• ¼ cup low-sugar granola*
• 2 tbsp. crushed walnuts
• ⅔ cup plain or vanilla Greek or Skyr yogurt**
• ½ cup mixed berries
• 1 tsp. raw, unfiltered honey

*We used Purely Elizabeth’s Original Grain Gluten-Free Granola

**We used Siggi’s plain 4% yogurt.

Directions

• In a mason jar or serving bowl, add 1 tbsp. of granola & ½ tsp. of honey.
• Top with ⅓ cup yogurt.
• Then sprinkle 1 tbsp. of walnuts, ¼ cup berries and 1 tbsp. Granola.
• Layer once more with yogurt, walnuts, berries and granola, then drizzle with a little honey.

Nutritional Information & Macros

Dietary Information: Vegetarian, Gluten free (if gluten-free granola is used), Contains dairy & nuts

Macros per serving

• 620 calories
• 42g fat
• 43g carbs
• 27g protein

READ MORE: 

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High Protein Lemon Berry Chia Yogurt 

Yogurt and Your Microbiome: The Surprising Ways Gut Health Affects Your Life

Adam Bornstein

Adam Bornstein is a New York Times bestselling author and the author of You Can’t Screw This Up. He is the founder of Born Fitness, and the co-founder of Arnold’s Pump Club (with Arnold Schwarzenegger) and Pen Name Consulting. An award-winning writer and editor, Bornstein was previously the Chief Nutrition Officer for Ladder, the Fitness and Nutrition editor for Men’s Health, Editorial Director at LIVESTRONG.com, and a columnist for SHAPE, Men’s Fitness, and Muscle & Fitness. He’s also a nutrition and fitness advisor for LeBron James, Cindy Crawford, Lindsey Vonn, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. According to The Huffington Post, Bornstein is “one of the most inspiring sources in all of health and fitness.” His work has been featured in dozens of publications, including The New York Times, Fast Company, ESPN, and GQ, and he’s appeared on Good Morning America, The Today Show, and E! News.

The post The Berry Nutty Yogurt Parfait appeared first on Born Fitness.

You will not gain weight from eating too few calories.

There are many reasons why it can seem like under-eating can lead to weight gain. But, science has shown over and over again that this isn’t physiologically possible. 

So, what’s happening with all the low-calorie diets that don’t seem to ever lead to more weight loss, and, too often, cause weight gain?  

There are 3 primary reasons that create diet deception. But, first, it’s important how dieting sets up you to eat more than you think. 

The Hardest Part of Dieting

One of the hardest parts of dieting is that as you lose weight your body makes it easier to gain back. That’s because hormone levels change (particularly leptin), and that manipulates your hunger. The more you lose, the hungrier you become.

This matters because hunger can work in subtle ways. And, when your brain is pushing you to eat a little more here and there (especially if you’re exercising and rationalizing the ability to eat a few extra calories), it’s very easy to eat more than you think (more on this in a moment).

And, this becomes even more complicated when you consider that your body likely has a “set point.” This weight where your body likes to settle, and changing out of that set point is difficult when your body will almost force you to try and stick at that weight.

When you combine these two factors (your brain wanting more food and your body wanting to stick at a certain weight), weight loss quickly becomes a frustrating process for most people.

Once your frustration kicks in, you might even try to fight your body and win the war on weight loss by reducing calories again to make the scale drop.

And what happens? The scale doesn’t move or you appear to be gaining weight.

It’s enough to make you feel like your body must be broken. Or, maybe you wonder if it’s gluten…or dairy…or artificial sweeteners that are making you fat. So, you start restricting foods left and right, only to become more miserable. 

While your frustration is real, rest assured your body is not broken, and artificial sweeteners or dairy are likely not the problems. 

3 Reasons You Gain Weight (When You Least Expect It)

In our experience with online coaching clients, we’ve seen everything. And, when it comes to weight loss, there are three common reasons you might continue to struggle with weight loss, even if it seems like you’re doing everything right. 

All of the reasons, ultimately, are linked to how much you’re eating. While all calories are not equal, calories-in and calories-out (also known as energy balance) is still the main mechanism that determines weight loss and gains.

As we already mentioned, you can’t under-eat your way to weight gain. But, you can appear to be under-eating and still gaining weight.

To make your life easier, we want to make sure you can easily identify all of the sneaky ways you can be tricked into following a diet that only leads to added frustration and a scale that won’t move.

Foods With Hidden Calories

Whether you’re a dieting pro or don’t know the difference between a carbohydrate and protein, hidden calories suck and they are everywhere.

A perfect example is the oils you add to cooking and salads. Most of us don’t realize just how small a tablespoon really is, and how something so simple can add hundreds or thousands of “stealthy” calories to your diet.

It’s frustratingly simple for hidden calories to pile up quickly day-over-day, and week-over-week, and that’s all it takes to keep you on a plateau or even gain weight, despite your best efforts. 

Rather than worrying about counting calories, it’s important to easily recognize where most hidden calories are typically found. 

See the graphic below, so you can think twice when you eat. What makes all of these hidden-calorie foods so difficult is that they are calorically dense. That means, even if they are healthy for you (which several of them are), just a small serving packs a big punch of calories, which is why it’s so simple to eat much more than you thought. 

The 2,000-Calorie Diet Deception

Because very few of us spend our time measuring and weighing food (and rightfully so), it can be shocking to learn just how much we underestimate the number of calories we consume a day.

Research backs this frustration reality. On average, people will underestimate their caloric intake by 30 percent, and sometimes they can estimate by as much as 45 percent. That makes a big difference.

And, to be fair, a lot of people will make it seem like this is an education issue, but even pros can’t tell how much food is in a meal.

I’ve had the same issue. And, it can be minor things. Like how my “1 spoonful” of Justin’s Maple Almond Nut Butter is closer to eating half a jar. You might not keep track, but your body does.

What to do? You certainly don’t need to count calories, but a helpful (and ey-opening) exercise is to track what you eat for 2 or 3 days. 

Much like tracking how much money you spend in a week can show you were you can save more, understanding calories can show you how 1 or 2 small tweaks can create awareness that makes it much easier for you to adjust your diet without going into complete restriction. 

Case in point: many people think that you need to completely cut out dessert or other treats. But, that type of approach usually leads to you breaking your plan. 

Instead, if you think of it like a leaky bucket approach and you plug the minor leaks, you can have more freedom…and a lot more results, too. 

Calories-In, Calories-Out Is Confusing 

We mentioned that calories are still the main factor, but that doesn’t mean you need to count them. It also doesn’t mean that “calories in” or “calories out” is simple for you to understand. So, let’s change that. 

When we talk about “calories-in” and “calories-out”, it’s more than just what you’re eating or your exercise

All of the following factors can influence the  equation:

• the composition of your meals (protein, carbs, fats), which has an impact on your metabolism
• your body type
• the percentage of muscle or body fat on your body
• your hormones
• your genetics
• your environment
• how you slept last night]
• your levels of stress

Let’s just take one small example. When you eat a meal, each type of food (proteins, carbs, and fats) hasve a different “thermic effect of food” or TEF. This is the rate at which your body metabolizes a meal. Or, in other words, it’s how many additional calories you’ll burn when you eat a specific food.

Protein has the highest TEF, which ranges from 25 to 35 percent.

Comparatively, carbs are only 6 to 8 percent, and fats are the least metabolically active with a TEF of about 3-5 percent.  

That means if two people each eat a 500-calorie meal, but one person has more protein and the other person has more fat, the “calories-in” model will look different for each individual, even if they are having the exact same number of calories.

All of which is to say, many factors matter in determining how your body stores (and burns) calories. So, when frustration kicks in, don’t give up on yourself, don’t try to be perfect, and remember that there’s no use in trying to outsmart the system. 

It’s not that we’re lying (though we can sometimes deceive ourselves, and others, about our intake). More than anything, it’s that we struggle to estimate portion sizes and calorie counts.

This is especially difficult today when plates and portions are bigger than ever. And energy-dense, incredible tasting, and highly brain-rewarding “foods” are ubiquitous, cheap, and socially encouraged.

Instead, search for a diet you think you can follow. And when you start following it, add checks and balances to keep you accountable, and support to remove the need for “perfection.” And then other systems that ensure you won’t be overeating without your own knowledge.

If you need help with finding the right diet, or someone to help you with those checks and balances, our online coaching program may be right for you. Every client is assigned two coaches — one for nutrition and one for fitness. Find out more here. 

Have questions? Share them in the comments below.

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Why Am I Hungry All The Time?

The Beginner’s Guide To Fat Loss

Adam Bornstein

Adam Bornstein is a New York Times bestselling author and the author of You Can’t Screw This Up. He is the founder of Born Fitness, and the co-founder of Arnold’s Pump Club (with Arnold Schwarzenegger) and Pen Name Consulting. An award-winning writer and editor, Bornstein was previously the Chief Nutrition Officer for Ladder, the Fitness and Nutrition editor for Men’s Health, Editorial Director at LIVESTRONG.com, and a columnist for SHAPE, Men’s Fitness, and Muscle & Fitness. He’s also a nutrition and fitness advisor for LeBron James, Cindy Crawford, Lindsey Vonn, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. According to The Huffington Post, Bornstein is “one of the most inspiring sources in all of health and fitness.” His work has been featured in dozens of publications, including The New York Times, Fast Company, ESPN, and GQ, and he’s appeared on Good Morning America, The Today Show, and E! News.

The post Can You Gain Weight From Eating Too Little? appeared first on Born Fitness.

Those are the first two things you need to know when considering if sugar is bad. After all, your body is perfectly designed to metabolize sugar. When you eat carbohydrates (any carbohydrates, vegetables included) your body eventually breaks them down into glucose (AKA sugar).

So, the idea that sugar is bad when your body is designed to use it and convert it into energy just doesn’t make sense.

Now, that’s not to say that too much sugar can’t be a problem. It can, but understanding your limits can make your diet a lot less stressful and a lot more delicious. Let’s dig in.

Is Sugar The Cause of Obesity and Diabetes?

If you’re going to stand up for sugar for anything (because, again, it has some downsides, which we’ll discuss), it’s the belief that sugar is the cause of diseases like obesity and diabetes.

Yes, sugar can play an indirect role in both. But, data and research don’t align to suggest that both diseases are driven by sugar.

Over the last 40 years, our sugar consumption has shifted from 20.8 teaspoons of sugar per day in the 1970s to about 23 teaspoons of sugar per day. Both numbers are too high, but the ~2.2 teaspoons increase is only about 32 added extra calories. Again, too much sugar, but the increase in sugar is not what’s driving obesity.

