Wednesday, 31 August 2016
6 Natural Teething Remedies for Baby (That Really Help!)
At more than one point in time I have had as many as three children teething in my home. The older children are able to understand what is going on but the baby just doesn’t understand why there is an aching pain in his mouth.
It seems to happen the same way every time. After several days (sometimes weeks) of the baby being irritable and fussy, I noticed a red bulge in baby’s mouth and have the ah-ha moment. Teething, of course! Now all the fussiness and whining makes perfect sense.
Natural Teething Remedies
Teething is hard work and unfortunately it is something we all must go through. Thankfully, most of us don’t remember the pain! But what can you do to help your little one through this milestone?
I’ve found the following teething remedies to work well and give some much needed relief for our children.
1. Cold
Applying something cold to help numb the gums is very effective and soothing for teething pain. There are several easy and virtually free ways to do this with things you probably already have in your home.
- Partially freeze a clean, wet cloth. Let your little one chew on the cold cloth to help numb the area and reduce swelling.
- Some children experience a lack of appetite when they are teething. It may help to offer soft, cool foods such as homemade applesauce, chilled pieces of fruit (for older babies already eating solids), and homemade yogurt.
- Offer your baby an ice cube placed in a securely tied small muslin bag.
- I am not a fan of mesh baby feeders because they are very difficult to clean, but there are silicone ones available now and they are handy for teething babies. You can put partially frozen fruit (bananas work well) or even breastmilk ice cubes in them to give baby something cold to safely munch on.
2. Apply Pressure
It is often easy to tell when a baby starts teething because they really begin to chew everything, quite similar to a puppy. The counter-pressure seems to help soothe the pain. They chew on fingers, toys, furniture (here is a great tutorial for protecting crib railings), and even siblings!
There is no shortage of options for colorful, soft baby teething toys, but there are certainly some that I would never want my baby to chew on. However, I have found some that I am comfortable with and that are still fun and cute.
- The most convenient teething tool out there is your own clean hand. If you can stand the gnawing, offer your baby your clean knuckle and he will happily chew away. You might think twice however, if your little one already has teeth. Those little chompers are mighty powerful!
- Make your own! I bought a maple wooden ring made in the U.S.A. (like this one) and cut several strips of organic knit cotton. The knit doesn’t fray very much so I didn’t even finish the edges. Cut 3 or 4 strips (about 2″ x 10″) and knot each end. Loop it through the ring, fold the strip in half, and tie 2 or 3 over hand knots so that it leaves little tails. Here is a cute one if you don’t want to make it.
- Haba Toys are made to much stricter European safety standards and offer a colorful array of toys for children and babies.
- My daughter loves these soft silicone teething toys. They are easy for her to hold but also are shaped in a way that allows her to reach her back gums.
- No teething toy list would be complete without Sophie the Giraffe. This natural rubber teething toy is irresistible to babies and mommies alike. In fact, it has gained enormous popularity in recent years. Made with natural rubber and food grade paint so it is safe for teething (though the colors do fade over time).
3. Teething Jewelry
Wear a teether! A friend of mine gave me a silicone teething necklace after I had my last baby and I really like it because it is so handy, doesn’t fall on the ground, and it distracts the baby from pulling at my earrings. She also really loves to chew on the soft beads and they are surprisingly cute to wear.
4. Chamomile
Chamomile is naturally calming and helps relax nerves and soothe pain. I am never without chamomile in my home. There are several ways you can use chamomile to soothe teething pain.
- Tea – make a weak tea and freeze it in ice cube trays. Place a frozen tea cube in a muslin bag and secure it tightly. Now your baby can gnaw on the bag and benefit from the chamomile as the cube melts.
- Tincture – this is quite easy to make yourself and you can place a drop or two on your finger and rub it onto your baby’s gums to soothe teething pain.
- Essential Oil – I am very cautious when using essential oils, especially on children, but when they are used correctly and at the proper dilution, essential oils can be a very helpful home remedy. Mix 1 drop of chamomile essential oil into 1 tablespoon of a carrier oil (such as coconut or olive). Rub a small amount on baby’s gums to help relieve pain.
