Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Dear Mary Poppins, a spoon full of sugar does not make the medicine go down. It makes your blood lipids go up.


By Katherine MacPherson BS, ACSM HFS & UVAC Personal Trainer


My sister’s great way of getting her 3 year old to enjoy watermelon

Growing up I can remember my great grandmother sprinkling sugar over fresh picked and sliced strawberries for us young kids to enjoy.  Sugar overload?  I’m sure I thought those strawberries were perfectly delicious!  Of the US population, we consume on average 25% or more of own DAILY diet in simple sugars (Thompson, Manroe 2009).  And yes, the rumors are true, simple sugars are not that ideal. Let’s sweetly recap:
Glucose: Generally combined with other sugars, it’s a preferred source of energy for the brain and for all cells.

Fructose: Sweet sugar found of veggies and fruit.

Lactose: Milk sugar

Maltose: A disaccharide that contains two molecules of glucose.

Sucrose: A disaccharide that contains one glucose molecule and one fructose molecule.   It’s sweeter than lactose or maltose.

Added Sugars: Brown sugar, dextrose, honey, corn sweeteners, raw sugar, maple sugar, high-fructose corn syrup (this list of added sugars can go on!).  

Sucralose (Splenda):  A man-made product that is not broken down by the body.  Known to be highly sweeter than table sugar, Sucralose is non-caloric.



WHY SHOULD WE SKIP THEM?

·         Large amounts of simple sugars leads to unhealthy levels of blood lipids.  Meaning an increased risk of triglycerides (lipids in our blood) and LDL’s (the bad cholesterol.) 

·         High sugar intakes contributes to obesity.  Obesity contributes to diabetes.  

·         Tooth decay!

 cravingsugar.net

DON’TS: 

·         It is clear today that soda would probably be the first additive sugar item to deduct from your diet. Two reasons for two kinds of sodas:

1.       Non-diet sodas contain over 2-8 tablespoons of sugar. Ouch, call the dentist ASAP?

2.       Diet sodas typically contain aspartame or sucralose, remember the words “man-made” from the recap section of this blog?  When the body tries to break down those ingredients, it will start to process them as if they were true glucose, increasing the rate of insulin production.  Once the body figures out it is not real glucose, your body will lower its blood pressure so that you’ll be hungry enough to soon ingest the real form of glucose so that the insulin can be successful stored. 

·         Avoid doubling up on sweets.  Fruit and veggies are naturally tasty and ready for you to eat.  Adding sugar, or honey for an example to them will only retrain your taste buds to think they aren’t sweet enough.

·         “I’ll take my coffee with two creams and 3 sugar packets please.” YIKES, biggest don’t!  What a terrible way to sneak in sugar.  Your taste buds WILL adapt to a deduction!

Example equation: If you put in 3 tablespoons of sugar in your one cup of coffee a day, that is 1,008 calories at the end of the week.  That is 1/3 of a pound of fat just from your one cup of coffee a day!

DO’S

·         Drink it, eat it, AS IS! Your fruits and veggies have the sugar already in it, why add to it?

·         Baking with sugar can be tricky, but my personal recommendation is that you use natural resources, like maple syrup, or sugar in the raw.   They are unbleached and readily digestible compared to many other resources.

·         One of my clients got me a bumper sticker saying “READ THE INGREDIENTS!” and it could not be more true.  Cereals, drinks, baked goods, pretty much ALL foods that come with a nutrition label, you should read before you buy it or consume it! Remember 14 grams of sugar = 1 TBS.



Resources from Nutrition; An Applied Approach.  Second Edition. J. Thompson, M. Manroe.
Second photo credit to cravingsugar.net



Have any cooking tips or tricks? Or maybe some sugar reduction success stories? Fill us readers in!

Friday, July 6, 2012

Love What You Do

Everyone knows that Andre Agassi hates tennis, and Keith Foulke hates baseball. And I hate both baseball and tennis. Now, the irony is I'm extremely talented tennis player. In a way, I kind of feel like Andre. Really really ridiculously good (looking) at tennis, but with no interest what-so-ever in the sport. Maybe I could get into it if people threw buckets of money at me. Maybe. But I'm no Scrooge McDuck. I can't even swim in water, let alone buckets of money. And seeing as I already have all of the things I need in life, adding hitting sessions with famous good looking country club people and collared shirts would be something akin to torture.

So I almost never play tennis. And I definitely don’t play baseball. I'll skip the Keith Foulke analogy I had planned because I'm guessing we're far enough removed from the last Red Sox world series win to have forgotten about him entirely. He wasn't integral to the point of this post anyway. Which is:

Why DO people insist on doing things that they're good at rather than things that they love to do?

Monday, July 2, 2012

8 Reasons YOU Should Become a Lifeguard



8 Reasons YOU Should Become a Lifeguard
by UVAC Head Lifeguard, Anthony Alvarenga

1.     Make a Difference  
Every day you go to work, you will actively make an impact.  Even just standing there,  you’re very existence promotes safety.  Your job makes the world a better, safer place.

2.     Help Others
From the Band-Aid you put on a child’s knee, to the door you open for an elderly patron, to the horrified swimmer you pull out of the water;  The kindness, care, and compassion you demonstrate is appreciated!

3.     The Chance to Save a Life
 Do I need to say more?

4.     The Challenge  
You don’t just fill out an application to become a lifeguard.  You have to take the course, you have to take the tests, and you have to pass them.  You have to be a good swimmer, and you have to want it!

5.     Experience a TEAM Like No Other
The toughest competition is the one to save somebody’s life.  Lifeguards work together in specific scenarios in an emergency.  They train in these scenarios together, they learn them together.  NOBODY is ever standing around.  Camaraderie, friendship, respect, loyalty is all part of the lifeguarding TEAM.

6.     Stay in Shape
Yeah lifeguards are in shape!  The job is physical and demanding.  Lifeguards are physically and mentally fit. Ready to act!

7.     Maturity
This is a serious job with serious consequences.  If you’re somebody that has these qualities, this is the job to showcase them!

8.     Something New  
 Get out of that restaurant for the summer, aren’t you sick of it by now?