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This uncomplicated exercise not only builds single-leg strength and coordination but also takes care of the instability of the hips that unavoidably creeps in after years of training heavy two-sided movements like squats and deadlifts.
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Love your weekly cheat meal? Got picky eaters in your family? Or maybe you’re high-tailing it to get the perennial favorite, the PSL as we speak. This week, PHCI coaching director, Erin Power is here to answer the pressing question: how bad is it really? And you might be surprised at the answers. Remember, you can ask your questions over in the MDA Facebook Group or below this post in the comments section.
Anne-Marie asked:
“I can’t resist those pumpkin spice lattes. Tell me they’re not as bad for me as I think they are.”
Who doesn’t look forward to a good ol’ PSL? The cinnamon, the nutmeg, the whopping 50 grams of sugar. While it’s true that sugar is linked to so many things you don’t want, like diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity1 to say the least, it’s not actually a hill worth dying over. At least not for me.
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A lot of my clients have been trained to panic when they see the sugar grams start to creep up. They ask me how many grams they should aim for per day. Or they want a suggestion to replace the sugar in their favorite *treats* with a more natural sweetener like honey or maple syrup or a non-caloric one like monk fruit.
But here’s the deal, sugar is sugar. And assuming you’re not sucking down seasonal drinks like this every single day, the calories you ingest aren’t going to make-or-break the metabolic bank. That’s what’s so great about our bodies. We can train them to freak out when we eat something that we think we’re not supposed to even look at, just as easily as we can have a knowing trust that our bodies have the metabolic flexibility to handle it.
If you haven’t heard me say it before, our bodies are miraculous organisms. We are designed to constantly respond and adapt to changes in our environments, thriving in some instances and effortlessly course-correcting in others.
I’m not saying that sugar isn’t highly addictive. It absolutely can be.2 But there’s a difference between having a few squirts of PSL syrup in your every-so-often latte and regularly consuming overly processed frankenfoods that are not only loaded with multiple types of sugar, but also industrialized oils and preservatives that your body doesn’t even recognize.
Plain and simple, I just can’t get too worked up over sugar. And my *official* recommendation is that you shouldn’t either. Especially around something that will be gone (at least temporarily) before Thanksgiving rolls around.
James asked:
“I know cheat meals are supposed to keep you on track, but I’m always massively hungry the next day. Any advice?”
Honestly, I cringe when I hear the phrase cheat day. It’s a term that’s rooted in diet culture and reinforces the labeling of “good foods” versus “bad foods.” But for the purpose of answering your question, I’ll move past my own issues.
For those who don’t know, a cheat meal is one that’s typically higher in calories and carbohydrates than you’re used to eating. Basically, it’s a meal where you can eat whatever you want without worrying about it falling into your macro split or fitting inside the Primal Blueprint food pyramid.
And yes, scheduled cheat meals can have benefits. They can help you replenish your will to stay the course, breaking up a potentially monotonous protein-and-veg-rich diet. There’s even some proof that they can kickstart your metabolism and keep your weight loss going by increasing leptin levels and restore thyroid function – two things that often get compromised during a prolonged caloric restriction.3
So, there are definitely pluses.
However, the negative aspects of a refeed might outweigh the benefits, and it looks like you’re noticing some of those negatives right now.
A lot of people view the way they eat as a diet, which to me, implies a temporary lifestyle change. If that’s the case with you, you might be using your cheat meal to reward yourself for making good choices. Unfortunately, this kind of thinking can backfire, leading to overeating, bloating, and a host of other detrimental consequences. And that’s just during the cheat meal itself.
While some people find that a cheat meal reduces their hunger the next day, it sounds like your body is getting a different message. Your body might not recognize that your refeed is over, so it sends you the signal to keep eating all the carbs. That’s what makes a cheat meal turn into a cheat day or even a whole cheat weekend.
My goal as a health coach is to help my clients develop an effortless relationship with food. One where there’s no “good” or “bad” foods, no need to refeed, no yo-yo-ing, and no feelings of guilt, shame, or days spent white-knuckling it through cravings.
