Low-Fat Dairy & Whey Benefit Your Waistline. How?

Milk (and other low-fat dairy products) will help you build strong bones, but if you want to whittle your waistline and gain calorie-burning lean muscle you may need to up the ante. In a 2011 Journal of Nutrition study, dieters who ate 30 percent of calories from protein, including six to seven daily servings of dairy, chiseled off more belly and total fat—and gained more lean muscle—than women who trimmed the same number of calories but ate less protein and dairy. Researchers think the whey protein in dairy, which boasts the amino acid leucine, is particularly important in stimulating the formation of new muscle proteins.

Our new IsaLean Pro Shake (In a delicious vanilla flavor) has 35% protein.  The highest quality whey is used in this gluten-free, organic shake.

Worn Out from Exercising? Vitamin C to the Rescue!

A new pilot study reveals that taking vitamin C may take the edge off of exercise.  Paired with a drop in heart rate, researchers found that the perceived rate of exertion during exercise fell as vitamin C levels in the body rose.

Exhaustion following physical activity can be a hurdle for dieters trying to walk off excess weight. In the current study, obese subjects supplementing this antioxidant experienced less discomfort during physical activity after just four weeks.

Researchers from Arizona State University recruited 20 moderately obese, sedentary adults looking to lose weight. In conjunction with a low-fat, low-calorie diet, the participants took 500 mg of vitamin C or a placebo for four weeks. At baseline and at the final visit, researchers measured the subjects’ moods, perceived rate of exertion, and fat burning during a 60-minute bout of moderate-intensity exercise.

Over the course of the trial, both groups lost between 8 and 10 pounds simply by cutting calories. While fat oxidation did not change between the vitamin C and control groups, the researchers saw a drop in heart rate of nearly 8 percent (about 11 beats per minute) and a 10 percent decrease in the perceived difficulty of exercise after vitamin C supplementation. Both heart rate and exertion increased marginally in the control group.

The authors explain that “heart rate is a contributing factor to perceived effort, the significant decrease in exercising heart rate noted for the vitamin C participants may have influenced the ratings of perceived exertion.”

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Reference: Huck CJ, Johnston CS, Beezhold BL, and Swan PD. Vitamin C status and perception of effort during exercise in obese adults adhering toa calorie-reduced diet. Nutrition 2012;1-4. doi:10/1016/j.nut.2012.021

Read more about this study on Isagenix Health.

Organic Meat/Dairy vs Conventionally Grown Meat/Dairy

Organic meat, dairy products, and eggs are produced from animals that are fed organic feed and allowed access to the outdoor grazing areas. They must be kept in living conditions that accommodate the natural behavior of the animals. Ruminants must have access to pasture. Organic livestock and poultry may not be given antibiotics, hormones, or medications in the absence of illness; however, they may be vaccinated against disease. Livestock diseases and parasites are controlled primarily through preventative measures such as rotational grazing, balanced diet, sanitary housing, and stress reduction.

Organic vs. Conventional Meat and Dairy
Regulations governing meat and dairy farming vary from country to country. In the U.S., these conventionally grown meats and dairy products were found to have the lowest levels of pesticides.
Organic meat and dairy: No antibiotics, hormones, or pesticides are given to animals Livestock are given all organic feed. Disease is prevented with natural methods such as clean housing, rotational grazing, and a healthy diet. Livestock must have access to the outdoors.

Conventionally raised meat and dairy:

Typically given antibiotics, hormones and feed grown with pesticides

·        Livestock are given growth hormones for faster growth.

·        Antibiotics and medications are used to prevent livestock disease.

·        Livestock may or may not have access to the outdoors.

What’s in American meat?

It is helpful to understand what the U.S. government allows in feed or to be used in conventional production:

• Dairy cows – antibiotics, pig & chicken byproducts, hormones (for growth), pesticides, sewage sludge
• Beef cows – antibiotics, pig & chicken byproducts, steroids, hormones, pesticides, sewage sludge
• Pigs – antibiotics, animal byproducts, pesticides, sewage sludge, arsenic-based drugs (growth hormones are prohibited)
• Broiler chickens – antibiotics, animal byproducts, pesticides, sewage sludge, arsenic-based drugs (growth hormones are prohibited)
• Egg laying hens – antibiotics, animal byproducts, pesticides, sewage sludge, arsenic-based drugs

Source: Meat, dairy, and eggs buying guide

Will You Have Fries with That? I Don't Think So!!!

