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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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Why do you eat?
I was having an interesting discussion today with a few colleagues regarding why do we eat? Such a simple question with so many different answers.
From getting breast-fed to eating as adults, food and nourishment has always been part of our lives but often times as we get older we tend to eat because it is breakfast time or lunch time or snack time, etc. but do we actually need to be eating at those times? If yes, what is it that we are hoping to gain from chowing down on that food or beverage product?
For example, some of us eat breakfast while others don’t. There are reasons to do both. If you are doing Intermittent Fasting (aka IF) and eating only in an 8 hr window while 16 hrs you are fasting then perhaps your fasting is occurring during breakfast time so you skip breakfast. However, perhaps you are like me and need to eat breakfast to get your day started so what you grab to eat makes a huge difference on your health. Do you grab a Starbucks coffee with pumpkin spice syrup, sugar, and cream which is now loaded with calories wiping out the benefits of coffee or do you eat eggs and toast at home? Simple eating decisions that can impact your health significantly.
So why do you eat? Are you bored and need something to munch on? Or is it to better athletic performance as we know we need protein to build muscle or a proper diet of food and exercise for weight gain/loss? Maybe you are eating items due to allergies or health issues you are fighting? No matter the reason, it is so important to eat for life sustenance because our bodies biologically need nourishment and water to continue as without both you won’t be able to accomplish much.
Choosing the right foods can impact how you function daily so it is always best to make healthy choices!
Fantastic shoebox comic on eating!
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Food waste
How many times have you opened your fridge and wondered what can I eat? That’s a great problem to have if you have food in there, right? But what’s the downside to having so much food in the fridge? Yes, the food waste that could potentially be occurring.
Growing up, we all are told to finish our plates or take the leftovers home but what does that really do? Do you actually eat those leftovers the next day or do you take it home, keep it in the fridge, look at it the next day and then get something else to eat and throw out your leftovers from the day before? I’m guessing most of us fall into the latter situation. What can you do to avoid food waste? In this scenario, I would either eat the leftovers or have requested a smaller plate the night before so that I didn’t have leftovers.
No matter where you live, I’m sure there are kids that are going hungry to bed so think about that next time you throw your food out. Yes, you may not be able to make an impact directly for them in this situation but what you are doing by not discarding food is reducing your carbon footprint and therefore helping the environment. Not convinced yet?
Another option to eliminate food waste is to buy fresh food and eat it by the date mentioned on the label. Remember, fresh food expires faster than packaged food so it must be consumed so that you are able to get all the nutrients that the item has. To limit throwing out fresh food, consider buying just what you need for your email. Even shopping at Costco, Sam’s Club, etc. and buying in bulk fresh food items should be limited because unless you plan to feed your family the entire item before it expires, it will end up as food waste. Sometimes that bulk price savings is actually bad in terms of the environment and waste. Finally, as mentioned earlier, when dining out, go for the smaller meal plates, not only will you avoid food waste but your wallet and body will thank you as well!
Food waste is continuing to be a big problem and as countries like India and China are demanding higher levels of food and beverage items, this challenge must be tackled so that we all consume what is necessary to sustain life and not over-indulge!
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Mergers and Acquisitions
Lately I’ve been reading a lot about mergers and acquisitions in the food industry and I begin to wonder does that news travel to the consumer who is buying the product or do they even care that one company bought another?
Some recent mergers and acquisitions that come to mind are Hormel’s purchase of the Justin’s brand, Amazon’s purchase of WholeFoods, Dr Pepper and Keurig’s merger, and Dr Pepper Keurig’s purchase of CORE water brand. All these business transactions can shape the products you buy and their availability. Are all these business decisions good?
Why do companies do this merger and acquisition? I’m sure most of you have heard about the changes at WholeFoods due to Amazon’s purchase-some good, some not so good but one thing that Amazon definitely did was cause a disruption in the grocery industry which was stagnant in innovating. This innovation strategy is why many companies acquire or merge with others. A large company like Campbell’s or General Mills doesn’t always have the resources to innovate or perhaps they do but because of their established name and product portfolio can’t convince you, the consumer, to buy the new healthy product so what do they do? They go and find other companies that are doing that well and are a fit for their new strategy.
