Everyday Fitness

Whether coffee is just a part of your everyday morning, or a cultural and artistic experience to you, it's good name needs to be cleared! You see a lot of news bits every now and again saying that coffee is good, then saying coffee is bad. Coffee is primarily a great thing to drink, especially over sodas and energy drinks. Taken in moderation, negative effects of coffee don't usually appear; agitation of the GI tract and heart. From what I'm reading, keeping it below 4 cups a day is about the ideal amount where you can reap all the benefits without worry. Note, the traditional coffee "cup" is 6 oz; your tall Starbucks or large Tim Hortons are around 14 oz. So you'd actually be getting just over 2 "cups" from these. Anyhow, I did a quick edit of this list from Wikipedia on the benefits of coffee.

• Reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease and Dementia: Several studies comparing moderate coffee drinkers (defined as 3-5 cups per day) with light coffee drinkers (defined as 0-2 cups per day) found that those who drank more coffee were significantly less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease later in life. A study in 2009 found that moderate coffee drinkers had reduced risk of developing dementia in addition to Alzheimer's disease.
  
• Reduced risk of gallstone disease: Drinking caffeinated coffee has been correlated with a lower incidence of gallstones and gallbladder disease in both men and women in two studies performed by the Harvard School of Public Health. A lessened risk was not seen in those who drank decaffeinated coffee.
  
• Reduced risk of Parkinson's disease: A study comparing heavy coffee drinkers (3.5 cups a day) with non-drinkers found that the coffee drinkers were significantly less likely to contract Parkinson's disease later in life. Likewise, a second study found an inverse relationship between the amount of coffee regularly drunk and the likelihood of developing Parkinson's disease.
  
• Cognitive performance: In tests of simple reaction time, choice reaction time, incidental verbal memory, and visuospatial reasoning, participants who regularly drank coffee were found to perform better on all tests, with a positive relationship between test scores and the amount of coffee regularly drunk. Elderly participants were found to have the largest effect associated with regular coffee drinking. Another study found that women over the age of 80 performed significantly better on cognitive tests if they had regularly drunk coffee over their lifetimes.
  
• Analgesic enhancement: Coffee contains caffeine, which increases the effectiveness of pain killers, especially migraine and headache medications. For this reason, many over-the-counter headache drugs include caffeine in their formula.
  
• Antidiabetic: Coffee intake may reduce one's risk of diabetes mellitus type 2 by up to half. While this was originally noticed in patients who consumed high amounts (7 cups a day), the relationship was later shown to be linear.

• Liver protection: Coffee can also reduce the incidence of cirrhosis of the liver, which in turn has been linked to a reduced risk of cancers arising from preexisting cirrhosis. The exact mechanism and the amount of coffee needed to achieve a beneficial effect are as yet unclear.
  
• Cancer: Coffee consumption is also correlated to a reduced risk of oral, esophageal, and pharyngeal cancer. In the Nurses' Health Study, a modest reduction in breast cancer was observed in postmenopausal women only, which was not confirmed in decaffeinated coffee. Another preliminary study found a correlation between coffee consumption and a lower risk of aggressive prostate cancer.
• Cardioprotective: According to the study from Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, coffee reduces the incidence of dying from heart disease.
  
• Laxative/diuretic: Coffee is also a powerful stimulant for peristalsis and is sometimes considered to prevent constipation. However, coffee can also cause excessively loose bowel movements. The stimulative effect of coffee consumption on the colon is found in both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee.
  
• Antioxidant: Coffee contains the anticancer compound methylpyridinium. This compound is not present in significant amounts in other food materials. Methylpyridinium is not present in raw coffee beans but is formed during the roasting process. It is present in both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee, and even in instant coffee.
  
• Prevention of dental caries: The tannins in coffee may reduce the cariogenic potential of foods. Experiments have shown that these tannins may interfere with activity of certain bacteria, which may reduce plaque formation.
  
• Gout: Coffee consumption decreased risk of gout in men over age 40. In a large study of over 45,000 men over a 12-year period, the risk for developing gout in men over 40 was inversely proportional with the amount of coffee consumed.

Just something to think about. In health and fitness, there's a lot of myths out there about what one should do to reach their goals; regardless of what science says about the validity of these myths. This video says a lot about general public views on some pretty common health care topics as well.

This is a serious concern I hear from beginners. It runs along the same idea as women who don't exercise because they "don't want to get big muscles," and "look like a man." Simply put, this will not happen. If anything, this sort of thing sounds like an excuse not to try. So, why won't looking at a dumbbell turn you into this?

Well, it takes a lifetime of dedication to body building to achieve anything close to Ronnie Coleman's physique. It has to be your full time job. You need fabulous genetics that the average person doesn't have. It takes lifting hundreds of pounds. You need to stuff your face with as much food as humanly possible to the point of exhaustion. Not to mention it takes a whole lot of anabolic steroids and hormone therapies.