If cheat meals work for you, more power to you. But (and this is just a hunch here), I don’t think they do. I think they cause more challenges than they’re worth. You might be better off to adopt an 80/20 split where you focus on the foods that make your body feel good 80% of the time and let life happen the other 20%.
Marc asked:
“I feel pretty awful about some of the things I feed my kids, but they’re picky eaters. Any tips or tricks for making the transition to a primal diet with young children or is it better to wait ‘til they’re older and have a more mature palette?”
I don’t have kids, so I can’t personally comment on that from a parental perspective. But most of my clients are moms and dads, so I’ll ask you the same question I ask them when this topic comes up.
Who does the grocery shopping in your house? Is it your kids? Or is it you and/or your partner? I realize I’m being a bit sarcastic here, however I’m trying to prove a point.
Assuming your kids aren’t buying their own food, you actually have a say in what goes in their mouths. If you want them to eat cauliflower rice instead of white rice, don’t buy white rice. If you want them to choose fresh fruit over junk-filled fruit leathers, don’t put them in your cart.
I already know what you’re thinking. What if they don’t eat? Won’t they starve? How will they get enough nutrients?
I will gladly answer that with: How many nutrients do you think they’re getting from their grape drink and cheese puffs? Not many. Not only that, you’re slowly setting them up to be part of a growing epidemic of young people who have to manage obesity-related diseases, like type 2 diabetes, before they even move out of the house.4
Here’s the good news though. It’s possible to change your kids’ preferences for certain foods. Studies doneat the University of Alberta showed that children who were involved in the preparation of foods were actually more likely the make a healthier choice at mealtime.5 Here are a few strategies to make the transition easier:
What are your thoughts? Do you agree? Share your experiences in the comments.
References
The post Ask a Health Coach: How Bad Is It Really? appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.
Originally Posted At: https://breakingmuscle.com/feed/rss
Now God didn’t etch these in stone and send them down through the clouds, nor did I perform any miracles like parting the Red Sea. So, in that respect, they’re up for debate.
But after being in the fitness industry for a while, reading, studying, doing continuing education credit hours on top of training clients, and teaching group exercise classes, I’ve gotten a pretty decent handle on how to get fit.
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If you listen to the experts, the authorities, the think tanks, eating meat destroys the environment. It “destroys your health” too, of course, but by far the biggest argument being pushed—and the one most regular people implicitly accept as “probably accurate”—is that meat consumption is detrimental to planetary health.
I’m not going to cover the health part. That’s been done to death. If you’re reading this blog post, you probably reject that aspect of the argument. Hell, you might be chowing down on a steak at this very moment. This post is for the people who still worry about the effect of meat on the environment.
It’s a noble concern, one that I share. So today, I’m going to explain how you can eat meat and still reduce your environmental impact.
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This one is almost entirely self-explanatory. When meat travels across the world to get to your plate, or even halfway across the country, it’s burning through fuel and producing emissions that harm the environment. It has to travel from the farm to the packing plant, from the plant to the shipyard, from the shipyard to the sea, across the sea to the port, from the port to the distribution center, from the distribution center to the store, from the store to your home.
If your meat is local, all those middle men and their emissions are, well, omitted. It goes from the farm to the local abattoir, and then onto the farmers market or local grocer. And sometimes, the farm has their own in-house slaughtering and packing setup, and you cut the middle men out even more.
If enough people do this, the local market expands, and the effect multiplies. So do it!
There’s an entire book about this: Robb Wolf and Diana Rodgers’ Sacred Cow. They also did a very relevant guest post on this stuff.
The basic gist is that animals raised on pasture with rotational grazing that mimics the way herbivores travel and eat in nature can build up the soil, fertilize the land, and trigger greater plant growth and stronger, deeper root systems that further enrich the soil and its bacterial inhabitants. It’s almost like pasture needs herbivores just as much as herbivores need pasture.
More than that, not all land is fungible. There’s a ton of land that’s inhospitable to crops but perfect for livestock. If you got rid of livestock, you’d be wasting that land; you couldn’t just plant some corn on it. It’s livestock or nothing.
