Cut The Coffee

For many, the first cup of coffee every day is a signal to start the day. A staple at any breakfast table, a fresh cup of coffee could be considered as American as apple pie, but like its pastry counterpart, coffee may be hiding darker secrets within the cup. Coffee and breakfast once thought to be the greatest of breakfast allies, have since been proven to be enemies.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day for a reason. Your metabolism when you first wake is at it’s most ravenous. Able to devours carbohydrates like no other point during the day, large breakfasts are excellent for setting your metabolic rate for the day, and fueling up for a productive evening. Coffee, especially heavily caffeinated coffee, impairs the production of blood glucose, and hinders your glucose tolerance. Compounded by increasing your insulin sensitivity, coffee basically throws a wrench into your body’s most productive time of the day.

If you’re worried about giving up your cup of joe, don’t worry just yet. Scientists were able to discover that the culprit was not the coffee, but the caffeine-

Josh Bezonipacked into each cup. A recent study conducted on ten healthy men, where half were given caffeinated coffee and the others were given decaf, showed a marked difference in blood glucose management and insulin sensitivity. Insulin, as we know, directly contributes to the burning of fat. The more insulin in our system, the more a body will store fat, making it very difficult to combat an expanding waistline.

Beyond switching to decaf, a preposterous proposition to the millions who look to their morning fix for fuel, there are other options. If you need your morning rocket fuel, try drinking your coffee without consuming carbohydrates. Though you’ll need to compensate for the lack of food in the morning, you’ll at least have what you need to get out the door.

For more on the subject, click here.

Nutrition Label Miscues

This article is based off information from Josh Bezoni’s official blog.

Nutritional labels are the baseline of determining if a food is either healthy or something that should be avoided. Unfortunately, many of the labels, approved by the government are misleading and offer a false sense of what is healthy. The way companies are portraying their labels are inaccurate but yet legal.

Here is how; when a label provides a serving size, the label then accounts for the fats and sugars in that particular serving size. Even if that portion size is essentially impossible, it is legal in the eyes of manufacturers and government officials. For example, the Pam Cooking Spray label gives a very inaccurate display of their product. They display a serving size of one third second for the time sprayed. Anymore who has used the product in the past understands that at least 3-4 full seconds to coat a pan. Given the serving size of one third of a second, they technically are able to say the product offers zero fat, when in fact the entire can of spray is Canola oil which is fat.

Another example of how several labels are misleading the general public is when meats are brought into the picture. Even though ground turkey is considered healthy, the way the labels are configured make them seem as if they advertise the food is healthier. Labels can display how they are upwards of 85% fat free, when in reality the amount of fat and calories in the serving size is equitable to eating a burger from a fast food restaurant.

Combining common sense and abilities to correctly read labels to eat healthy is a trait which should be always practiced. When at the store next time, reading up on nutrition facts is important to really read the labels correctly, if a food seems too good to be true according to the label, it most likely is.

The information provided on this site is for informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for advice from your physician or other health care professional or any information contained on or in any product label or packaging. You should not use the information on this site for diagnosis or treatment of any health problem or for prescription of any medication or other treatment. Always consult with a healthcare professional before starting any diet, exercise or supplementation program, before taking any medication, or if you have or suspect you might have a health problem. You should not stop taking any medication without first consulting your physician.