If a small company that you consider healthy with a good message is absorbed by the larger big food company is that good or bad? I guess it depends on how that larger corp treats the smaller one. If everything is kept the same and the smaller company is allowed to do business as usual, than the brand shouldn’t be altered but if the larger company tampers with the innovation to make it fit corporate culture, now the brand is diluted which may impact what you buy. Of course, the upside is that a big company can provide more resources and money to develop a brand but again it will depend on why they bought that brand and the direction it leads.
As a consumer, as long as the product that I buy is still available and quality has not suffered, it doesn’t bother me if one brand is bought by another. For me, price, quality, and availability are key.
Does it matter to you who owns your favorite brand?
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Pink Month: Breast Cancer Awareness
With October being Breast Cancer awareness month, please take time to donate to this cause via barbell for boobs. If you have been affected by breast cancer in any way via self, friends, or family, please consider making a donation that will help those who have breast cancer.
More on barbell for boobs can be found here:
https://www.barbellsforboobs.org/s/647/651/e
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Should I eat that? French Fries
Like everyone else, I too love french fries! Have you been to Five Guys or Smashburger or even Red Robin? All these restaurants have amazing french fries or perhaps you prefer waffle fries so then my recommendation is to go Chick Fil A so clearly you see that I’m just like one of you who enjoys eating these but wait, should I be eating them? Good question!
If you are doing the keto diet, clearly fries are not your friend and should be avoided as the carb content is higher than the fat content from the oil that was used to make them. However, did you know potatoes are good source for energy—back to the carbs in them—when you workout! Especially, if you are trying to gain weight instead of losing it as the nutrient values of potatoes includes vitamin c for immune support and vitamin B6 for protein metabolism along with fiber to keep you full as well iron and potassium! So how come french fries are so bad for us?
French fries go from being a good source of nutrients to one that is bad because it is fried in saturated fats which results in heart disease, obesity, diabetes, and more. To avoid some of these pitfalls, limit your desire to eat french fries at restaurants to may be once a month, find restaurants that disclose the oil source and whether they are using trans fats as well as what type of saturated fat they used, continue working out to improve your fitness, or make them at home! When you make them at home, you could do so with an air fryer which uses limited oil to make it healthier or do what I like to do, that is cut the potato wedges, season them, and bake them..so healthy and still get that awesome french fries satisfaction!
Eating potatoes is actually good for you but we tend to alter it so much that something that was good is now bad so make healthy choices and you’ll be able to enjoy your favorite foods!
yummy, waffle fries!
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Should I eat that? Chips
I love eating chips or rather used to but now trying to stay healthy means dropping unhealthy items, right? Sort of!
Let’s dive in..Lay’s potato chips or Doritos are pretty much items that you can’t just eat one of or 10 chips or 22 chips or whatever that bag’s serving size is. If you can, I’m super impressed but most of us eat half a bag before realizing that oh, I ate more than I should have! So what can you do if you have a craving for chips?
Well, if you are creative and like to bake, you can make most leafy greens chip like by baking them slightly and seasoning them—think Kale chips with sea salt! However, if that is too extreme, you can always look at Chirps (chips made from cricket protein powder) or Quest Chips (protein chips) or Protes (protein chips) as an example.
Each of the above brands has protein and fiber in them which means you’ll be able to boost your metabolism and stop hunger cravings. Not to mention, Chirps has 20g of protein per bag, highest out of all three listed above. Plus, often times most of these chips are also keto friendly so you can happily eat them without feeling guilty of getting too many carbs but read the label to be sure. Plus, flavor profiles are good too ranging from cheddar to bbq to thai chili depending on the brand you choose. Another benefit about these types of chips are the packaging is small and with so much protein in the bag, most likely you won’t even be able to eat the whole bag without feeling stuffed so less calories in, less to burn! To take it a step further, if you care about certifications that these chips have, that too is listed from gluten free to non-gmo so there is something for everyone!
Eating chips shouldn’t be a downfall so find the one that best fits your lifestyle and munch on them!
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Should I eat that? Fruits
There are so many mixed messages about eating fruits out there so what should you do? Do you go eat those berries and mangoes or do you skip out on them?