5. Amber Teething Necklace
Amber necklaces have gained a lot of popularity in recent years. The theory is that the warmth of the baby’s body releases the succinic acid found in Baltic amber. Succinic acid can have analgesic properties which help relieve pain in the body. It is difficult to prove one way or another whether these necklaces are effective but there are many, many testimonials and reviews sharing success stories.
It goes without saying that extreme care should be taken when anything is placed around a baby’s neck and they should be removed for sleeping. I personally use an amber necklace for our daughter but it may not be successful for all babies.
6. Topical Pain Relief
- Homeopathic remedies like Hyland’s Teething Tablets can provide great relief for sore gums. They are readily available in most stores and the active ingredients are safe and natural. At one time there was a recall but the product was reformulated (out of an abundance of caution). You can read about the recall here.
- For children over the age of 2 you can use clove essential oil. Clove oil has a numbing effect on the gums that studies have shown to work as well as benzocaine. (insert link) Mix 1 drop of clove oil with 1 tablespoon of a carrier oil (coconut or olive) and rub on the gums a few times a day. This would be helpful for adults with tooth pain as well, just increase the clove oil.
Cutting teeth can be a rough time for both mom (and dad!) and baby, but with a few natural teething remedies like these, it can be much easier and less painful to get through.
Have you tried any of these teething remedies? What remedies have you found to be helpful for teething babies?
Continue Reading...6 Natural Teething Remedies for Baby (That Really Help!)
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Meditation For Black Lives Matter
from YogaDork http://yogadork.com/2016/08/31/meditation-for-black-lives-matter/
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Perfection is Lame and these things are better
Things I would rather be doing than trying to have a perfect body, be a perfect mom, run a perfect business, and live a perfect life: Eating Tacos Laughing until by belly hurts (and maybe I even pee a little, don’t judge me) Pull-ups Teaching pull-ups Watching videos of kickass women […]
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from Blog – Neghar Fonooni http://www.negharfonooni.com/betterthanperfection/
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Oh Em Gee Veggie Burgers from my new cookbook!
Hubba, hubba, now that’s what I call a veggie burger glam shot! Served with rippled sweet potato chips and a dill pickle, what else could you want in life?!
Today I’m so excited to share one of my favourite recipes straight from my new cookbook, Oh She Glows Every Day! The countdown to the release is onnnnn…this Saturday September 3rd in Canada (including Indigo, Costco, and more!), and Tuesday September 6th in the US. I honestly can’t believe it’s almost here, and I can’t thank you enough for all your support and excitement.
Don’t forget, if you order online or pick up a copy in-store before September 13th, 2016, you can snag my OSG Every Day Bonus Recipe Bundle which has 7 brand-new recipes (not found in the book or blog), and 4 preview recipes from the book. So much recipe goodness going down!
I’m also hosting a fun Insta giveaway for a signed copy of both Oh She Glows Every Day and The Oh She Glows Cookbook! One lucky winner will receive a signed copy of both cookbooks, mailed straight to their doorstep as a special gift from me. Please see my Instagram post for all the deets.
Okay, now let me talk about these veggie burgers for a hot second. They are my newest veggie burger addiction. I tested a ton of them for this second book (you know I take my veggie burgers seriously) and these are the ones that everyone—kids, husbands, veggie-burger skeptics—loved. I hope you’ll gobble them up, too!
A couple quick notes:
This recipe hasn’t been posted to the Oh She Glows Recipe App yet since I have to shoot a new photo for it, but it will be coming soon!
Also, just a heads up that there won’t be a Friday FAQ post going up this week. Unfortunately, my little one is quite sick so I don’t think I’ll be able to get to it. Thanks for your understanding.
Photography credit (top photo): Ashley McLaughlin; all other photos: Angela Liddon
from Oh She Glows http://ohsheglows.com/2016/08/31/oh-em-gee-veggie-burgers-from-my-new-cookbook/
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Tuesday, 30 August 2016
Vegan Back to School Lunchbox Ideas
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The post Vegan Back to School Lunchbox Ideas appeared first on Sweet Potato Soul by Jenné Claiborne.
from Sweet Potato Soul by Jenné Claiborne http://sweetpotatosoul.com/2016/08/back-school-lunchbox-ideas.html
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7th Annual Chili Contest – Now Accepting Entries!