After all, according to USDA data, calorie consumption has increased by anywhere from 600 to 700 calories over the same time period. For reference, the consumption of fats and oils jumped from 52 pounds per year (per person) in the 1970s to 82 pounds per year more recently.

The problem with obesity is too many calories. And that is a complicated problem that includes many factors such as food availability, hyper-palatable foods (think fat, salty, and sweet combined), psychological factors, social factors, and genetics.

Can sugar potentially make you desire to eat more? Yes. But, as you’ll find out, the poison is in the dose and the source. It’s not one or the other.

The same goes for diabetes. Many people believe that sugar causes diabetes. In reality, it’s excess body fat that triggers the disease. If you have too much body fat, then it creates insulin resistance, which means your body’s natural glucose control breaks and you start storing and processing sugar differently. That’s what leads to prediabetes and, ultimately, diabetes.

So Why Do People Think Sugar is Toxic?

The short answer: because it makes for a compelling narrative in a book or documentary.

Listen, sugar has its downsides, and limiting sugar is a good thing. But, the idea that you need to avoid all sugar isn’t supported by science.

If sugar is bad and “toxic,” then what should you think about fruit?

Before you buy into the easy-to-sell idea that sugar is the root of all evil, you might want to consider that over the last 50 years, different ingredients or macronutrients tend to be blamed for all health issues.

Despite science that suggests one food is not the reason for all health shortcomings, many are convinced that carbs and sugar are inherently bad.

Sugar’s real “toxicity” level is something like 6 pounds per day (test in rats). That’s not happening to even the biggest sweet tooth.

When people talk about toxicity, they usually are referring to the addictive nature of sugar. The anti-sugar crowd likes to compare it with addictive drugs.

But, if you were to eat a spoonful of sugar (cue Mary Poppins), how much would you want to shovel down a second, third, or fourth spoonful?

The answer is most people wouldn’t because sugar alone does not drive palatability. There are many factors, which include:

• A combination of sweet, starch, and fat
• Mouth-feel
• Salt
• Consistency

Even research suggests that sugar-alone isn’t driving food obsession. A comprehensive review found that sugar was not addictive, but that high-fat savory and high-fat sweet foods are much more likely to be overeaten than mostly sugary sweet foods.

Which Sugars Are Better and Healthier?

Sugar is far more than just the white stuff you spoon into your coffee. (That’s sucrose.)

In biochemistry, sugar is either a monosaccharide or a disaccharide (“saccharides” being another name for “carbohydrates”).

• A monosaccharide is a simple sugar.
• A disaccharide is a sugar composed of two simple sugars.
• An oligosaccharide is composed of two to ten simple sugars.
• A polysaccharide is composed of two or more simple sugars (300 to 1,000 glucose molecules in starch).

In short, all carbohydrates are composed of single sugars. If we go back to the example of sucrose, or table sugar, that’s actually a disaccharide of the simple sugars glucose and fructose.

Meanwhile, starch, dietary fiber, and cellulose are polysaccharides. That’s an important distinction for those of you keeping score at home: fiber — something most people know as good — is also a form of sugar.

Of those three, we can only digest starch, which is composed of glucose. Starch is also what you’ve probably heard call “complex carbs” or “slow carbs” — slow because the body needs time to break them down into single sugars (notably glucose, the “blood sugar”).

So the idea of a true non-sugar diet means kicking out a lot of foods that are perfectly healthy. Sure, you can live without ingesting sugars, or even carbs … but only because your body can synthesize the glucose its needs out of fatty acids and amino acids.

This happens because your body needs sugar. Glucose is needed as fuel for important functions, like your nervous system and your brain. (Yes, your brain doesn’t only function on glucose, but it does need glucose; and glucose also helps cells interact.)

Maybe more importantly: there are many perfectly healthy foods that contain sugar (see below).

Any no-sugar diet that removes all of the following foods is likely flawed. And that’s the point: any diet that veers towards extremes oftentimes is misguided, and that includes the catch-all “don’t eat any sugar.”

When Does Sugar Become Bad For You?

Like most things in life, the poison is in the dose.

As we’ve seen, your body actually needs sugars, to the point that it’ll manufacture some even if you avoid all carbohydrates.

We already discussed that body fatness is the main driver of type-II diabetes and obesity. But sugar can contribute to overeating. And, too much sugar also results in an increase in advanced glycation end products, and so in skin damage and a greater risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease.

That’s why added sugar can be dangerous: not because it’s “as addictive as cocaine.”

The real danger with sugar is not that it’s inherently fattening. A gram of sugar is still just 4 calories. And 4 calories will not make you fat.

However, you can eat a lot of sugar and not feel full. And that’s the typical pattern. You eat some sugar (usually combined with other foods and hidden in beverages)…and then some more…and then some more…and next thing you know a box of cookies are gone, a can of soda, and sugary coffee drink are all gone…and you’re still feeling hungry.

Added sugars are too easy to over-consume. That’s true of every added sugar, no matter how healthy-sounding it may be.

Is Honey Better Than Cane Sugar?

Don’t be fooled into thinking honey or maple syrup or agave is better for you. Sugar is sugar. Even the much-vilified high-fructose corn syrup (55% fructose, 45% glucose, usually) isn’t a lot worse than sucrose (50% fructose, 50% glucose).

What are especially treacherous are sugars in liquid form. You can drink and drink and drink mass quantities of them—enough calories to account for a five-course meal—and yet still feel hungry.

Perhaps it’s unsurprising that soft drinks are linked to the current obesity epidemic. Sodas and colas are by far the main source of added sugar in the average American’s diet, accounting for 34.4% of the added sugar consumed by U.S. adults and children.

In that respect, fruit juices aren’t any healthier. In fact, they can be even worse.

Why? Because the sugar in fruit juice is fructose, which can stress the liver (only the liver can metabolize fructose in any large amounts).

There’s one “sugary” drink that doesn’t pose the same threat: milk.

While milk contains sugar (lactose, a disaccharide of glucose and galactose), it has far less than fruit juice, since milk also contains protein and fat. Back in the day when fats were the enemy, low-fat milk was considered healthier than whole milk; the same isn’t true today.

Now that fats have been (partially) redeemed, whole milk is back in fashion — and backed by lots of evidence.

Is The Sugar In Fruit Bad?

No, fruit is not bad for you. If we could scream it from the mountain tops and plaster over every Instagram feed, we would tell you:

There is no evidence that eating fruit, even in high amounts, will harm your health.

Unlike fruit juices, whole fruits are filling. Apples, though solid, are 10% sugar … and 85% water; that alone makes them very hard to overeat. In addition, recent studies show that whole fruits may help regulate blood sugar.

How Much Added Sugar Is Safe?

Here’s something we can all celebrate: you don’t need to feel guilty each time you eat added sugar. But, you should stay aware of your consumption and do your best not to exceed these limits:

• 100 calories/day if you’re a woman (about six teaspoons, or 25 g);
• 150 calories/day if you’re a man (about nine teaspoons, or 36 g)

What does that mean in real food?

That’s the equivalent of about 1 full-sized Snickers bar or about 7-8 Oreo cookies.

That’s not to say you should add Snickers or Oreos to your daily eating plan. The example simply illustrates the safe, maximum amount you can have each day.

The reason it’s not so simple is that added sugar winds up in a lot of unexpected places, like soup, pizza, and granola.

While the average consumption of sugar in the United States may be decreasing, it’s still way too high.

If you want an easier way to keep your sugar consumption in check, use the guide below. It’s based on the model of the old school Food Guide Pyramid, which was released in 1992 and replaced in 2005 by MyPyramid—before that was eventually replaced by whatever this thing is that the government is using nowadays.

The Sugar Pyramid is a new spin on dietary sanity.

The base of a healthy sugar pyramid is made of vegetables and fruits: Not only are they filling, but they also provide you with fiber, vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals (biologically active compounds found in plants, some of which are beneficial to our health).

Whole milk also fits into the base of the Sugar Pyramid. The little sugar naturally occurring in bread doesn’t count as added sugar, either—but the sugar that’s often added during manufacturing in the U.S. does.

As for fruit juices, honey, and maple syrup, they all count as added sugar, as does high-fructose corn syrup.

If the base of your personal sugar pyramid is wide, then sprinkling a little added sugar at the top won’t make it collapse. It’s only when most of the sugar in your diet comes from soft drinks, sweets, cookies, and breakfast cereals that your pyramid is likely to topple, and your health along with it.

READ MORE: 

Do Carbs Actually Make You Fat?

Winning the War on Hunger: Practical Solutions to Overeating

Healthy Fat: Which Foods Should You Really Be Eating?

Kamal Patel is director of Examine.com, an education company he cofounded in 2011. Since that time, Examine.com’s growing team of researchers has reviewed thousands of studies on supplementation and nutrition. Today, over a million visitors each month rely on Examine.com to separate marketing hyperbole from scientific evidence.

The post Is Sugar Bad For You? appeared first on Born Fitness.

But, somewhere between the marketing magic created by The Dairy Farmers of America and the movement towards organic-everything, and the fear of any type of processed food, milk fell out of favor. One of the original super “superfoods” went from a staple of every meal to being replaced by variations derived from almonds, cashews, peas, and oats.

But, the question remains: does milk do a body good, or is it something you should limit or avoid.

In theory, the fear of dairy milk — or any “natural” food — should be limited. “Any kind of natural food is not inherently bad; it’s eating patterns that can contribute to disease,” says Robin Foroutan, RDN, an integrative dietician at the Morrison Center in New York City and a spokesperson for the National Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

In other words, there’s little reason to think that any individual whole food on its own is going to ruin your diet. Milk from dairy isn’t dangerous. In fact, milk is one of the most nutrient-dense foods you can find. But, milk also isn’t for everyone. And that’s where the answer takes shape. 

If you’re trying to determine whether dairy milk can be a part of your healthy nutrition plan, whether it’s in your coffee, cereal, or just a cold glass to enjoy, here’s what you need to know about milk’s benefits, dairy’s risks, and who would be better off cutting back or going dairy-free.  

The Benefits of Dairy Milk

How does a food that used to be universally considered healthy become questioned by so many? After all, milk consumption has decreased about 40 percent since 1975 (even though dairy consumption– thanks to foods like cheese and yogurt — has increased). The biggest factor, as we’ll discuss, is the fear of allergies or lactose sensitivity. And then, there are those that fear the hormones in cows. (More on both of these concerns below.

