Best Nutrition Tips Ever

Diet advice is a lot like fashion. Trends come—wedge sneakers, drop-crotch pants, those skirts that are short in the front and long in the back—and a year or two later they seem hopelessly out of date. But the truly stylish always look smart; you’ll never see a photo of Pharrell Williams wearing crocs or Victoria Beckham in a meat dress. Here at Eat This, Not That! we see the same thing with the lean and fit: Those who stay slim don’t follow diets or nutrition trends. They follow common sense eating strategies that keep them looking fit for life.

Giving up gluten, throwing back shots of apple cider vinegar, juicing everything in sight—try them if you think they make sense. (And if you need a little boost to get you back on track, try our Ultimate One Day Detox.) But when those of-the-moment diet fads are gathering dust in the back of your metaphorical closet, the simple, smart, sensible approaches will be there like a favorite pair of jeans or a perfect little black dress—look-great staples guaranteed to never go out of style.

NUTRITION TIP #1. Hide your weakness.

If you see it, you’ll eat it. If you don’t see it, you’ll still eat it—but not so much. That’s what a study at Google’s New York office, dubbed “Project M&M” found. Office managers discovered that placing the chocolate candies in opaque containers as opposed to glass ones, and giving healthier snacks like nuts and figs more prominent shelf space, curbed M&M intake by 3.1 million calories in just seven weeks. A similar study published in the Journal of Marketing found that people are more likely to overeat small treats from transparent packages than from opaque ones. Out of sight, out of mind, out of mouth.

NUTRITION TIP #2. Use the 1 in 10 rule.

For every 10 grams of carbohydrate listed on the label, look for at least one gram of fiber. Why 10:1? That’s the ratio of carbohydrate to fiber in a genuine, unprocessed whole grain. The recommendation comes from a study published in the journal Public Health Nutritionthat evaluated hundreds of grain products; foods that met the 10:1 ratio had have less sugar, sodium, and trans fats than those that didn’t.

NUTRITION TIP #3. Boost flavor to cut calories.

Ever notice how everything inside a McDonald’s—the burgers, the fries, the shakes—smells exactly the same? That sameness of scent is actually a tactic that can inspire you to consume more calories. A study in the journal Flavour found that the less distinctive the scent of a particular food, the more you’ll eat of it. Adding herbs and sodium-free spice blends is an easy take advantage of sensory illusion that you’re indulging in something rich—without adding any fat or calories to your plate. Furthermore, a recent behavioral study that taught adults to spruce up meals with herbs instead of salt led to a decrease in sodium consumption by nearly 1000 mg a day (that’s more salt than you’ll find in 5 bags of Doritos!).

NUTRITION TIP #4. Chill pasta to melt fat.

You can gain less weight from a serving of pasta simply by putting it in the fridge. The drop in temperature changes the nature of the noodles into something called “resistant starch,” meaning your body has to work harder to digest it. Cold pasta is closer in structure to natural resistant starches like lentils, peas, beans, and oatmeal, which pass through the small intestine intact and are digested in the large intestine, where—well, it gets kinda gross from there on out. A study in the journal Nutrition & Metabolism found that adding resistant starch to a meal may also promote fat oxidation. Suffice it say, colder noodles = hotter you. But you’ve got to eat it cold: Once you heat the pasta up again, you destroy the resistant starch.

NUTRITION TIP #5. Dim the lights to get lighter.

A study of fast food restaurants published in the journal Psychological Reports found that customers who dined in a relaxed environment with dimmed lights and mellow music ate 175 fewer calories per meal than if they were in a more typical restaurant environment. That may not sound like a dramatic savings, but cutting 175 calories from dinner every night could save you more than 18 pounds in a year!

NUTRITION TIP #6. Eat, Don’t Drink, Your Fruit

Juicing may be the rage, but like a certain Mr. Simpson, some juice can do more harm than good—including OJ. Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health found that people who consumed one or more servings of fruit juice each day increased their risk of developing type 2 diabetes by as much as 21 percent. Conversely, those who ate at least two servings each week of certain whole fruits— particularly blueberries, grapes, and apples—reduced their risk for type 2 diabetes by as much as 23 percent. So stock up on the Best Fruits for Fat Loss and eat them whole.

NUTRITION TIP #7. Eat before you eat.

Eating an appetizer of a broth-based soup or even an apple can reduce total calorie intake over the course of the meal by up to 20 percent, according to a series of “Volumetrics”studies at Penn State. Consider that, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association, the average restaurant meal contains 1,128 calories. A 20 percent savings, just once a day, is enough to help you shed more than 23 pounds in a year.

NUTRITION TIP #8. Choose paper, not plastic.

Here’s a simple way to improve the health of your shopping cart: A series of experiments by Cornell University looked at the effects of payment method on food choice. When shoppers used credit cards, they bought more unhealthful “vice” foods than they did “virtue” foods. Researchers suggest that you’re less likely to impulsively buy junk food if it means parting with a hundred dollar bill than swiping plastic.

NUTRITION TIP #9. Water down the calories.

You’ve been told to drink 8 glasses of water a day, but why bother? Well, what if staying hydrated could strip pounds off your body? According to a study in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, after drinking approximately 17 ounces of water (about 2 tall glasses), participants’ metabolic rates increased by 30 percent. The researchers estimate that increasing water intake by 1.5 liters a day (about 6 cups) would burn an extra 17,400 calories over the course of the year—a weight loss of approximately five pounds! Fill up at the tap and read about the 4 Surprising Secrets of Bottled Water so you stay hydrated the healthy way.

