What is Inflammation?

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How do I reduce inflammation?

• Are you sure you actually have an issue with inflammation?

• If you are overweight, take steps to reduce body fat.

• If you are a healthy weight, maintain your healthy weight.

• Exercise regularly.

• Eat a varied diet including whole grains, vegetables, beans/legumes, fruits, nuts and fish, including oily fish like salmon and sardines.

Inflammation, like gut health, is a hot topic in nutrition. Both are areas of developing research in which the experts say more research and time is needed before making specific recommendations. 

Both are also areas in which ‘gurus’ are trying to make money from the hysteria and noise. Be very careful of anyone who claims to be sure about inflammation, dietary causes and dietary treatments. If you are considering spending any money on “inflammation reduction” from anyone who is not your doctor or medical professional, be sure to ask them which measures of inflammation they’re concerned about and exactly how their proposed treatment works for the particular inflammatory processes they believe you have. Then take that information to your medical professional before giving any of your hard earned money to a guru.

Now that the rant is done, let’s try to explain things as simply as possible.

What is inflammation

• A complex biological immune response of body tissues to cellular injury

• The purpose of inflammation is to eliminate toxic agents and repair damaged tissue

• We want inflammation to happen, however we also want inflammation to go away when its job is done.

• The resolution (removal) of inflammation once the job is done is also important. 

  • eg. switching off inflammatory processes when the injury has been repaired.

Inflammation is a ‘friend’. However we can have issues if our friend overstays its welcome. 

Acute inflammation

• A great friend. Goes in and gets the job done. As soon as the job is done, leaves you in peace.

• You get a splinter, the area becomes red and swollen as the inflammatory response heals you. The area goes back to normal as the inflammatory response is turned off after healing.

• Exercise produces an acute inflammatory response and contributes to lower chronic disease risk. Not all inflammation is bad.

Chronic inflammation and auto-immune diseases

• A foe. Overstays welcome, won’t leave and becomes damaging.

Eg: Celiac disease, Inflammatory bowel disease

Chronic low grade inflammation

• The ‘hot topic’ inflammation people are telling you to reduce.

• Widely observed in obesity.

• There is an association between chronic low grade inflammation and: 

  • metabolic syndrome

  • non-alcoholic fatty liver disease 

  • type 2 diabetes 

  • CVD (1)(2)(3)

Gut health

• There is a link between gut health and low grade chronic inflammation 

• Interactions between the GI tract and gut bacteria influence immune function and inflammation

How to maintain a healthy gut to help with inflammation

• Research is still developing and recommendations are tentative, however:

  • Eat a varied diet including whole grains, vegetables and fruits, nuts, and fish. This ensures you are eating fibre, particularly fermentable fibre (prebiotic), antioxidants and Omega-3 fatty acids.  (1)(4)(5)

How do we test for inflammation?

• We know that inflammation occurs in the body tissue, however we generally look at blood to find biomarkers and signs of inflammation. (6)

To give you an example of how many markers of inflammation show up, here is a chart from a review of research on dairy and biomarkers of inflammation. 

Here is the key for the graph if you can see the bars:

• significant anti-inflammatory change (black bars)

• no significant change (grey bar)

• significant pro-inflammatory change (white bars) (7)

The main purpose of the image above is to show how many markers of inflammation show up during these tests. Top researchers are unclear as to which markers are necessary to focus on. In fact it could actually be a combination of markers which determine if there is a level of risk or issue which needs to be addressed. 

An expert group, organised by the Nutrition and Immunity Task Force of the International Life Sciences Institute European Branch, stated -  

“Currently, there is no consensus as to which markers of inflammation best represent low-grade inflammation or differentiate between acute and chronic inflammation or between the various phases of inflammatory responses.”  (6)

Despite this, there are ‘inflammation gurus’ out there claiming that they somehow know you have inflammation and obviously know how to fix it.

Foods with anti-inflammatory properties?

• Rather than focusing on individual foods, it’s better to focus on eating a varied diet including whole grains, vegetables and fruits, nuts and fish. Focusing on one particular food and particular markers of inflammation may be too reductionist at this point.

• Some studies indicate that Omega-3 supplementation (fish oils) appear to reduce markers of inflammation however not all positive results have been replicated in further studies. It could help reduce these markers but we are probably talking about a neutral to slight positive effect. (4)

Best way to reduce chronic low grade inflammation?

• It appears that fat gain causes inflammation, not the other way around. 

• An increase in body fat is associated with an increase in inflammatory material. 

• Flip that and a reduction in body fat is associated with a reduction in inflammatory material. 

