Healthy Grilling-- Yep, It Can Be Done!

Think your backyard barbeque needs to be all about hot dogs and hamburgers?  Heck no, sez me!  Here are some healthy, yummy, and guest-approved things I like to throw on the grill.

1)  Portobello Mushrooms!!!  I like to marinate them in EVOO or avocado oil, herbs, and balsamic vinegar.  Sometimes I do tamarind, lemon juice, lime juice, or something along those lines in place of the vinegar.  I eat them bun-free, but these go great with an Ezekiel sprouted hamburger bun and all the trimmings (see my note on all the trimmings at the end of this post).  Here are nutritional facts on Portobellos.

2)  Asparagus.  Make sure you buy thin stalks-- the thick ones get woody and fibrous.  They don't take long to cook at all.  I usually baste them with avocado oil, lemon juice, and a little salt and pepper.   Here's the skinny on asparagus.

3)  Veggie kabobs.  So easy to make, and fun for kids to thread, too.  :)  I like to thread cherry tomatoes, bell pepper (all colors) cut into big chunks, zucchini and other summer squash, chunks of pineapple, chunks of mango, and smaller mushrooms, baste them in avocado oil and soy sauce and maybe a touch of apricot all-fruit preserves, and add a little salt and pepper.

4) Watermelon!!  Heck yeah, watermelon!!  It's awesome on the grill.  Throw it on an Ezekiel bun with some lettuce and tomato, and you'll have a grilled watermelon burger.  Throw it in a salad, and you'll have a grilled watermelon salad.  Absolutely awesome.  Here's what your body gets from watermelon.

5)  Speaking of salad, grilled salad is awesome.  Cut a head of lettuce in half (try a darker lettuce like Romaine-- iceberg doesn't have a whole lot of nutritional value), brush with avocado oil, salt, and pepper, and put in a bowl with balsamic and EVOO, chopped strawberries, and whatever herbs you like.  Here's a nice recipe for grilled radicchio salad-- I'd personally do it without the cheese, since I don't eat dairy.

5)  Sweet potatoes!  Parboil them first, and cut them into wedges.  You can squeeze some lime, drizzle on avocado oil, sprinkle some chili on them, and add a little salt and pepper.  Absolutely delicious.

6)  Cabbage!  You can make a foil packet of cabbage wedges, onion slices, bell pepper slices, a drizzle of avocado oil (or a bit of butter if you go that route), some salt and some pepper, and throw that on the grill for 10 min or so. 
 
Now, it's always important to be safe and use a condiment.

(I'll wait a minute for you guys to laugh at that hilarious joke.)

The thing is, most condiments have nasty ingredients like High Fructose Corn syrup and other added sugars.  And you know how I feel about that.  (If not:  I don't like it.)  Make sure you READ YOUR INGREDIENTS, even when it comes to condiments.  I have found low- and no- sugar-added organic ketchup, BBQ sauce, mustard, and relish online and at Whole Foods.  You can even make your own ketchup (you can sub in stevia or erythritol for honey) and BBQ sauce pretty easily!   

Got any other healthy ideas for the grill?  Post 'em here, and have a great weekend!  :)

An Oily Situation, Part 3: Canola Oil

Aah, Canola Oil.  It's been demonized all over the place.  But does it live up to its evil reputation?

The name "Canola" comes from CANadian Oil, Low Acid.  The oil is derived from rapeseed (a much nicer seed than its name lets on), which contains high amounts of eurcic acid, which is toxic to humans.  Canola oil is made from seeds that have been cultivated to have a much lower percentage of this acid, however.  Canola oil is not allowed to contain more than 2% eurcic acid, a level considered safe for human consumption.

Here is the good about Canola:  its Omega-3 to Omega-6 ratio is quite good.  Let's talk a little bit about what this means. 

Both Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids are essential to the diet, as the body can't manufacture them on its own (this is what is meant by an "essential fatty acid," or EFA).  The shortest-chain Omega-6 fatty acid, Linoleic acid, is used in the body to synthesize arachidonic acid, another Omega-6 acid, which is necessary for the formation of prostaglandins.  Prostaglandins are sort of like hormones.  They are messengers which, among other things, are essential in the contraction and relaxation of smooth muscle tissue (e.g. your organs).  So cutting Omega-6 acids out of the diet would not be very smart. 