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There are many other aspects of the environment to observe and protect—and proper meat can help.
When you get locally packed meat that’s wrapped in butcher paper ten miles from your house, there’s less plastic and less airborne pollutants gumming up your lungs.
When you eat meat that improves the soil, you’re contributing to building the local ecology and preserving soil nutrition.
When you eat animal foods, you obtain the nutrients you need to generate energy and maintain metabolism. Most vegans I know are perpetually cold, always asking if you “can turn the heat up.”
The local environment “counts.”
The average cow is half muscle meat and half “other stuff.” Most people only eat the muscle meat and ignore the other stuff, which includes bones, connective tissue, cartilage, tendons, and other collagenous material. The other stuff ends up in pet food or used by other industries, but we could be eating it, getting healthier, wasting less food, and reducing the number of cattle that have to be killed and produced in the process. Big waste right here.
Eat the other stuff, folks.
Yeah, yeah. Omega-3s, selenium, iron, calcium, iodine, protein. We know. Nutrition aside, these things are great choices for the environment. There are tons of them. Plenty available. The problem is that a huge portion of them go toward feeding farmed carnivorous fish like salmon, and you lose calories in the conversion process. You could feed farmed Atlantic salmon five pounds of sardine slurry to produce one pound of edible salmon, or you could eat those five pounds of sardines yourself.1
What’s more wasteful? What’s less wasteful? You tell me.
Back over 10 years ago, I was telling people to start cowpooling—to go in on an entire cow with their friends. That’s when it was a new concept for most non-rural residents, and it wasn’t the easiest thing for people to pull off. First you had to find the cow, then you had to find some friends who wouldn’t immediately call you crazy for wanting to buy 1200 pounds of beef.
Now it’s easier. Now more people than ever are interested in buying and storing large amounts of high-quality grass-fed meat. Don’t believe me? Go check the local stores for chest freezers. They’re in short supply. People know. People are ready.
This is as local as it gets. Instead of having eggs trucked in from halfway across the country, or even a chicken operation 100 miles away (which is way better than the former), you go out to your backyard in bare feet and grab a couple fresh eggs from your hens. You don’t even have to wear clothes to do it.
The eggs are better, too. Way better. And you can run all sorts of cool experiments on them.
There are probably many more things you can do to tweak the nutrient content of your backyard eggs (and if anyone out there has some ideas or input, let us know in the comment section!).
It’s great fun and most importantly, you are not impacting the environment. You have the number of hens you need to get the number of egg you need. You’re composting their manure, not dumping it. There’s no toxic runoff from cramming 50,000 birds in a small space. You’re feeding scraps from the kitchen, so there’s less waste on that front too. If you have extra eggs (what are “extra” eggs?), you can sell or gift them to your neighbors, thereby reducing their utilization of factory farmed eggs and improving the amount of neighborly goodwill and cheer that exists in this world. The entire backyard chicken situation is a huge win all around.
You hear “farmed” and shrink away. Aren’t farmed fish bad for you? Well, not necessarily, for one. Read this post from way back where I go into some of the better farmed fish out there. And two, farmed shellfish aren’t really “farmed” like you’re thinking. Farmed shellfish live almost exactly like wild shellfish live:
All in all, farmed shellfish have a very low human interference factor. The fewer the inputs, the more we just get out of the way, the better for the environment.
Meat is your heritage. It’s your birthright. It gives us the protein we need to stave off the entropy that seeks to dissemble our cellular structures. It provides the creatine, carnitine, and carnosine that calm our minds and sharpen our wits.
A dysfunctional cell poisons the organism. A problem child disrupts the family. A disintegrated individual whose personal nutrition conflicts with the body’s dietary requirements cannot be the best human they can be—I truly believe that, at some level, someone who eats meat isn’t living up to their potential. They can be better, and it is through better people that the environment prospers.
A non meat-eater isn’t bad. Not all meat-eaters are good. The former can often be great and the latter disappointing; there’s more to human achievement than nutrition (way more). But all else being equal, not eating meat is selling yourself (and the world) short.
