All About Gluten

Upon walking down the grocery store aisles, you may have come across several foods that are "gluten free."  They're not uncommon to see, and that simple phrase often finds its way onto cracker boxes, breads, soups, and all sorts of other products.  You may even have heard the phrase "gluten intolerant," and may know someone who has this condition.  But chances are, you're not really sure what gluten actually is, where it comes from, what it does, and why some people can't digest it.  Well, hopefully this article will clear things up, and you'll be able to look at those kinds of foods with a new sense of knowledge and understanding.  Hey, you might even try a few.

Gluten, unfortunately, is a pretty complicated substance.  It's what's called a "composite," and is made up of several different proteins.  It's usually found in wheat products, though there's a whole list of other grains that gluten can be found in, including rye, semolina, and barley.  If you're at all interested, the specific proteins found in gluten are: albumins, globulins, gletlins, and prolamins.  Pretty fancy names eh?  In the most basic terms, gluten is just another piece of the puzzle when it comes to grains.  It's just nature...right?

Gluten is usually used as an additive in the food industry to add texture to bread products, like crusts, muffins, or crackers.  Gluten can make things chewy and more substantial, "firmer" in a certain sense.  This makes it extremely useful for all sorts of baked goods.  Gluten is also an excellent protein source, containing about 23 g per quarter cup.  It's also an excellent source of iron.

So why take it out of food?  Why are there such huge advocates of gluten-free diets?  Is the stuff secretly bad for you?  How could it be?  It's just part of grains, and grains are healthy...right?  Well, the good news is that gluten isn't as bad for you as certain people make it out to be.  In fact, as mentioned above, gluten can be quite healthy in certain regards.  However, there is a good percentage of people that can't digest gluten, and suffer from what's called "gluten intolerance."

While this could come about from a wheat allergy, the most common form of gluten intolerance is a disease called celiac disease.  This disease isn't a fun one (not that any disease really is...), and basically prevents your body from absorbing the nutrients normally obtained through food.  How does it manifest itself?  Well, of all things, gluten is the culprit.  For people with celiac disease, consumed gluten actually damages the small intestine through a malfunctioning auto-immune response to the gluten itself.  Your body basically attacks its own intestines, and damages their abilities to absorb nutrients.  Not good.  Not good at all.

People who suffer from celiac disease, or another form of gluten intolerance, have to go on what are called gluten free diets.  These diets aren't easy, and used to be ridiculously restrictive (because so many things contain gluten), but the food options for gluten intolerant individuals are gradually increasing.  Generally all one has to do to find a gluten free variety of their favorite food is to look a little harder on the grocery store shelves. Most companies produce a gluten free variety of their popular products.

So what are the symptoms of gluten intolerance/celiac disease?

Celiac Disease Symptoms In Adults:

Return to Beginning of Celiac Disease Symptoms

• Anemia
• Arthritis
• Bone density loss
• Borborygmi (stomach rumbling)
• Depression and irritability
• Fatigue
• Infertility (see Celiac Disease and Infertility)
• Joint pain
• Nausea
• Seizures
• Numbness in the patient’s hands and feet
• Dermatitis Herpetiformis
• Urticaria

Celiac Disease Symptoms In Children:

Return to Beginning of Celiac Disease Symptoms

• Abdominal pain
• Abdominal distention
• Bloating
• Constipation
• Intermittent diarrhea
• Malodorous flatulence
• Weight loss
• Vomiting
• Delayed growth, stunted growth or Failure to Thrive
• Grayish stools with a foul odor
• Dermatitis Herpetiformis
• Urticaria

Those are two lists I pulled off of the first reference listed.  Now many are common occurrences with all sorts of diseases, so you'll definitely want to talk to your doctor about whether or not you may be gluten intolerant.  

But is gluten itself bad?  No, it isn't.  It's just certain bodies can't digest it, and in turn those people become very malnourished and sick quite quickly, without any real obvious reason.  Even people with extremely healthy diets can become quite sickly if they are unknowingly gluten intolerant.  I may suggest trying out a gluten free diet if you're experiencing a few of these symptoms.  Who knows, it may help.

So hopefully you now know a little more about gluten, its composition, its role in our bodies, and how it affects certain people.  Now you can look at those gluten free packages and know exactly what's up.  Cool...right?

GOOD LUCK!