• Reducing body fat may have the greatest effect on lowering markers for low grade chronic inflammation.  (8)(9)(10)(11)

This is an attempt to simplify chronic low grade inflammation and help you stay informed. To read a more in-depth review, check out the paper from the British Journal of Nutrition entitled “Low-grade inflammation, diet composition and health: current research evidence and its translation.” (1)

To learn more about how to lose and maintain your weight, contact us today.

1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4579563/

2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4612317/

3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4243532/

4. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S156816371730003X?via%3Dihub

5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3575932/

6. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23343744

7. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26287637

8. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC296995/

9. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19238154

10. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12714437

11. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3342840/

Intermittent Fasting

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Intermittent fasting seems to be gaining in popularity and some people have been getting great results with it. There are a number of different strategies, such as; eating regularly for 5 days of the week and eating next to nothing for 2 days, or fasting for 16 to 20 hours of each day and only eating in a short window of time.

There are no magic tricks though, some people just find it easier to eat less in a day (or overall in a week) when they have set times when they can and can’t eat. The most important thing in terms of our weight is how much we are eating and drinking each day, not the actual times we are eating. The underlying principle of body weight management is energy balance. The amount of energy we consume in a day versus the amount of energy we burn in a day. It is totally fine to look at energy balance with a weekly average too. Calories are the unit of measurement for energy. Weight loss requires a Calorie deficit (consuming less energy than we burn) and weight gain a Calorie surplus (consuming more energy than we burn). 

Intermittent fasting, whether we are talking about fasting for certain days of the week or certain periods of each day, can be beneficial for many people aiming to create and sustain a Calorie deficit for weight loss. However, reviews of numerous research studies conclude that whilst fasting is a viable strategy for weight loss, it is not superior to creating Calorie deficit through other means, such as monitoring Calorie intake but eating throughout each day. 

Having rules around when one can and can’t eat might help people eat a little less each day, especially if they are prone to snacking/grazing. It means the window in which they allow themselves to snack is much shorter. It can also help to show people that dealing with a bit of hunger is possible and we don’t need to be eating at all points of the day.

However if you eat the same amount of food between 12pm and 7pm as you would between say 8am and 7pm it will not make any difference to your body weight.

Fasted cardio is another linked strategy which is believed to be a winning combination for weight loss. Not eating anything before doing some form of exercise in an aim to burn more body fat. Again, through scientific research, we see that fasted cardio is not superior to simply managing the amount of energy being consumed and burned each day. When study groups consumed the same amount of Calories, it made no difference to fat loss whether the first meal was before or after exercise. 

There are also conflicting ideas about when is the best time to eat when using a fasting strategy. There is research showing greater weight loss when most food intake is in the morning. However there is equally as much research showing greater weight loss when food intake is skewed towards the evening. The greatest influence on the results appears to be personal preference and to what an individual can adhere. Tuning into your appetite can help you develop the best strategy that works for you. If you are not often hungry in the morning, but feel ravenous in the evenings, it would likely suit you to eat most of your food in the evening. And if you are hungrier in the mornings than evenings, the same applies in reverse. 

There are some loud voices in the nutrition world encouraging everyone to practice fasting due to improvements in autophagy (turnover of cells), inflammation and other markers of health. However research has shown that weight loss by any means improves these markers and the maintenance of a healthy body weight is just as influential. Again, finding the best strategy for you personally, to reduce and maintain a healthy body weight long term is the key. 

With any nutritional strategy, we believe it’s important to consider whether it is a sustainable long term approach. Do you see yourself continuing with his strategy for years, even lifelong? If the answer is no, then it might not be the best strategy for you. 

You can practice intermittent fasting without having hard rules about the times you can and can’t eat. If you are not hungry in the morning, you don’t have to eat. Some days you might be hungry and choose to eat earlier than other days. Some days it might suit you and your body more to eat in the morning, especially if exercise performance is a consideration. If you can listen to your appetite and eat accordingly, this may mean that you actually fast some days whilst other days not. 

For muscle building specifically, intermittent fasting is likely to be sub-optimal. To optimise muscle growth, we ideally want to spread protein intake throughout the day. By restricting times in which we are consuming a protein rich meal, we may not be optimising our muscle growth potential. Current recommendations from the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition (JISSN) are to spread protein intake across at least 4 meals to maximise muscle growth potential. To do so whilst restricting the times in which we eat through fasting is unlikely to produce optimal results. 

In conclusion, consider your goal, your preferences and how you like to eat. Fasting absolutely may suit you personally and even if not completely optimal for your goal, might still work in your favour if it helps you maintain a consistent eating schedule and consume the appropriate amount of energy for your goal. 