Eating meat doesn’t have as large a climate effect as we’ve been told, but it does have an effect on many different aspects of environmental health (including climate).2 And, if you do it the right way, that effect can be a positive one.
So, does this relieve some of your stress? Let me know down below.
The post How to Eat Meat and Still Reduce Your Environmental Impact appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.
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Stress is your body’s natural defense against danger. It pushes the body to either fight-or-flight. During times of stress, your heart races, muscles tighten, and breathing quickens. Muscles become tense, and sleep decreases. Short-term stress may go away quickly. However, chronic, long-term stress can be problematic and harm your health. Adopting a deep, rhythmic breathing […]
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I belong to a ladies’ trail running community online. These women are cool, badass humans who perform amazing feats with their bodies. Last month, someone asked the group if they ever struggle with body image. The responses were overwhelmingly affirmative. Hundreds upon hundreds of women responded, “Yes! Me. Every single day.” Only a very few said no.
It was eye-opening and also woefully unsurprising. Most adults I know struggle with body image on some level.
Those of us who are parents would love to spare our children from this emotional baggage, but how do we help our kids develop healthy body image in today’s world? We’re up against massive biological and, especially, social forces. Humans are hardwired to see — and judge — faces and bodies, looking for signs of friendliness, similarity, and fertility. Our early survival as a species depended on it.
The modern diet and beauty industries have taken these natural propensities and exploited them to the nth degree. They bombard us with messaging, both subtle and overt, telling us we must do everything in our power to be as physically attractive as possible. No amount of time or money is too much to invest in the quest for beauty and the “perfect” physique. Oh, and definitely don’t show any signs of aging. The wrinkles, gray hair, and natural softening of the body that comes with growing older? Not allowed! Obviously, if you fail to live up to the ever-changing ideal, it is 100 percent your fault.
Short of moving to the woods and disconnecting from society entirely, we can’t keep our kids from being exposed. Our best hope is to help them develop a healthy body image early. Give them a strong foundation so when they inevitably get caught up in Hurricane Diet Culture, they may waver, but they’ll stay standing.
The strategy is two-fold: First, do your best not to repeat and perpetuate the culture that creates insecurity and negative body image. Second, teach kids to trust, respect, and appreciate their bodies regardless of appearance.
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If you had asked me this a couple years ago, I would have said it’s feeling attractive in your own skin. You should love your body and feel confident no matter what you look like because all bodies are beautiful.
My thinking has changed, though. Now I think a healthy body image means seeing your body as worthy of care and respect — especially self-care and self-respect — period. Instead of focusing on self-love and feeling attractive, I hope my children respect their bodies, want to be good stewards of their health, and anchor their self-worth and self-esteem in factors other than physical appearance.
This isn’t the definitive definition of healthy body image. It’s what we strive for in our family. I don’t pretend that society doesn’t care about appearance, nor tell them that they shouldn’t care either. That would be impossible. Rather, I want them to know that their appearance is only one of many of their qualities, by far not the most interesting or important one, and certainly not the one that determines their value as a person.
I’ll tell you up front: you probably do some of these things “wrong” right now. That’s natural. As parents, we try to bolster our children’s self-esteem. As Primal enthusiasts, we want to teach them about nutrition and building healthy bodies. Our natural inclinations will sometimes lead us afoul of the recommendations below, which come from childhood body image and eating disorder experts.
Negative body talk is when you disparage your own or someone else’s body. It should go without saying that if you want your child to have a healthy body image, don’t criticize their body. That’s the bare minimum. You also have to watch how you talk about other people’s bodies, including your own.
Kids are always listening and internalizing. Negative body talk communicates to them explicitly or implicitly that some bodies are better. They naturally start to see themselves as objects of judgment and wonder whether their bodies are good enough.
“Ugh, I look so gross today.”
“Wow, that person should really avoid spandex, yikes.”
“That skirt is cute, but I can’t wear it with these thighs.”
“I have to put on makeup before this Zoom so I look presentable. Nobody wants to see these eye bags.”