References:

http://gluten-intolerance-symptoms.com/what-is-gluten/#what-is-gluten-4

http://gluten-intolerance-symptoms.com/celiac-disease-symptoms/

Bodyweight Isn't Everything

I'm a firm believer in the fact that if you train hard as hell and eat right consistently, you can accomplish fantastic feats of strength, endurance, and power DESPITE being overweight, underweight, or right on your supposedly perfect "BMI."  That video above is partially of Caleb Ward (in the blue shirt), an upcoming 105kg+ class American Weightlifter.  Yes, you heard me right, he's in the 105kg+ class, which means he weighs over 230lbs.  Can most of you flip around like Caleb?  No?  I can't either, and I'm over 70lbs lighter.  Some of you may be absolute gym rats, completely ripped to shreds and strong as a bull.  Can you flip around like that?  I'd be inclined to say no.  A better question might be, could you clean 440lbs?  No?  Well not many can, but Caleb has done it, on multiple occasions.  He is an absolute powerhouse, one of the most consistent, strong, flexible,  and promising weight lifters in this country.  And if he was just walking down the street, I bet you'd just think he was overweight.

The point I'm trying to make with this article is as follows:  Even if you're overweight, you can still be extremely "fit."  And even if you're sitting right on your perfect weight ratio for your age, you can still be extremely unhealthy and out of shape.  What do I mean?  Well, I'll tell you stories of countless people I know who suffer from a condition called "skinny-fat."  This condition involves being very skinny, but eating like absolute crap.  I have a friend who's about 6' tall, weighs a whopping 128lbs, and last night for dinner had a heaping pile of linguine, then an entire cheese quesadilla, followed by two cream puffs and a donut.  He didn't touch a single vegetable, fruit, or protein (other than maybe the beef chunks he loaded into the quesadilla.)  How many calories would his dinner amount to?  I'd guess around 1700 for the dinner, and probably another 600 for the dessert.  And I can't even count the number of unhealthy sugar carbs he just had.  Honestly I was flabbergasted.  How could someone, ANYONE, eat like that, and expect to go about their merry way with no further consequences?

Here's news for all of you.  If you eat horribly like my friend here, no matter what your outward appearance may be, you WILL feel and perform like your body has never exercised a day in its life.  Do you think that someone who has this kind of diet can maximize their lifestyle and gym performance?  The answer is a big, fat, NO.  Your performance will reflect your preparation.  And your preparation (training) hinges on a balanced diet with all of the essential nutrients in carefully balanced ratios.  So it all comes back to food, and even those who are blessed with fast metabolisms will feel the wrath of the quesadillas eventually.

Here's some more food for thought, just because I believe the more evidence that's presented, the  more you'll be inclined to see what I mean about correct diet and training regardless of body weight.  Here's a quote from Menshealth.com regarding another weightlifter named Shane Hammond:

"Even the bulkiest Olympic heavyweights make astonishing leaps.  Shane Hamman, the top American lifter in the history of the sport, weighs in at 350 pounds but boasts a vertical jump of 36 inches.  Most NBA players top out at 34 inches.  Not only can Ham-man dunk (he's 5'9"), he can also drive a golf ball 350 yards."

Can you imagine a 350lb man who's 5'9" tall dunking a basketball over your head?  I find it a little hard to visualize, but not impossible.  Shane is as strong as a bull, and trains hard.  He eats BIG, but he eats right, as to all superheavyweights of the sport.  He is an epitome of human strength and power, and he gets around just fine at a weight that most people would need a wheelchair.

I believe seeing is believing though, so here's a few more feats of remarkable strength by those of remarkable size:

      A man who weighs 350lbs doing 13 pullups.

A 315lb man running what they claim to be a 4.6 forty (even if it was slightly slower, that guy is MOVING FAST).  This goes for a lot of NFL linebackers, I wouldn't doubt that most can run faster than I can.  Excuse the fowl language at the end of the video.

Pat Mendes, a US weightlifter weighing about 280lbs, jumping and touching a 10ft garage door.

Here's my final word.  I'm not going to suggest for a second that any of you should just drop your fears of becoming obese and beginning to eat as big as you want.  That's not the point.  My point is that eating right and training hard can make anyone an absolute monster in the field, on the court, on the platform, or anywhere else really.  Being overweight isn't good, no, but as you've seen it's not by any means the be all end all if it's not all fat and laziness crowding up your arteries.  And don't think for one second that just because you might be able to get away cramming that double cheeseburger without weight gain, that you'll be able to out-power or out-sprint the huge guy walking down the street who's been training for years on end and eating big and clean.  Performance rewards those who work for it, not those who get lucky.

