Is bottled water better than tap?
Is wild caught fish better than farm raised?
Are baby carrots safe to eat?
Do onions cause food poisoning?
Is canola oil toxic?
Is organic better than conventional?
Have you recently received an email warning you not to eat this or that?
Have you heard that you should avoid a certain food at all costs?
Have you seen commercials or heard people swearing by a miracle food?
Is wild caught fish better than farm raised?
Are baby carrots safe to eat?
Do onions cause food poisoning?
Is canola oil toxic?
Is organic better than conventional?
Have you recently received an email warning you not to eat this or that?
Have you heard that you should avoid a certain food at all costs?
Have you seen commercials or heard people swearing by a miracle food?
Professors in my department have started a website designed to debunk food myths and search for answers within food/nutrition controversies called Food Myths and Memes. They pull topics from emails, the news, personal experience, etc. They research the topic to find the most accurate and evidence-based information. Then they post their findings on the site.
If you have a burning food/nutrition question or food myth and you'd like some reliable answers, let me know! I'll pass it along. You may even see your question on the webpage!
If you have a burning food/nutrition question or food myth and you'd like some reliable answers, let me know! I'll pass it along. You may even see your question on the webpage!
very cool! Yea there are sooo many articles out there that tell you what to eat, and super foods, and things you should eat everyday. But the lists are all slightly different. So basically it says to eat pretty much everything (every veggie, fruit, lean meat, nut, etc) for health benefits. It's good to have variety I guess, but realistically you can't eat everything everyday LOL.
ReplyDeleteHere's a question for ya...not really about a food myth. What are some great sources of fiber? And what is considered "high fiber". Like 5grams? 10 grams? 2grams?
Also, after reading your other post about working out more to keep the fat off as we age...if I only had an hour a day maybe 3 days a week to workout, what should I do? How should I split my time? For me I'm not trying to lose weight persay, so should I spend only 15 min cardio and the rest weights? Or half and half?
That's true...you should eat "everything" in moderation. That doesn't mean you have to eat some of each particular food everyday. Many foods have the same health benefits, so by eating a variety you will still get the vitamins and minerals you need.
ReplyDeleteFiber comes from plants. Good sources of fiber are fruits and veggies, eaten in sufficient quantities, as well as whole grains. I stay away from foods that have added fiber, or that put fiber where it wouldn't naturally be (aka yogurt.) When you buy bread, I recommend choosing loaves that have at least 3 grams of fiber per slice.
Even if you aren't trying to lose weight, cardio is important for your heart, blood sugar levels and overall fitness.
A good strength training/weight workout can be done in about 20 minutes. I am a big fan of circuits and using primarily body weight exercises (push ups, pull ups, dips, squats, lunges, crunches).
In general, strength training has to be done at least twice a week, probably three times a week, to really see any results and effects. But, you don't have to do it all at once or do an elaborate workout with fancy machines. You could do sit ups in the morning before work every other day, for instance.
You can also incorporate cardio into your daily life in smaller increments. I get up and walk a mile or so most mornings for 20-30 minutes. And that counts! You can take a walk during your lunch break.
If you only want to commit 3 solid hours a week, I would recommend doing some cardio and some strength work each time. During each hour the breakdown isn't as important as the quality of the effort and the thoroughness of the routine.
Here is just one example workout:
Start with a 10 minute warm up walk either on a treadmill or outdoors. Warm up doesn't mean a stroll, but it doesn't mean all out either.
Next do a circuit that hits all the major muscle groups and keeps your heart rate up. You can do it by number of reps or by time. For instance, 30 seconds of continuous squats followed by 30 seconds of pushups versus 15 squats and 15 pushups. Then go on to the next exercise without a break in between. They can be done on machines or not. You can modify them to make them easier or harder as your body dictates. After you go through your circuit and each muscle group is fatigued, hit the treadmill/cardio machine and push yourself for the rest of your hour...or go for a run if you aren't at the gym.
Does that answer your questions?
If you, or any reader, would like more workout recommendations or specifics, let me know.
Thanks girl! I know cardio is important for many reasons other than weight loss, but for someone not trying to lose weight and just reap the benefits of it for heart health, etc I wasn't sure what the recommended time was (all the articles out there focus on losing weight). I'm trying to be realistic about how much time I would have for the gym a week. If I can do more that's great, but my job is crazy at times so I wanted to be realistic and 3-1 hour workouts a week seems reasonable to me :-) start off slow LOL. Thanks again!
ReplyDeleteGreat link, and awesome write ups. Myths and Memes is going right next to Realistic Nutrition on my Google Reader!
ReplyDelete