Here’s a ugly confession - most of the nutrition advice that I give clients doesn’t require a PhD. The chances are good that you know enough about nutrition to make a lot of progress towards your goals.
(What I do provide clients is the strategy behind achieving their goals and the clear path for them to achieve their goals at an accelerated rate - but it rarely is an issue of them needing to understand that a ½ cup of wild blueberries contains 375mg of polyphenols and not 150mg).
What you need to do is trust yourself and fill the gaps. Trust that you know enough to get started - you know that a bowl of Greek yogurt with berries is a better choice than a donut. So make that choice. You know that you should eat protein at every meal - so don’t skip breakfast and then have a bagel and coffee at 11am and call it brunch.
Close the gap between what you know and what you are doing. See how far that gets you towards your goals - you’ll be surprised.
Knowing what to do and not doing it is the same as not knowing what to do. - Robin Sharma
Do what you know, relentlessly. If you need help, let me know.
Fats - Less Calories Than You Think
I was having a conversation about nutrition with another parent at a Little League game this weekend (as you can imagine, I get into a lot of conversations about nutrition on the sidelines of athletic fields). We were talking about snacking. They mentioned how they like pistachios (and pulled a single serve bag out of her purse) but they are concerned about the fat and calorie content. This is a common misconception that I was happy to clear up so that this person would continue to regularly eat nuts (arguably the healthiest food on the planet - unless you are allergic to them).
Research studies show us that you only digest about ⅔ of the calories found in almonds and pistachios. So 1 serving (¼ cup), which is described on the food label as 140 calories is only 100 calories. The fibers end up binding some of the fats and your body can’t access them. Other research shows that adding a snack of pistachios to your daily diet doesn’t lead to any change in body weight.
Nuts are a high fat food but you shouldn’t view them as foods that you need to avoid. Instead eat them daily - they have less calories than you think!
Protein - A Little Protein for Enhanced Recovery
A bunch of my friends were over in France this past weekend doing the 50k or 80k GORUCK event in honor of the 80th Anniversary of D Day. When you are covering that much ground, continually getting sugar into your muscles to fuel your efforts is extremely important so that they can keep cranking.
Our initial reaction in these situations is to reach for a sports drink to rapidly replenish these sugar/glycogen stores in our muscles. But here’s the trick, research from the early 2000s shows us that if you add a little protein to your recovery drink - you can actually refill your energy stores faster. Just 10g of protein will do the trick. Something fast digesting like whey protein isolate or even essential amino acids (these mix up better in a carb drink).
When you need to refuel quickly, carbs are key but a little protein is this ignition switch to really set things off!
Carbs - Weird Potato Trick
Potatoes are an interesting food. Underrated, bastardized, and misunderstood. You can make vodka, french fries, potato salad, and roasted potatoes from them. They contain an incredible amount of potassium but my favorite thing about potatoes is resistant starch.
Resistant starch is a type of carbohydrate that resists digestion in the small intestine. Instead of being broken down and absorbed, it passes through to the large intestine, where it acts like dietary fiber. Think of it as a kind of superfood for your gut bacteria.
You can get resistant starch from potatoes by cooking them and then cooling them. The heating and then cooling of a potato converts some of the starches in potatoes to resistant starches. Potato salad for the win! Right?
I like to boil a bag of baby potatoes (also called creamers) until they are fork tender, let them cool, and then store them in the fridge. It is easy to add 2-3 to a salad or lunch during the week to get quality carbs and resistant starches.
Talk soon,
Dr. Mike
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Mike Roussell, PhD
Nutrition Strategist
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