Train hard as hell, eat as best you can, and as always, good luck!

Shane Hamman and his astounding vertical leap.

High Fructose Corn Syrup: Killer Sweetness

I've said it before and I'll say it again.  Processed food ISN'T GOOD FOR YOU.  Even some who eat it realize this.  Lean Cuisine, Ramen, TV dinners, powdered donuts, whatever name it goes by, it's packed with chemicals, sugar, salt, and other nasty things that'll get you heavy quite quickly.  The devil is in the ingredients, and there are a few that can cause some real damage to your body.  The one I am particularly wary of these days is High Fructose Corn Syrup, or HFCS for short.  It's a sweetening agent used in more foods than you or I could think of off the tops of our heads.  It's EVERYWHERE!  And the more processed a food is, the more likely that it contains this devilish little chemical.  But what exactly is this stuff, and why is it so bad?

HFCS, as stated above, is a sweetening agent.  More specifically, it's a replacement for sucrose, or natural sugar.  It achieves the same sort of taste as sucrose, making foods sweet and yummy without needing overly huge amounts of the stuff.  But why do companies use it, when they could just use sucrose instead?  Well, what do most large scale corporations want to cut down on drastically at every little twist and turn in their manufacturing, shipping, and marketing processes?  Hmmmm...COST perhaps?  Guess what!  Sucrose gets really expensive here in the US because of all the import costs associated with it.  HFCS is by far the cheaper option, and therefore is used in thousands of places instead of sucrose.  And in all honesty, although I'm not big on sugar, pure sucrose is far healthier than this stuff is.

It's interesting too, because in general sucrose and HFCS aren't that far off from each other chemically.  They are both composed of two different sugars, glucose and fructose.  Sucrose is 50-50 glucose and fructose, where as HFCS is 58% fructose and 42% glucose.  Surprisingly though this seemingly insignificant percentage of difference adds up big time.  Here's a quote from Livestrong.com about an animal test confirming what we've all been considering:  

"For a long time, researchers debated whether high fructose corn syrup was different from other sweeteners in its effects on human health. To test this assertion, a group of researchers from Princeton University fed rats a diet high in HFCS. They published their results in a 2010 issue of the journal "Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior." In the study, the HFCS caused abnormal increases of body fat, especially in the abdomen, and circulating levels of triglycerides in the blood. 

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/546302-high-fructose-corn-syrup-hardening-of-the-arteries/#ixzz1dmS7BHRR"

This extra body fat is caused by the larger percentage of fructose in the chemical, which can only be processed by the liver.  In fact, the fructose in HFCS can bypass the digestive process that normally breaks down other, similar sugars, and goes straight to the liver.  This is because unlike in sucrose, where fructose and glucose are bonded together, in HFCS they are free from each other and therefore can be readily absorbed into the bloodstream with no digestion needed.  The fructose gets processed into triglycerides, which in layman's terms means they accumulate as fat.  The more fructose, in this case, the more fat.  If you weren't convinced by an animal study (which I rarely am, considering rats and humans are very different creatures), here's another study that was done on humans, from alternet.org:  

"In a study conducted by University of California researchers, 16 volunteers were given a strictly controlled diet including very high levels of fructose. Another group was given the same diet but with high levels of glucose (regular sugar) replacing the fructose. Over 10 weeks, the volunteers that were given fructose produced new fat cells around their heart, liver and other digestive organs. They also showed signs of food-processing abnormalities linked to diabetes and heart disease. The control group of volunteers on the same diet, but with glucose sugar replacing fructose, did not have these problems."

Such fast changes in ten weeks?  WOW!

  Here are a few more reasons why you should try to avoid HFCS whenever possible:

Hardening of the arteries:  Because of the excess triglycerides HFCS helps to produce, your artery walls can begin to harden from excess fat.  This can lead to heart disease, something you DO NOT WANT in older (or younger) age.  

