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AI 101: AI Explained
Do you struggle with AI? Have parents, friends, and others who struggle with terminology and understanding what AI is good for?
The guide defines basics terms that are often mentioned in numerous online videos and definitely can be confusing to a new user.
Check out my guide, free to use, no data collected.
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Which supplement should I take? #Supplement Explorer
Are you always on your phone looking at which supplements you should take? Do you look at reviews? How do you decide what to buy?
As someone who has been in the nutraceutical industry for over 10 years, I’ve worked with many suppliers and companies to understand why an ingredient is chosen, what research is behind it, and how to sell it to a consumer, so if you are looking for some answers to questions you may have, drop a comment, or even better check out the Supplement Explorer on the site. It is free to use, 3 questions, and a simple output. No info is stored.I made the Supplement Explorer purely for my use and then thought, well, if it is useful for me, maybe it is useful for others. The tool is not affiliated with any company or brand, but was just a way for me to showcase what I find useful. If you use it, do give me feedback as to what you’d like to see it on too.
Stay well and remember, before taking any supplements, check with your doctor if it is a good fit for you or not!
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Black Friday shopping and Starbucks!
If you are like me, you probably ate a nice Thanksgiving meal yesterday and have already started your Christmas shopping, thanks to some stores opening Thursday evening itself but if you didn’t head out yesterday, you are probably doing that this morning and one thing you are going to do like many of us do is grab something on-the-go to eat and drink.
I won’t give you a bunch of options to eat in this post but rather some drink options that are healthier and from Starbucks. My favorite keto-friendly drink from Starbucks is a cold brew with heavy cream and sugar-free cinnamon dolce. Another drink that is pretty good is peach white citrus tea which is made up of no sugar, sugar-free vanilla, and heavy cream. Finally, if you are looking for other drinks that you may like ask the barista to make it without the liquid cane sugar and substitute it with the sugar-free syrups. There aren’t too many sugar-free syrups but enough to make your drink healthier.
Black Friday shopping is tough enough so you might as well not add food stress on top of it while shopping. Have a fun Black Friday!
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Sugar tax in the news!
Having a sugar tax on beverages has been discussed for years in the US and many other countries are considering it too. Why? Well, simply because we’re getting fat. Our foods aren’t healthy and we are leading an on-the-go life. Convenience means sacrificing cooking so we are eating out more and reaping the benefits of saved time by increasing the visceral fat on our bodies.
Uh oh! We’re having a problem so what can we do to fix it? Let’s not educate and enhance exercise programs for all but rather find a way to shift the focus to sugar and implement a sugar tax on beverages! Sound like a good idea? Yes and no, yes because maybe when the pain point hits your wallet, then people will buy less sugary drinks. No because not everyone drinks sugary beverages so how do you help those consumers. Not to mention that soda consumption in the US is going down as we have so many options for beverages from functional drinks (like Vitamin Water) to various milks like almond and soy.
Those that are seeking a healthier life already know that they need to cut out sugar and exercise so they need something else to help them lose the weight so a sugar tax won’t necessarily help them by itself. Sugar tax by itself is just one way to help the obesity problem but I’m sure there are other ways to benefit those individuals too.
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Why are you not losing weight?
Are you trying to lose weight? You know what to do—eat right and exercise—and are well prepared but after a month of this, you aren’t seeing much change. What could be causing this stagnation?
Some common things most people start with when dieting is eating salads. I’ve discussed earlier how salads if done right are good for you but if you are buying salad at restaurants beware of the extra calories from the dressing and cheese. If you like creamy pasta salad, be careful as though it sounds good, it too is loaded with calories. A good way to avoid excess calories is to prepare the salad yourself whenever you can.
Another thing that people do is that they jump on the bandwagon of eating organic and/or healthy snacks. It’s always good to eat organic but the real benefits from organic eating only comes if you follow it all the time. As far as healthy snacks go, don’t use that as a go to option always because though they may have high fiber, high protein, they may also have a lot of sugar so beware of that too.
Finally, consider the sugar you are using. Sugar is in fruits and eating too many of the wrong type of fruits (like mangoes) could lead to weight gain. Sugar alternatives like Splenda and Stevia are also common ways people substitute the sweetness in their food but remember they are not a straight sugar replacement but a sugar alternative so cut back on these too. Don’t forget that just because you are making a fruit smoothie, that doesn’t mean that the calories won’t add up.
So to lose weight successfully, you should be in a caloric deficit and with a proper diet and nutrition, you’ll be able to achieve your goals.
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Change your breakfast from eggs to…
If you workout, no matter the activity, we know that protein is essential to build muscle and for optimal health as well as higher protein intake will keep you full longer. Plus, most of us eat breakfast that can comprise of eggs or a protein shake but what if you don’t like eggs, what are some other options that don’t include doughnuts and sugary coffee drinks?