Back in 2016, research was published that reviewed the majority of research (both observational studies and random controlled trials) on dairy milk. The general scientific takeaways make you wonder why people would avoid milk:

In adults, intake of dairy products was shown to improve body composition and facilitate weight loss during energy restriction. In addition, intake of milk and dairy products was associated with a neutral or reduced risk of type 2 diabetes and a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, particularly stroke. Furthermore, the evidence suggested a beneficial effect of milk and dairy intake on bone mineral density but no association with risk of bone fracture. Among cancers, milk and dairy intake was inversely associated with colorectal cancer, bladder cancer, gastric cancer, and breast cancer, and not associated with risk of pancreatic cancer, ovarian cancer, or lung cancer, while the evidence for prostate cancer risk was inconsistent. 

Again, that doesn’t mean you need milk, but it does mean there are many benefits if you decide to drink it. Cow’s milk undeniably packed with many vitamins and minerals your body wants.

“Milk is a great source of protein, calcium, vitamin D, which are ‘nutrients of concern’ in the U.S. population,” meaning that many people don’t get enough, says Vasanti Malik, PhD, a research scientist in the department of nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “It also contains magnesium, along with other minerals and nutrients.”

“If you don’t consume dairy, it’s really hard to get enough calcium,” which is crucial for strong bones, says Ali Webster, PhD, RD, Associate Director of Nutrition Communications for the International Food Information Council Foundation. The vitamin D and potassium in milk are also important for bone health.

Webster acknowledges that you can’t rely solely on milk to fight osteoporosis. You also need magnesium (milk has some but isn’t a great source) and vitamin K (found in leafy greens, fish, meat, and eggs)—but it does help you check off a lot of these boxes at once.

That said, milk isn’t the sole source of bone-supporting nutrients. A cup of spinach, for instance, has 350 mg calcium (slightly more than the 300 mg found in a cup of milk), and also provides fiber and folate. A 6-oz can of salmon with bones provides 380 mg of calcium, plus heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids.  

The benefits of milk go beyond general health. Milk is one of the best muscle-building foods given its composition of protein. In fact, it’s the basis of both whey protein and casein protein. If you’re drinking either one of those protein shakes, each of those powders started as milk.

How Much Milk Should You Drink?

If you do choose to consume dairy, Malik says that one serving a day is a good baseline amount. Ashley Koff, RDN, CEO of The Better Nutrition Program, agrees. She tells clients who opt to include dairy in their diets to “accessorize” meals with it—say, one slice of cheese on a sandwich or a splash of milk in your coffee.

That might surprise you, considering that the USDA recommends 3 servings daily. But Koff, Malik, and Foroutan say that number isn’t necessary as a goal. Instead, think of milk as a source of vitamins, minerals, or protein that you might not get from other sources. The only people who might need that much dairy are children and the elderly because they tend to be picky eaters who might not otherwise get the nutrients they need.

What Happens if You Overdo It On Dairy

For starters, if you’re allergic, you’re asking for a world of discomfort. If your body can’t handle dairy, or, more specifically, lactose, then you shouldn’t drink it.

Assuming you like milk and aren’t allergic to it, most experts say it’s fine and arguably even healthy to continue drinking it—at least in moderation.

The main concern with eating too much dairy or drinking too much milk is the domino effect it could have on the rest of your diet. Dieticians worry that it could push out other healthy foods (like fruits and vegetables) from your diet, which could have a negative impact. 

Sometimes, replacing milk leads to misleading conclusions about what’s really happening in your body. When people cut milk out of their diet and find they feel better, it’s often not because milk was wreaking havoc on their bodies (of course, assuming no allergy). It’s because their overall diet quality improves when they replace that dairy with more nutrient-dense produce and other whole foods.

Another thing to consider is that, unless you’re going with skim milk, the drink will contain saturated fat. While the effects of saturated fat are hotly debated and can be consumed in some amount, most health experts agree that increasing saturated fat consumption elevates cholesterol, which can in turn increase your risk of cardiovascular disease.

Milk Myths You Don’t Need to Worry About

Not all concerns about milk are created equal, at least from a scientific perspective. For example, rumors that consuming milk will mess with your hormones, or cause heart disease or diabetes are largely unfounded.

Most mainstream experts say that, with the exception of a possible increased risk of prostate cancer (more on that later), the quality of any evidence indicating that milk would be dangerous is pretty weak—think “associations” or “based on animal studies” rather than high-quality controlled trials.

Also, most studies purporting to show milk’s potential harms also need to be considered in the context of other contradictory research. For instance, a study published earlier this year in the British Journal of Nutrition found that eating full-fat dairy products increased the risk of pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes—yet a 2016 study, published in the journal Circulation, found that eating full-fat dairy was associated with a lower diabetes risk.

Does Milk Make You Fat?

If you’ve heard that milk will make you fat, that’s not proven, either.

“It’s true that milk comes from mammals and has a biological purpose—to feed infants so they can grow up and develop,” says Foroutan.

Milk naturally contains growth hormone as well as IGF-1 (insulin like growth factor-1) — both of which are designed to make animals get bigger. But there’s really no proof that the amount found in milk would contribute to obesity—nor is it enough to make you get jacked. (As we already mentioned, there is some proof that drinking milk after a workout can help you build muscle, mostly thanks to the protein content).  

Of course, if you eat ice cream every day or put cheese on everything, you might very well gain weight. But if you eat dairy—even full-fat dairy—in small amounts, it might actually help you slim down. “Fat sends an important signal to the brain that you’re full, which can help with portion control,” says Foroutan.  

5 Reasons to Ditch Dairy

While research is always evolving, for now, the majority of evidence points to dairy being beneficial (or at least not harmful) for most people, says Webster.

The biggest issue is that each person’s body is unique. While most people seem to be able to tolerate at least some dairy, “if you don’t break it down well or have some sensitivity to it, then consuming dairy products may trigger inflammation,” says Foroutan.

If you’ve been thinking you might be better off going dairy-free, or at least limiting it to an occasional treat, these might be good reasons for you to make a change.

1. You’re lactose intolerant.

A true dairy allergy is relatively rare, but many people are lactose intolerant—meaning that they can’t properly digest the primary sugar (lactose) found in milk. As a result, eating anything with lactose triggers unpleasant GI symptoms like cramps, gas, or diarrhea.

“It’s easy to detect because you’d have a pretty quick response to eating or drinking something with lactose in it,” says Foroutan. If you’d like a more official diagnosis, ask your doctor for a lactose tolerance (blood) test or a hydrogen breath test.

If you are, in fact, lactose intolerant, you may still be able to eat certain types of dairy. While you’ll have to steer clear of milk and ice cream or suffer the consequences, hard cheeses and probiotic-rich yogurt usually don’t contain any lactose.  

2. You’re not lactose intolerant, but dairy still upsets your stomach.

Maybe you’ve been tested for lactose intolerance and the test came back negative, but you swear that eating dairy makes your tummy feel lousy. You’re probably not imagining it.

Dairy contains proteins such as casein and whey, which can cause difficulties for some people, says Foroutan. “Unfortunately, it’s very difficult to test for a sensitivity,” she says.

If your gut is telling you that something is off, feel free to trust it. Or, consider doing an elimination diet: Give up all dairy for a few weeks, then do a “challenge” during which you introduce different types of dairy products one by one to see how you react. (Butter, for instance, doesn’t have much lactose, but it has casein and whey.) You may want to see a nutritionist for guidance during your experiment.

3. Milk makes you feel sluggish.

Digestive issues aren’t the only possible signs of an intolerance. Someone who feels bloated, tired, or sluggish after eating dairy might be sensitive to one or more of the components in it. “Some people don’t even notice until the next day; sometimes we call it a ‘food hangover,'” says Foroutan.

If that sounds like you, it might be worth eliminating dairy for a few weeks and slowly trying to reintroduce it to see if it’s really the culprit. But the bottom line is that if you feel better without dairy, you don’t have to have it.

4. You have a higher-than-average risk of prostate cancer.

The link between dairy consumption and several types of cancer is murky. Some studies, for instance, have said that it might raise the risk of breast cancer, whereas others show that it lowers it. (Most research seems to conclude that it’s associated with a lower risk of breast cancer.)  

Prostate cancer is a little different. The proof that dairy substantially raises prostate cancer risk is hardly iron-clad, but there’s enough reason for experts (including those at the American Cancer Society) to be somewhat concerned.

“It’s not the strongest evidence, but it’s worth mentioning,” says Malik. “If you’re at high risk of prostate cancer—maybe you have a family history or your PSA (prostate specific antigen, which can be measured via a blood test) is elevated—you might consider decreasing dairy.”

5. You just don’t want to eat dairy.

For most healthy adults, the best reason to eat dairy is that you like it. If you’re vegan and don’t wish to consume anything that involves animals, or if you’re concerned about the toll that dairy farming takes on the environment, those are perfectly valid reasons to cut milk from your diet, says Malik.

Yes, you might struggle to get certain nutrients, like calcium, but there are other ways to meet your needs. Tofu, some beans, and certain leafy greens also contain calcium. When in doubt, consult a registered dietician.

Do You Need Milk? (And Key Takeaways)

The best advice you’ll find on milk, based on the current research, comes from Marion Nestle, Ph.D., a retired professor of nutrition, food studies, and public health at New York University. 

• Milk is a good source of calcium, vitamin D, protein, and potassium. These nutrients are crucial for good health (including bone health). But you can also get them from other sources too.
• If you need a baseline and want milk, consider a goal of one serving a day.
• If milk makes you feel sick, even if you’re not lactose intolerant, feel free to scale back or skip it entirely. You can get the nutrients found in dairy from other foods, or talk to your doctor about taking a supplement.
• Some research has linked high dairy consumption with an increased risk of prostate cancer. If your risk for this disease is already elevated, you may want to limit or cut out dairy.

READ MORE: 

What is the Keto Diet? (And Should I Try It?)

Is Sugar Bad for You?

Fix Your Diet: Understanding Proteins, Carbs and Fats

The post Milk Isn’t Bad For You (But 6 Types of People May Want to Avoid It) appeared first on Born Fitness.

As you reduce calories and — more importantly — lose weight, things start to change in your body and brain to make you feel hungrier. While super-restrictive diets are a big reason many diets fail, other plans that might be perfectly good also feel impossible because of this hunger signaling. 

