Simple Rules of Healthy Eating

What do you need for survival?  I’m not talking about your phone, technology or a certain person; I mean what does your body need to survive?  If you said food you would be correct… the single most important thing you need to focus on at that point is what to eat.

Food is one of the most important things in our lives but in most cases it is low on our priority list.  We usually eat whatever is quick and easy not what is best for us.  Look at what we teach our kids in school, we give them a thorough education on topics such as Math, History, Science, Languages, etc, but never give more than a couple hours in their entire 12 years in school about the most important thing in our lives...what to eat.

If you think about it, that's absolutely crazy...  One of the single most important aspects of our lives is never really taught to our children in school.  And parents don't generally pick up the slack and teach kids nutrition because they were never taught about it either.  This is a modern day problem, the abundance of food all around us in modern day life means that we don't have to think about what's appropriate to eat.

So that brings us back to the question at hand….”What should we eat?”

Lately I have been doing a ton of research on this topic.  I’ve found that there needs to be some simple rules to follow if you want to successfully navigate the current food landscape. 

Healthy Eating Rules…Simplified

There is a ton of information on nutrition; everyone out there seems confused about what is the best "diet" to be on.  People seem to love to always jump from fad diet to fad diet such as low-fat diets, Atkins,  south beach, grapefruit diets, detox diets, vegetarian diets, and other sometimes ridiculous diets that most times are based on one person's opinion or marketing scheme (or personal agenda) rather than based on actual science.

I've found that in order to find out what’s best to eat we need to take a look at science and history.   Before the agricultural revolution came around we (as humans) only ate wild plants and animals, we were hunters and gatherers.  Now, we eat processed grains, farmed animals and plants and tons of chemicals.  The biggest change this represents is the massive inclusion of grains in our current diet (and what our animals are fed) now compared to our ancestors. 

So what exactly did our ancestors eat?  Simple:

• Wild meat, fish, and seafood  (animals that ate the right foods, unlike most of our current factory-farmed meats and farmed fish)
• fruits
• veggies
• eggs (various types)
• nuts
• tubers (potatoes, yams)
• seeds

Grains were a very small fraction of our ancestors’ diet as there was no way to process large amounts of grain back in that day into flour.  So, amounts of wild grain would have been small, like a handful or two of gathered grains added to an occasional soup or stew.  As you can see, this is vastly different from our modern human diet that includes grain at almost every meal in the form of cereals, breads, pasta, muffins, bagels, etc.

The grain itself was also different.  Our ancestors’ grain was very robust and fibrous; our grain is weaker and brittle.  Why?  Grain and wheat has been genetically modified to produce higher and faster yields.  This in turn makes it smaller than grain from the past and less nutritious. 

So with the above information in mind, try to follow these simple rules…

Healthy Eating Rule #1.  Try to minimize grains in your diet.  This includes multi-grain.  Carbohydrates don't need to be eliminated... they are not inherently "bad" in reasonable quantities.  But grains and processed sugars in particular should be minimized.  So to make things simple, you will be leaner and healthier if you get most of your carbohydrates from fruits and vegetables instead of grains and processed sugar.

The biggest problem with grains (breads, cereals, pasta, bagels, etc), aside from the abuse to your blood sugar regulation system (pancreas and insulin sensitivity), is that grains typically contain a lot of anti-nutrients which prevent your body from absorbing some minerals, as well as gluten and other substances that cause chronic gut inflammation and even possibly digestive system damage.   Research has also found that wheat provokes inflammatory response in the body which increases cholesterol, distorts insulin responses, and issues abnormal metabolic signals to the rest of the body.

It’s important to note that potatoes, sweet potatoes, and other tubers have fewer problems in terms of digestive system inflammation than grains do. Tubers were a more common part of the ancient human diet as a source of carbohydrates than grains ever were.  Potatoes and sweet potatoes can be much better tolerated by very active people that have no problem burning off the extra carbohydrates.

Healthy Eating Rule #2.  Minimize high fructose corn syrup and artificial sweeteners in your diet.  Most people don't realize just how many calories and metabolism damaging high fructose corn syrup they are ingesting.  High fructose corn syrup is in almost everything;  ketchup, salad dressings, cocktail sauce, marinades, etc.  Be a label reader and avoid HFCS!  And despite deceptive advertisements out there from the corn refining industry that claim HFCS is no worse than sugar and is natural; this is far from the truth. 