Yep, it’s still hot as blazes – even in Michigan. I’m both torn over the summer winding down and completely thrilled for cooler temperatures, college football, beer, and of course, CHILI!
It’s hard to believe this will be my SEVENTH ANNUAL chili contest – but it is! I’ll feature each recipe as a blog post to share with all the other chili lovers of the world, giving credit to you (or the source of your recipe – so if you have a blog, include the URL in your email, please!)
What’s in it for you? Bragging Rights! And the chance to win, of course…to the tune of $200 for 1st place in the form of a Visa giftcard! Your winning recipe is worth some serious cash!
I will accept the first 6 recipe submissions that will be made throughout the college football season. The winner will be announced in early January, when the season wraps up (Go Illini!).
Send me some chili!!
For now, be sure to check out the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th annual chili entries and winners!
Be well,
from Prevention RD http://preventionrd.com/2016/08/7th-annual-chili-contest-now-accepting-entries/
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Surviving The Dr. Oz Diet (and other fad advice). Here’s how to coach your clients through the hype and gimmicks.
You’re the coach. You’re the real expert. So why do clients get so distracted by The Dr. Oz Diet and other hyped-up, faddish nonsense? Even more importantly, how can you coach them to stay safe and on track? Check out this 5-step plan for doing just that.
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I bet this’ll ring a bell:
A client comes in and tells you s/he just started a Dr. Oz diet.
(Oh no, you think. Here it comes.)
“I watched Dr. Oz and he was talking about this new idea to eat certain things before bed so you lose a bunch of weight while you sleep. That’s different from what you told me about how to rev my metabolism. I’d like to try it.”
As a competent, caring coach, every fiber of your being is screaming:
No, no, no, no no, no.
You teeter on the brink of a full-force tantrum. You are sick of clients coming to you with these bogus ideas about health and fitness from TV personalities, celebrities, bloggers, Instagram stars and assorted Internet know-it-alls. It’s total quackery.
And you’re the coach, you’re thinking. You’re the real expert. Why do clients listen so closely to celebrity doctors and hyped-up, faddish nonsense?
Every single time I give a seminar — and I’ve given hundreds over the last 25 years — fitness and health pros ask some version of the same question:
“What do I do when a client wants to follow a diet, try an exercise routine, or take a supplement that I just don’t believe in?”
So here’s my answer, in 5 steps.
These will help you retain your client’s trust, keep him/her safe, and maintain an open line of communication. This way nothing can get in the way of their progress — not Dr. Oz, not Gwyneth Paltrow, not anyone.
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Step 1:
Resist the urge to tell the client they’re wrong.
I know you have your clients’ best interests at heart. You want to take care of them. You don’t want them to fall for quackery, or get sidetracked, or get involved in a diet or program that will hurt them.
But if you flat-out tell clients they’re wrong and shut down their ideas, here’s what’s going to happen:
- You’ll kill your credibility.
Silly as it seems, people trust TV Doctor. In their eyes (or at least in their subconscious), s/he has more credibility than you do. Your certifications are nothing compared to being on television, publishing dozens of books, and having a medical degree.
By pushing back against TV Doctor’s ideas, in the client’s eyes you’ve become less credible yourself.
(This goes for Beautiful Actress and Instagram Star too, by the way. It doesn’t matter if you don’t believe them. For whatever reason, your client does. And that’s what counts.)
- You’ll kill your collaboration.
When you start dictating the terms (“Don’t do that, do this!”), it no longer feels like you’re in it together. You are no longer making decisions as a team. Instead, you’ve set up a tug-of-war called “I’m right, you’re wrong.” And that’s a game you can’t win.
- You’ll kill your positive relationship with your client.
When you tell a client that the idea they’ve discovered or researched is wrong, you’re essentially telling them they’re wrong.
If you tell them that TV Doctor is stupid, you’re essentially telling them they’re stupid.
So you’ve just put a big wedge between you and your client. At best, this slows down their progress; at worst, it gets you fired.
As you can see, telling a client “no” isn’t going to help either of you. (It’s also pretty much the opposite of client-centered coaching.) And that’s a problem. Because you have some important work to do.
Remember why you’re here in the first place.
Your purpose is not to make them perfect, nor is it to be perfect yourself. Your goal is not to be right, it’s not to prove anything, and it’s not to show up some TV doctor. It’s to help people.