Negative body talk usually comes from a place of insecurity and judgment. It’s also extremely common. Women especially learn that this is a safe way to communicate with female friends.” No dessert for me. I feel so fat today.” “You?! You look amazing. Look at me!” Once you start to tune into it, you realize just how pervasive it is.
Before commenting on your own or someone else’s body, ask yourself: “What is the underlying message I’m sending my kid with this statement? Could it cause them to feel insecure about their own body?” If yes, keep it to yourself.
Compliments like, “You’re so cute!” or “Don’t you look beautiful in that dress?” are undoubtedly well-meaning. The problem is, they also reinforce to kids that when they are pretty or handsome, that pleases the adults in their life. Being pretty must be important. If they aren’t pretty or handsome, is that displeasing then?
Of course we think our kids are adorable, but kids don’t need to know they are cute. They need to know they are valued and loved. Try these instead:
“Thank you for singing me that silly song. It made my heart happy!”
“You’ve been working so hard on your guitar lessons. You’re really dedicated, that’s awesome.”
“I love how sparkly your dress is! I can’t wait for you to come home and tell me all about the dance.”
This also applies when you’re talking about other people. Instead of, “Your friend Lily is so pretty,” go with “I love to listen to Lily laugh,” or “Lily is such a kind friend.”
Bodies are made for function, not for decoration. Not all bodies have the same abilities or chronic health issues, of course, but every body is still miraculous. The fact that synapses fire and hearts beat is amazing. Our bodies are basically sacks of meat and fluid that allow us to move through time and space — wild!
Help your child celebrate the wondrous things their body does that have nothing to do with how it looks. “I can tell that your soccer drills are helping you dribble with more precision.” “Isn’t climbing trees fun? You pulled yourself up so quickly!”
Your body is every bit as wondrous as your child’s, but what do they hear you say about it? Most of us rarely speak positively about our bodies, lest we seem conceited. More to the point, we may find it difficult to find nice things to say about ourselves. It’s bad for our children’s body image, and it’s bad for ours.
Kids need to see that it’s ok to talk kindly about their bodies. Just as importantly, it’s possible to be neutral and not judge at all. “Flaws” are just features that don’t have to carry a bunch of emotional weight. If your kids are like mine, they will give you plenty of openings to model speaking respectfully about your body.
“Why is your tummy squishy?” “Tummies come in lots of shapes. This is mine.”
“What are those scars on your legs?” “Those are stretch marks from when my body grew when I was growing you inside me. I like that they remind me of that special time.”
“Your arms are flabby.” “I think my arms are perfect for hugging, thank you very much.”
You can also turn their comments around and ask questions like, “What do you like to do best with your arms?”
Your kids will get plenty of exposure to weight-loss and diet culture outside the home. They don’t need to know if you’re trying to lose weight. It’s a slippery slope into making them self-conscious about their own bodies.
The corollary to this is you should avoid labeling some foods as “fattening” or even as “bad.” In fact, avoid attaching good/bad labels to food altogether. This can be especially tricky for us Primal folks who have specific beliefs about what constitutes a healthy way of eating. Lead by example with your food choices. When they inevitably ask why you don’t eat bread or whatever, focus on the pros of the foods you do choose rather than demonizing the foods you avoid.
You can say things like, “Bread isn’t working for me right now. I feel like I have the energy to do more fun things when I have lots colorful vegetables instead!”
You don’t have to pretend all foods are equally nutritious, nor let food be a free-for-all in your house. The goal is to avoid moralizing and creating shame or guilt around food choices. Young kids won’t understand the concept of protein, fats, and carbs, but you can encourage them to eat a rainbow of foods to get lots of different building blocks. With older kids, gently introduce the concept that some foods can help them feel better and have more energy without condemning “junk foods.”
If everybody ate the same foods and did the same exercises, our bodies would still look different. Some people are tall, short, thin, fat, lean, muscly, blond, brunette. Children will always notice these differences, of course, so teach them to notice without judgment. Human diversity is a part of the awe-inspiring diversity of nature.
