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Protein Supplements VS Real Foods

Are your kitchen cabinets beginning to look like the inside of a sports nutrition store? During peak training it may seem like we consume more sports nutrition products than actual real food, whether it be before, during or after our workouts. But how much is too much and can we get our sports nutrition needs met with real foods? Determining the right time and amount of the supplements used may be key to overall balance and wellness. The July issue of Consumer Report investigates heavy metal contamination in various protein supplements. Fifteen protein supplements were tested for arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury, and 3 of the 15 tested exceeded the United States Pharmacopia’s (USP) guidelines. EAS Myoplex Original Rich Dark Chocolate Shake and both the Muscle Milk’s Chocolate and Vanilla Crème ...


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A Dose of the Sunshine Vitamin

Are you getting your daily dose of the sunshine vitamin? As athletes, it’s easy to think we get enough vitamin D just from being outside as much as we are, but you may be surprised how many athletes come back with low levels. Vitamin D has been a hot topic in the nutrition arena with many differing debates occurring now.  With more and more research showing the extensive health benefits of Vitamin D, and in addition to the increase in deficiencies we are seeing, much thought is being given to changing the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA), which is currently set at 200IUs for those at the age of 19-50, 400IUs for 51-70 years old, and 600IUs for people over the age of 70. If you have had bariatric surgery, its ...


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Memorial Day Sale

With summer right around the corner, we want to make sure you are ready to look and feel great in your own skin! Take advantage of discounted rates while they last! o Call by Memorial Day and get 20% off your initial consultation! o Invite a friend and get another 5% off!


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America’s Sweet Tooth

The average American swallows about 39,000 gram of added sugar a year. That’s a whopping 156,000 calories in a year! And if you are concerned about your waistline, you can tack on another 45 lbs by the end of the year! And like I said, this is added sugar, not the natural sugars found in fruits and dairy. Sweetened foods will often have various forms of sugar such as, sucrose, brown sugar, high fructose corn syrup, honey, agave, etc in the ingredient list. You can use Michael Pollan’s Food Rule #5 to help limit the added sugars; “avoid foods that have some form of sugar in the top 3 ingredients”. Although high fructose corn syrup has been the designated bad guy in the world of sweeteners, the reality ...


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Training Our Metabolic Muscle

Metabolism can be defined as our bodies’ ability to produce energy. We produce energy by burning calories, which is actually a unit of heat. We all have different rates of metabolism or calorie burning abilities. A major contributor to metabolic rates is genetics. You know those people who eat whatever they want and don’t exercise and still stay slim? Not fair right? Well, yes and no. They may be blessed with a higher rate of metabolism, but weight is not always a true indicator of health and living the healthiest lifestyle. Although this article does not contain a lot of nutrition information, it may help clear up some questions on how we burn those calories we consume. Basal of Resting Metabolic Rate About 60-75% of the calories you burn ...


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Fueling Your Metabolic Fire

“What do I need to eat to raise my metabolism”? That is one of the most popular questions I am asked. You can find anything from green tea to supplements galore promising to boost metabolic rates. Truth be told, there is no magic food to boost our metabolism. If there was, we wouldn’t have enough of it! In fact, food does not play nearly as big of a role as physical activity does in raising those rates. However, food does play a significant role in maintaining the rates produced by physical activity, hence “fueling the fire”. Within this article I am going to focus on the nutritional piece of metabolism and will follow up with physical activity in part two. Think of your metabolism as a fire. ...


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Start Your Day Off Right: With Breakfast!

Study after study has shown that eating breakfast is key for properly fueling our bodies and maintaining a healthy body weight. I hear the usual complaints of not being hungry or not having any time. Well, one reason for not being hungry may be from training our body and mind to not having food at this time. Another reason has to do with what happens the rest of the day. When we don’t eat breakfast we put ourselves in a semi-starvation state, which can drive cravings and cause us to eat more later. If we don’t eat enough in the earlier part of the day we are likely to overeat later in the evening. When this occurs, it raises the chances of us not being ...


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Good Carb Bad Carb: Processed vs Refined Grains

There is no need to give up a good thing we’ve got going. Part of the reason carbohydrates have a bad rep is because of how we have messed with Mother Nature. The whole grain that we harvest provides a lot more nutritional value and fiber than the processed grains we eat out of boxes and bags. There are three parts of a whole grain; the bran, germ and endosperm. The bran is a great source of fiber and minerals. The germ contains the natural oils and vitamins in the grain. And lastly, the endosperm is where all the starch is found. During processing, the bran and germ is removed from the grain, leaving only the starchy endosperm. Because the grain is stripped of its nutritional value, the ...


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Good Carb Bad Carb: Too Much of a Good Thing

Is the low carb diet craze ever going to end? Almost daily I hear someone say how carbohydrates are bad or they are only allowed 30g of carbohydrates a day. I worry about these people. Our brains function off of carbohydrates alone, needing approximately 100g of carbohydrates a day. That’s not including the energy used for our muscles. So, knowing that we need carbohydrates for brain and muscular function, how did this “carbs are bad” begin? One of the main problems with carbohydrates is the difficulty in controlling portion sizes. It is pretty easy to consume 2 cups of pasta at a meal (try it, measure it out). But 2 cups of pasta (without sauce) is close to 500 calories! Eating a meal ...


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Fats: The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

Okay, so here is the low down on fats.  Fats have a been fighting a bad reputation for awhile now.  Linked to heart disease, many manufactures started manipulating foods to come up with low fat products. The “Snackwell Revolution” hit in the late 80s and early 90s, driving the low fat rave into the height of its popularity. Interestingly enough, this is when obesity rates started to climb off the charts.  Rates jumped not because there was something in these low fat products, but what it lacked and how it contributed to a need for increase volume.  Let’s face it, when you really want a cookie, the low fat ones don’t really cut it.  The lack of satisfaction often leads to people eating 3, 4, 5, 6 etc. of the ...


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