In any particular moment with a client, whether they seem to be moving backwards, forwards or sideways, your job is to help them find (and follow through with) their next positive action.
As frustrating as a moment like this may be, it can actually be a great opportunity for you both. After all, if your client’s progress is going to survive Dr. Oz, they need your guidance more than ever. They’re inviting you to work with them on this. This is a chance to really help them.
So hold your breath, bite your tongue, punch yourself in the face…whatever you have to do to not tell your client they’re wrong.
Step 2:
Highlight what the client is doing right.
Instead of telling your client why they’re wrong, look for what they did right.
That might seem strange. What could be right about following a TV doctor’s progress-killing advice, wasting money on a pointless supplement, or doing a hyped-up crash diet that puts the metabolism in peril?
Well, think about it. For a client who may have been sedentary before, to come in and say, “I watched a health show, I tried to evaluate health claims, and I’m thinking about health in a new way,” that’s actually a big high-five moment.
Before doing anything else, you could say:
“Wow, that’s really cool that you were digging into health and fitness in a new way, on your own. It’s great to hear you bringing up new ideas to explore.”
See the difference? You’ve made your client feel good, you’ve maintained your own credibility as a coach, and you’ve set yourself up for a collaborative discussion.
(Hey, I think you deserve a high five, too.)
Step 3:
Give your client options.
Here’s how this might look.
“Okay, now that you’ve brought this new idea to the table, let’s think through our next steps. The way I see it, we have a few options:
- Option A – We could stay the course. You’ve been making great progress with your existing program. We could simply keep going as planned, and keep your idea in our back pocket for later.
- Option B – We could maintain your existing program but make some tweaks to incorporate your idea. I have to admit, it’s not what I’d recommend for you right now, and I do have a few concerns about it. But if you really think it’s important to try, I’ll monitor you closely and we can course-correct if needed.
- Option C – We could throw out the existing program and just focus on this new idea. I’ll be honest, this option concerns me a little. It might even be dangerous. But you’re an adult and it’s your choice. If you decide to go this route I’d like to monitor you closely to make sure you’re safe.
In the end, I would recommend Option A. But it’s not up to me. This is your body and your life. So what do you think?”
Once your client has chosen a direction, it’s your job to respect that decision and help them proceed as safely as possible.
An experimental mindset can help with this too.
Regardless of your client’s choice, treat it like a mini research study. Give them the opportunity to try things for a few weeks, evaluate, and then see for themselves what works and what doesn’t.
Simply asking, after some period of time, “How’s that working for you?” — without judgment or sarcasm — can be illuminating for you both.
STEP 4:
Continuously monitor the client’s health and safety.
There are a lot of dumb, pointless ideas thrown around in health and fitness. And some can be downright dangerous.
It’s your job to support your client — but it’s also your job to help them stay safe. If your client wants to try something that you think could really harm their health, not just their progress, make sure you are monitoring them carefully and flagging any reasons for them to go have a chat with their doctor.
Assessments to help you monitor clients may include:
- Weight and body measurements
- Major physical changes (e.g. if your 30 year old female client is no longer menstruating, her 1200 calorie diet could be an issue.)
- “How’s that working for you?” Let the client talk about how they feel. Listening can be one of the best tools you’ve got.
- Tests you ‘assign’ either in your facility or with another health professional. This may include hormones, blood markers, bone density, etc. Keep in mind what is in and out of your own scope of practice, and don’t hesitate to bring in an expert if you need to.
That said, there are relatively few fad diets and popular health myths that we know will be critically harmful to your client. So try to separate your own pet peeves and assumptions from what is legitimately dangerous.
For example, taking diet pills or steroids carries significant risk for many people. But going gluten-free is unlikely to put your client in imminent danger. (Though admittedly, a juice detox did put one of our team members in the hospital.)
No matter what they’re doing, remember that your client is likely worse off without you. Even if they’re trying something crazy, you can monitor them, alert them if anything is radically “off”, and keep nudging them forward towards progress, bit by bit.
(And, of course, if they really insist on doing something you think is life-threatening, you should politely bow out while encouraging them to get medical support in case things go really wrong).