Also, try to avoid artificial sweeteners!   Just because they don't contain calories doesn't mean they don't harm your body.  In fact, many studies link artificial sweetener use to weight gain.  New research is also showing that artificial sweeteners can "trick" your body into releasing insulin due to cells in your mouth and stomach that sense the sweetness and are expecting sugar--high insulin levels can cause body fat deposition. Also, triggering insulin in this way can cause more cravings for carbohydrates and sugar in the hours after eating or drinking the artificially sweetened product.

Healthy Eating (or Drinking) Rule #3.  Stay Hydrated: Drink Lots of Water. 

Whether your body is turning food into fuel or working away at your fat reserves, it needs water to efficiently burn calories. If you are not fully hydrated, your metabolism will slow down and you won’t be burning calories as efficiently as you can. 

Need some proof? University of Utah researchers found that adults who drink 8 or more glasses of water each day burned significantly more calories than those who drank 4 or less.

How much water should you drink? The study considered a glass of water to be 8 ounces — that’ only two thirds the size of a can of soda. So drink up and give your metabolism a little boost. 

Healthy Eating Rule #4.  Eat what our ancestors ate.  Try to stick with simple, one ingredient foods that are bodies are used to digesting.  These foods are:

• Wild meat, fish, and seafood  (animals that ate the right foods, unlike most of our current factory-farmed meats and farmed fish)
• fruits
• veggies
• eggs (various types)
• nuts
• tubers (potatoes, yams)
• seeds

I hope that these “Healthy Eating Rules” help to clarify and give you some nutritional direction. There are some other “rules” that could be included but for the most part if you follow the above rules a majority of the time you will see some positive changes in your body composition and health.   

What do I personally do?  Well, I avoid grains as much as possible, except on 1 cheat day per week.   I eat whole fruits (never juice) and veggies daily, and might have an occasional potato or sweet potato once or twice a week.  I try to keep it simple.

Do these rules work?  Heck yeah!  Don’t take my word for it try them yourself.

Need more nutrition advice or guidelines?  Join the Fire Rescue Fitness Nation and receive a FREE copy of the Standard Operating Procedures to Eating Lean in the Firehouse and the FRF 28-day Quickstart Workout Program.  

Get them FREE by clicking HERE.

Want to read more?  Check out these great nutritional resources.

http://healthcare.utah.edu/publicaffairs/news/archive/2003/news_74.html 

http://www.losethewheatlosetheweight.com

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2000/12/03/sucralose-dangers.aspx

http://www.truthaboutabs.com/food-facts.html

http://www.shape.com/weight-loss/weight-loss-strategies/5-health-benefits-paleo-diet

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/11/11/paleo-goes-mainstream-cbs-news-reports.aspx

http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/todays-wheat-making-you-gain-weight

Nutritional Myths at the Firehouse (or any house)

Today I wanted to post about nutrition, more importantly on some of the biggest nutritional myths floating around firehouses (and other houses).  Eat this, don't eat that...there is so much misinformation on nutrition that it can get to be overwhelming and frustrating.  Take a look at 4 of the biggest nutritional myths, hopefully they can clarify some things for you.

Myth #1

“Eat fewer calories and you will lose weight.”

The Truth:
Low calorie diets completely damage your metabolism and never result in long term weight or fat loss.. As a trainer I routinely heard clients say “But I barely eat all day and I still can’t lose weight!”.  Starving yourself results in a loss of muscle mass, which results in a slower metabolism, which results in weight and fat gain.

The truth is that it’s more important where your calories come from. Just simply reducing your calories may result in no weight loss and leave you tired and hungry all day.  I recommend logging your food every once in a while to make sure you are eating the right amounts of the right foods.

Myth #2

“Eat Low-Fat to Lose Fat”

The Truth:
Low Fat foods have made Americans even more overweight and unhealthy than they were before the low fat craze. The truth is the only way to lose fat is by eating fat. Yes, you heard me right. If you are not eating the right kind of fat, your fat loss is literally impossible. The right fat intake will turn your body into a fat-burning furnace (and that is not an exaggeration).  

Low fat foods also have a ton of chemicals and sweeteners that are not only toxic but cause you to crave more food.