The answer isn’t to quit on weight loss (if that’s your goal), instead, it’s to be aware of the inevitable hunger increase and make sure your diet is loaded with foods that will fill you up. When that happens, and especially when those filling foods are lower in calories, you can crack the diet code and experience weight loss without all the frustration (and endless hunger).

What Foods Fill You Up?

Let’s say your daily calorie intake is about where it should be for weight loss. That means you’ll be in a caloric deficit, the scale should be changing, and — as that happens — your hunger will inevitably increase.

In that case, we’d look to incorporate more foods that enhance your feeling of fullness. Research to date has found that there are three keys to achieving it. (Sadly, none of them are ice cream, pizza, or cheesecake.)

Three things that can help you feel full are protein, fiber, and water. Surprisingly, certain carbohydrates also keep you incredibly full (more on that in a moment).

If you’re trying to ensure mental sanity, adding more protein, fiber, and water will make your life a lot easier.

So, how do you make these diet changes easier? Here’s a simple way to make it happen and feel fuller and more in control of your diet (and hunger) than ever. 

High-Protein Foods That Fill You Up (And Are Lower in Calories)

Research consistently shows protein is the most filling macronutrient, so it’s great to have a serving of it at each meal. If you want to take it a step further, you could set a goal.

“We recommend approximately 0.8-1g of protein per pound of target bodyweight if you are active,” says Born Fitness nutrition coach Natalie Sabin. (Note: Target body weight is what you want to weigh, not necessarily what you weigh currently.)

“Not only is protein satiating, but it’s also muscle-sparing — meaning you’re more likely to hold on to your lean mass when you are in a calorie deficit.”

Meat, eggs, and dairy are all good sources of protein. If you’re trying to stay lower in calories, you’ll want to focus on leaner sources of protein, which means you’ll have less fat. While fat isn’t bad, it is calorically dense, with 9 calories per gram of fat (compare that to just 4 calories per gram of protein). Fattier proteins include things like ribeyes, salmon, and whole eggs. 

To stick with lower-fat protein options, you can include more poultry (like chicken or turkey), low-fat fish (most of the white fish options will work), seafood like shrimp, scallops, or crab, leaner cuts of beef (like sirloin or filets), or egg whites. 

If you are a strict vegetarian or vegan, then rice and beans, quinoa or tofu are all go-to options.

Choose Carbs That Reduce Hunger

According to the satiety index, fresh fruits and vegetables are ideal additions to your diet because they leave you satisfied for longer. Foods like potatoes (yes, white potatoes or sweet potatoes), beans, and oatmeal are all proven to quell hunger longer, which makes sense since all are rich sources of dietary fiber. So are fruits.

Researchers at Penn State University found that when subjects consumed a 125-calorie apple before lunch, they ate 200 fewer calories in the meal that followed. They also reported a greater feeling of fullness.

Add Nuts To Help You Stick on a Diet

You might think that with high concentrations of calories and fat, nuts wouldn’t be a great idea for dieters. But, nuts are a surprising success story when it comes to weight control.

According to obesity researcher and writer Stephan Guyenet, Ph.D., nuts “are less calorie-dense than they might seem because some of their calories pass through the digestive system unabsorbed.”

Basically, he means: When you eat a serving of almonds, which is about 162 calories, your body won’t necessarily take in all of those calories. Some will just pass right through you, a phenomenon that researchers attribute to the nut’s hardness and high fiber content.

This doesn’t mean you should go crazy and gob down handful after handful. There’s a big difference between “not all of the calories get absorbed” and “calorie-free.” (And let’s be clear: nuts are definitely not calorie-free.) Enjoy, but watch your serving sizes here.

Drink More Water Before You Eat

Numerous studies show that consuming water before a meal reduces calorie consumption and increases the feeling of fullness. Many people have heard the “8 glasses a day” rule, but few actually do it.

From wherever you’re starting, see if you can add three glasses to your daily regimen: one before (or during) breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

If you opt to drink during the meal rather than before, try taking a sip between bites.

If you’re doing all of these things, but still feel like you barely make it to lunch without gnawing your arm off, switch up one more thing: how often you eat.

Some people prefer to eat several smaller meals and snacks per day, while others find they do better by eating just 2 or 3 bigger meals.

As we’ve explained before, so long as your calorie total is the same, neither option is better or worse. It’s simply a matter of preference.

If you’re looking for more personalization and hands-on support, our online coaching program may be right for you. Every client is assigned two coaches — one for nutrition and one for fitness. Find out more here. 

READ MORE: 

What To Eat For Breakfast To Fill You Up

Cinnamon Apple Yogurt Parfait With Protein Granola

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Adam Bornstein

Adam Bornstein is a New York Times bestselling author and the author of You Can’t Screw This Up. He is the founder of Born Fitness, and the co-founder of Arnold’s Pump Club (with Arnold Schwarzenegger) and Pen Name Consulting. An award-winning writer and editor, Bornstein was previously the Chief Nutrition Officer for Ladder, the Fitness and Nutrition editor for Men’s Health, Editorial Director at LIVESTRONG.com, and a columnist for SHAPE, Men’s Fitness, and Muscle & Fitness. He’s also a nutrition and fitness advisor for LeBron James, Cindy Crawford, Lindsey Vonn, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. According to The Huffington Post, Bornstein is “one of the most inspiring sources in all of health and fitness.” His work has been featured in dozens of publications, including The New York Times, Fast Company, ESPN, and GQ, and he’s appeared on Good Morning America, The Today Show, and E! News.

The post The Art and Science of Foods That Fill You Up appeared first on Born Fitness.

Even though breakfast is not the most important meal of the day (science suggests that no one meal is more valuable than another), breakfast eaters tend to experience the best benefits by selecting a filling breakfast that leaves you wanting less for lunch, curbs snacking, and gives you fuel for hours.

While eggs are a popular staple (and for good reason, they are loaded with protein and fat) and the foundation of a fulfilling breakfast, you can upgrade any egg-based meal to help keep you fuller for longer — like our hearty egg skillet.

If you want to upgrade your breakfast — or any meal — into a combination of foods that makes it easier to stay on track with your diet, we’ve provided a simple outline that will increase the fullness, satisfaction, and flavor so you have an easier time achieving your goals.

How to Kill Your Appetite

There are many factors that can make you feel hungry that have nothing to do with the foods you eat. For example, sleep deprivation is one of the biggest causes of hunger.

Research published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism found that sleeping less than six hours triggers the area of your brain that increases your need for food while also depressing leptin and stimulating ghrelin.

The more ghrelin you produce, the more you stimulate hunger while also reducing the number of calories you burn (your metabolism) and increasing the amount of fat you store. In other words, you need to control leptin and ghrelin to successfully lose weight, but sleep deprivation makes that nearly impossible.

And if all that wasn’t enough, research published in Psychoneuroendocrinology found that sleep deprivation makes you select greater portion sizes of all foods, further increasing the likelihood of weight gain.

Translation: if you want to kill your hunger, start by getting a minimum of 6 hours of sleep per night, but (ideally), you’ll rest at least 7.5 hours per night.

When it comes to specific foods and feeling full, all calories are not equal. Some foods increase satiety or the feeling of fullness. In particular, if you want to feel fuller for longer (or, in this case, a breakfast that keeps you full for hours) and keep it simple, build a meal focused around 3 elements:

• Protein
• Fiber
• Foods that retain water

Protein is the most-filling macronutrient, compared to carbs or fats.

Fiber helps control hunger by slowing down the process by which foods empty in your stomach and speeds up digestion, and that combo helps you stay satisfied for longer.

Drinking water helps with appetite and enjoying foods that retain water has been shown to help decrease how much food you consume.

What Foods Are Best At Controlling Hunger?

Because satiety determines your hunger and feelings of fullness, the satiety index was created to help you measure how well a meal keeps you satisfied.

It’s a simple way to know if the foods you eat are doing the job you want, which is mainly to keep you away from the snack drawer at work.

Foods that have a score of more than 100 are considered more filling, and those with less than 100 might leave you going for seconds or thirds on your meal.

The foods that are best at keeping you full include:

• Potatoes
• Meat
• Eggs
• Fish
• Vegetables
• Cheese
• Nuts
• Legumes/beans

As an added benefit, research shows that spicy foods can also help suppress hunger.

Use any of those foods and you’re more likely to be fuller for longer. Combine several of those foods and you have the perfect recipe for energy, satisfaction, and the elimination of hunger.

The Best Egg Breakfast to Keep You Fuller (For Longer)

We couldn’t squeeze in every ingredient, but this breakfast has been approved by hundreds of online coaching clients, and it’s exactly what you can eat to fill you up and power you through any day.

This healthy egg breakfast recipe contains 6 of the foods that are highest on the satiety index, and it adds a touch of spice (if you like it) to help keep your hunger at bay.

If you try this recipe, be sure to leave your thoughts in the comments below!

Egg Skillet Recipe

Ingredients

• 3 slices bacon, uncured & nitrate-free
• 6 eggs, pastured
• ¾ cup egg whites
• 1 large sweet potato, cubed
• ½ cup onion, diced
• 20 Brussels sprouts, quarters
• ¼ cup shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano
• 1/4 cup lentils
• Hot sauce (optional)

Directions

1. Slice the bacon into ½” thick mini slices. Add those to a large saute pan or cast-iron skillet on medium heat. Cook for 5-7 minutes, the bacon should be about halfway cooked. Drain ½ of the grease from the pan.
2. Add the chopped onion and lentils. Cook for about 2-3 minutes until they’ve softened, then add the sweet potato and Brussels sprouts. Keep the skin on the potato; that’s where a lot of the nutrients are. No need to de-stem the Brussels sprouts, just quarter. Try to make sure everything is about the same size so they cook evenly.
3. Increase temperature to medium-high heat, and cook for 15 minutes, stirring every 2 to 3 minutes. You want the edges to brown so don’t stir constantly. After 15 minutes, cover and cook for an additional 2 to 3 minutes. This essentially steams the veggies for the last few minutes.
4. Bro-hack tip: add the eggs, egg whites, and Parmigiano-Reggiano to a blender bottle. Yes, that protein shaker cup with the whisk ball in it. Shake it like a shake weight (the new Polaroid picture), and pour over the veggies.
5. Season with salt and pepper, and scramble the eggs. Serve with hot sauce for an extra kick! Makes 2 large servings.

Nutritional Information & Macros

Dietary Information: Paleo, Gluten-Free, Nut-Free  

Macros per serving

• 424 calories
• 21g fat
• 31g carbs
• 36g protein

READ MORE: 

How Many Eggs are Safe to Eat? 