Nutrition Tips for Everyday Health

By: Stacy Kennedy, MPH, RD, 

Here are my top ten favorite tips for healthy eating all year long, with lots of amazing links to more helpful information from Reboot.  This is by no means a complete list of guidelines but a few key things to get you started or keep you moving forward on the path toward healthy eating as a lifestyle.

1.) Drink plenty of water.

Our bodies are about 60% water – with muscle mass carrying much more than fat tissue!  We need to drink water to keep our body systems running smoothly, optimize metabolism, boost energy levels, and promote good digestion, just to name a few.  Besides water,electrolytes are important especially if you exercise.

2.) Eat plenty of plants.

These colorful gems provide essential phytonutrients, micronutrients, vitamins, minerals and enzymes – all of which are just as important for your health as the macronutrients we often hear about (think carbs, proteins and fats).

3.) Eat and drink often throughout the day.

The jury is still out on whether 6 small meals or 3 meals is best so try to figure out what feels right for you.  But overall, having high quality small snacks, “mini meals” or fresh juice during the day can help to boost energy and prevent over-eating.

4.) Eat mindfully. 

Limit distractions and take time to experience eating and engage your senses. Up to 30-40% of nutrients may not be properly absorbed if you are distracted while eating.  Like walking, watching TV, typing, working – all very common eating activities these days.  Digestion begins in the brain so by looking at, thinking about and smelling your food, you can help your body benefit from the wonderful nutrients locked away in that meal while enjoying the experience even more!

5.) Limit processed foods.

Read labels carefully. Make natural, homemade versions of store-bought foods.  Like hummus or granola bars, yum!

6.) Seek local foods often and organic foods sometimes.

Local eating not only has more nutrients it can also save you money.  You don’t have to get everything organic if that isn’t feasible, for some items it matters more (like apples and strawberries).

7.) Include healthy fats in your diet.

Eating fat doesn’t necessarily make you fat!  Many immune supportive vitamins, like Vitamin E or beta-carotene and hormones, like Vitamin D require some fat in the diet for absorption.  Pass the avocado, please!

8.) Include healthy protein rich foods, including plant-based choices.

Protein rich foods can help to reduce reflux and keep blood sugar levels stable while supporting healthy muscles and your immune system. If you want to add more protein to your juices, chia seeds, hemp seeds, spirulina or the Reboot with Joe Protein Powder are great choices.

9.) For weight management focus more on inclusion of healthy foods and less on restriction of portions.

New research finds sugar addiction is like drug abuse

It’s in our coffee, in our tomato sauce and in that chocolate bar you’ve treated yourself to. But shocking new research has found eating sugar is similar to taking various drugs.

The research out of Queensland University of Technology discovered the dreadful affects sugar consumption is having on our brains, possibly causing a change in our behaviour.

PhD researcher Masoor Shariff has compared sugar consumption to drug abuse and found some very scary similarities between the two. Eating sugar and drug of abuse change the layout of our brain cells in much the same way.

“Basically brain cells communicate with each other and other parts of the body and if there’s a change in the structure and layout it’s going to change that communication, impacting behaviour,” Mr Shariff said.

Neuroscientist Professor Selena Bartlett said when we have sugar, our brain releases dopamine. Dopamine is also released when we take a hit of drugs and it makes us feel pleasure and attachment to what we’ve consumed.

After long-term drug abuse or sugar consumption, the dopamine levels drop, which leads to higher consumption of a substance because you are trying to get that pleasurable feeling back.

This means you can get addicted to sugar, the same way you get addicted to drugs. Professor Bartlett said if you’re a sugar addict and try to quit, you can have withdrawals in the same way drug addicts can.

When you try to quit sugar, it causes a dopamine imbalance, the same as if you were to go cold turkey from drugs.

The researchers initially were trying to discover what alcohol addiction did to the brain and decided to test sugar as well and were completely shocked by the findings.

“I was surprised, I still am,” Mr Shariff said. “Sugar is something that is so prevalent and it’s given to kids and it could be having the same affect as drugs on us.

“This really put the spotlight on the fact we need to re-evaluate our sugar intake.”

Sugar is also having a similar affect on us as tobacco and the researchers are looking into whether drugs to help quit smoking could cure sugar addictions. People addicted to tobacco can access a drug called Champix, which helps reduce cravings and Mr Shariff believes the drug could work in the same way for those who can’t stop eating sugar.

Sugar addiction causes disorders like binge-eating and leads to a lack of motivation and sometimes depression. It can also cause people to lose control and impact your mood. These new shock findings really drive home just what sugar is doing to our bodies.

We already know it’s a leading factor when it comes to obesity and the latest World Health Organisation figures tell us 1.9 billion people in the world are overweight and 600 million are considered obese.

“Excess sugar consumption has been proven to contribute directly to weight gain,” Professor Bartlett said. The researchers still don’t know exactly how much sugar we need to consume before it becomes a problem but Mr Shariff said it was important for people to consume it in moderation. “If you consume lots of sugar, especially over a long period of time, that’s not going to be very helpful,” he said.

Those thinking they can just replace sugar with artificial sweetener should also beware. Mr Shariff has also looked at what that does to our brain and it is having a very similar affect to sugar and drugs.

So far the relationship between sugar and drugs has been tested on rats and Mr Shariff is hoping a human clinical trial will not be too far off. “We want to try Champix on humans to see if it does reduce sugar cravings and we want to certainly test a host of other things this particular study has highlighted,” he said.

“Hopefully we can develop newer drugs in the future and I am interested in examining the affect sugar has on the brain over an extended period of time and seeing if the brain can recuperate.”

This article originally appeared on news.com.au