Call Us
Studio: 6809 Cascade Rd SE, Suite A, Grand Rapids, MI 49546

Staying Lean Over the Holidays!

November 24th, 2021 by Debbie Martilotta

Most people gain fat during the end-of-year holiday season. They eat anything and everything in sight. But, you don’t have to be “most people.”

Here is how to start off the New Year lean!

You can either make excuses (we all do this easily enough, especially during the holidays) or you can take positive action. Which one is most likely to happen if you are prepared, have a goal, and have a plan?

 

When you’re prepared, you can still indulge and enjoy your favorite holiday foods without your fitness goals falling apart.

A nutrition program high in fiber is a vital key to any fat loss plan. Fiber helps you to feel full, making it easier to eat fewer calories. In addition, more calories are burned from digesting high-fiber foods. Good sources of fiber include lots of veggies and plant materials.

Getting enough of the good fats will help you lose fat, build muscle, and recover faster from your workouts.

Good fats include: polyunsaturated (especially Omega-3’s), such as those from fish and nuts, as well as monounsaturated fats, such as those from peanut butter, olive oil, egg yolks, and fish oil. There are lots of ways to be smart about eating fat. The key is knowing what to look for. A few of my favorite fat sources include:

  • Avocados
  • Avocado oil
  • Salad dressing made with avocado oil
  • Olive oil
  • High-quality lard and tallow from pastured animals
  • Grass-fed meats
  • Grass-fed butter
  • Coconut oil
  • Coconut butter
  • Flaxseed Oil
  • Walnuts
  • Almonds

An increase in your protein intake will boost your metabolism and help to maintain your muscle mass, both key ingredients in losing fat and keeping it off.

Post Halloween: What Sugar Does To Your Brain

November 1st, 2021 by Debbie Martilotta

We know that too much sugar is bad for our waistlines and our heart health, but now there’s mounting evidence that high levels of sugar consumption can also harm brain health — from cognitive function to psychological wellbeing.

While sugar is nothing to be too concerned about in small quantities, most of us are simply eating too much of it. The sweet stuff — which also goes by names like glucose, fructose, honey, and corn syrup — is found in 74 percent of packaged foods in our supermarkets.

It’s easy to see how we can get hooked on sugar. However, we should be aware of the risks that a high-sugar diet poses for brain function and mental well-being.

Here’s what you need to know about how overconsumption of sugar could wreak havoc on your brain.

It creates a vicious cycle of intense cravings.

When a person consumes sugar, just like any food, it activates the tongue’s taste receptors. Then, signals are sent to the brain, lighting up reward pathways and causing a surge of feel-good hormones, like dopamine, to be released. And while stimulating the brain’s reward system with a piece of chocolate now and then is pleasurable and probably harmless, when the reward system is activated too much and too frequently, we start to run into problems.

“Over-activating this reward system kickstarts a series of unfortunate events — loss of control, craving, and increased tolerance to sugar,” neuroscientist Nicole Avena explained in a TED-Ed video.

In fact, research has shown that the brains of obese children actually light up differently when they taste sugar, reflecting an elevated “food reward” response. This suggests that their brain circuitry may predispose these children to a lifetime of intense sugar cravings.

It impairs memory and learning skills.

A UCLA study found that a diet high in fructose (that’s just another word for sugar) hinders learning and memory by literally slowing down the brain. The researchers found that rats who over-consumed fructose had damaged synaptic activity in the brain, meaning that communication among brain cells was impaired.

Heavy sugar intake caused the rats to develop insulin resistance — a hormone that controls blood sugar levels and also regulates the function of brain cells. Insulin strengthens the synaptic connections between brain cells, helping them to communicate better and thereby form stronger memories. So when insulin levels in the brain are lowered as the result of excess sugar consumption, cognition can be impaired.

“Insulin is important in the body for controlling blood sugar, but it may play a different role in the brain,” Dr. Fernando Gomez-Pinilla, the study’s lead author, said in a statement. “Our study shows that a high-fructose diet harms the brain as well as the body. This is something new.”

It may cause or contribute to depression and anxiety.