Reinventing Healthy Breakfast: Eggs on the Go

Upgrade Your Meal Prep and Eat Healthier in Less Time

Adam Bornstein

Adam Bornstein is a New York Times bestselling author and the author of You Can’t Screw This Up. He is the founder of Born Fitness, and the co-founder of Arnold’s Pump Club (with Arnold Schwarzenegger) and Pen Name Consulting. An award-winning writer and editor, Bornstein was previously the Chief Nutrition Officer for Ladder, the Fitness and Nutrition editor for Men’s Health, Editorial Director at LIVESTRONG.com, and a columnist for SHAPE, Men’s Fitness, and Muscle & Fitness. He’s also a nutrition and fitness advisor for LeBron James, Cindy Crawford, Lindsey Vonn, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. According to The Huffington Post, Bornstein is “one of the most inspiring sources in all of health and fitness.” His work has been featured in dozens of publications, including The New York Times, Fast Company, ESPN, and GQ, and he’s appeared on Good Morning America, The Today Show, and E! News.

The post What To Eat For Breakfast To Fill You Up appeared first on Born Fitness.

In 1955, while on vacation in Colorado, Dwight Eisenhower suffered a heart attack. “Suddenly people were frantic to understand the cause of heart disease,” says Jonny Bowden, Ph.D. and author of Smart Fat. In the years that followed, fat—and specifically saturated fat—took the blame.

If you’ve spent most of your life avoiding saturated fat, this moment is a big reason why. The day after Eisenhower’s heart attack, the president’s physician recommended the nation cut down on fat and cholesterol, citing the work of a nutritionist named Ancel Keys.

How Saturated Fat Became a Villain

Later that decade, Keys published research connecting countries that consumed the most fat with higher rates of heart disease. His “Seven Countries Study” wielded great influence on how Americans eat.

In 1977, a Senate select committee cited Keys’ research while making sweeping recommendations to the American people, stating you should consume less red meat — and by extension, less saturated fat — to avoid heart disease.

That message hardened into national policy when the government issued the 1980 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which advised people to trim the fat from their steaks and avoid saturated-fat foods like butter, cream and coconut oil.

Why Saturated Fat Made a Comeback

Today Keys’s research is under fire. An analysis by researchers at Harvard looked at 21 studies and found no link between saturated fat and heart disease (or stroke).

In 2014 an analysis of 76 observational studies and randomized controlled trials from the University of Cambridge concluded, “saturated fatty acids were not associated with coronary disease.” (The study also noted that some saturated fatty acids, notably the margaric acid found in dairy foods, was actually associated with a lower risk of heart disease.)

Finally, a couple years later, a third meta analysis published in the British Medical Journal reached a similar conclusion. After looking at more than 62,000 people in 10 randomized trials, researchers found that while reducing saturated fat helped to lower cholesterol levels, the effect didn’t translate to a lower risk of death. And death is what matters in this debate, ultimately.

Saturated Fat Isn’t Evil. But Does That Mean It’s Healthy?

The seeming turn of the tide within the scientific literature has led to an even bigger shift in public perception. Today you’re hearing loud messages from popular health pundits proclaiming that saturated fat is actually a long lost health food. Some even say you should get more of it by drinking butter in your coffee.

Wait. What?

Now’s a good time to call a timeout and look at what’s really going on in this debate. Because both sides have gotten a little carried away.

Let’s start with the first side of the pendulum swing, starting all the way back with Eisenhower’s heart attack. It was a gross oversimplification to place all the blame for that heart attack — and eventually, heart attacks in general — on saturated fat.

First, let’s look at Eisenhower. The man was president at time, and a five-star general before that — both stressful jobs, to say the least. Ike was also known to have a temper, and at one point smoked four packs a day. It’s fair to say there were confounding lifestyle issues.

Second, saturated fat isn’t necessarily something most people eat in excess. The USDA and World Health Organization recommend you cap your saturated fat consumption at 10 percent of your daily calories. A 2007 analysis by researchers at Rutgers University showed saturated fat makes up about 11 percent of the average American diet. The top sources of saturated fat being full-fat cheese (8.5 percent), pizza (5.9 percent), and cakes and pastries (5.8 percent).

It’s also true, as Sat-Fat supporters love to point out, that Ancel Keys’s research showed correlation, not causation. “The lowest evidence,” as Bowden described it. Modern day reviews have not been kind to the study’s findings.

“The most recent evidence, which reviews all the evidence from the past decade, shows that when you feed people more saturated fat, that doesn’t increase their chance for heart disease,” says Kamal Patel, director of the nutrition research website Examine.com.

But Patel quickly adds, “That still doesn’t mean that saturated fat is good for you.”

The Connection Between Saturated Fat and Cholesterol

There’s a lot we don’t yet know for certain about saturated fat’s effects on the body. But here’s one thing we do know:

Saturated fat does increase LDL (i.e. “bad”) cholesterol.

This has been proven many times.

Elevated LDL doesn’t guarantee you’ll have a heart attack — a possible explanation for the researchers’ null association between saturated and heart disease. It’s just one risk factor among many. But the general consensus is that, if your goal is to live longer, keeping your LDL low should still be part of the plan.

“If you have two people who are exactly the same except that LDL is high in one person and low in the other, the person with high LDL will still be at a higher risk [for heart disease],” says Dr. Spencer Nadolsky, a physician and osteopath based in San Diego.

So modern evidence shows that, at the very least, the once dogmatic fear of saturated fat is overblown. But Nadolsky and others caution that this doesn’t necessarily mean you should actively seek more saturated fat within your diet.

“Look at the Blue Zones,” says Nadolsky, referring to areas of the world where people live the longest. “Their cholesterols are low. They’re not putting butter in their coffee, but at the same time, they’re not entirely avoiding saturated fat.” In fact, they consume lots of dairy, mostly in the form of yogurt and cheese (albeit from sheep and goats, rather than cows).

“I’m not anti-saturated fat,” adds Nadolsky. “The problem is when people say, ‘Look! Saturated fat’s not bad for you now!’ Then you get people putting butter in their coffee. And what I’m seeing, and other doctors are seeing this as well, is that people [who do dramatically increase their saturated fat intake] are having explosive changes in their cholesterol.”

Saturated Fat and Your Diet: Here’s What to Do Now

You may not need to make any changes at all.

Your body doesn’t actually need saturated fat. “There are only two essential fatty acids,” says Patel. Those are alpha-linolenic acid (an omega-3) and linoleic acid (an omega-6)—both of which are unsaturated.

While some people thrive on diets high in saturated fat, your body might not.

For some people—it’s unclear what percentage of the population—small amounts of saturated fat lead to big changes in cholesterol levels.

“We call them hyper-responders,” Nadolsky says. Some day there may be a reliable genetic test that will show who these people are, but it doesn’t exist yet. It’s safe to say that if heart attacks are part of your family health history, you’d be smart to keep your saturated fat intake within the existing 10 percent recommendation.

“If you have people in your family who had heart disease, despite having normal cholesterol, then you should probably do everything you can to decrease your risk,” Patel says.

But if you’re still interested in adding more saturated fat to your diet, there is a relatively easy way to monitor how your body reacts to it. Schedule two cholesterol tests spaced one month apart. Take the first test while eating your current diet. Then make the dietary changes you wanted and take the second test. This is the approach Nadolsky uses to assess his clients.

“You can tell pretty quickly if you’re going to have big changes to your LDL cholesterol,” he says.

Another test, which some experts say is more accurate and should replace the standard cholesterol test, examines your blood’s concentration of apolipoprotein B, or the cholesterol-carrying protein that embed themselves within arterial walls. The apoB test, as it’s called, looks specifically at the particles of greatest threat.

“When we check cholesterol [through a standard test], we’re just measuring the cholesterol on that low-density lipoprotein,” says Nadolsky. “But what really gets stuck in the wall is the lipoprotein, and that actually correlates better with risk.”

The Healthier Way to Eat More Saturated Fat

If bloodwork sounds too intense for you, then consider a simpler and safer way to add more fat to your diet: Skip the butter and eat nuts, avocado, and olive oil (all proven healthy fats) instead.

“The safest fat to eat is monounsaturated [fats, which are found in nuts, avocados, olive oil and fish],” says Patel. “They always have a benign or positive effect on lipids, and on the end result for heart disease and heart attack.”

Another saturated fat source that’s become popular in recent years is medium-chain triglycerides in the form of MCT oil, which is one of the saturated fat additives people have begun adding to their coffee in recent years.

“MCTs don’t have to go through the liver, so they’re available for your body to use more quickly,” says Patel. That can be useful during extremely low-carb diets, when you need energy. But Nadolsky adds, “I wouldn’t have anybody replace their olive oil or nuts with MCT oil. I don’t want to replace the fat that we know is beneficial with fat that may be of some little benefit for fat loss.”

The bottom line is that saturated fat is a nutrient, not something that your entire diet should revolve around. The body of evidence, taken as a whole, indicates that saturated fat is neutral. You should neither go out of your way to eat more of it, nor concern yourself with avoiding it.

“You shouldn’t be scared of saturated fat,” says Nadolsky. “But you’d be better off focusing on your overall diet.”

READ MORE: 

Fix Your Diet: Understanding Proteins, Carbs and Fats

How Much Fat Should I Eat?

What is the Keto Diet? (And Should I Try It?)

The post Is Saturated Fat Bad? No. But It’s Not a Health Food Either. appeared first on Born Fitness.

If you are wondering, “do I need probiotics?” Consider this: Probiotics — the healthy bacteria highlighted on most yogurt products — are being added to everything from popcorn to muffin mixes.

According to a report by Grand View Research, the market for probiotics supplements is expected to reach $7 billion in the next 7 years.

Here’s the thing: That business is built on a little bit of science…and a lot of fiction.

“There are many products labeled with the word ‘probiotic’ in the U.S., but not all are responsibly formatted or studied for health benefits,” says Mary Ellen Sanders, Ph.D., executive science officer of the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics.

The science is that probiotics are good for you  — but only if you have a condition that requires their use.

That’s not something you’ll want to hear if your pantry and fridge are filled with probiotic-infused foods.  

“The benefits of probiotics in foods — especially foods that aren’t fermented dairy products — is questionable, at best,” says Shira Doron, M.D., professor of medicine and attending physician in infectious diseases at Tufts University School of Medicine.

Unfortunately, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. In addition to food, many probiotic supplements fail to live up to the promise on their label.