Omega-3 fatty acids are also EFA's.  They are necessary in order for the nervous system to function properly and healthy DNA to be produced.  They appear to reduce inflammation in the body, which leads to reduction in heart disease risk, anticancer properties, and help with a host of other diseases. 

The problem is that Omega-6 acids are really, really easy to get in the diet, particularly when people eat processed food.  Soybean, cottonseed, corn, safflower, sunflower, and "vegetable oil" have really high Omega-6:Omega-3 fatty acids-- some as much as 200:1!  Even if you're super-heath conscious, you can get a surprising amount of Omega-6 fatty acids in your diet-- a lot of packaged health foods are coated with a very thin layer of vegetable oil to enhance appearance, texture, and taste.  Plus, all nuts have a high Omega-6:Omega-3 ratio (the lowest ratio is English walnuts, at 4:1; the highest is peanuts, at 5500:1!)  The average American gets a ratio of about 15:1 Omega-6:Omega-3.  The problem with this is that this imbalance is connected with a much higher mortality rate, more disease, and a bunch of other un-fun health problems.

Now, back to the subject at hand.  Canola oil is, indeed, great as far as Omega-3:Omega-6 ratio is concerned (about a 1:2.2 ratio).  For this reason, it is a healthy oil.  That having been said, here's my gripe:

Currently, 80% of the rapeseed plants grown for canola manufacture is genetically modified (GMO) by the Monsanto company. If you know me, you know I have major, major problems with Monsanto and anything coming from them.  (If you'd like a small example of why, read here.  I don't normally use Wikipedia as a source, but this particular article has a good summary of the cases against Monsanto.)

That having been said, there is now a certified non-GMO company called Viterra making non-GMO, non-hexane Canola oil.  I've not seen this company's product in the stores I shop in, so I'm not sure if it's local to Canada or not, but I will do more research on this.  If you've seen it around in the USA, let me know. 

In sum:  Canola oil can be a good thing if it's produced without hexane and isn't genetically modified.  Unrefined canola has a smoke point of 225 degrees Farenheit, but refined, it smokes at 400 degrees Farenheit.  Viterra, at first glance, seems to use a non-chemical refining process of some kind, so this is worth looking into further. 

Questions?  Comments?  Post 'em here!

An Oily Situation, Part 2-- Grapeseed Oil

Grapeseed oil comes from-- you guessed it-- grape seeds.  It's a byproduct of the winemaking industry.  One ton of grapes are used to make one 8 oz. bottle of grapeseed oil!  If you're curious, here's how it's made:

With a smoke point of about 420 degrees F (220 C) and a very mild flavor, grapeseed oil lends itself well to cooking at moderate temperatures.   It is also often highly refined (although it is possible to find virgin versions),  meaning its health benefits are going to be significantly lower than those of unrefined oils.  However, because it is so difficult to get the oil out of a grape seed, most producers will use hexane in the process.  Hexane is a carcinogen, and it's best to be avoided.  There are companies (Spectrum is one that I know of) that uses an expeller press instead, and no chemical solvents. 

Grape seeds in and of themselves are chock full of health benefits.  The extract of the grape seed is shown to have antiulcer properties, is chock full of antioxidants, and may even help with weight control.  The oil, however, does not seem to have these same properties, although virgin oils will retain more than will their more highly refined counterparts.

Grapeseed oil is particularly high in omega 6 fatty acids.  Most of us get plenty of omega 6 acids in our diets, and while they are necessary in our diets, they also promote inflammation when we consume too much of them.  It is best to get a balance of omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids, but unfortunately, the American diet is replete with omega 6 and pretty deficient in omega 3's. 

Bottom line:  Grapeseed oil, while it may be useful for cooking, is not all that useful for anything else.  If you're hoping to get health benefits from an oil, there are much better choices out there.

An Oily Situation, Part 1-- Olive Oil

When it comes to oils, people get confused.  What oils are best, and when do you use them?  And, for that matter, should you use them at all?  This is part 1 of a series of posts about this.  I'll start with olive oil, as it is the healthy oil people tend to use the most.

Let me start by saying that I am pro-oil.  Fat soluble vitamins such as A, D, E, and K can't be absorbed properly without fats, and adding a bit of oil to your diet can make this easy.  The argument was recently made to me that oils are a processed food since it's not a coconut, olive, etc.  While this is technically true, I would argue back that it is pretty minimally processed, and the product of the processing, depending on the type of oil produced and how it is pressed, can be quite a healthy addition to your diet.  If you think about it, chewing your food and digesting it is processing it as well.  If you'd like to see how, for instance, olive oil is made, check this out:

And here is a nice tutorial on how you can make coconut oil at home:

So you can see that this is not the same kind of high processing that might go into something like white flour, white rice, or anything ending in "-itos."