As they grow, your child will start to realize that their bodies are different from their friends’. Help them appreciate that, even — especially — when they are feeling insecure. “Yes, Max is taller than you, that’s true. I wonder how tall you’ll both be as adults. It’s interesting how some people are tall, while others are short. Everyone gets to see the world a little differently!”
The purpose of exercise needn’t be losing weight, burning calories, “earning” food, or punishing ourselves for something we already ate. Workouts build muscles, speed, or agility. Play engages body and mind, relieves stress, and offers fun and pleasure. Movement of all types feels good and provides energy. That’s why we should be moving our bodies as much as possible. Sometimes even we grown-ups forget that.
Some kids are naturally more active than others. If you have a kiddo who’d happily sit and read for 14 hours while their sibling plays in the pool, don’t make it a battle of wills. Lead by example, modeling everyday movement. Plan active family outings. Better yet, ask them to help you plan activities that they’ll enjoy and which the whole family can do together.
In order for your kids to have a healthy body image, they have to feel connected to their bodies. You can support this by teaching them to trust and respond to their bodies’ signals, and by allowing them, within reason, to make choices about their bodies.
This one’s hard because you have to cede some control to your kids: letting them eat when you think they should be full, skip a meal when they should be hungry, don shorts on a cold day, wear a shirt that is two sizes too small, or get a haircut that you think is truly wretched. Sometimes it may even mean letting them choose foods for themselves that you usually avoid.
Think of it as short term pain for long term gain on your part. It might irk the bejeezus out of you when they eat nothing but cheese for lunch for a week, but who’s it hurting really? Nobody who isn’t lactose intolerant.
How great would it be if we could wipe out all body insecurity by simply teaching kids that the images they see in the media are the work of glam squads, body shapers, and lots of photoshopping? Alas, it’s not that simple, but it’s still an important lesson as kids get older.
As they start to notice all the ads for weight-loss programs and laser resculpting, discuss how advertising exploits our insecurities to get us to spend money. Let them be offended by it. Good, maybe they won’t be so easily manipulated.
Guide them in limiting their exposure to media and accounts that make them feel “less than.” Talk to them about what they see and how it makes them feel.
Years ago, Mark wrote a post about the delicacy of talking to kids about weight. One commenter shared that the best thing their parents could have done would have been to talk to her about weight and health from a place of love instead of judgment and projecting their own fear.
Fear is understandable. We know that this world is not kind to fat people. Fat children commonly experience bullying.1 Fat adults experience street harassment and job discrimination.2 Weight stigma, including at the hands of medical professionals, leads to worse health outcomes for both kids and adults, which then gets attributed to the weight itself.3 4 5
Of course we want our children to grow up healthy and happy, liked by their peers, and accepted by society. We’ll jump at the chance to help them avoid pain whenever possible. Parents who operate from a place of fear usually try to fit their kids to the cultural ideal, which is just as unrealistic for most kids as it is for adults. The better, more sustainable option is to operate from a place of love and acceptance, helping your kid feel good in their current body.
If you are genuinely concerned that your child is developing unhealthy habits, please seek out expert guidance from childhood nutrition and movement experts who are also versed in childhood eating disorders. A lot of eating disorders start in childhood when well-intentioned parents put their kids on diet and exercise programs in the name of health.
Prepare yourself for many bumps in the road. As kids grow and their bodies change, they will come up against new challenges. Their peers’ bodies will change at different rates and in different ways than theirs. Even if you try to innoculate them early, they will confront unreasonable beauty standards and diet talk as they engage more with media and as their friends do the same.
You’ll be working on “body stuff” for as long as you parent. Keeping the lines of communication open is one of the best ways to help your kid navigate their way through tricky body image issues. Let them know they can come to you with their insecurities and fears, confident that you will listen without judgment.
No parent looks down at their precious newborn and thinks, “I can’t wait to pass all my hang-ups and insecurities on to you.” Somehow, we believe we can instill a healthy body image in our kids, then turn around and hate on our own bodies. That’s some magical thinking right there.