Unless you have a specific condition that’s been shown to benefit from probiotics, you likely don’t need them.

“There is no evidence that it is essential to take probiotics to be healthy,” Sanders adds.

Her next point may be even more important:

“You don’t need probiotics if you are healthy,” Sanders says.

The Hype (and Mythology) of Probiotics

Probiotics are live microorganisms that feed the healthy bacteria in your gut. Most people treat probiotics the same way they would a multivitamin.

In theory, the benefit of a multivitamin is that it helps make up for deficiencies from your diet. So, if you have a good multivitamin (that’s an entirely different story), and if you don’t have a great diet, then it might offer you some benefits.

Here’s the thing:

Probiotics do not function like multivitamins.

Whereas multivitamins can have a benefit for anyone because it helps support deficiencies, probiotics are really designed to help treat, improve, or solve dysfunction.

You need probiotics if your microbiome (i.e. your gut health) is messed up. This means that taking probiotics can be very helpful if you suffer from a condition such as irritable bowel disease.

But if not, then your use of probiotics might not be doing as much good as you hoped.

The Probiotic-Gut Relationship: It’s Complicated

You might be wondering:

How does a billion dollar business get built on something as shaky as “maybe this will be good for you?”

It all starts with the extremely complex nature of your gut.

It’s so complicated that science needs much more time to figure it out. “The human microbiome may have as many as 200 trillion microorganisms and up to a thousand species,” Doron says.

That’s a lot of biological ground to cover, which is why probiotics are still a field that scientists are trying to understand.

“There are a variety of things we think happen, but we don’t know how that all works,” Doron says.

Three reasons why what you see on probiotic labels isn’t necessarily reflective of what it will do for your body:

• Different probiotics may work differently (and again, there hundreds of different types)
• Each probiotic may have more than one effect
• Not everyone responds the same way to a specific strain

Researchers are currently trying to figure out potential benefits that have shown hypothetical promise.

One theory is that when probiotics reach your gut, they digest available carbs and produce short-chain fatty acids. Those acids then fuel other beneficial microbes in your gut, in turn, producing more fatty acids.

Why should you care?

Because short-chain fatty acids are known to create a healthy microbiome, and they improve colon health.

Another theory is that when some probiotics reach your small intestine, they interact with the immune cells lining your organs. This may lead to a positive immune system response, such as a decreased incidence of respiratory tract infections or improved response to vaccines.

Sanders says some studies suggest that probiotics improve gut barrier integrity, which is why you’ll hear probiotics recommended for some digestive issues.

But, at this point, all of this is hypothetical. Probiotics might be amazing, but — in healthy people — we don’t know if they have extended benefits.

So…What Do Probiotics Really Do?

Probiotics help people with specific conditions where gut dysfunction is a problem. Consider it one of nature’s best medicines if you suffer from:

• irritable bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel disease
• diarrhea and constipation associated with those conditions, or from taking antibiotics
• liver disease

Additionally, some research suggests taking specific probiotics may support immune health and potentially reduce the risk or duration of the common cold.

But, any benefit is specific to the strain of probiotic, and even the transport of the good strains is still a work in progress. That’s because we still don’t know if good strains that we can create in a supplement — or a food like yogurt — can survive the environment in your stomach and then have a positive impact in your gut.

“Any probiotic, even a combination product, is just a tiny drop in the bucket,” Doron explains. “In our group’s research, we saw that when subjects took a probiotic containing lactobacillus, we couldn’t even detect a change in lactobacillus abundance” within their gut.

What If I’m Healthy? Will Taking a Probiotic Help Me?

Always consult your doctor if you have an immune disorder or any serious underlying illness before taking a probiotic.

If you are generally healthy then there aren’t too many downsides. If you take a supplement, give it a month, trust yourself, and see how your body responds. It’s possible that you’ll feel better — but know that studies indicate the positive outcomes you experience could be a placebo effect.

“That’s worthwhile if you feel better, but it’s also expensive,” Doron says.

If you are healthy, curious, and OK with spending the extra money, feel free to try a supplement. As we mentioned, it could have benefits for immunity and creating more short-chain fatty acids to help your gut. But only time will tell if this is the case for people with no health problems.

If I have a health condition, what should I do?

First off, skip the fortified foods. And skip microbiome tests that will allegedly help you understand what probiotics you need to eat.

“At this point, an individual cannot look at their microbiota and come to conclusions about their health, Doron says. “There are still more questions than answers.”

Your best bet is to consult a doctor who understands your condition and is also well-versed in probiotics. Doron suggests researching academic medical centers and looking at the profiles of physicians in the field you need.

“Check [for doctors whose] interests include subjects like ‘probiotics’ and ‘microbiome,’” Doron says. “The field is still young, and even for the world’s experts, there are way more questions than answers when it comes to manipulating the human microbiome for health purposes. But there are certainly doctors in a variety of fields who take an interest in this area of research or do research themselves and use the knowledge they have gained in their medical practice.”

Remember, you’re trying to fix a dysfunction, which is the real health benefit of probiotics.

Follow your doctor’s recommendation down to the strain and dose. The strain will be a long name and often include a number, such as L. acidophilus NCFB 1748.

The “dose” is the big number on the label, such as 10 billion, which indicates the colony-forming units, or CFU. Higher isn’t necessarily better, so follow your doctor’s advice.

Avoid any products that list the CFU “at time of manufacture.”

“That’s a red flag,” Sanders says. Counts of the live microbes decrease over time, so you want to know the CFU through the end of shelf life.

The front of the box will typically say the total CFU count; the side label may list the CFU for each strain. Look for whichever your doctor recommends. And if the product is refrigerated at the store, keep it in the fridge at home to ensure you don’t kill off more CFU.

The last thing to look for is any seal from a third-party verification program to be sure that what the probiotic contains what the label says it does.

At this time the ISAPP is working with the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) on a verification program, USP labels (ordinarily a good sign of quality) are not yet available. You may, however, find NSF International, which is legitimate. But note that statements like “quality guaranteed” do not mean they have been verified by third parties.

READ MORE: 

Understanding the Microbiome: How Gut Health Affects Your Health, Weight Loss and Mood

Wheat Belly Deception: Understanding Wheat, Insulin and Fat Loss

Are Multivitamins Right for Your Body?

The post Should You Take Probiotics? Science Says it Might Be a Waste appeared first on Born Fitness.

Choices are great, but having too many options is paralyzing. There’s probably something you want to eat somewhere in those healthy breakfast lists, but it’s buried an endless scroll of random stuff.

Just as frustrating? Many of the recipes don’t feel like good fit for you. Either because they’re too complicated, have the wrong mix of ingredients, or just don’t sound all that appetizing.

Instead of getting frustrated, we’ve simplified our favorite healthy breakfast recipes into categories that will work for you.

Hate to cook, or have almost no time to do it? Not a problem.

Burned out from eating breakfast staples like oatmeal and eggs over and over again? Don’t worry, we have alternatives.

Wrangling with an addiction to bacon? Never fear. We have love for your bacon love.  

Based on feedback we’ve received from our coaching clients, here are some of the most common problems you face at breakfast — and the meals that can get the job done for your life and body.

The breakfast problem: You don’t have time to eat.

If your mornings are so hectic that you barely have time to chew, much less cook, you aren’t alone. Far from it. In fact UK-based market research showed that nearly half of all people have to eat breakfast outside of their home at least once per week. A similar report in the U.S. showed a growing number of people need portable breakfasts.

Here’s the good news: There are plenty of healthy breakfast options that don’t require you to start your morning at the stove. In fact, you won’t even need to dirty a dish. Simply prep these the night before (or even on the weekend), and you have grab-and-go healthy breakfasts that can roll out the door when you do.

Eggs on the Go (full recipe here) – Get a high-protein breakfast that’s packed with veggies that fits in the palm of your hand. Tastes so good you’ll feel like you sat down for your favorite omelette, but you can do it on the road. You get it all with no mess and no clean-up. Spend 25 minutes making these one night — you’ll have eliminated the need to think about breakfast for the rest of the week.

Peanut Butter Banana Overnight Oats (full recipe here) – Get all the health benefits of oatmeal, and the protein to start your day right, no cooking required. You simply mix the ingredients together the night before, which takes about 5 minutes. The next morning, voila! Breakfast is ready, and so are you.

PB&J Energy Balls (full recipe here) – Here’s a helpful hand-friendly snack that’s great if you have to eat on the go (i.e. in your car). Like the overnight oats above, there’s no cooking required. A food processor is all you need. Knock out one batch on a weekend, and your healthy breakfasts are ready for the week.

The problem: All you want is cereal. 

People are eating less breakfast cereal than they once did, but a bowl of something crispy plus milk remains a morning ritual for many. The good news: You can eat cereal and have it be a healthy start to your day.

1. Added sugar. While it’s not true for all cereals, plenty of breakfast cereals come packed with added sugar. Look at many cereal labels and you’ll see “sugar,” “corn syrup” (a.k.a. more sugar), or plenty of sugar’s other code names (honey, agave nectar, etc.) listed early and often. You do not have to fear sugar, but you should aim to keep your intake of added sugars to below 150 calories per day if you are a man, and 100 if you are a woman. Some especially sugar-packed cereals (usually ones targeted at kids) deliver more than half of that per serving. And FYI: No one eats a single serving of cereal. Your best bet: Check the nutrition labels. Look for a cereal with more fiber and a sugar content in the single digits.
2. Low in protein. Cereals come from grains, and grains generally aren’t high in protein compared to their total calorie count. Yes, adding milk helps. But why not steer your breakfast toward even greater balance by adding a protein source like eggs on the side? Doing that provides a mix of carbs, protein and healthy fats. Here are the two main knocks against cereal (and how to solve them):

Or if you want to give your breakfast bowl a total makeover, we recommend:

The True Breakfast For Champions (full recipe here) – Crunchy, crispy, sweet and satisfying, this bowl delivers all the whole grain goodness without much added sugar. [Honey is an ingredient, but you can ditch it if you want.] For many, the blueberries and bananas provide more than enough sweetness. Combine them with the fiber from the steel cut oats and healthy fats from the almonds, and you’ve got everything you need to fuel your body to win the day.

The problem: You hate oatmeal.

Why does seemingly every health outlet suggest eating oatmeal? There are several reasons to love it:

• Studies indicate eating oatmeal lowers total cholesterol, and – notably – the “bad” LDL cholesterol. That’s because oatmeal is high in fiber and soluble fiber can help reduce cholesterol.
• Another benefit of fiber: It makes you feel fuller for longer. That helps you keep your appetite in check.
• Studies show that people who eat oatmeal consume less total calories at their next meal compared to those who ate breakfast cereal — especially among overweight people.