For those of you who insist on an oil-free diet, I would suggest making sure you eat plenty of nuts and avocados to add a good dose of healthy fats to your diet. 

For those of you who are willing to take the leap into my oily world, let's talk olive oil.

First of all, there are several types of olive oil, which might be confusing to most.  Let's get those defined so you know what's what.

Lite-- This does NOT, by any means, mean that this is a lower-calorie or lower-fat oil, so don't be fooled by the name.  All this means is that it is very light-tasting.  This is because there is almost no virgin oil in it. 

Pomace-- This is oil that has been derived from the dregs of the olives that have already been pressed for higher-grade oils.  They generally use chemicals to get it out, and it's usually refined from that point.  In order to make it more palatable, they will generally add some virgin oil to it, but the end product doesn't really have the benefits that a higher-grade oil would.  This is usually used for high-heat cooking (and not much else), as its smoke point is much higher than a virgin oil's.

Pure Olive Oil (or, simply, Olive Oil)-- This is a blend of refined oil and virgin oil.  Like Pomace oil, it doesn't have much of the benefit of a higher-grade oil, and isn't used for much beyond high-heat cooking.

Refined-- This means the oil has been derived via chemical means.  It will usually have a higher smoke point and lower nutritional value.

Virgin Olive Oil-- Virgin olive oil comes from the first pressing of the olives, and uses no chemicals or water in its production.  It is allowed to have an acidity of up to 3.3%. 

Extra-Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)-- this is pretty much the Really Expensive Wine of the olive oil industry.  In order to be considered extra-virgin, it must be an oil from the first pressing that is produced by mechanical means only (so no water or nasty chemicals allowed), has to pass some serious taste tests, and must be less than 1% acidic. 

Unfiltered-- All this means is that the small olive particles left over from pressing are not removed from the oil.  It might look a little cloudier than filtered oils because of this.

The smoke point of an oil is when vapor begins to come out of it-- it is basically when the oil begins to degrade, reducing the nutritional benefits and increasing the cancer-causing ones.  The smoke point of extra-virgin olive oil, although it varies from type to type, is around 300 degrees Farenheit (148 Celcius).  This means it is not a cooking oil unless you use extremely low temperatures.  This is a dressing oil, made to be added to foods after cooking. 

Some of the benefits of olive oil are as follows:

1)  It appears to have some ibuprofen-like qualities, meaning some of its components can decrease inflammation in the body.   

2)  EVOO seems to have excellent cardiovascular benefits, as seen here, here, and here.

3)  EVOO and olive (especially those not preserved in brine) consumption may have anti-cancer benefits, as seen here, here, and here. 

4)  EVOO may even help reduce excess central body fat. 

There's a lot more good stuff to be found about olives and their oils, but this should give you a good head-start.  Bottom line:  go extra-virgin, don't cook with it, and enjoy.  :)

Questions?  Comments?  Post 'em here!

My Own Little Easter Weekend Victory

I am supremely, phenomenally, overwhelmingly proud of myself today.

You may or may not know this, but I have a pretty impressive history with sugar addiction, and I managed to cut it almost completely out of my diet about two years ago.  Since then, I've noticed some pretty cool things happening.  First and foremost, my body fat dropped out of the 22% range for the first time in my life-- as a matter of fact, it dropped 6% the year I made the change!  I took my body fat measurement yesterday, and it was the lowest it has ever been-- 13.6%!  The really cool thing about that is that I don't look gaunt or emaciated, and my strength levels are increasing through it all (I managed a 20kg pullup not long ago, and I am almost at a 24kg one-arm overhead press- more than twice my bodyweight!).  My blood tests, which I had done last month, are excellent, despite having a lot of heart disease, diabetes, and other nasty diseases all over my family tree.  When I was still on the sugar, my cholesterol was actually high-- sugar is at fault for a lot of heart disease.

My results, in case you were wondering.