Not sure if you can do it forever but are interested? By all means try it. We just suggest that you don’t give yourself rules which are too strict and encourage you to try fasting in conjunction with listening to your appetite and developing a way of eating which you enjoy. 

If you’ve tried fasting but it didn’t work for you, don’t feel like you failed. It was the strategy that failed you and there are plenty of other viable fat loss strategies.

If you would like to learn more about nutrition and how you can find a way of eating that suits you, contact today.

Myth: Artificial Sweeteners are Worse than Sugar

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But what about the artificial sweeteners? What about the chemicals? 

There are many calorie free or low calorie sweeteners on the market now as a way of replacing sugar or calorie dense sweet ingredients.

Common examples are:

• Aspartame 

• Saccharin

• Acesulfame-K

• Sucralose

There are also sugar-free sweeteners or sugar alcohols known as polyols that  occur naturally in plants but can also be produced commercially. 

These include sorbitol, xylitol and more.

Their main purpose is to reduce the calorie content of beverages and other sweet treats to help control energy intake and assist in weight loss.

They are 200-13,000 times sweeter than sugar so minimal amounts are needed to create that sweet taste and potentially satisfy a craving or desire whilst also helping reduce caloric intake.

There also seems to be a myth circulating that they are worse than sugar itself.

Studies have been done to refute this idea in both weight loss and health aspects.

So what do the studies say about artificial sweeteners? 

• Replacing caloric sweetened beverages with low calorie sweetener alternatives reduced BMI, Fat Mass and Waist Circumference

• There was no consistent evidence that intense sweeteners cause insulin release or lower blood sugar in healthy individuals

• For weight loss, replacing caloric foods/drinks with low calorie sweetener alternatives works. No strong evidence for the effects of sweeteners on health

• Using foods and drinks sweetened with aspartame instead of those sweetened with sucrose is an effective way to maintain and lose weight without reducing the palatability of the diet.

It can be a way to implement a small change in an individual's diet that has a significant impact.

Example. Replacing 2 cans of full sugar coke 362 calories) to 2 cans of coke zero drops their calories by 360 calorie, helping with their energy intake and helping them move towards a calorie deficit needed for weight loss.

Adding sugar free cordial may also be an extremely low calorie strategy to encourage and increase water consumption whilst also satisfying a craving for a sugar sweetened beverage.

Safe limits of diet soft drink consumption are up towards 15 cans per day. 

*An issue to note may be on the sugar alcohols effects on an individual perhaps causing gastric distress but that is not common across all consumption. 

So next time you craving a sweet carbonated beverage or feel like adding some artificial sweetener to your coffee, don’t be scared. At the moment there is no research to suggest it is worse for your health or body composition than sugar or full sugar beverages.

If you would like to learn more about nutrition and debunk some common myths in the process, reach out to us today.

Eat fat to burn fat?

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Many of the common diet trends, myths and ideas are derived from an element of truth that gets misinterpreted by the time it trickles down through to the general population. Companies will often twist the message of research to promote and sell their product.

A classic example is the concept of 'eat fat to burn fat', which in the past and still continues to form the promotion basis of products or diets that align with the high fat, low carb, keto trend.

It's true. If you increase the proportion of fats within your diet your body will indeed increase its propensity to utilise fats as a greater predominance of fuel. 'You burn what you eat'! [1]

But! Fat loss and fat utilisation/burning are not the same thing. Fat utilisation, commonly termed 'burning' just refers to fuel source predominance. For fat loss, or getting leaner a Calorie deficit still needs to be present over time with the ratio and amounts of carbs and fats after Calories, and protein being matched doesn't really matter.

In addition to the above. Predominately utilising fats is not 'better' for sports performance and/or fat loss.

So whilst the idea of 'eat fat to burn fat' is true, and being able to use fats are a fuel source in the absence of glucose (carbohydrates) is a good thing, it's not necessarily better and isn't an outcome that should be specifically sought after.

It's briefly worth noting that training in states of low glucose (carbohydrate) availability may be a good idea for optimising endurance training adaptations, but not in instances where best performance is required such as race day. Most often for most sporting, training endeavors and/or optimisation of the appearance of ones physique the question is 'what is the quantity of CARBOHYDRATES, required to fuel the activity?' Very rarely is that question asked with fats.

If you’re like more clarification on common nutritional trends and terms along with the individual guidance on how you can implement certain strategies to improve your training, recovery, overall health and body composition; reach out to us by clicking the button below and telling us more about yourself, current nutrition and your goals.

[1] Diet, Muscle Glycogen and Physical Performance

Creatine: FAQs and Myths

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In high school, there was one gym bro who took creatine. At the time we all 'gave him crap' for being on steroids (we thought creatine a steroid at the time). 