If you’ve ever experienced a sugar crash, then you know that sudden peaks and drops in blood sugar levels can cause you to experience symptoms like irritability, mood swings, brain fog, and fatigue. That’s because eating a sugar-laden donut or drinking a soda causes blood sugar levels to spike upon consumption and then plummet. When your blood sugar inevitably dips back down (hence the “crash”), you may find yourself feeling anxious, moody, or depressed.

Sugar-rich and carb-laden foods can also mess with the neurotransmitters that help keep our moods stable. Consuming sugar stimulates the release of the mood-boosting neurotransmitter serotonin. Constantly over-activating these serotonin pathways can deplete our limited supplies of the neurotransmitter, which can contribute to symptoms of depression.

Chronically high blood sugar levels have also been linked to inflammation in the brain. And as some research has suggested, neuroinflammation may be one possible cause of depression. Teenagers may be particularly vulnerable to the effects of sugar on mood.

Research has also found that people who eat a standard American diet that’s high in processed foods — which typically contain high amounts of saturated fat, sugar, and salt — are at an increased risk for developing depression, compared to those who eat a whole foods diet that’s lower in sugar.

It’s a risk factor for age-related cognitive decline and dementia.

A growing body of research suggests that a sugar-heavy diet could increase the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. A 2013 study found that insulin resistance and blood glucose levels — which are hallmarks of diabetes — are linked with a greater risk for developing neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s. The research “offers more evidence that the brain is a target organ for damage by high blood sugar,” endocrinologist Dr. Medha Munshi told the New York Times.

 

Courtesy of The Huffington Post

Food: What We Are Made From

July 27th, 2021 by Debbie Martilotta

Some advice is just so sound that I feel the need to share it. Your diet and nutrition are hugely important!

Every cell in our body turns over every 7 years. Some turn over daily, some weekly, and some take longer. Ever wonder how we make new cells, organs, tissues, skin, muscles, bone, and even brain cells? The raw materials all come from what we eat. Do you want to be made of Doritos or grass-fed steak? Coca-cola or wild blueberries?  

Our structure, which determines our function, is dependent on what we eat. The building blocks—the proteins, fats, minerals, and more, make up who we are. 

If you are a healthy, lean male, your body is made up of 62 percent water, 16 percent protein, 16 percent fat, 6 percent minerals, less than 1 percent carbohydrate, and small amounts of vitamins. The problem is that our processed diet is about 50 to 60 percent carbohydrate, mostly low-quality, refined starches and sugars that are the raw materials for processed food.

Funny enough, we are not actually made of carbohydrates and they are not considered an essential nutrient. If those carbs don’t become our structure, where do they go? We burn some, but most get turned into dangerous disease-causing belly fat.

Every part of you has a structure and function. If you are made out of poor-quality parts, you will create a poorly functioning body.  

Muscle loss and bone loss are huge factors in aging and age-related diseases. Muscle is where our metabolism is (low muscle mass equals slow metabolism and worse). The effect of poor quality muscles is an increase in diabetes, inflammation, and aging.  

Imagine building your house out of rotten wood or disintegrating bricks. Why would you build your body from defective ingredients? For example, we need the best quality fats—our brain is 60 percent fat, our nerve coverings are all made from fat, every one of your 10 trillion cells is wrapped in a little fatty membrane. Do you really want to make them from oxidized damaged refined oils in your French fries or KFC? 

We also need the best quality protein. The body makes most of its important molecules from protein including muscle, cells, and immune molecules. Not all protein is the same. The best type of protein to build muscle is other muscle—animal protein. You can get protein from plant foods, but the quality is lower and it has lower levels of key amino acids needed to synthesize new muscle, especially the branched-chain amino acids (leucine, isoleucine, and valine, and also lysine and sulfur-based amino acids).  And don’t forget all the vitamins and minerals we need to build tissues, muscles, and bones, including vitamin D, vitamin K, calcium, magnesium, and more.

Next time you chomp down on something, ask yourself if you are fine with it becoming part of you for the long term.  If not, don’t eat it and find the best quality ingredients you can, ingredients that help you thrive!

by Mark Hyman MD

Could IF (Intermittent Fasting) Be Right For You?

