Rest & Change is A Part of Your Exericse Regimen

Training has many benefits and recovery is part of it. Improved cardiovascular fitness, defined muscles, reduced risk of many diseases and the physical benefits such as improved physical appearance. Sometimes we all can get caught up in the looking good aspects of training rather than doing it for better health and forget to take time for rest. Or perhaps, you may fear loosing what you've gained so you don't take time off. In fact, taking a day or two off for rest is a good thing. Especially when you find yourself prone to injuries. Training the same muscle groups every day is a sure way to injury yourself or plateau. Changing your routine whether it’s training different muscle groups on different days, changing the amount of reps, sets, exercises and weights can all help prevent your chances of hitting the “wall.”

Taking time off for rest will allow your muscles time to recover. And as far as loosing what you gained, that takes time. Granted if you take a few weeks off from training, you will have to gradually build yourself back up to get to where you were. From my experience with training clients, I have seen many of them get back up to speed in as little a week. This of course varies from individual to individual.

Another important thing to keep in mind is to make sure you have sufficient fuel in your body to aid in recovery. Your diet should be balanced in carbohydrates, protein and fats. Protein does help with muscle recovery but more is not better. Just like any calorie, if you eat too many, (more than your daily requirement) regardless of the source, it to will be stored as fat.

How Safe Are Artificial Sweetener?

How safe are artificial sweeteners and is it best to just stick with plain old sugar? That’s a question that many people ask and want to know the safest alternative with the least amount of calories. Here are a few facts on the most popular artificial sweeteners to help you better choose.

Sucralose is a sweetener that is known as Splenda. It has a chemical makeup that includes chlorine and sugar. Sucralose has been tested and is found to be safe, thus far.

Sugar alcohols are another alternative sweetener found in some candies, protein bars, sugar-free foods, etc… These sugars are known as maltitol, xylitol, sorbitol, lactitol, erythritol hydrogenated starch hydrolysates,etc… What makes a sugar alcohol is a hydrogen atom added to sugar. Some sugar alcohols absorb better than others and have less calories. Sugar alcohol don't spike blood glucose due to their slow absorption rate. Ingesting large amounts of sugar alcohols can cause GI distress. Such as flatulence, bloating and diarrhea.

Aspartame is another artificial sweetener that is somewhat safe. However, there are some reports of headaches and it should not be used by people who have PKU because aspartame is made from the amino acid phenylalanine, it can't be metabolized by people with PKU.

Saccharine (sweet & low) is not considered very safe and was actually discovered in 1879 by a researcher who accidentally spilled a chemical on his hand and he noticed that it was sweet in taste. Studies have shown that saccharine did increase the risk of bladder cancer in rats and humans. Keep in mind that this was based on a large amount of saccharine being ingested.

Acesulfame is an artificial sweetener mostly found in chewing gum, and sugar free sodas. AceK, Sunnet or the Sweet One are names commonly used. The studies on this sweetener have been inconclusive. One study showed lab animals that were feed AceK were plagued with a variety of tumors. And the second study showed that the lab animals were so sick, the FDA threw the study out. The third study that was done showed lab mice having both benign and malignant breast tumors.

Stevia is a natural sweeter derived from a Brazilian shrub that is also found in Paraguay. When tested, researchers found that after 22 months, the lab rats that were used produced fewer sperm and had an increase in cell abnormalities in their testicles. In addition, female hamsters that were fed large amounts produced “smaller offspring.” Because Stevia is sold as a supplement, it has different restrictions than food.

In my opinion, I would use plan old sugar. It has been around for ages and is much safer when used in moderation. And women who are pregnant should choose sugar over an artificial sweetener.

Vegetarian Diets

Vegetarianism can be a healthy alternative when you know what to eat and how to combine foods to make a complete protein. There are various degrees to vegetarianism, for example, ovolatovegetarian. Ovolatoegetarians include eggs and dairy in their diet but not meat. Lacotevgetarians include dairy products in their diet with exception to eggs and meat. Vegans have a diet that excludes all meat, dairy and eggs.

Most vegetarians can have diets that are complete in all essential amino acids (for maintenance of body tissue & growth). Incomplete proteins lack one or more essential amino acids. This can be resolved by combining the right plant sources of protein. For example a vegan can get complete protein by eating a peanut butter and preserves sandwich on whole grain bread, beans and brown rice, textured vegetable protein and tofu are complete protein sources. For those who are vegetarians and eat eggs and dairy, those are considered complete proteins as well as any source of meat is a complete protein. As a vegetarian it is important to make sure you get sufficient amounts of vitamin B12, vitamin D, calcium (especially vegetarians who exclude dairy) and omega-3 fatty acids. If you’re not sure your getting enough of those vitamins and mineral in your diet, it might be a good idea to supplement.