Bagels don’t always have to be bad. From keto bagels to high protein bagels, both are today available in the market place. A quick and easy breakfast with lots of protein is a high protein bagel with reduced fat cream cheese and salmon in between and bam! you have bagel and lox! What if you don’t like salmon? You can Google lots of recipes that show you how to add your favorite protein powder into your steel cut oats with nuts as a topping—now you have protein, carbs, and fats! One of my favorite things to eat is kefir. If you enjoy kefir, consider adding some protein powder to it along with hemp seeds and chia seeds and now you have a convenient on-the-go breakfast item to take with you.
Protein consumption at breakfast doesn’t have to be limited to eggs so enjoy your favorite protein treats throughout the day and you’ll reap the benefits all day long!
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How do you know when it’s time to change your diet?
Have you indulged in too many sugary treats like doughnuts and candy bars? Are you a fan of french fries and ice cream? Or perhaps, you just love your Starbucks lattes? Are all these things hard to give up and so you go to the gym and hope to correct these indulgences with a workout? Is it working? Sometimes it can but at other times the extra calories in overpower the benefits of exercise if you continue to eat poorly so what can you do aside from a food reset (mentioned in a previous post)?
I think you need to first figure out if you need to change your diet. It’s important to remember that eating can either make you feel good or bad. Your body utilizes the nutrients it needs from food to keep it running and stores what it doesn’t need resulting in that visceral fat that nobody wants. So how can you tell if it’s time to change your diet? Observe these:
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Mood
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Sickness
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skin health
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constipation
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lethargy
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soreness post workout
All of the above can indicate that you need to change your diet. If you want to feel energized perhaps, it is time to incorporate foods that have B vitamins. If you are constantly getting sick, maybe you are deficient in Vitamin C. If you are constipated, maybe you aren’t getting enough fiber and need to eat more veggies. Skin health can be impacted positively and negatively with food so possibly choose foods with lower sugar amounts. If you are sore a lot after workouts, maybe you aren’t getting enough omegas in your diet or protein. All these symptoms can be looked at when considering whether it is the food you are eating that is making you feel that particular way.
I guess, it is true that you are what you eat? Do you agree?
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So you wanna do a food reset?
There are lots of way to do a food cleanse today that can help you shed water weight and basically do a reset but if you want to do it long term without buying cleansing supplements, there are options for that too. It all starts with your diet.
Going vegan is likely the best option to do a food reset but instead of jumping right in, perhaps you can start off with simple things. Cut back on sugar—this is usually the hardest for many people even if you are eating healthy overall, sugar does sneak up on you in multiple ways (see my earlier post on sugar in archives). Next, you could cut back on dairy as for many dairy tends to be inflammatory. If you see positive results after both, then you are well on your way to starting your food cleanse. Finally, if you want to take it one step further, cut back on meats and see how your body does on plant based alternatives like seitan and the many other options available today. If you have given up meat, now you are vegetarian. Vegan is just one more level up.
Being vegan means you are not only eating vegetarian but also avoiding eating animal products like dairy, eggs, etc. By eating vegan, you are allowing your body to utilize nutrients from foods that may positively impact your skin, cardio, and brain health to name a few. Also, remember if you are eating vegan (and vegetarian), since you aren’t eating dairy or animal products, you definitely need to supplement with a multivitamin and specifically vitamin b12 so add that into your diet.
Some products to add into your vegan diet include plant-based protein shakes, dark chocolate, pumpkin, hemp seeds, flax seeds, and leafy greens. Lots of options are out there to keep you full. By cleansing this way you are still eating food and getting nutrients into your body versus relying on a magic cleansing supplement to work over 3, 7, 14, or 21 days.
Speak with your doctor to find out if veganism is for you.
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Potassium–can you get it without eating bananas? ““““““““““““““““
We all know that we need potassium in our lives and for most that source is bananas but what if you don’t like bananas (like me) so then how are you supposed to get your daily dose of potassium?
First, do you know why you should have potassium in your diet? Potassium may help with reducing blood pressure and water retention, may help reduce occurrence of osteoporosis, and may even help reduce muscle loss as it is able to counteract the negative effects of sodium. For many of these reasons, potassium-rich diets are often recommended for cardio and bone health. How much potassium should you be consuming? A simple Google search shows that about 4700 mg a day is recommended but I’m sure the average person is not getting that much unless you are eating some of the below mentioned foods.
Potassium can be found in many leafy greens like spinach as well as in avocados, tomatoes, potatoes (including sweet potatoes), and beans. A popular fall staple is acorn squash which is loaded with potassium and antioxidants so pick one up next time you are the grocery store. Remember, eating whole foods is the way to go but what if you don’t have time to cook and eat? You can always try to get in potassium via coconut water or pomegranate juice but make sure to check that it doesn’t have added sugar as you’ll reap the benefit of potassium but negate it with the sugar.