Everybody talks about Fast Food.  "Fast food isn't good for you," "fast food is just junk food," or "fast food makes you fat not fast."  I have watched enough "Restaurant Impossibles" to convince me I don't ever want to eat in a mom and pop type restaurant or cafe again ... but I thought because fast food joints come with established protocals for everything from making a hamburger to emptying the trash ... I was sure they would be reasonably sanitary!!  Maybe not!!!  The excerpts below are from a Shine article by Lylah M. Alphonse. 

Comment from former fast food employee (the establishment will remain nameless, but trust me, it is one of the big ones!):  "Here is how the oil rotation went. You had four vats of oil that you cooked fries in. And boy did you cook fries. Tons of them. After about two days worth, the oil got too dark for fries. So we switched it over to the ones for chicken. Since it was darker, it was ok. Then that goes on for a week. After a week of massive frying. The oil is black as motor oil. At that point, it's switched to the Fish Filet vat. That's the only thing you cook in that vat."

From another fast food employee of another BIG franchise:  "I accidentally left a whole bag of about 100 chicken nuggets out on a counter for way too long.  They melted. Into a pool of liquid. I never understood why. But they were completely indiscernible as being the nuggets I once knew."

Ice machines and ice-cream dispensers can also have major sanitary problems.  After watching several episodes of RI, I really don't ask for ice in my drinks, and in fact, I don't even want to drink the pop or water that is dispensed from machines.  Another ex-fast food worker said it was because they can be hard to clean or don't get "broken down" or taken apart often.  He went on to say that after he had been an employee for four years, he completely stopped drinking ice from all fast food places because "I found a caterpillar sized chunk of mold in the ice about a week after the machine had been 'cleaned',"

This is just a few of the horror stories from the Shine article called "Fast Food Employees Dish About the Menu Items You Should Never Order."

Better Red Than Dead - Or how to soothe a sunburn!!

I have been very lucky so far this summer … I haven’t had a sunburn yet … of course I live in Oregon, and the sun hasn’t really found us this year.

Though I have been lucky so far, I know that once the sun does come out, I will turn a shade of red that even roses would be envious of!!!  I wouldn’t mind if that lush red turned into a golden tan … but no such luck!!

Just in case you find yourself half-baked and in pain this summer … here are some sunburn remedies you might like to try.

Aloe Vera Gel is generally recommended.  Not only does it heal the skin, I find it also takes the heat out of the burn.  You can find Aloe Vera Gel in nearly any store, but why not try it directly from the source: the Aloe Vera plant.  Just slice the leaf open, and smear the gooey stuff that is inside the leaf on your skin.  Don’t wipe it off.  You will feel the cooling healing starting almost immediately.

Another time tested remedy for sunburn is bicarbonate of soda (baking soda).  Just put four or five tablespoons of baking soda in a small bowl of cool water.  Soak cotton balls or a clean cloth in the bowl and lightly dab it onto your burned skin

This next method is not one I have tried myself, but a friend swears that mixing a cup of skim milk with four cups of cold water, and then taking a clean cloth soaked in the mixture and pressing it against your skin will bring relief.  You need to repeat the process for a half hour on the hour for four hours (or until the pain is relieved).

 
My husband is a nut for natural Vitamin E gel.  We were skin diving in the Caribbean once and he got the worst sunburn I have ever seen on the back of his legs.  We didn’t have anything for a sunburn and so he poked little holes in his vitamin E gel capsules and smeared the gel over the burned areas on the back of his legs.  I was impressed.  He didn’t blister or peel. If you try this, make sure you use natural vitamin E, not a synthetic version.

My grandma told me one time that if you have a bad sunburn, you should fill an old sock with uncooked oatmeal and then swish the sock in warm bath water until the water turns milky, then jump into the tub and soak.  You may find it as relaxing as it is refreshing.

 

If you like soaking in a bath tub, you might try putting 6 or 7 green tea teabags into warm bath water.  Let the water cool a little, then get in and soak.  The green tea will relieve the sunburn and boost healing.  You can also put the wet teabags on the most sunburned areas on your skin

The last idea was my mom’s favorite sunburn remedy. Apple cider vinegar (unpasteurized and unfiltered).  Any time my brother or I would come in the house with a rosy glow, she would slather us with apple cider vinegar.  I swear I smelled like a pickle most of the summer.  But it did relieve the pain and sped up the healing (after you overcome the initial sting of the application!!)  This method can be used even if the sunburn is blistering or beginning to peel.

Well … I hope this article helps you in case you do get burnt this summer.  In Oregon, I fear, we are more likely to rust than sunburn this year though.