STEP 5:
Keep the (grown-up) conversation going
So far, I hope I’ve made two things clear:
- Being respectful of your clients’ wishes is paramount to being a good coach, even if you disagree with what they want to do.
- You still have an important responsibility to guide them in the direction of safety and progress.
In the end, good coaching isn’t about bossing your client around and telling them “no”. But it also isn’t about sitting on your hands and looking the other way. You can still share your knowledge, concerns, and recommendations with your clients. Just do it in a respectful way.
Recognize that your clients are grown-ups. They are the bosses of their own lives. You’re here as a guide. Together you can have an adult conversation about the facts, the options available, and work out a constructive plan to move forward.
Tell them what you think, but be OK with the direction they ultimately choose. Support them in it and help them keep going.
Don’t bail, don’t flail your arms around, don’t rant. Don’t be one more person telling them what they have to do or what they can’t do.
Just be a coach. A damn good one, at that.
What to do next:
Some tips from Precision Nutrition
In the age of 24/7 health advice, being a fitness and nutrition coach is a big responsibility. Here’s how to approach the challenge starting today.
Feel the frustration. Then get over it.
If you’re feeling frustrated, give yourself a moment. We all feel that way sometimes. Let yourself have that quiet second of thinking, “not this again”. Then, re-set.
Put your coaching hat on and remember what you’re here to do: help your client. Think, “how can I help my client move forward from here?” Focus on that.
Practice client-centered coaching.
Client-centered coaching — the method we teach our Precision Nutrition Certification students — helps you frame every interaction around the client’s perspective and needs — even when the perspective and needs are driven by the TV doctor of the week.
The client-centered coach never acts like the answer is obvious, or flaunts their expertise, or overloads the client with health jargon, or tells the clients s/he’s wrong.
By the way, this approach isn’t just a way to navigate your TV Doctor conversations with clients — it’s crucial to being an exceptional coach and trainer. It’s the difference between succeeding and failing in this industry.
Deepen your understanding of health and nutrition.
As a coach, you’re in the tough position of protecting your clients’ hard-earned results and their health in the midst of a continuous stream of bad and confusing popular advice.
The more you know about health, fitness, and nutrition, the better you’ll be able to keep them from backtracking or making themselves sick.
If you’d like to learn more about the world of exercise and sport nutrition, consider our upcoming Level 1 Certification program. It’s designed to turn coaches and trainers into elite, results-driven, world-class professionals.
Let Dr. Oz and Gwyneth do their thing, you do you.
It’s easy to get defensive. You want to be the expert they go to! You want to be the person they listen to! But remember, it’s really not about you.
Your job as a coach is to help people. That is a great gift and responsibility.
Try to let go of your pet peeves. Instead, focus on why you got into this business in the first place. Why you’re here. And how you can help.
You’ll find your business becomes a lot more satisfying — and successful.
Coming .
Building a successful, fulfilling career in fitness can feel like a long, steep climb. But if you work with the right mentors, the journey will transform your business in amazing ways — and much faster than you think.
If you’re a health and fitness pro and would like to learn more about becoming an elite, world-class nutrition and lifestyle coach, check out our Precision Nutrition Level 1 Certification program; it kicks off soon.
Important: Since we only take a limited number of students each time we offer the program, and it sells out every time, the best strategy is to add your name to our free presale list.
Getting on the list gives you the chance to sign up for the certification 24 hours before everyone else. Even better, you save big on the cost of the program.
Of course, if you’re already a student or graduate of the Level 1 Certification, check out our Level 2 Certification, an exclusive Master Class for elite trainers looking to perfect their nutrition knowledge and coaching techniques.
The post Surviving The Dr. Oz Diet (and other fad advice). Here’s how to coach your clients through the hype and gimmicks. appeared first on Precision Nutrition.
from Blog – Precision Nutrition http://www.precisionnutrition.com/dr-oz-diet
via Holistic Clients
Toast Tuesday – Peanut Butter Banana
Satisfy your sweet tooth AND get your protein in with this Peanut Butter Banana Toast for Toast Tuesday! Happy Toast Tuesday everybody! It’s been almost been a MONTH since Lee and I have been in the same room. I think that’s the longest we’ve been apart for TWO YEARS. Can you believe that?! We are...