The typical gym go-er like me will never reach this level without divine intervention. Neither will any woman who doesn't take her fair share of steroids. This isn't an overnight transition either; as I said, it takes a lifetime of dedication. Doing one extra set of curls won't accidentally cause you to wake up with 225 lbs of lean body mass. If you ever reach a point in exercising where you like your build, then stop pushing yourself to lift heavy weights; do a lighter comfortable amount.

No more excuses not to workout!

This one is easy: none. Our culture has an obsession with taking some pill that will turn us into Superman with no effort at all. Supplements will not do the work for you. In some cases, supplements provide a marginal benefit at best. In other cases, they do nothing what-so-ever aside from making your wallet lighter. Here are a few popular supplements and whether or not they actually do anything:

• Multivitamins/Antioxidants: The supposed benefit is overall health. Every time I hear these come up in science literature, it's to say how supplementing them provides no measurable benefits at all. A better solution; eat fruits and vegetables. Eating actual vegetation does show a significant improvement versus multivitamin or antioxidant pills. Fruits and veggies have added fiber you won't get with pills too, and it's also thought there might be other beneficial substances in greens that we just don't know about yet.
  
• Fish/Flax Oil: Omega-3 fatty acids are supposed to improve your brain (fish) and heart (flax). These claims actually hold true. It's not a bad idea to get these in your diet through actual fish like salmon, and sprinkling ground flax seed over whatever you please.
  
• Weight Loss Formulas: These are the primarily made up of energy boosters like ephedrine, caffeine, green teen extract, and guarana. While they do give your heart rate a jump-start, it's not going to magically make you lose 5 lbs a week. You get an energy boost and that's it. Some people mistakenly "see" themselves getting leaner because caffeine/ephedrine strongly dehydrate your body. While dropping water makes you appear leaner temporarily, it's not the same as real results. A better alternative to weight loss pills are coffee or tea, as these will give you many other health benefits on top of the energy boost.
  
• Glutamine/BCAAs: These weight lifting supplements are supposed to improve your muscle recovery. They're simply individual amino acids; the stuff that makes up protein. Glutamine has been shown to do absolutely nothing, making it one of the worst perpetuated fitness myths. BCAAs have been shown to help with muscle recovery, but the effects are marginal. A better alternative is to rely on food; anyone eating a well rounded diet should get enough of these amino acids from the protein they normally eat.
  
• Creatine: Creatine is sort of a backup store of energy in your muscles. Supplementing creatine provides a boost in your anaerobic performance. That is, if you were lifting weights you can get an extra one or two reps before giving up. If there's any tried and true supplement out there, it's creatine. You can get creatine from red meat and certain types of fish, but the supplement is actually going to be cheaper. There are different kinds; monohydrate, ethyl-ester, citrate, magnesium-phosphate, kre-alkalyn.. All claim to be "better" in some way, but that's all garbage; creatine is creatine. Go with monohydrate as it's the cheapest.
  
• Nitric Oxide (NO): This is a vasodilator, which means your blood vessels open up to bring oxygen and nutrients to your muscles quicker. This stuff does what it says, increasing blood flow to muscle, and will increase performance in ways similar to creatine. However, NO is relatively new on the supplement scene and not surprisingly, more expensive. I don't know of any foods that give significant increases in NO production.
  

Always keep in mind though, that you should talk to a professional if you think these supplements might agitate some pre-existing condition of yours. And, supplements are just that; meant to supplement a well rounded diet and solid exercise. While some provide a little benefit, they won't do the work for you. In short, we can summarize and say:

Just as well eat your money:

• Multivitamins
  
• Antioxidant pills
  
• Glutamine
  

Marginal effects/you can get through diet:

• Ephedrine
  
• Caffeine
  
• BCAAs
  

Worth the cheese:

• Creatine
  
• Nitric Oxide
  

I say "steroid" because it isn't a steroid by scientific definition. First of all, myostatin is normally made in the body to stop muscles from growing. So the idea is this: block myostatin from working and you get muscle growth. This most certainly turns out to be the case. Clinical trials involving myostatin inhibitors are intended for treating diseases of muscle wasting, like Duchenne's muscular dystrophy.

However, the obvious implications in competitive sports are hard to ignore. Myostatin inhibitors have the potential to achieve the desired results of anabolic steroids with none of the traditional draw backs. We've found cases of animals, and even the odd human, who lack myostatin in their bodies. A perfect example is the Belgian Blue breed of cow. Look at that beast! Scientists have been able to engineer mice with similar genetic changes as Belgian Blue cows. This link shows normal mice in the first column, genetically engineered mice in the second column, and mice treated with a myostatin inhibitor in the third column. Follistatin is one of the current therapies in development to block myostatin.

So what about human examples? There's little Liam; here's an exerpt from another blog:

"He could do the iron cross when he was 5 months old," said his adoptive mother, Dana Hoekstra of Roosevelt Park. She was referring to a difficult gymnastics move in which a male athlete suspends himself by his arms between two hanging rings, forming the shape of a cross.