Let’s think about we know about fruits. Most of us don’t eat enough of them so we aren’t gaining the natural health benefits that arise from them like antioxidant support or benefiting from the various nutrients and minerals that they possess. Nutrients like Vitamin C, potassium, fiber, folate are all present in various fruits which definitely can aid reducing weight gain, high blood pressure, and various other chronic diseases but can there be too much of a good thing?
On the downside, eating too many fruits can results in excess weight gain not only because most fruits have carbs but also because they are made up of fructose which is harder for the body to digest so often diets say to limit fruit consumption and eat more veggies because veggies are missing fructose but still have fiber to keep you full longer. So if you have diabetes, should be eating fruits? Probably not but best to check with your doctor because there are fruits with lower fructose content out there. Another reason, fruits are sometimes avoided in excess amounts is because of bacteria. You know that tough skin on mangoes that you peel away, you do this not only because you need to eat the inside of the mango but also because bacteria could be present on the outside. A good rule of thumb is too always wash your fruit and make sure the skin hasn’t been broken because if it has bacteria could have entered the inside of the fruit resulting in you getting sick!
Eating fruit has its benefits and cons but how much you eat and when you eat it is just as important. Eating fruits before and after a workout is probably good thing as the carbs will help you fuel your workout as well as be easily burned after a workout. Eating fresh fruit is always better than preserved frozen fruit or canned fruit due to the extra chemicals needed to keep it frozen.
Choose wisely and enjoy your fruit!
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Should I eat that? Chocolates
We all have seen those ads on TV that suggest satisfying your hunger by either grabbing a Twix or Snickers but which one do you go for?
When I have a sweet tooth craving that needs to be satisfied and I have a choice between Snickers and Twix, I usually go for the Snickers for several reasons. Both are 250 calories but the differences come in the ingredients used. Peanuts make up Snickers and that means I’m able to get in some protein even though that’s not the primary reason I’m eating the bar. I also like the fact that Snickers has lower saturated fats than Twix so that means better heart health for me. Both have almost identical carbs so that’s definitely not a reason to choose one over the other so by looking at the total macros, you might find that nugget of info that makes your decision easier. Also, if you are doing a low carb diet, high fat (not keto), then a Snickers bar is a better fit for you but remember a temporary sugar rush is all you are getting by eating the candy bar, you’re not actually satisfying your hunger—ironic, right?
In the end, it is truly hard to justify eating a candy bar but we all have a craving and sometimes you have to make the best of what you got, right?
Another one of my favorites!
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Should I eat that? Salads
This week I’m going to write about items to eat. Sort of like the Men Health’s book that is out there, Eat This Not That except my take is going to be different in that I’m not giving you options where one is better than the other.
Let’s start with the two most popular salads that you will find in most restaurants in America, Caesar salad and Cobb salads. Both are perceived to be healthy and we all know that 1) salads can fill you up quickly thanks to the leafy greens they pack and 2) dressing can increase or decrease your caloric intake based on whether it is on the side or not. So what does one do when faced with a choice of ordering one of these, which should you go with?
I typically consider the restaurant that I’m at and decide based on that. For example, if the salad is coming is a side salad with dressing on the side then either is a good option but if it is coming as the main meal that’s where things get tricky. Cobb salads using coming with bacon, blue cheese, ranch dressing, and maybe grilled chicken. This sounds great because you are getting in fat, protein, and carbs but you’re all getting in a lot of calories that you don’t need. To make it healthier, go for the turkey bacon, mozzarella cheese, or balsamic vinaigrette dressing. Add a avocado to it and you have now reduced your calories while still having a complete meal. Caesar salads are always a favorite with dieters because it is so few ingredients but even Caesar dressing, cheese, grilled chicken and croutons, the caloric intake can be high. To make it healthier, see if you can get kale substituted instead of iceberg lettuce or romaine lettuce. Try peanuts or roasted chickpeas in place of croutons or even modify your dressing with Greek based yogurt ones.
Simple substitutions at home or while out can make eating a salad actually healthy!
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Pink Month: Breast Cancer Awareness
With October being Breast Cancer awareness month, please take time to donate to this cause via barbell for boobs. If you have been affected by breast cancer in any way via self, friends, or family, please consider making a donation that will help those who have breast cancer.
More on barbell for boobs can be found here:
https://www.barbellsforboobs.org/s/647/651/e
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