The post Toast Tuesday – Peanut Butter Banana appeared first on Fit Foodie Finds.
from Fit Foodie Finds http://fitfoodiefinds.com/2016/08/toast-tuesday-peanut-butter-banana/
via Holistic Clients
Monday, 29 August 2016
Disgusting Dust Mites: Everything You (Didn’t) Want To Know
It only took a little research into finding a new mattress to learn more than I ever wanted to know about dust mites. Little critters related to ticks and spiders that live in your pillow, mattress, and furniture? Ugh!
I mean, do you really want thousands of those cringe-worthy little pests in the picture above in your pillow at night? Not me!
Sometimes ignorance really is bliss. But as much as we’d like to pretend dust mites don’t exist, their presence can really impact the health and happiness of our homes if we are prone to allergies.
Want to know how to control dust mites and the symptoms they cause? Then read on!
What Are Dust Mites Anyway?
Dust mites are microscopic eight-legged bugs related to ticks and spiders. They live in our homes and feed on the dead skin cells we shed every day. Basically, they eat our dust.
Since dust mites extract their water from the air, they prefer warm and humid places close to their food source. This makes the places we sit, lie down, exhale, and perspire prime real estate for them. Mattresses, couches, and carpets are dust mite magnets.
What’s more, dust mites replicate very quickly. A female dust mite lays over 100 eggs a month in her short 2-3 month life span. In the right conditions you can have a serious dust mite problem in very little time.
Here are some facts you may (or may not!) want to know:
- A used mattress can have between 100,000 and 10 million mites inside.
- A square yard of carpet contains about 100,000 mites.
- One study found an average of 16 types of fungi (a dust mite food) on pillows.
- The particles you might see floating in the air are mostly made up of skin flakes.
Are you grossed out yet? I sure am!
Do Dust Mites Bite?
Although gross, the good news is dust mites do not bite, carry diseases, or draw blood like some of their relatives. And since we can’t see them, most of the time we are blissfully unaware of their presence.
So other than being a creepy thought, why are dust mites a problem?
You might not like the answer!
The real threat is what dust mites leave behind… their waste. There’s a lot of it in fact. A single dust mite can lay over 20 droppings a day. And those droppings are chock full of allergens to the human immune system.
As if we needed one more reason not to have them around!
Am I Allergic to Dust Mites?
The short answer is probably, but it may not be serious.
If anyone in your family has symptoms of congestion, coughing, or watery eyes especially when sleeping or indoors, you may want to consider dust mites as one source of your problems.
Or, if anyone in your family has gastrointestinal issues, you’ll want to pay attention to dust mites.
Most urgently- if anyone in your family has asthma, COPD, or a respiratory issue of any kind, dust mites are a very serious issue for you and you’ll want to take every step you can to control them.
Dust Mite Feces: The Real Problem
Dust mite feces (their poop) contain powerful digestive enzymes that actually allow the resourceful dust mite to eat and gain energy from its own waste.
But for humans, these enzymes can be destructive. In fact there are over 20 allergens in a single dust mite waste packet, which can easily enter the human bloodstream when disturbed and sent airborne.
In 1997 scientists identified the mechanisms by which this digestive enzyme could work its way into the body. Once on the surface of the lungs, Der p1 (the most studied and understood enzyme) attacks and dissolves the ‘glue’ that holds the cells together. If significant, this breach of lung defences, combined with spillage from undigested contents of the mite’s gut, can raise an alarm in the body’s immune system which may lead to a ‘full-blown’ allergic reactions. Following the discovery of the activity of Der p1, doctors soon found that it actually travels within the body and is capable of reaching the fluid surrounding unborn children. (1)
In fact, studies show that dust mites and the allergic reactions they provoke are a root cause of asthma in children and can actually cause lung cell death. Prolonged exposure to dust mite allergens can also lead to eczema, gut disease, conjunctivitis, hay fever, and ear problems. (3)
How To Get Rid of Dust Mites
I’m guessing at this point you’re eager to get rid of the dust mites in your home, but unfortunately they can hook themselves firmly into your couch or mattress. Vacuuming does very little to dislodge any of them. (Although you still should vacuum carpet, furniture, and even mattresses to remove their food source, dust.)