When eating processed foods, it’s important to remember that any sort of processing (microwaving for example) tends to destroy nutrients including potassium so food sources with high potassium must be sought out. Furthermore, if you are eating processed foods, it likely has more sodium in it so to counteract the effect sodium has on blood pressure, potassium could be added into your diet.
Is potassium missing in your diet? Check with your doctor or nutritionist and find out how you can add it in.
where can I find potassium?
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Microbiome and its health relation to you
With personalized nutrition gaining traction today, microbiomes are another way to learn more about you. As consumers become more and more aware of what is good for them and what to eat and avoid, they are often looking for other ways to optimize their health and this is where microbiomes come in. Microbiomes are microorganisms that we possess that help us fight against germs, let us process food, and utilize and generate vitamins so it would make sense that we try to personalize our nutrition utilizing them. You’re probably wondering why can’t a blood test tell me what I need to eat or avoid and yeah that would make sense but your blood won’t tell a doctor how well your food is absorbed. Though analyzing microbiomes for personalized nutrition is still in its infancy, it definitely shows promise.
If you currently buy yogurt, you are probably familiar with a word such as lactobacillus and bifidobacterium which are considered good bacteria that may help with digestion, inflammation, and overall gut health, similarly as advancements in technologies are made companies can formulate keeping in mind microbiome health. This is important because if you are a lower income family, for example, and you get sick often, perhaps this would be one way to limit that doctor’s visit.
However, there are some challenges using microbiomes as well because often times they are looked at when someone is sick so it is hard to tell if the disease came first or the microbiomes were altered somehow which led to that disease. In other words, it is hard to tell the cause vs the effect; nonetheless, microbiomes are going to be an innovative way to combat health issues and should be kept an eye on in the future.
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Prices so low…I must stock up!
Are you one of those consumers who stocks up on their favorite supplement or vitamin when it is on sale? Should you stock up? There is no straight forward answer to this but there are some things to consider.
Often times, stocking up is a good option if the supplement is truly outrageous in cost. If something is $55 for 30 pills and now it is on buy one get one free (BOGO), I would buy it based on what it is. For example, buying refrigerated fish oil probably shouldn’t be stocked up on as the potency of the nutrients (or how good it is for that particular active) will degrade the longer you hold on to it but on the other hand, if it is a joint health supplement like glucosamine chondrition, you could hold on to it and reach out to the company if it is about to expire and find out if they can retest that lot # (which is somewhere on the bottom, usually the bottom near the expiration date).
I definitely stay away from stocking up on things like gummy vitamins because the longer you hold on to them, the more likely they are going to stick to each other and make it harder to get out of the container. Plus, gummies usually have lower amounts of nutrients than a capsule or tablet so as they age, will you actually be getting all the benefits that you seek?
A good time to stock up on a supplement is if you know you’ll use it up very quickly. For example if a container holds 15 servings and you are to take one serving everyday, it would make sense to stock up so that you can have the full 30 days. Another reason to stock up could also be because the price per serving size is better. Let’s look at it this way, if something costs $99 for 30 pills (or $3.30/pill) and now on BOGO, you are getting another 30 pills (or $99 for 60 pills or $1.65/pill), then the price point is perfect and maybe it makes sense to stock up.
The decision to stock up on a supplement or health product should be based on your usage of that product. Just cause it is on sale, doesn’t mean it should be bought. By buying what you need, you will also help curb food waste and thereby reducing what ends up in our landfills. Better for you, better for the environment!
sale ad from whole foods!
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Myth or fact–Proteins
No matter how often you go food shopping online or at the grocery store, one thing you will see in most products is how much protein is in it. This is a big attribute to highlight in the food industry because as more consumers become aware of how protein can keep you full longer, more are seeking a product that has it. However, there are still quite a few myths out there about proteins.
One such myth is there a limit to how much protein you can absorb. That probably is true but again as we know so far, what doesn’t get used up usually sits in your stomach so if you want to maximize protein consumption definitely exercise and choose a good diet so you aren’t overloaded with too much protein. What is too much protein? Totally depends on your lifestyle and health so best to speak with your doctor or nutritionist.
Another protein myth is that protein makes you bulky. I think that depends on your genetics as well as your lifestyle. Are you a competitive body builder or does your exercise program result in you bulking up are two questions that must be answered. If you are the average consumer looking to make healthier food choices with protein, then bulking is probably not going to be an issue.
Finally, the other one that I hear is that excess protein can damage your liver and kidneys. This one is probably true too but again all depends on the state of those organs prior to excess consumption. If you are eating healthy and exercising, you probably know what is best for your body so you can always tweak your balanced diet to help you achieve your goals.
If you are unsure about how much protein you really need, start with a Google search and learn about proteins and diets and speak with your doctor or nutritionist as they would be able to guide you in the right direction.
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