November 23rd, 2020 by Debbie Martilotta

I follow a very clean diet, strength train regularly, and avoid toxins in my environment to the best of my ability – so why might I be interested in Intermittent Fasting?

Evidence is accumulating that eating in a 6-hour period and fasting for 18 hours can trigger a metabolic switch from glucose-based to ketone-based energy, with increased stress resistance, increased longevity, and a decreased incidence of diseases, including cancer and obesity.

Until recently, studies of caloric restriction and intermittent fasting focused on aging and the life span. After nearly a century of research on caloric restriction, the overall conclusion was that reduced food intake robustly increases the life span.

Intermittent fasting elicits evolutionarily conserved, adaptive cellular responses that are integrated between and within organs in a manner that improves glucose regulation, increases stress resistance, and suppresses inflammation.

Cells respond to intermittent fasting by engaging in a coordinated adaptive stress response that leads to increased expression of antioxidant defenses, DNA repair, protein quality control, mitochondrial biogenesis and autophagy, and down-regulation of inflammation.

How much of the benefit of intermittent fasting is due to metabolic switching and how much is due to weight loss? Many studies have indicated that several of the benefits of intermittent fasting are dissociated from its effects on weight loss. These benefits include improvements in glucose regulation, blood pressure, and heart rate, and abdominal fat loss.

Despite the evidence for the health benefits of intermittent fasting and its applicability to many diseases, today’s diet of three meals with snacks every day is so ingrained in our culture that a change in this eating pattern can be difficult. The abundance of food and extensive marketing in our culture are also major hurdles to be overcome.

I’ve found a community focused on IF that I follow for both inspiration and guidance, Gin Stephens, author of  Fast. Feast. Repeat & Delay, Don’t Deny. Her blog, books, and Facebook page are full of support!

Intermittent fasting diets fall generally into two categories: daily time-restricted feeding, which narrows eating times to 6–8 hours per day, and so-called 5:2 intermittent fasting, in which people limit themselves to one moderate-sized meal (500 calories) two days each week. With guidance and patience, most people can incorporate IF into their lives.

How Exercise Supports Your Mental Fitness

May 18th, 2020 by Debbie Martilotta

A healthy body is home to a healthy mind. However, there are numerous different types of sports and a wide range of exercise and training. Which type and how much exercise will keep your mind in top shape?

This is the question that has been explored by researchers at the University of Basel and their colleagues at the University of Tsukuba in Japan through large-scale analysis of the scientific literature. They have used this analysis to derive recommendations that they recently published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour.

Coordinated sports are particularly effective

The research group evaluated 80 individual studies to identify a few key characteristics. Endurance training, strength training, or a mix of these components seem to improve cognitive performance.

Heavy lifting during strength training also strengthens bone density, which can reduce the risk of breaks and fractures as you age. If you lift heavy, you test your mental strength as well.

Lifting heavy increases production of a brain-derived neurotrophic factor, the neurotransmitter related to producing new brain cells and improves cognitive function.

However, coordinated and challenging sports that require complex movement patterns and interaction with fellow players are significantly more effective. “To coordinate during a sport seems to be even more important than the total volume of sporting activity,” explains Ludyga.

A higher total extent of activity does not necessarily lead to a correspondingly higher level of effectiveness for mental fitness. Longer duration per exercise unit promises a greater improvement in cognitive performance only over a longer period of time.

All age groups benefit

Just like our physical condition, cognitive performance changes over the course of our lives. It is great for the potential for improvement during childhood (cognitive development phase) and during old age (cognitive degradation phase). However, the research group of the Department of Sport, Exercise, and Health (DSBG) at the University of Basel was unable to find an indicator of different levels of effectiveness of sporting activities within the varying age groups.

Furthermore, sporting activities from primary school age to later age do not have to be fundamentally different in order to improve cognitive performance. Different age groups can thus be combined for a common goal during sports. “This is already being implemented selectively with joint exercise programs for children and their grandparents,” says Pühse. Such programs could thus be further expanded.

Intense sports sessions for boys and men

The same volume of sports activity has a different effect on physical fitness for men and women, as we are already aware. However, the research group has now been able to verify this for mental fitness. Men accordingly benefit more from sporting activity.