If you’re not allergic to dust mites you may not need to do much about them. But there’s no doubt that decreasing your dust mite exposure could prevent a future allergic problem from developing, and it’s always a good idea to take steps to reduce toxins from dust in your home.
There are chemical procedures to reduce dust mites, but of course I’ll list only natural methods of attack here!
Protect Your Mattresses and Bedding
Perhaps the most important step you can take in the war against dust mites is to encase your new mattress or pillow right away in a dust mite blocking mattress cover. (The material is woven so tightly anything over 5 microns can’t get through, or get out.)
Here is an option that doesn’t use plastic membranes.
The initial cost will be worth it to guarantee you can use your mattress without allergy problems and rest easy for a long time to come.
Change and Wash Your Bedding Often
A hot wash and a hot dryer is the best defense. Wash pillows, sheets, blankets, comforters, and mattress pads often. Can’t wash it? Put it in the freezer for a night.
Dust First, Dust Often
Dust before you vacuum so any loose dust will be captured by your vacuum’s HEPA filter. Always use a wet cloth rather than dry dusting.
Here’s a particularly charming description I guarantee will motivate you the next time you don’t feel like dusting:
CONSTITUENTS OF HOUSE DUST
cigarette ash, incinerator ash, fibers (wool, cotton, paper and silk), fingernail filings, food crumbs, glass particles, glue, graphite, animal and human hair, insect fragments, paint chips, plant parts, pollen, polymer foam particles, salt and sugar crystals, human skin scales, animal dander, soil, fungal spores, tobacco, wood shavings. (4)
I’m resisting the urge to stop writing and dust right now!
Use a HEPA Filter Vacuum
While my favorite vacuum for quick use unfortunately doesn’t have a HEPA (High Efficiency Particle Air) filter, I definitely recommend one if you suffer from allergies.
Keep in mind carpet is a dust mite haven no matter how good your vacuum is. Consider replacing carpet with hardwood which is easier to keep dust free and is inhospitable to mites.
Run a Home Air Filter
Back up your allergen fighting efforts by running an air filter in your home to remove dust particles before they settle. I really like this one.
Air Out Your Bed
While my husband hates it when I don’t make our bed right away, there are some researchers who say it is healthier to leave your bed unmade during the day (I often cling to the hope that I’ll be able to climb back in if the kids decide to take a nap!)
Something as simple as leaving a bed unmade during the day can remove moisture from the sheets and mattress so the mites will dehydrate and eventually die. – Dr. Stephen Pretlove, BBC News, 2005 (2)
Use a Dehumidifier
Decrease your indoor humidity to below 50% when possible using dehumidifier. When using a humidifier in the winter, keep it at 35-45% humidity. This will help dehydrate the mites and kill them off.
Keep It Cool
Keeping your thermostat below 70 degrees Fahrenheit will decrease dust mites. Keeping your windows closed in the summer also reduces pollen in your home, a dust mite food. I recommend this step only if you have an allergy to dust mites, as indoor air contains more pollution and toxins than outdoor air.
Do you struggle with indoor allergies? Do you think dust mites could be the cause? Please share any remedies that have helped you and your family!
Sources:
(1) http://housedustmite.com/introduction-to-the-dust-mite
(2) http://www.today.com/home/scientists-keep-mites-away-leave-your-bed-unmade-every-day-t43496
(3) http://housedustmite.com/associated-diseases/
(4) http://lancaster.unl.edu/pest/resources/311dusmi.pdf
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You are not a Mrs. Potato Head
These three photos were taken within seconds of each other, while playing in the Aegean Sea at a beach on the island of Naxos. The only thing that’s changed here is the lighting and a slight change in my stance. In case the lighting on your screen or external lighting […]
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Sunday, 28 August 2016
Will a high-protein diet harm your health? The real story on the risks (and rewards) of eating more protein.
Will too much protein damage my kidneys? Cause cancer? Reduce my lifespan? At Precision Nutrition we’re always getting questions (from fitness pros and clients) about the risks of a high-protein diet. In this article we’ll set the record straight and share why protein isn’t the villain it’s made out to be.
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Maybe you’re a protein promoter.
You buy protein powder in “bucket with a handle” format. You know the protein counts of every food you eat.
After every workout, you jam those amino acids into your cells. You swear you can feel them getting swole.
Or maybe you’re a protein avoider.