But look, nobody can blame you if oatmeal isn’t your thing. And there are plenty of ways to get fiber—the main driver behind many of these benefits—without turning to oats. A piece of high-fiber bread (we like Ezekiel 4:9, but look for any bread with “100% whole grain” or “whole wheat” on the label) can have nearly as much fiber as oatmeal. Toast it with a side of bacon or eggs (or both!) and you’ve got a healthy, well-rounded breakfast.

Or if you’re open to the idea of a bowl, but just don’t want it to be oats, try this new take:

Goji Coconut Quinoa Bowl (full recipe here) – We don’t like ranking whole foods against one another, but one could argue that quinoa is like Oats 2.0. You still get a fiber-rich carbohydrate, but quinoa is also high in protein. The almond slices, goji berries and coconut flakes don’t just add taste and texture, they also amp up the nutrient content.

The problem: You hate most healthy breakfast recipes.

If you are fed up with pancakes, cereal, oats, and everything else that most people think of as breakfast foods, you aren’t alone. In fact, Born Fitness coach Natalie Sabin counts herself among you.

“Breakfast foods have just never been my thing,” Sabin says. “So I make meals that I like, no matter what time of day it is.” Which is why she routinely opts for non-traditional morning meals like:

• High-protein salads
• Roasted veggies and egg whites
• Avocado toast with eggs
• Veggie curry tempeh stew

A recurring theme you’ll see running through those meals: leftovers. There’s nothing wrong with making part of tonight’s dinner into tomorrow’s breakfast. However if you want to put something completely new together for breakfast, but don’t want it to taste breakfast-y, here’s a morning meal that many breakfast food haters love:

The Sausage and Cheese Breakfast Pita (full recipe here) –  Start your day with a savory high-protein sandwich. The chicken sausage combined with zesty parmesan gives you a meal so delicious you won’t even know there’s spinach in there too. (Kidding, spinach! You know we love you.)

The Bro Scramble (full recipe here): Eggs, roasted veggies and bacon, together at last. Here’s a power-packed recipe that will impress your friends — or provide you with meals for a couple of days if you don’t feel like sharing.You’ll be delighted by the combination of flavors and textures. The combo of sweet potatoes and brussels sprouts will keep you feeling full to lunch. Best of all, they all come together in a single pan, meaning no mess and very little to clean up.

The problem: You don’t eat enough protein.

With all of the delicious carb-dense options for breakfast, it can seem like the breakfast gods forgot about protein. Sometimes the easiest route is a protein shake, and here’s how to make sure it doesn’t taste like watered down protein powder:

The Maca Chai Protein Shake (full recipe here): Haven’t heard of Maca? Here’s why you should get hip to it: The Peruvian powder has been shown to have beneficial effects on hormones as well as promise in fighting disease. Combine that with the Greek yogurt and protein powder in this recipe and suddenly you’ve got all the tasty smoothness of a Starbucks frappuchino. But where frappuchinos are packed with sugar, this drink comes stacked with 39 grams of protein.

The problem: You don’t like eggs (or are tired of eating them every day)

Eggs are an awesome breakfast staple for numerous reasons:

• Eggs are a source of high-quality protein.
• Eggs provide 18 vitamins and minerals, including several that many people are deficient in, such as zinc.
• The healthy fats eggs contain makes many of these micronutrients easier for your body to absorb.
• Some of the protein strains within eggs have anti-cancer and tumor suppression properties.
• People knock eggs for being a source of cholesterol, but here’s the thing: There’s a difference between dietary cholesterol (what you eat) and blood cholesterol (what’s coursing through your veins). Numerous studies indicate the cholesterol from eggs has little to no effect on your body’s actual blood cholesterol levels. A body of research even shows that egg consumption has positive effects on HDL (“good”) cholesterol in the body. (Here are three different examples.)

But if you’re feeling burned out from eating them — of if you just don’t like them — we get it. Other great go-tos include Greek yogurt, milk, protein powder, chicken and salmon — either smoked, cured (a.k.a. “lox”), or just leftover from the night before.

Here are two non-egg recipes that you might enjoy:

The Berry Nutty Parfait (full recipe here): Talk about easy. You can have this one ready in 5 minutes (max). Fruit, granola and yogurt are a simple yet potent combination. You get protein and healthy fats (both great for keeping you full) along with powerful antioxidants from the berries, which have been linked to better brain health and numerous other benefits. Pretty sweet indeed!

Bacon & Date Protein Pancakes (full recipe here): What’s the only thing better than a plate stacked with flapjacks? Having that stack be packed with bacon and protein. Each bite is a sweet, salty, savory explosion of flavor. It’ll taste so good you’ll think you should feel bad — but when you see that there’s three times more protein than there is fat, you’ll know you don’t have to.

READ MORE: 

Is Sugar Bad For You?

Fix Your Diet: Understanding Protein, Carbs and Fat

How Many Eggs Are Safe to Eat?

Adam Bornstein

Adam Bornstein is a New York Times bestselling author and the author of You Can’t Screw This Up. He is the founder of Born Fitness, and the co-founder of Arnold’s Pump Club (with Arnold Schwarzenegger) and Pen Name Consulting. An award-winning writer and editor, Bornstein was previously the Chief Nutrition Officer for Ladder, the Fitness and Nutrition editor for Men’s Health, Editorial Director at LIVESTRONG.com, and a columnist for SHAPE, Men’s Fitness, and Muscle & Fitness. He’s also a nutrition and fitness advisor for LeBron James, Cindy Crawford, Lindsey Vonn, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. According to The Huffington Post, Bornstein is “one of the most inspiring sources in all of health and fitness.” His work has been featured in dozens of publications, including The New York Times, Fast Company, ESPN, and GQ, and he’s appeared on Good Morning America, The Today Show, and E! News.

The post Win the Morning: Healthy Breakfast Recipes for Any Situation appeared first on Born Fitness.

Following a vegetarian diet is a common approach for most people looking to follow a healthier lifestyle. The catch? It can feel difficult to fill the gaps on a meatless diet, especially when it comes to protein, which is a key to building muscle and losing fat.

So we turned to Eric Helms, Ph.D. Not only does Dr. Helms have a master’s in sports nutrition and a doctorate in exercise science, but he’s also been following a plant-based diet since 2011. Here is his advice on following a plant-based diet, and how to build muscle on a vegetarian diet.

Ok, you reflected on what you want and decided to follow a vegetarian lifestyle. But you’re also interested in building muscle (or making sure you don’t lose the muscle you’ve already earned). How do you do it?

You might be surprised that building muscle on a vegetarian diet isn’t that different from a meat-filled plan. In fact, no matter what eating style you follow, if you want to build muscle then you need to eat slightly more calories than you burn in a day (called a “caloric surplus”), and make sure you emphasize protein. All that changes is the source of protein you need when following a vegetarian diet. Do that while training consistently and voila! You will add muscle.

Vegetarian Diet Muscle: Start with Calories

Your first step is to figure out your “maintenance level,” or the number of calories you must eat to keep your weight consistent. To do that:

1. Identify your goal weight. Think “where you want to be,” not “where you are.”
2. 
Use that figure to calculate an estimate of your daily intake using this equation: goal weight x (workout hours per week + 9.5) = daily number of calories
3. Track how much you eat. Online logs like MyFitnessPal can be helpful.
4. Monitor your intake and your scale weight for a couple of weeks. (Weigh yourself first thing in the morning, after you’ve went to the bathroom but before you eat or drink anything.)

If your body weight holds steady, you’ll know that you’ve accurately hit your maintenance number.

If you’re losing weight, you can bump up calories. Add about 100 per day across a week — so, if you were eating 2000 calories per day last week, you’d bump up to 2100 calories per day this week.

If you find you’re gaining weight, do the opposite. Drop a hundred calories per day.

When you reach a number that keeps your weight consistent, voila! You’re at the maintenance level.

But if your goal is to add muscle, you can’t just stop there. To gain muscle, you need to eat more calories than you burn. How many more?

Let’s say you are an intermediate level lifter, meaning that you have been training for a few years.

• If you are a woman or a smaller guy, you’re probably going to want to eat an extra 100 to 200 calories above your maintenance amount.
• If you are a larger, taller guy, you’ll want to focus on an extra 200 to 300 calories.

This should result in you gaining one to two pounds per month. It’s a rough guideline, but one that will cover most people (although not everybody).

[Ed. note: Could you gain more muscle than this? Sure. But this is a realistic rate of growth. Don’t buy into promises that sound great on paper but will only leave you frustrated and want to quit.]

From there, you’ll want to monitor your weight and ask yourself: Am I gaining at the rate of weight that I want? If the answer is “yes,” then great. But if “no,” then continue to bump up your intake incrementally.

How Much Protein, Fat, and Carbs Do Vegetarians Need?

Let’s imagine that you’ve determined how many calories you need to gain muscle. For the sake of keeping the math easy, let’s say you need 3,000 calories per day.

From there you can budget your macronutrients, or how many grams of protein, fat, and carbs you should aim for in a day. Do it in this order:

1. Start with protein. Note that your protein intake will not actually be based on your total energy intake. Your target protein number should be based on how much lean body mass you have. [Ed. note: “Lean body mass” is the weight of everything in your body that isn’t fat — muscle tissue, bone, etc.]

Most people don’t have an easy way to calculate that accurately. So, instead, a good surrogate number to use for calculating protein is your goal body weight (If you are 180 pounds and want to weigh 200 pounds, then that is your goal weight). Multiply that weight by .8 to 1.0, and you’ll have your target protein intake in grams.

You can eat more than that, but you don’t need to. The times when you might want to consume more protein would be if you are gaining weight too quickly because you are hungry all the time. Protein is pretty filling, and going above your bodyweight-based target may help you feel fuller longer.

2. Next up, calculate fat. Let’s go back to the example of 3,000 calories per day with a goal weight of 200 pounds. That means you want 200 grams of protein per day. That equals 800 calories from protein (since protein is 4 calories per gram). You have 2,200 calories remaining for fat and carbohydrates.