But this is not what I wanted to tell you about today-- it's something much more exciting.  Yesterday, I was at Whole Foods (which should really have a Melody Wing, based on the amount of time I spend shopping there), and I thought, since it's a special occasion, I might buy some Easter candy to share with my boyfriend (meaning, of course, that I'd probably pop the whole bag in my mouth within an hour).  I went over to the bins of "Natural, Organic candy" and started reading the ingredients.  Sugar.  Corn syrup.  Cornstarch.  I moved on to another bin.  And another.  And I realized I had absolutely no desire to consume sugar, corn syrup, and cornstarch.  I left the store with no candy and a shocked look on my face.   I don't think I've ever given myself permission to eat candy and not gone ahead and eaten the candy.  I just did not want it.

This is HUGE.

Equally huge was that I had a few dried apricots when I got home and that was all.  I didn't eat the whole bag like I usually do (which is why I rarely buy dried fruit).  I was satisfied with what I'd had.

Seriously, if you don't think that cutting the junk out of your diet changes what your body craves, you haven't done it for long enough.  It took me 6 months to get rid of most of my sugar cravings, and it was only now that I realized that I just did not want the sweet stuff.  It's pretty cool when that happens.   I can't even begin to tell you how good it felt to have flipped the bird to gumdrops.

Just do it.  Get rid of the processed foods, the sugars, and all that crap.  Your body doesn't need it, and real food tastes better when it's gone.  If I can do it, ANYONE can do it.   Most importantly, be patient with your progress.  If you slip up now and then, it's not the end of the world.  Just jump back on the ole proverbial horse.  Your health and your waistline will thank you.

Questions?  Comments?  Post 'em here!

Preventing Cancer Complications with Exercise-- Guest Blogger David Haas

Today, I am very lucky to have a great guest blogger, David Haas.  Here's his post:

**********************

Preventing Cancer Complications with Exercise

Physical fitness has always played a central role in a healthy lifestyle, and it has
increasingly been recognized as an important part of treatment for chronic disease.
Heart disease patients are routinely counseled to exercise under the care of fitness
experts, and osteoporosis patients have likewise found major benefits from
resistance training and aerobics. Just as exercises have to be modified for these
diseases, modifications can be used to ensure all cancer patients get enough
exercise to realize benefits.

The good news is that the majority of cancer patients will need no special
modifications, only a general precaution against over-exertion. Breast cancer
patients have successfully participated in outpatient workout programs, well-known
athletes have proven that even vigorous exercise can be safe and effective during
treatment. Unfortunately, it has also been shown through epidemiological studies
that cancer patients are less likely to engage in a regular workout program than the
general population. This is partly due to the debilitating effects of cancer fatigue.

Too Tired to Exercise

Fatigue often begins as a symptom of radiation treatment and chemotherapy, and it
can last as long as five years after treatment has successfully stopped cancer
growth. Some medications can help, but they may also cause damaging side effects.
Fatigue itself sets up a feedback loop, as more fatigue leads the patient to exercise
less and this in turn creates more fatigue.

Getting started with exercise can sometimes be difficult because of this feedback
loop. However, exercise has been shown in controlled studies to reduce fatigue and
give patients more energy. Whether the fight is against breast cancer or
mesothelioma cancer, physical activity is the best way to mitigate cancer fatigue.
Unlike medications, there are no side effects when routines are performed
responsibly, and the benefits of exercise only begin with reducing fatigue. Better
physical fitness is also an effective path for reducing other types of physical and
emotional stress.

Regaining Optimism

Beginning with the diagnosis, many patients feel the life has been sucked out of
them. Others may not experience high levels of depression or anxiety until the use of
body-altering surgeries or other treatments. Using quality of life indicators and
emotional disorder questionnaires, researchers have compared patients who
exercise regularly with those who do not. They have found and confirmed many
times over that exercise is an effective way of regaining hope and beating the
emotional stress of fighting cancer.

Benefits Beyond Treatment

For those patients who survive cancer, the exercise routine begun during treatment
should be continued. Besides offering protection against other types of chronic
disease, workouts will also prevent recurrence of most types. In addition,
researchers found that survivors who continue exercising experience a longer
lifespan and lower risk of death from any cause, not just from cancer.

Using the body to heal itself is not a new idea, but it is undergoing a renaissance in
cancer treatment programs. The benefits are too great to ignore. This safe and free
complimentary treatment is available to all who seek better health.

Training with Purpose?