Obesity:  As is evidenced by what has already been said so far, HFCS is one of the largest links to obesity out there in modern society.  The evidence keeps pouring in that those who consume more food and drink containing HFCS have much larger risks of becoming obese.  In fact as HFCS was introduced into mainstream processed foods back in the 70's, its increased usage has almost exactly mirrored the increase in obese individuals.  Because the unbonded fructose in HFCS is almost immediately absorbed into the bloodstream (with no other digestive processes), it's easy to see why it can cause so much fat gain so quickly.  

Keeps You Hungry:  HFCS plays another role in weight gain, this one much more devious, as you might not even know it's happening.  Our body has a few well designed "full" triggers in it that help us to realize when we've eaten enough for our metabolic needs.  One such trigger is called ghrelin, an enzyme secreted by the stomach to cause hunger.  In normal food consumption, ghrelin is eventually neutralized or "shut off" in order to let us know that we're full.  However HFCS does not deactivate ghrelin, and therefore can prevent us from knowing when we've eaten enough.  That's not good, especially on a diet.  

Other health effects related to HFCS include: Pancreatic cancer, kidney stones, and hair loss.  It's not something you want to consume much of, that's for sure.

Here's a final word of warning.  HFCS can hide in foods you might not expect, and may be doing more damage than you think.  Here's a few foods that contain HFCS that may have slipped under your radar:

Bread:  Many breads, even the 100% whole wheat variations, contain HFCS.  These slices can sabotage your otherwise healthy sandwhich.  The solution?  Spend a little extra time in the grocery store and read the ingredients on a few different brands.  Some are made with NO ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS, and these are the brands you should buy.  Trust me, that little extra time will help bigtime.

Canned/Bottled Drinks:  Yup, you guessed it.  Soda, and other main stream energy drinks usually have HFCS in their ingredients.  They'll pull you in with flashy colors and claims of electrolyte replenishment, but believe me they won't do you much good.  Again, read the ingredients, and choose wisely.  Usually nothing beats good ol' water.  

Cereal:  Even your breakfast may be sabotaged!  Many Kelloggs products contain HFCS, including Raisin Bran and Rice Krispies, two very famous breakfast cereals.  However many bran-flake variations include HFCS as well, so don't think you're off the hook just because you're getting high fiber.  READ THE INGREDIENTS!!!

Crackers:  Nabisco Wheat Thins contain a good amount of HFCS, which is unforunate because I love the things.  Watch your consumption of little appetizer type foods, as they can usually add up quickly, and if they contain the bad stuff then you're in for some trouble with your diet.  I'll just keep saying it I guess, to hammer it through your head.  Read....the...ingredients......PLEASE.  

Sauces/Salad Dresssings:  Last but not least, many popular sauces contain HFCS, including A1 steak sauce.    Also, salad dressings are quite famous for large amounts of HFCS, another reason to keep your salad dry (read my healthy salad article here:  ).  And you know what I'm going to say next.  In fact, I'm not even going to say it.  Just do it.  Please.  

Here's a list of many, many, MANY foods that contain HFCS.  The list is by no means complete, but gives a good idea of how this artificial sweetener has infiltrated our diets:  http://www.accidentalhedonist.com/index.php/2005/06/09/foods_and_products_containing_high_fruct

Bottom Line:  HFCS might be hard to remove from your diet completely.  That's ok, because accepting it's there and making an effort to avoid it will make a HUGE difference.  Just try to get a good majority of it out of your mouth, and I bet you'll be pleasantly surprised by the difference.  You'll have done your body a world of good.  

READ THE INGREDIENTS....and good luck!!!!

A few references:  

http://www.alternet.org/story/144816/high_fructose_corn_syrup_proven_to_cause_human_obesity

http://www.livestrong.com/high-fructose-corn-syrup/

http://www.ajcn.org/content/79/4/537.full

http://www.healthybrainforlife.com/articles/healthy-food/high-fructose-corn-syrup-a-sweetner-to-avoid

Food Worship #5: The Pomegranate

To be honest, it'd been forever since I've had a Pomegranate.  In fact I bet a lot of my readers have never tried one before in their life.  Actually, you might not even know what one looks like (that's OK, it's a pretty strange fruit, not a common buy.)  But last night, when visiting home, I found a big ol' red pomegranate just sitting there on the counter, inconspicuously.  Upon asking about it, my mom said I was welcome to slice it in half and have one of the pieces, as the other was to be saved for my sister (who saves food for months.  She still has Easter candy from two years ago.)  I immediately cut that sucker open and dug in.