Differences between the sexes are particularly evident in the intensity of movement, but not in the type of sport. A hard workout seems to be particularly worthwhile for boys and men. Paired with a gradual increase in intensity, this leads to a significantly greater improvement in cognitive performance over a longer period of time.

In contrast, the positive effect on women and girls disappears if the intensity is increased too quickly. The results of the research suggest that they should choose low to medium intensity sporting activities if they want to increase their cognitive fitness.

Science Daily

Cast Iron Whole Chicken

January 27th, 2020 by Debbie Martilotta

A simple and easy whole roasted chicken that is full of flavor, perfectly moist, and tender! This recipe is gluten-free, allergy-free, and paleo using a no-fail method for success. We think it’s just a fabulous way to up your protein and enjoy a home-cooked meal.

Ingredients:
•1 whole free-range, organic chicken, 4-5 lbs
•2 small Gala apples, chopped
•1 large shallot, chopped
•2 t oil (I use sunflower oil)
•1 1/2 t dried thyme
•1 t dried basil
•1/2 t garlic powder
•1/2 t onion powder
•1/2 t ground ginger
•1/4 t ground black pepper

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375oF
2. Rinse and pat dry the chicken, inside and outside
3. Place chicken in a large seasoned cast iron skillet and stuff with chopped apples and shallot in the cavity of the chicken, place any extra pieces around the chicken in the cast iron skillet
4. Rub the outside with the oil, herbs, and spices
5. Roast in the oven for about 1 hour and 40minutes (about 20 minutes per pound) or until the chicken reaches a safe 180F
6. Remove from oven, cover with foil, let rest for 15-20 minutes before carving

Recipe from Strength & Sunshine

Best Diet For Your Brain And Body

January 3rd, 2019 by Debbie Martilotta
  • A diet rich in vegetables, whole grains, and healthy fats is increasingly being recognized as the healthiest for your brain and body.
  • This diet is known by many different names – from “plant-based” to “Mediterranean” – and can come in a range of variations. But at its core, it is focused on veggies, protein, and healthy fats.
  • US News and World Report recently ranked the Mediterranean diet as the best to follow in the year ahead.

In a world dominated by celebrity fad diets, many people don’t believe there’s a single best diet for your health.

But a growing body of research suggests that a meal plan focusing on vegetables, protein, and healthy fats has key benefits for losing weight, keeping your mind sharp, and protecting your heart and brain as you age.

This type of eating regimen is called by many names and comes in different iterations, from “plant-based” to “Mediterranean.” Some people on the diet eat eggs and dairy, meat and fish, or all of the above; others are vegetarian and abstain from meat and animal products altogether.

At its core, however, most of these meal plans are very similar and have two main characteristics: they are rich in vegetables, proteins, and healthy fats and low in heavily processed foods and refined carbohydrates like white bread.

In its annual diet ranking, US News and World Report ranked the Mediterranean diet as the best one to follow in 2019. (The plan was ranked at the top last year, too.)

Evidence supporting that recommendation can be found in the March 2018 issue of the Journal of Gerontology, in which scientists analyzed six recent studies on the Mediterranean diet and found that the eating regimen is closely linked with a variety of beneficial outcomes. Positive impacts include healthy aging, better mobility, a lower risk of chronic diseases like cancer and heart disease, and improved cognitive functioning.

Eating as you live on the coast of Naples or Athens sounds intuitively appealing. Meals could include fresh fish, vegetables drizzled in olive oil, nuts, beans, and whole grains.

Recent research suggests that diets like these, which are also low in processed foods and red meat, are great for your brain and body – both in the near-term and into older age.

To keep your energy levels up and help you feel healthy in the long term, your diet needs to feed more than your stomach. It has to satiate your muscles, which crave protein; your digestive system, which runs best with fiber; and your tissues and bones, which work optimally when they’re getting vitamins from food.

A plant-based diet’s combination of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, proteins, and fats accomplishes that goal. But plant-based diets aren’t just good for the body – they have key benefits for the mind as well.

So if your New Year’s resolution is to eat healthier or lose weight, the Mediterranean plan is worth a try. It may not even feel like you’re dieting at all.

Read complete Business Insider article here