You have to walk the talk. Do you trust your body’s signals and allow yourself to respond with food, rest, or movement as needed? Do you move for pleasure or punishment? Do you speak to yourself with kind words or harsh criticism?
Put on your own oxygen mask before helping someone else, right?
References
The post How to Foster Healthy Body Image in Children appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.
Originally Posted At: https://breakingmuscle.com/feed/rss
Short answer? Yes.
Before you go rushing to the weight room, we need to take a step back.
Even though you can still exercise, play sports, and move in general with a herniated or bulging disc, there are a few precautions and steps you need to take to stop the owie from kicking your butt big time.
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You may think of protein supplements as a supplement for muscle heads, but they’re for everyone – provided that you choose the right one for you. You need dietary protein for your body’s day-to-day upkeep and to age well. Up to a third of older adults don’t get enough protein for various reasons, like reduced appetite and changing tastes.1 There are lots of ways to get protein, and here, I’ll go through one of the most convenient and beneficial forms: whey protein.
Whey is a protein-packed byproduct of cheese production. It’s that pseudo-clear liquid remaining after milk has been curdled and strained. Cheese makers used to toss it aside as waste material, until food scientists started to understand its value.
Today, we know that whey protein isn’t just a single protein. Instead, it houses an impressive array of proteins: beta-lactoglobulin, alpha-lactalbumin, and serum albumin. These are complete proteins, comprised of the essential amino acids central to protein synthesis and increased muscular hypertrophy (muscle growth).
Our bodies can produce non-essential amino acids from lesser amino acids, but we cannot produce the essentials ourselves; we must eat quality protein sources. Whey is a naturally occurring, essential protein that satisfies the body’s protein requirements – hence its popularity.
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Whey comes from milk products, so yes, protein is dairy. However, some people who cannot tolerate dairy can tolerate whey.
It depends on which component of dairy gives you trouble. Most people are either:
Some dairy-sensitive people react to both lactose and casein.
Whey protein contains trace elements of lactose, so extremely sensitive people may have problems digesting it properly. Because whey is, by definition, the stuff that separates from the casein (a milk protein) when it curdles, it has even less casein (save for trace amounts) – rarely enough to be noticeable to anyone but the most casein-intolerant. But that’s pure whey, straight from the cheese factory. Whey protein powders have been processed to have even less of both.
With whey protein supplements, lactose may pose a problem, but casein almost certainly will not. But, certain forms of protein supplements have enough of the casein and lactose removed that they will be agreeable to people with sensitivities.
When choosing a whey protein powder, you’ve got a couple options:
Whey protein concentrate contains about 70-80% protein, along with some fat and lactose. Whey protein concentrate is less processed and more whole, but has less protein. Otherwise, it’s probably fine to go with concentrate for most applications (or otherwise further you could just eat a steak instead).
Whey protein isolate is about 90-94% protein, and is made up of pretty much pure protein with very little of the other dairy elements remaining. To get there, it goes through a more rigorous refinement process than whey protein concentrate and hydrolysate do.
Bodybuilders are drawn to the “purity” of whey isolate, lured by the moderately higher protein counts. Isolate is also considerably more expensive than concentrate, and the purported boost in beneficial effects on protein synthesis are overstated; drinking any kind of whey protein shake will have a beneficial effect on your muscle recovery and protein synthesis. If cost is not an issue, or you’re mildly sensitive to dairy, then isolate is your best choice.
Sweetened with monk fruit extract and coconut milk powder, this mix is made with only the good stuff, so you can shake up your day and help support lean muscle mass without compromise. Get Primal Fuel in Vanilla or Chocolate
Whey protein hydrolysate is “predigested” whey, or whey that has been partially broken down using enzymes. The process makes it easier to absorb, and potential allergens are broken down to inactive forms. That said, people who have dairy allergies should consult their doctors before ingesting.
The catch? It’s expensive. Whey in general is already highly bioavailable and easily absorbed by our bodies, so absorption is rarely an issue with whey. Hydrolysate is great marketing. That’s about it. The elite of the elite – those hulking magazine cover superheroes with tanned, smiling faces atop straining, veiny necks – may have actual cause to maximize protein absorption, but most of us definitely don’t need to fuss over that stuff.
