The Effects of Sugar on Weight

Flip through the pages of any given food or fitness magazine and you’ll likely come across a number of different diets. Some say carbs are the enemy, others say fats, but when it comes down to what we should be avoiding, few could argue that the real culprit is added sugar.

It’s worth noting that many foods naturally contain sugars. Fruits, for example, contain natural sugar in addition to their fibre, water, and nutrients. Our bodies need sugar as well; we use sugar as a fuel source, but generally speaking we get enough sugar from the natural foods we eat. It’s when sugar is added to foods that the true troubles begin.

Added sugars do little more than provide calories with no other nutrients. These empty calories increase blood sugar, which triggers an insulin release. High levels of insulin in the body, which would occur from regular intake of sugary foods, help lead to weight gain. Not only that, but sugary foods trigger our appetites, only causing us to eat more. Unfortunately, food manufacturers are well aware of this phenomenon, and routinely add sugar to their recipes in order to stimulate our appetites, leading to our increased consumption of their products.

Say what you will about complex carbohydrates or fats, calorie restrictions or intermittent fasting, but one thing is certain: We should all be consuming less added sugars.

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How to Make Realistic Changes to Your Eating Habits

Let’s face it, we can’t all look like Instagram models, and we shouldn’t all look that way anyway. Beauty comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes, and it’s not always defined by tanned and toned bodies. We can, however, all make the effort to eat a little healthier, and while it may not always be easy to drop the doughnut and focus on the right foods, here are two realistic changes you can make to change your eating habits for the better:

Drink more water. The tried and tested truth of drinking 8 cups of water a day turned out to not be true after all; everyone’s water needs are different. That said, odds are we’re still not drinking enough water. Proper hydration not only helps you feel more full throughout the day, it aids in digestion, helps alleviate aches and pains by keeping muscle sufficiently saturated, and generally aids in overall good health. Not a fan of water? Try tossing in a lemon wedge, some cucumber slices, a bit of mint, or any other mild flavoring you can think of.

Eat larger meals earlier in the day, and avoid eating late. Unless you work the night shift, odds are you’ll be spending the evening unwinding after a busy day. That down time means your body will be at rest, and won’t need the calories from a big dinner, and especially not those from late night snacks. Eating larger meals during the day provides your body with fuel when it's needed, and helps control your appetite at night. Still feeling hungry late? Try a bit of coconut oil to calm your cravings, or a small fruit at most.

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Easy Ways to add More Home Cooking to Your Diet

We can all find ourselves a bit on the busy side every once in a while, it’s just one of the realities of modern life, but our busy lives often have considerable impact on our food choices. With fewer of us having the time to cook at home, we’re resorting more and more to fast food and prepared foods, which are often loaded with preservatives and lacking in nutritional value. Making more time to cook isn’t always an option, so here are three ways to add more home cooking to your diet without having to cook every day.

Batch cooking. If you can’t cook every day but still want to enjoy home cooked meals, consider cooking in bulk and freezing portions for the rest of the week. One day of cooking can cover a considerable quantity of your meals, and slow cookers can help make that one day a breeze.

Find a friend. When cooking alone seems like too daunting of a task, why not get together with a friend and cook together? With double the prepping power the work will get done in half the time, and batch meals made in advance can be split up for the both of you.

Make some snacks. Meals aren’t the only times when home cooking can come into play, rather than picking up a snack from the vending machine make those quick and easy snacks at home for a healthier option. Hard boiled eggs make great nutritious snacks, as do roasted nuts, homemade granola, or even just some pre-sliced fruits and veggies.

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How Much Vitamin C is Too Much?

It’s nearly impossible to walk through a pharmacy these days without passing through an entire aisle of vitamins and supplements, and front and center among those many pills and capsules is usually vitamin C. Touted as everything from the miracle cure for colds to the fountain of youth, vitamin C may not be a miracle drug but it is certainly important to good health. But just how much vitamin C is too much vitamin C? Let’s look at the facts.

How much vitamin C do we really need? Consult any physician or the average health guide, and the results will usually be the same. Healthy adults are recommended a daily dose of 60mg to 100mg of vitamin C daily.

How much vitamin C comes in a supplement? Many vitamin C supplements sold at pharmacies or health food stores come in 500mg doses, with some as high as 1000mg doses.

What does the body do with excess vitamin C? Vitamin C is water soluble, and is not stored in the body, so most vitamin C that the body doesn’t use gets broken up and secreted via urine. In fact, vitamin C is occasionally jokingly referred to as vitamin pee.

Can too much vitamin C be harmful? Although generally speaking an excess of vitamin C is not harmful to the body, in some extreme cases it can lead to diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, heartburn, abdominal cramps, headache, or insomnia.

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Complete Proteins That Don’t Come From Meat

We may be eating too much meat… In fact, studies have shown that many North Americans are eating way more meat than they need for a healthy diet, and a light has been shined on the meat industry and its effects on the environment. It’s no wonder vegetarianism is becoming an increasingly popular lifestyle choice, but with it comes the challenge of ensuring a proper diet with sufficient complete proteins.

Talk of complete proteins usually refers to amino acids, specifically, the nine amino acids the body can’t produce on its own. Meats are certainly an excellent choice when it comes to complete proteins, as they contain all nine essential amino acids. But for those looking for an alternative, here are three easy ways to consume complete proteins without eating meat.

Eggs. A perfect choice for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, eggs are also a source of complete proteins. Though past studies have shown that consuming too many eggs may have an adverse effect on cholesterol levels, many of those studies have since been debunked.

Dairy. It’s no surprise that dairy products like milk, cheese, and yoghurt contain all nine essential amino acids as they are in fact still animal products, though excellent choices for vegetarians and those looking to cut down on their consumption of meat.

Quinoa. One of the few non-animal foods to contain complete proteins, quinoa is also an excellent source of dietary fibre, phosphorus, magnesium, and iron, and is entirely vegan.

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