explanation offered these findings is that the more calcium a person consumes in their diet, the less vitamin D the body produces. Vitamin D has been show to reduce the replication of cancer cells.

Now certainly there are many benefits to calcium that shouldn't be ignored, but if you currently consume a diet that is high in dairy and you are a man, you may want to consider cutting back a bit and increasing your intake of vitamin D through a supplement.

review: organic lentil soup, health valley

The Good: Low-sodium, High-fibre

The Bad: Some may find this soup bland

If you've ever glanced at the label on soup cans, you probably noticed that incredibly high amount of salt in most. Often times exceeding half of the recommended daily allowance. In the past it's been pretty hard to find low sodium soups, but increasingly more options are hitting the market.

Health Valley offers a great range of organic soups that have no added salt. I've only tried a couple so far (Organic Lentil & Vegetable), but I quite like what I taste so far. And as far as ingredients go, the only questionable item on the list is evaporated cane juice (sugar). This isn't really a big deal though as the amount is negligible and comes packed with a healthy dose of fibre which will ensure your blood sugar level doesn't spike too rapidly.

The only drawback (for those with a salty tooth) here is really one of it's great qualities - the utter lack of salt. If you're already eating a low-sodium diet (which you should be) then this might not bother you too much. But for those who are no stranger to the salt shaker will likely find this soup too bland to palette.

Ingredients: filtered water, organic lentils, organic celery, organic onions, organic tomato paste, organic carrots, organic spinach, corn starch, organic evaporated cane juice, expeller pressed canola oil, onion powder, garlic powder, white pepper, oregano, cumin, organic basil, organic sage.

Nutrition Facts:
398ml / can
250ml / serving

Calories: 160
Fat: 1.5g
> Saturated: 0g
> Trans: 0g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 20mg
Carbohydrate: 28g
> Fibre: 10g
> Sugars: 5g
Protein: 10g

Vitamin A: 15%
Vitamin C: 15%
Calcium: 4%
Iron: 25%

resveratrol - fountain of youth?

You may not be familiar with the word Resveratrol, but you've probably heard some tout the benefits of red wine. Aside from the health benefits of the alcohol itself (which shouldn't be taken at face value and require more discussion), these people are usually referring to Resveratrol.

Resveratrol was originally derived from ground, dried grape skins and seeds, but due to cost and availability of this phytoalexin (plant antibiotic), it is now sourced primarily from Japanese Knotweed.

While the benefits of Resveratrol in humans has not been well demonstrated or documented yet, there have been promising results from studies performed on fruit flies, worms, fish and mice. Significant life extension, anti-cancer activity, increased athletic performance and reduced formation of plaque in animal brains (a component of diseases like Alzheimer) have all been reported. Unfortunately, none of the benefits have clearly been demonstrated in human studies yet.

While most tests to date have show that Resveratrol is safe for humans, even in relatively high doses, there are some conflicting studies that show it could increase the risk of breast cancer and slow the development of blood vessels. However, there are other studies that claim Resveratrol actually fights breast cancer. Obviously more research is required.

But while new studies are conducted, don't rush out to buy (or dump out!) crates of wine just yet. Resveratrol does not show up in high enough quantities in wine to represent a significant benefit or concern. Should it be shown to ultimately be beneficial, supplements would likely be required in order to get enough to make a difference.

pharmacuticals: anti-addiction pill?

Here is an interesting article I came accross on CNN today.

Seems that they've come up with an anti-addiction pill that blocks your brain's ability to derive pleasure from drinking alcohol. This reminds me of a quit-smoking aid a friend of mind tried last year called 'Champix' (Varenicline). I believe it supposedly has a similar effect.

I agree with Dr. Kevin Clark in that having a support network for recovery is part of the solution and that even moderate drinking if you are an alcoholic is likely too much, but at the same time, if there are safe drugs available to help drink less while you do, surely that must be a good thing?