The exception would be if you are old enough to have dental issues or compromised digestion that would make it hard for you to absorb protein. In that case, skipping a few steps in the breakdown process may be a good thing.
If you’re keto, keep in mind that whey protein hydrolysate could spike your blood sugar.2
The Recommended Daily Allowance (RDI) for protein is 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight, or 0.36 g protein/lb.
That’s the official, on-the-books answer, but I have differing opinions on actual protein needs. I’ve been an elite competitive athlete, and I have lots of friends who have various reasons to optimize their protein intake. Protein needs are highly individual, and depend heavily on your goals, age, and activity level.
I go into the details in this article.
Whey protein falls into the 80/20 category. It isn’t strictly Primal (and certainly not paleo) in that it wasn’t available to Grok, but it can be an effective, occasional high-protein meal replacement with most – if not all – of the potential allergens mitigated or negated. It’s an analog, a bit like dairy itself. If you can’t handle any dairy, skip it, or see how you do with whey isolate. If you can handle dairy without a problem, a whey protein powder is a pretty good way to shuttle nutrients into your body, especially if you’ve chosen to go the post-workout nutrition route – which I usually don’t.
Going Primal means acknowledging both the limitations and the advantages of modern life. I wish I could laze around on the savannah for days following a successful kill. I wish I had ten hours of leisure time every day. The reality is that we’re a busy bunch of people, and if we’re truly serious about maximizing our quality of life, slamming down a quick protein shake so we can get to the office a little earlier might mean we can leave earlier, too, and get home in time for a date with the significant other, a hike at dusk, or an extra couple chapters on that great book we’ve been meaning to read. If that isn’t a feature of modern life that can help us follow the Primal ways more easily, I’m not sure what qualifies.
The post Whey Protein Isolate, Hydrolysate, and Concentrate: Which Is Best? appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.
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The sun may have set on summer, but fall grilling is just getting started. Today, we’re putting a keto spin on a Chilean favorite, the Completo Hot Dog.
What is a keto completo? It’s two things. First, it’s a fun tongue-twister (say “keto completo” five times fast).
More seriously though…
A completo hot dog is the South American interpretation of the loaded hot dog. You start with a warm hot dog roll, add a frank hot off the grill, then stack it with ingredients that take it from a humble hot dog to a next-level “complete” meal that fits in your palm … barely.
The Keto Bread is fantastic with this hot dog. The batter will fill about 5 hot dog molds, but will depend on the mold size. Make sure the molds are well greased (we like to spray them with Avocado Oil Spray), and then fill the molds 1/2 to 2/3 of the way. If you want to skip the bread, you can also wrap the hot dog in large leaves of butter lettuce.
Let’s get to it.
Serves: 5
Time in the kitchen: 15 minutes plus time to bake the keto hot dog rolls, if using
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare the Keto Bread recipe based on the instructions and pour the bread mixture into 4-6 hot dog molds, depending on the size of the molds. Bake at 350 for about 18 minutes, or until the buns are firm and golden.
Preheat your grill to medium high heat. Once hot, place the hot dogs on the grill. Flip them every 30 seconds or so until they are hot and have nice grill marks.
Cut the avocados and scoop out the inside, discarding the pit. Mash the avocado with the lime juice.
Carefully slice the sides of the hot dog bun just enough to be able to place the hot dog in them, but not enough that they split. Nestle the hot dog in the middle.
Spread some of the avocado mixture on top of the hot dog. Add the chopped onion, tomato and sauerkraut on top.
Place some of the Primal Kitchen Mayonnaise in a squeeze bottle or piping bag and drizzle it all over the top of the hot dog. Repeat with the remaining hot dogs. Enjoy immediately!
Calories: 766
Total Fat: 69g
Total Carbs: 15g
Net Carbs: 6g
Protein: 25g
The post Keto Completo Hot Dog Recipe appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.
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