‘Superfood’ is such a loose marketing term these days. Sometimes we’re talking about simple everyday foods like garlic or ginger, other times we may be talking about more exotic things like Acai or Camu camu. Because of this confusion in the market, when I was asked to write a top 10 list of superfoods I decided to turn to the internet. I took 20 blogs, media outlets and supplement producer websites. Collated their suggestions of top 10 lists and tried to get an idea of what most nutritionists and health experts think of the best superfoods available. Oddly enough, I sort of agree with how this list turned out.
Vitamin A is a generic term for a group of fat soluble vitamins that is divided into two main subtypes, preformed Vitamin A which includes retinol and its esterified form retinyl ester. The second subtype being provitamin A which includes beta-carotene, alpha-carotene and beta-cryptoxanthin
I've been working in the supplement industry for a while now and over the few years there has been a little irritating the that comes up every now and then. I saw Dr. Oz and Garcinia Cambogia spring to the forefront of everyones mind and the curious little question that creeps in to a consumers mind, "Is this it? Is this what is finally going to give me a kick start to being happy?" I've seen raspberry ketones, African Mango, Green Tea Extract.. all of these silver bullets, secret weapon if you will to weight loss that people hear that will help them achieve their goals.
Sleep is something that every living creature on this planet needs. Yet for some reason, most people (that have grown out of their teenage years) either look at it as a waste of time or as a commodity that they will simply get more of later. I want to look at reasons why we need sleep, how much we need and ways that we can optimise our lifestyle, nutrition and supplementation habits to get the most out of sleep.
I have not posted anything on this site in a very long time.
I have several articles which I started writing and didn't end up posting. Or even just titles written down in the hopes that they would jog my memory on the idea that I had at the time.
Like this one for example. "Busy is the word of the devil!"
Carnitine is a very popular and highly valuable supplement that can be used for many health benefits. It comes in many forms though, and establishing the differences between the structure, role and benefits of each can become a bit confusing. In this article I would like to cover the differences, the uses and the benefits of the two most well-known forms, L- Carnitine and Acetyl L- Carnitine, in an attempt to clear some of this confusion up.
Are You Okay? Day is a day promoted by the "R U Okay?" foundation. It's a non profit group, looking to increase awareness of depression and suicide risk. Founded by Gavin Larkin. After the suicide of his father, Gavin wanted to help create a world without suicide.
So last night, if you follow me on Facebook, you may have seen I linked out an article from Jim Wendlers Blog. If you didn't catch it, the article is called 'Time to Man Up' and if you haven't already, I seriously suggest you give that a read before you continue on here.
Almost every culture has it's traditional fermented foods. We see a long fermentation process applied to Wheat to give us Sour dough bread, Barley and Buttermilk fermented can give us Rabadi, fermenting Soy gives us many varieties of products like Miso, Tempeh and to a lesser extent Soy sauce (the wheat is not fermented here), Ruminant (thats cows, goats, sheep, camels etc.) Milk for Cheeses and Yoghurts.
I once heard that the two year mark is the hardest to break through. And to be honest, I don't remember where I heard this or who it was from. To quote them, "Statistically speaking the average person can only stick with a diet for up to two years.". What I remember most from when I heard this though, is that it scared me.
So, as you may know one of my few jobs that I'm working now is for an un-named supplement retailer. And since I've been there, I have had an astonishing amount of people come to me and ask for usually two of three items. These supplements as they are, I do not have an issue with. At one point or another, I have used thermogenic supplements (things like the green coffee extract) and I have also used testosterone boosters. I understand their benefits but I also understand their downfalls.
I was in the gym the other day, and I overheard someone talking to another guy about fish oil dosages. And funnily enough the day before that I was talking with a friend about a recommendation they heard about, which was to take something like 4 capsules with every meal per day. On a standard diet written for weight loss or even a general fitness diet, we see a client eating six or seven meals a day. So that works out to be at least 24 capsules a day!
There's a lot of information out there about gluten sensitivities and coeliac disease that really makes it out that if you stop eating bread and you have not been diagnosed by a medical practitioner, you are a bad person. It's a strange phenomenon because if a vegetarian says, "I just don't like how eating meat makes me feel" the following reply usually is something along the lines of, "Oh that's cool. I've been trying to eat a lot more veggies lately too!", "So do you only eat vegetables?" and that's where the conversation usually ends. With gluten however, the conversation from the other party usually gets steered in the direction of, "Like, are you a real coeliac, or just one of those fake ones?". I find this absurd. I even know of some coeliacs, who are quite vocal about this and belittle those who are trying to find their way to health.
In this article, I'm going to cover what exactly gluten is, how it affects a large portion of the population and the pit falls of a gluten free diet.