Myth #3

“Low Carb diets are the fastest way to lose weight”

The Truth:
Low Carb diets never work long term and they make you feel miserable in the process. Most people on low carb diets suffer from headaches, muscle aches and a lack of energy.  Carbohydrates bind with water in your body, when you cut them out of your diet, your body flushes the water out of your system.  This results in a rapid weight loss but not one that is sustainable.  Worst of all, as soon as you put anything that even resembles a carb back into your body, you blow up like a balloon.

Myth #4

“Supplements are the only way to lose weight”

The Truth:
You don’t need anything but the right foods and the right plan to achieve your perfect weight. This is the biggest money making scam in the world today: companies selling you worthless supplements with false promises. The truth is, without the right nutrition principles and without the right foods, no supplement will have any positive effect on your body.  If you don't have a solid nutritional foundation supplements will be a complete waste of money!
In order to finally lose weight and completely change the course of your health, you must forget all of the worthless information that is in the media today. If any of these above statements were true, our country (and our industry, click here for obesity statistics in firefighters)  be so overweight and unhealthy?

So, should you eat?  I think the best thing to do is follow this one simple rule when it comes to nutrition:

"Only Eat whole foods with ONE ingredient."

That's it.  The reason why one ingredient whole foods are the best for you is that they contain zero processing and zero artificial ingredients that have been linked to increasing inflammation and body fat accumulation.  

Get the Standard Operating Procedures to Eating Healthy for FREE, (Click HERE!)

Eating healthy in the firehouse isn't the easiest thing to do.  It takes discipline and an avoidance of the kitchen (or whatever place in the firehouse where all the goodies are).  Obviously, it is impossible to avoid the kitchen entirely but it is possible to lean out the firehouse.   Cooking for a group of hungry firefighters is not easy-- if you don’t cook something tasty you will hear about it from your crew...for a long time.  The goal of this e-book is to provide some guidelines (and some recipes) on how to cook and eat healthy in the firehouse (and at your own house) to keep you lean and “fit for duty.” 

--Six easy to follow guidelines

--Fire house shopping list

--Example meal plans

--Healthy snack ideas that are easy and quick to prepare

--Healthy Recipes

Get the Standard Operating Procedures to Eating Healthy for FREE, (Click HERE!)

10 Ways to Avoid the Cold and Flu

It’s that time of year again when the common cold and flu begins being passed from one person to the next. Each year the common cold affects the average person two times, and can affect the fire rescue athlete even more.  The sneezing, coughing, sore throat, and runny nose leave you wanting to curl up under the bed covers. To avoid this misery, prevention is the best cure. So with over 200 mutating cold-causing viruses floating around, what’s a fire rescue athlete to do to avoid getting sick? While in our profession it can be hard to dodge every germ, there are proactive ways to boost your immune system and help prevent catching a cold or the flu.  Take a look at these 10 ways:

1. Wash Hands Frequently.  One of the most effective ways to prevent colds and the flu is simply washing your hands properly and frequently. Wash your hands and encourage those around you to do the same. Most cold viruses are spread through direct contact. Shaking hands and touching doorknobs, keyboards, and telephones are all easy ways to catch germs. Wash hands as often as possible, scrubbing with soap and hot water for at least 20 seconds. Keep hand sanitizer available for when hand washing is not possible.
2. Wipe Down Germy Areas.  It's common sense not to shake hands or get near a sick person but we as EMTs, Paramedics and Firefighters have no choice.  We all know that we will inevitably be in contact with ill people at some time throughout our shift.    To reduce exposures and spreading germs it’s imperative to properly wipe down equipment and rigs often.  Don’t be afraid to thoroughly wipe down the firehouse as well.   Wipe down germy areas — light switches, doorknobs, the phone, computer keyboard, and your TV remote — with your favorite cleaning product. Minimizing exposure to germs can help prevent colds and the flu.
3. Drink Plenty of Fluids.  General good health practices keep your body strong and ready to fend off cold germs and the flu virus and this especially includes drinking plenty of water. In fact, one recent study found that staying hydrated may boost a particular immune response to enable your body to better fight the viruses. Stay hydrated by drinking a lot of fluids, especially water, and by avoiding caffeinated drinks. Shoot for six to eight glasses of water per day, more if you consume caffeinated beverages.   
4. Exercise to Strengthen Your Immunity.  Exercise not only makes you perform your job better as a fire rescue athlete, but it also boosts your immune system.  Additionally, warding off extra weight is important for overall health, particularly when it comes to preventing colds and flu. A recent study found that overweight and obese people were more likely to fall ill or be injured.  Not only does exercise (need a workout, click here) improve the circulation of white blood cells throughout your body, but it has been shown to increase the production of natural killer T cells, which are essential for maintaining an optimum immune response. The amount of exercise required to obtain an immune boost is relatively low, 20 minutes of brisk walking 4-5 times per week has been shown to significantly improve the body’s immune response. This is also a good opportunity to get a little bit of sunshine to stimulate Vitamin D production.
5. Get Plenty of Sleep.   This can be difficult for the fire rescue athlete especially when the tones go off numerous times throughout the night.  It is important to get as much sleep as possible especially on those days away from the firehouse.  Studies have found that getting enough sleep is essential for healthy immune function and that insufficient sleep or poor sleep quality is associated with lowered immune function. Ultimately you want to get at least 8 hours each night.  There is hope for those of us that can’t sleep through the night, recent research shows that napping can boost health and the immune system.     
6. Add Some Sunshine.  Researchers are quickly catching on that Vitamin D may be the secret to avoiding the cold and flu. Vitamin D plays an important role in strengthening your defence system to better fight any invading viruses and bacteria. Unfortunately, it is also the number one vitamin deficiency in Americans.  Compounding the problem is the fact that Vitamin D is produced when the body gets adequate levels of sunshine; so naturally, even less is produced in the winter months. It has recently been hypothesized that this could be one major reason for the increase in cold and flu cases during the winter season. Because of this, it’s important that we have other ways of getting this powerful immune boosting vitamin. So here are some solutions.  Spend 15 minutes per day in the sun without any sunscreen on if possible and for those that are in climates that don’t allow you to be outside much then supplement with a Vitamin D3 supplement.  Experts suggest that you consume 2,000 IU per day to fight off the seasonal flu and to make sure your Vitamin D levels in your body are at a therapeutic level.  Of course check with your doctor regarding your individual Vitamin D levels and health plan. 
7. Put down the sugar.  When it comes to fighting cold and flu, it is essential to decrease your amount of sugar intake. Sugar has devastating effects on the immune system, and the fact that Americans consume an average of 2-3 pounds of sugar per person every year spells bad news come cold and flu season. Not only does sugar increase the production of hormones that suppress the immune system, refined sugar needs micronutrients to be metabolized. This requires your body to use stored vitamins and minerals, further harming your defences. Instead of eating high sugar foods try eating a wide variety of fruits and vegetables.  This will make sure that your body is getting all of the vitamins and minerals that are essential to fighting of the cold and flu. Each and every fruit and vegetable is packed with thousands of phytochemicals. No supplement could ever match the power of eating a whole food. 
8. Spend time outdoors. Germs thrive in closed areas, so take time each day to step out for a breath of fresh air. In addition, central heating systems dry out the air and subsequently your body, leaving you more susceptible to germs. Running a humidifier in cold months will add moisture back into the air.  Getting outside will also help you get some Vitamin D.
9. Vitamin C supplementation.  There are a lot of vitamins and minerals that can help boost your immune system but Vitamin C seems to be the typical staple in most people’s “immune booster” arsenal.  Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant that provides support to your immune system but unfortunately it is often times consumed in the form of orange juice.  An 8 oz glass of orange juice contains just 70mg of Vitamin C, while loaded with 30 grams of sugar (carbs).  As a comparison, 8 oz of Coca-Cola contains just 26 grams of sugar.  In place of orange juice, opt for an actual orange (medium size = 70mg of Vitamin C) or some Vitamin C powder (~1,000 mg of Vitamin C) mixed with filtered water or sparkling mineral water.  These options save a ton of empty calories, reduce sugar consumption yet still sooth your cold symptoms!
10. Chicken Soup, Mom and a good laugh.  I know that these things aren't backed with research but chicken soup warms the spirit, TLC from Mom is always helpful and laughing can’t hurt (see the quote below). 

“A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor's book.” 

 -Irish Proverb

I hope this list can help you avoid the dreaded flu and cold.  If you need some suggestions on exercise or fitness for the fire rescue athlete click here to get my FREE 28-day Firefighter Workout and Nutrition Guide.