A good range for fat in your diet is anywhere between 20% and 40% of total calories from fat (Note: exceptions do exist, such as if you choose to follow a ketogenic diet.). For the 3,000 calories-per-day example, here’s what it would look like:

• Goal weight: 200 pounds
• 
Protein: 200 grams
• Fat calculation: 20-40%
• If 20% of 3,000 calories = 600 calories from fat (or 600/9* = 67 grams of fat/day)
• 
If 40% of 3,000 calories = 1,200 calories from fat (or 1,200/9 = 133 grams of fat/day)

[*Ed. note: fat is 9 calories per gram]

3. Carbohydrates take up whatever calories are remaining. Divide that remainder by four and you’ll find the number of carbohydrates you want to eat in grams. So for each of our examples above:

What Are the Best Protein Sources for Vegetarians?

When you go on a vegetarian diet, it’s hard to find many foods that are pure protein. That’s because many vegetarian protein sources have a lot of crossover – i.e. a grain like quinoa will be high in protein but also high in carbs, or nuts will have protein but also a lot of fat.

That’s especially true as you move toward a strict vegan diet. Picture all plant-based diet on a spectrum, with flexitarians or pescatarians (people who’ll eat fish, eggs and dairy) on the left and strict vegans on the right. The closer you go to veganism, the more difficult things will be.

If you are a lacto-ovo vegetarian, eggs and dairy alone provide you with ample opportunity to get sufficient protein. If you have a few protein servings from one of those sources at each meal, you should be set.

For a lacto-vegetarian, again, it’s not hard to keep your protein up. You can consume whey protein or non-fat Greek yogurt, and both are high in protein while being low in carbs and fat. They might as well be meat in terms of their macronutrient breakdowns (although with some extra carbs in there).

For an ovo-vegetarian, egg whites provide basically the same thing: a food that’s high in protein and low in everything else. You could stick with just those if you were trying to control calories. Or you could mix in as many yolks as you want to hit your fat target for the day.

Best of all: In both cases (lacto and ovo), you’re getting a high-quality protein source. What I mean by that, from the perspective of someone who wants to gain muscle, is that they are high in essential amino-acids like leucine, which is one of the triggers for muscle protein synthesis (the process of building of new muscle).

If you’re a vegan, you have to worry to some degree about complementary proteins. Basically, many plant-based protein sources don’t have all nine essential amino acids. [Ed. note: if you don’t have all the essential aminos, then you can’t put those aminos to use for building muscle.] So you’ll have to mix different sources of plant-based protein together in order to get a complete set of amino acids.

A common example is rice and beans. Together, those two foods provide a complete protein source.

You don’t need to worry about complementary proteins on a meal-to-meal basis. You just want to look globally at your diet. Are you consuming multiple sources of proteins — rice, beans, quinoa, tofu to some degree — that are complementary in nature? Eating a variety of protein sources as a vegan ensures that you’re getting all of the essential amino acids.

Here are some of the vegetarian diet protein sources:

High Protein

• Edamame (1 cup, cooked) = 16g of protein
• Tempeh (3 oz.) = 16g
• Seitan (6 oz.) = 15g
• Textured Vegetable Protein (¼ cup, dry) = 12g
• 
Hemp Hearts (3 tbsp.) = 10g
• Spelt (1 cup) = 10g

Moderate Protein

• Red lentils (½ cup) = 9g
• Peas (1 cup) = 8g
• Red Beans (½ cup) = 8g
• Kidney Beans (½ cup) = 8g
• Quinoa (1 cup) = 8g
• Tofu (3 oz.) = 8g
• Black Beans (½ cup) = 7g
• Great Northern Beans (½ cup) = 7g
• Almonds (1 oz.) = 6g
• Garbanzo Beans  (½ cup) = 6g
• Pumpkin seeds (1oz.) = 5g
• Collard greens (1 cup, raw) = 5 g
• Hubbard Squash (1 cup, cooked) = 5g

Lower Protein

• Asparagus (1 cup) = 4 g per cup
• 
Spinach (1 cup) = 4g per cup
• 
Sweet potatoes (1 cup, roasted with skins)= 4g
• Beet Greens (1 cup) = 4g
• Brussel sprouts (1 cup) = 3.9g
• 
Mushrooms (1 cup) = 3g
• Broccoli (1 cup) = 3g
• Broccoli Rabe (1 cup, cooked) = 3g
• Mung Bean Sprouts (1 cup, cooked) = 2.5g
• 
Kale (1 cup, raw) = 2.5g
• 
Zucchini (1 cup, sliced) = 2g
• Cauliflower (1 cup, chopped) = 2g

Vegetarian Diet Protein Powder: A Primer

If you are a vegan, it’s likely that you’ll want to invest in a pea protein (or pea protein blend).

Why pea and not soy, the most common one?

There’s some research showing that soy protein, in large amounts, could potentially affect sperm quality and quantity in men. There’s other research indicating that soy could potentially affect estrogen levels, but that’s less consistent. Some studies show it, some don’t.

Women probably don’t have to worry about this stuff because even if estrogen changes, you’d still be within normal, acceptable ranges compared to how much estrogen you’re normally producing. But, I’m not comfortable enough with the ambivalence of the research, and the potential consequences, to advise having soy as a large part of your diet, as a vegan or a vegetarian.

Notice I said “large part.” Having a serving of soy per day is not a big deal. So if you want to have tofu once a day, that’s all good. If you have a scoop of soy protein once a day, that’s totally fine. You just wouldn’t want to have 40-50% of your protein intake come from soy. That’s probably not a good idea.

Instead, you probably want to invest in a protein blend that is high quality, complete, and doesn’t have those issues. Pea protein or a rice-pea blend is what you want.

In fact, pea protein performs really well in research. It’s comparable to whey protein in terms of its leucine content. A term that I’ve seen thrown around is “vegan’s whey,” which is roughly a 70/30 blend of pea protein and rice protein. You actually get a very similar essential amino acid profile to whey.

Outside of just the amino acid profile, we’ve actually seen studies where people perform just as well in terms of body competition change (ratio of muscle to body fat) and performance when they eat pea protein after a workout, compared to whey.

The one thing to note about pea/rice blends is that they bulk up a lot. No matter how much water you add to it, it will have an earthy flavor. The mix is pretty filling, I’ve found, but drinking it can feel a little bit tiresome due to that mouthfeel. If you are accustomed to whey protein, which is very thin, this will be different than what you are used to.

A way to work around that is to mix small amounts of vegan protein powder into things like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. You can’t put a huge amount in there or it can start to get a little gritty and weird, but sneaking in a little bit will help you up the protein count of your meals – and save you from having to drink shake after shake.

How to Tell if a Vegetarian Diet is Working for You

When your goal is building muscle, start by tracking your weight. You’ll also want to track your workout performance. Whether or not the weights you are using, or the reps you can perform, are going upward or downward can tell you a lot about how well your lifestyle is supporting your goals.

But remember: external goals aren’t the only thing that matters. You also have to live in the body you’re building every day. So create a rating scale for yourself, say, from 1 to 5. Each day, rate how you feel on the qualitative aspects of your life. This includes:

• sleep
• energy
• hunger
• mood
• 
mental clarity
• 
workout quality or enjoyment

Those subjective ratings are important. Also, while it’s a little bit uncomfortable to talk about, you may even want to monitor whether it’s easier or harder to use the toilet. If you’re eating appropriately and drinking sufficient water, it should get easier.

While we’re on the subject, here’s another thing to note: When you increase your vegetable consumption, you may experience an increase in gas. Really, that’s true whenever you make a large-scale change to your diet. Two things to note:

1. Try Gas-X (it’s a lifesaver).
2. Typically, things should start to normalize as your gut microbiome gets more accustomed to what you’re taking in. You’ll likely notice an improvement over a few weeks to a month.

Your energy levels shouldn’t fluctuate that much if you’re doing it right. If you feel really off, even though your macronutrients and your total calories are the same, that can indicate some type of micronutrient problem. That’s not always the case, but it’s worth watching. If the issue is persistent, try a blood test.

For Long-Term Success, Be Clear About Why You Want to Be a Vegetarian

Whenever I first start talking to someone who wants to make a shift over to a vegetarian or vegan diet, but who is also interested in athletic performance, the first thing I ask is: Why do you want to do this?

A common response is, “Well, we know vegetarian diets are better for health and performance.” That’s where we have to stop and take an objective look at what we really know about vegetarian diets.

There are two things that often skew people’s viewpoints:

1. The “rose-colored glasses” problem. It’s natural for people to see only the positives in data, especially when their ethical beliefs are driving it. Someone who promotes vegetarian diet, or who believes it is unethical to not eat vegetarian, may only highlight or acknowledge research showing that vegetarian diets are healthier.

2. The confounding variables problem. When you look at the broad spectrum of quality research, you see that, yes, vegetarians are healthier and live longer compared to the general population. The thing is, a person from the general population is not someone who really thinks about what they are eating, other than perhaps to ask, “Do I want more salt on this?”

So in these studies, as soon as you look at a vegetarian, you are bringing in someone who has made a serious decision about their nutrition. Which usually means they are more attentive to their health in general. They’re typically more active. They drink and smoke less. They are more conscious of calorie intake. They usually have a lower BMI. All of these things predict a longer life and better health. So yes, compared to the general population, vegetarians typically do better.

Here’s the “but.” But, when researchers get comparable controls to vegetarians (i.e. people who tick those other boxes about less drinking/smoking, lower BMI higher activity levels, and so on), it starts to wash out those differences. You don’t see such drastic health benefits.

That’s not to say a vegetarian diet can’t be healthy. Fruit and vegetable intake are highly important for health. But you can eat meat, fruit and vegetables, and likewise be healthy.

I would say that the only “evidence based argument” to do a plant-based diet would probably be for ethics – and even then, it’s going to be subjective, and specific to your personal ethics.

I encourage you to assess your own beliefs. Figure out what you feel the most ethically comfortable with. Instead of just rigidly trying to follow someone else’s plan, ask yourself, “What am I trying to accomplish?”

Vegetarian Diet for Muscle Building: Quick Notes

• • Building muscle on a vegetarian diet is very possible. The basic rules are the same: Eat a little more, prioritize protein, get sufficient rest and sleep, and then kick ass in the gym.
  • If you’re a flexitarian, pescetarian, lacto-ovo vegetarian, you have plenty of options for getting sufficient protein. Whey protein is your friend. So is Greek yogurt and eggs.

READ MORE:

The Best Protein Sources

The Myth of the Best Diet Plan (And How to Find What Works for You)

Winning the War on Hunger: Practical Solutions to Overeating

The post How to Build Muscle on a Vegetarian Diet appeared first on Born Fitness.