Turns out creatine firstly isn't an illegal substance, but it's actually the most well studied and confirmed effective sports supplement there is. 

Fundamentally the powerhouse of the body is ATP. Intramuscular stores of creatine help fuel the re-creation of more ATP during high-intensity bouts of activity to maintain the presence of ATP. However, creatine supplies are limited and do run-out as we use them up. While we can get some creatine from our diet, supplementation is required to ensure levels stay 'topped-up'.  

We know creatine helps you perform better in sport and exercise, which obviously matters if you're an athlete wanting to beat everyone else. But this increased performance also means a more appropriate stimulus to enhance the adaptive response to training. Creatine can also help recovery which allows more 'quality' training stimulus to be provided over time again leading to greater adaptations. 

What might surprise you is that creatine does more than just 'get you jacked'. The benefits of creatine are not exclusively sports related, with evidence showing use in lessening the development of chronic illness and disease.

So we know it works. Now down to the practical stuff.

Is creatine safe? 
Studies have shown a needlessly high dose of more than 10 times optimal requirements for 5 years to be safe in multiple population types and ages. 

Will I gain weight and get bloated?
You'll almost certainly gain weight. The key word being 'weight' and not fat. Creatines mechanism of action is increased intramuscular phosphocreatine, glycogen and hydration which all contribute to mass but not fat mass. The weight gain is a by-product of the means by which creatine is effective and don't worry this won't make you look 'puffy'. 

What type of creatine is best?
Just good old cheap monohydrate does the job, there is no need to purchase any more expensive, 'fancy-named' ones. Monohydrate is most commonly used in creatine research with other forms being no better or potentially ineffective. 

How much/ whats the dose?
You can load it to saturate stores faster, but for the sake of simplicity 3-5g a day does the job, but it might take several weeks to see any notable improvements/ effects. Timing across the day also doesn't matter.

How do I take it?

Add a scoop to your morning water, pre or post workout shake, in a smoothie or even in your oats or yogurt.

Creatine, it's good for sports performance, it's good for getting jacked, it's good for recovery, it's good for health and it's damn cheap. Cheap enough that if new research came out drinking all existing creatine research proving it to be ineffective it wouldn't matter a great deal, and the placebo would be worth it anyway.

To learn more about how nutrition can improve your performance in the gym or would like us to bust some supplement myths, contact us:

https://www.fortitudenutritioncoaching.com.au/contact

[reference] International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: safety and efficacy of creatine supplementation in exercise, sport, and medicine    

Is Sugar The Devil?

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It seems that sugar is the devil in society. People think sugar turns into belly, thigh or hip fat.

But is added and refined sugar as bad as that very unqualified, very illogical Australian celebrity Paleo chef claims?

What increases 'body fatness' is not actually sugar itself. It's excessive calories compared to energy requirements or calorie (energy) expenditure over time [1]. This is also called an energy (calorie) surplus. This 'calorie surplus' is a major risk factor that leads to the development of many common diseases and poor health outcomes. Whilst it has not been conclusively proven that sugar directly does.[1]

So, sugar itself is not bad, nor does it directly make you fat. 

However, it's important to note foods with added sugar can indirectly lead to increased 'fatness' through increases in CALORIE consumption. So if a diet is high in refined sugar, its likely also high in Calories. 

This is because adding sugar to foods and beverages during processing, cooking etc. Both increase calorie density and enhances the taste. Both of which create a scenario that encourages far higher consumption of calories. 

But this isn't exclusively the case for sugar, more so any 'tasty, high calorie, lower fiber' foods and drinks. Many of which are high in fats. [2]

So despite sugar not directly leading to increased 'body fatness', and poor health outcomes. The diet recommendations of reducing or eliminating refined sugar holds great value, as it's reduction can lead to lower calorie consumption, keeping energy balance in check. 

It's also important to note that not all situations are looking to reduce caloric intake. This is where context and situation plays a role. Situations that involve the need to shuttle high amounts of glucose into the blood as soon as possible, or situations that involve consuming more calories than what an individual would feel comfortable with from 'healthy foods'.  Requires the use of foods and drinks that can be defined as 'unhealthy, or sugary' due to a high amount of refined sugar, a high-calorie density, and an appealing taste. 

[1] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41430-019-0407-z?fbclid=IwAR2CipHPICtRz-46cRMf9JJRcYPMWrhE0_8NPmeoP-cKarWPlrMm7_hIjC4#ref-CR25

[2] https://www.ernaehrungs-umschau.de/fileadmin/Ernaehrungs-Umschau/pdfs/pdf_2014/01_14/EU01_2014_M014_M023_-_002e_01_engl.pdf