The only really edible part of a Pomegranate are the seeds, which seems strange because usually we avoid those in most fruits.  The actual fleshy part of the fruit itself is quite bitter, and although I tried a couple bites, I definitely don't think I could've stomached the rest of it.  Pomegranates have both an interesting flavor and texture, both of which are very distinct.  The seeds are quite sweet, juicy, and slightly crunchy as well.  It's definitely a flavor I REALLY enjoy, and I'd suggest picking up a pomegranate from your local grocery store sometime in the near future and trying it out, as you might find you are very partial to it.

Interestingly enough, the humble pomegranate has had a rich history with all sorts of ancient civilizations.  It's believed that Eve (from the bible) actually picked a pomegranate from the Garden of Eden, not an apple like we've come to believe.  Ancient Egyptian mummies were often buried with pomegranates because it was believed they could offer immortality to the dead.  And in both ancient Greece and China, pomegranates are a symbol of good luck.  That's a lot of history for one fruit.

But what I've found most interesting with pomegranates are that for some reason, to me, they just feel healthy.  The taste is powerful enough to convince you that this big red bulbous fruit is definitely helping your body in some way or another.  And you'd be right to think that.  Pomegranates are one of the best fruits going in terms of nutrients and antioxidants.

Here's a few of their numerous bodily benefits:

Heart healthy:  The antioxidants in pomegranate seeds and it's juice have a plethora of uses in your body, such as preventing the oxidation of bad cholesterol and causing the hardening of arteries.  The juice can even help to clear already clogged arteries to a certain degree.  This will help to keep your blood flowing smoothly, allowing it to deliver more oxygen where it's needed, lowering your blood pressure, and putting less strain on your heart.

Fights Cancer:  There have been all sorts of studies done on pomegranate juice's effect on various types of cancer.  The juice supposedly kills breast cancer cells, can help prevent and slow the growth of prostate cancer (this was proven in an experiment involving mice), and may even help prevent certain types of lung cancer.  That's an impressive resume for a simple fruit, and all the more reason to get a little bit of pomegranate juice into your diet.

Pomegranate juice has been shown even to help prevent an already existent cancer from spreading cancer.  Here's a quote from an article regarding prostate cancer and pomegranate juice:

"The Martins-Green lab applied pomegranate juice on laboratory-cultured prostate cancer cells that were resistant to testosterone (the more resistant a cancer cell is to testosterone, the more prone it is to metastasizing).

The researchers -- Martins-Green, graduate student Lei Wang and undergraduate students Andre Alcon and Jeffrey Ho -- found that the pomegranate juice-treated tumor cells that had not died with the treatment showed increased cell adhesion (meaning fewer cells breaking away) and decreased cell migration."

I definitely suggest reading more of that article, as it shows some pretty extraordinary supporting evidence for the benefits of pomegranate.  Here's the link:  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/12/101212121741.htm

Vitamins/Other Nutrients:  Pomegranates, like other fruit, are a very rich vitamin source.  They tend to have an especially large amount of Vitamin C, an extremely important vitamin in the now full blown cold season.  Pomegranates also have large amounts of Beta Carotene, as well as Polyphenol, another assistant to decreasing bad cholesterol.

Fiber:  The seeds in pomegranates have a decent amount of fiber in them, which as you can tell by my previous articles I'm a HUGE fan of, because fiber has so many great benefits.  It can help control your weight, aid in healthy digestion, and help keep you satiated.  Just plain awesome.

Clearly, pomegranates are quite the health food.  They taste AMAZING in my opinion, and I would definitely recommend trying one out.  It'll only do your body good, and can be a great alternative to the boring old fruit bowl filled with apples and oranges day in and day out.  Get some variety in your diet, try a fruit you haven't before.  Make the pomegranate a new staple in your clean eating endeavors.

Oh, one more note, pomegranate juice stains any sort of fabric.  I found that out last night while cutting into the darn thing.  Make sure you're wearing an old shirt, or are well protected.

Try some variety, pick up a fruit with both an amazing history and a bright future.  Good luck!

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A few reference sites:

http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/the-health-benefits-of-pomegranates/

http://www.ehow.com/facts_5049955_vitamins-pomegranates.html

http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/the-health-benefits-of-pomegranates/

http://www.healthdiaries.com/eatthis/11-health-benefits-of-pomegranate-juice.html

http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/the-health-benefits-of-pomegranates/