On Friday, I had the very unfortunate luck of catching the Mongolian Death Flu from Hell that's been felling all my clients over the last several months.  It's been a long, long time since I've been sick like this (haven't left the house, or pretty much the bed/couch, since Friday evening), and it's been miserable.  What it has afforded me the time to do, however, besides catch up on pretty much every episode of "30 Rock" and "The Office" ever made, is spend a lot of time reading Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and whatnot about training (my favorite subject, and since I haven't had the energy to lift anything heavier than the 13lb. package of Einkorn flour that arrived today-- excited about that, but that's fodder for another blog-- I am living vicariously through my fitness friends).  

 

First draft:  How To Deadlift Triple Bodyweight.  Might need to scrap this particular plan.

 

A lot of what I read made me think about some of the comments people make about my own workouts.  For those of you who don't know, I like to post my workouts on Facebook fairly often.  Many people tell me it motivates them, and honestly, seeing the numbers up there motivates me, too.   Not uncommonly, someone will respond to my posting by asking me why I did that particular workout.  I usually have a long list of reasons, which almost always includes, "Because I like to."

Here's the thing-- I'm all for training with purpose.  I have goals.  My clients have goals.  We all need road maps to get there.  But somewhere along the line, the simple joy of movement seems to get lost in the details.  So, you know what?  Sometimes I'm going to try a challenge like this:  

 

 

 or do 1,500 one-handed swings in a row.  Sometimes I'm going to try a muscle-up or a flag.  Sometimes I'm going to play on the jungle gym or my ladders like an insane 12-year-old like this:

 

 

 

Does it make me better?  Stronger?  Faster?  Well, some of these things will make me improve at some things, and others will make me improve at other things.  Some will just burn some fun calories and work some muscles I'd forgotten existed for a while, and some will just feel good.  The caveat, of course, would be doing these things in the absence of good form and ending up in pain.  But as long as you're not hurting yourself, what's wrong with having fun with movement?

So while yes, training with purpose is important to do most of the time, not everything you do for fitness needs to have a goal, in my humble little long-haired opinion.  If you love it, why not do it? Beats the heck out of sitting on the couch, watching sitcoms.  Trust me.  I know.  :-/

Thoughts?  Questions?  Comments?  Post 'em here!

Stuff I Eat, Vol. 5

5:00AM:  Tea for work in the morning.

1:30PM  Had the whole bag of kale salad plus a glug or so of dressing.  One bowl of leftovers from last night.  Made a batch of homemade, sugar-free, superfood, mocha chocolate and cherry/pomegranate bites; had a fair amount of the batter.  :)

9:00PM:  Pasta salad:  sprouted pasta, cannelloni beans, sundried tomatoes, peppadews, olives, capers.  Had two bowls. 

Stuff I Eat, Volume 4

5:30AM:  Cafeceps and one packet of stevia for work.

 

9:30AM:  Muscle-up practice, plus 4 rounds of:  5 145lb. deadlifts, 2 pullups w/ 10kg bell on my foot, 5 double 16kg overhead presses

12PM:  3-ish mile walk with Her Royal Dogness

1:30PM:  1 scoop Sunwarrior vanilla protein,  one packet Cococeps, one packet stevia, unsweetened almond milk, plus the usual supplements.  Two packets of SeaSnax.  Two small sweet potatoes, baked as "chips" with some coconut oil.  Maca tea.

 

 8:45PM:  Homemade green curry:  lite coconut milk, leeks, butternut squash, cauliflower, mango, pineapple, kale, carrots, red cabbage, green curry paste, curry powder, tamari, erythritol.  I had two bowls.  :)

Stuff I Eat, Volume 3

Several people requested that I continue doing these kinds of posts, as they found them useful, so here is another one.

6:00AM.  Tea with one packet of stevia at work.

Add caption

1:30PM:  Broccoli and cauliflower, roasted in the oven with some coconut oil and finished with a dash of habanero salt.  Portobello mushrooms, also roasted in the oven with some coconut oil and finished with a dash of Szechuan pepper salt.  One medium-sized avocado with Benson's Zesty seasoning.  Two Pink Lady apples.  All organic.  Plus my usual supplements with water.

4:00PM: Approx. 3 mile walk with Her Royal Dogness.

6:30PM:  200 double 20kg kettlebell swings between clients.

8:30PM:  Homemade black lentil soup (black lentils, celery, garlic, onion, carrots, crushed tomatoes, veggie broth, seitan, all organic) made in the pressure cooker.  I had two bowls.  :)

Hope this helps... more to come!  :)