Liam has the kind of physical attributes that bodybuilders and other athletes dream about: 40 percent more muscle mass than normal, jaw-dropping strength, breathtaking quickness, a speedy metabolism and almost no body fat.

Liam can run like the wind, has the agility of a cat, lifts pieces of furniture that most children his age couldn't push across a slick floor and eats like there is no tomorrow -- without gaining weight.

Liam Hoekstra was hanging upside down by his feet when he performed an inverted sit-up, his shirt falling away to expose rippled abdominal muscles. It was a display of raw power one might expect to see from an Olympic gymnast. Liam is 19 months old.

It makes you wonder how many Olympic athletes have altered myostatin genes...

Alright, what I'm about to write is the one thing you must know to lose weight. Promise to keep this guarded with your life... Okay, here it is:

Calories eaten < Calories burned = Weight loss

That's it, that's all there is to it. You need to eat less calories than your body needs in a day, and it will make up the difference by burning fat. I hate seeing so many ads on countless websites claiming you can get ripped in 2 weeks, and all you have to do is pay them $XX.XX for their product to do so. That's actually what inspired the title of this post; sort of a tongue in cheek way to lead into things.

• No magic pill, herb, or formula will do it for you.

You don't even have to exercise to lose weight, but it certainly helps. And why not do so to reap all the additional benefits of working out? Now, down to the heart of the matter. In order to eat less calories than you burn in a day, it helps to have an idea of how much you burn! A useful BMI Calculator site can help you work this out. First of all, find your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) with one of these formulas:

Pounds and Inches
Women: BMR = 655 + (4.35 x weight) + (4.7 x height) - (4.7 x age)
Men: BMR = 66 + (6.23 x weight) + (12.7 x height) - (6.8 x age)

Kilos and Centimeters
Women: BMR = 655 + (9.6 x weight) + (1.8 x height) - (4.7 x age)
Men: BMR = 66 + (13.7 x weight) + (5 x height) - (6.8 x age)

Your BMR is how many calories you would burn if you sat completely motionless 24 hours a day. Which realistically, isn't how we live. Even if you watch TV all day you still get up to eat and go to the bathroom! So, you multiply your BMR by a certain factor depending on your level of activity:

1. If you do little or no exercise : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2
   
2. If you do light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week : BMR x 1.375
   
3. If you do moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week : BMR x 1.55
   
4. If you do hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week : BMR x 1.725
   
5. If you do very hard exercise/sports or a physical job : BMR x 1.9

Whatever your resulting number is, eating less calories will cause you to lose weight. Eating more calories will cause you to gain weight, if that's your goal. Remember, a pound of body fat is worth 3500 calories. If you can eat 500 calories less than you burn each day, that's 1 pound a week. That's a reasonable and easily reachable goal. Even though quick results would be nice, trying to lose too much too fast can really put a strain on your body and lead to binge eating, ruining all your hard work. Staying realistic will keep you on the right track!

I actually pulled this recipe from one of the ads on my site. I love cooking with Carnation evapourated milk! It's great for replacing cream in savoury sauces or sweet desserts. The calories I'm quoting are using Fat Free evapourated milk and yogurt. Most of the carbs in this dessert come from berries and dairy, which are some of the highest quality carbs out there!

Per Serving:
Calories: 125
Fat: 0.2 g
Carbs: 27 g                                                       
Protein: 6 g     
Prep Time: 15 minutes + 2 hours chilling time
Cook Time: 10 minutes

INGREDIENTS
1 pkg [1 tbsp/15 mL] Powdered unflavoured gelatin
¼ cup [50 mL] Cold water
1½ cups [375 mL] Regular, 2% or Fat Free (Carnation®) Evaporated Milk
¾ cup [175 mL] (Smucker’®) No Sugar Added Apricot Fruit Spread
½ cup [125 mL] Plain yogurt
1 tsp [5 mL] Vanilla

Sauce
2 cups [500 mL] (Europe's Best®) Frozen 4-Field Berry Mix
½ cup [125 mL] (Smucker’s®) No Sugar Added Apricot Fruit Spread
2 tbsp [30 mL] Water

PREPARATION
Combine gelatin and water in a small bowl. Let stand 10 minutes.
Place evaporated milk and fruit spread in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat until mixture just comes to a boil. Remove from heat. Stir in reserved gelatin. Mix until well combined. Add yogurt and vanilla, stirring to combine.

Pour ½ cup (125 mL) mixture into 6 small dessert bowls. Refrigerate until set; about 2-4 hours. To serve, run a knife around the sides and turn upside down onto serving dish.

Sauce:
Place berries, fruit spread and water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer 10 minutes. Refrigerate until cool or ready to serve over panna cotta.

Tips:
• Try using (Smucker’s®) No Sugar Added Strawberry, Raspberry, Blueberry, or Wildberry Fruit Spread or Orange Marmalade for something different.
• For a fun entertaining idea, let the panna cotta mixture set in different shaped glasses or ceramic bowls.

Makes 6 servings.