Maybe you’ve heard bad things.
Like: Protein will damage your kidneys.
Or: Protein will give you cancer.
Or simply: We all eat too much protein.
Maybe you want to lose fat. Or gain muscle. Or be healthy.
You just want to do the right thing and eat better. But with conflicting information about protein, you don’t know what to think.
Or, if you’re a fitness and nutrition coach, you’re wondering how the heck to clear up the confusion about protein among your clients.
Let’s get into it.
In this article, we’ll explore:
- What are high-protein diets?
- What does the evidence say about high-protein diets and health?
- Does protein source matter?
- How much protein is right for me?
How to read this article
If you’re just curious about high-protein diets:
- Feel free to skim and learn whatever you like.
If you want to change your body and/or health:
- You don’t need to know every detail. Just get the general idea.
- Check out our advice at the end.
If you’re an athlete interested in performance:
- Pay special attention to the section on athletic performance.
- Check out our advice for athletes at the end.
If you’re a fitness pro, or interested in geeking out with nutritional science:
- We’ve given you some “extra credit” material in sidebars throughout.
- Check out our advice for fitness pros at the end.
Why protein?
A quick intro if you aren’t a nutrition pro:
- Protein is one of the three main macronutrients that makes up the food we eat. (The other two are fat and carbohydrate.)
- Protein itself is made up of amino acids.
- Amino acids are the building blocks for most stuff in our bodies. They’re like Legos that can be broken down and re-assembled in different ways.
- Unlike extra fat (which we can store very easily on our bums and bellies), we don’t store lots of extra amino acids. Protein is always getting used, recycled, and sometimes excreted.
- If we don’t get enough protein, our body will start to plunder it from parts that we need, such as our muscles.
- So we have to constantly replenish protein by eating it.
We need protein.
Protein is so important that without it, we die or become seriously malnourished.
(This protein-deficiency disease is known as kwashiorkor, and we often see it in people who have suffered famines or who are living on a low-protein diet.)
All your enzymes and cell transporters; all your blood transporters; all your cells’ scaffolding and structures; 100 percent of your hair and fingernails; much of your muscle, bone, and internal organs; and many hormones are made of mostly protein. Hence, protein enables most of our bodies’ functions.
Put simply, you are basically a pile of protein.
No protein, no you.
How much protein do we need?
Short answer: It depends.
Let’s look first at the current Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA).
The RDA for protein is 0.8 g/kg (0.36 g/lb) — the more you weigh, the more protein you need:
- A 150-lb (68 kg) person would need 68 x 0.8, or about 54 grams of protein a day.
- A 200-lb (91 kg) person would need 91 x 0.8, or about 73 grams of protein a day.
That generally works out to about 10 percent of daily calories coming from protein.
However.
RDAs were originally developed as a way to prevent malnutrition — to represent the minimum amount of a nutrient we need to not die (or get sick).
“You’re not dead” is not the same thing as “You’re kicking ass.”
The RDA for surviving may be different than what we need to thrive.
The RDA is also a very general recommendation. It doesn’t take other things into account, such as:
- How much total energy (i.e. calories) we eat or need
- Our carbohydrate intake
- When we eat the protein
- Our biological sex
- Our age
- How active we are
- What activities we do
- How “eco-friendly” various protein sources are
The Institute of Medicine (US) suggests a huge range in individual protein requirements — from 0.375 g/kg to 1.625 g/kg body weight (0.17 to 0.74g/lb body weight).
In other words, our hypothetical 150-lb person might have protein needs ranging from 26 to 111 grams per day.
Well that narrows it down nicely, doesn’t it!?
Protein in our food is made up of many different building blocks, or amino acids.
Most people focus on Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for total protein, but they don’t think about how much of each amino acid they might need.
If your diet isn’t varied enough, you may be eating enough total protein, but not enough of a specific essential amino acid.
Every day, you need this much of these essential amino acids:
- 14 mg/kg of histidine
- 19 mg/kg of isoleucine
- 42 mg/kg of leucine
- 38 mg/kg of lysine
- 19 mg/kg of methionine + cysteine
- 33 mg/kg of phenylalanine + tyrosine
- 20 mg/kg of threonine
- 5 mg/kg of tryptophan
- 24 mg/kg of valine
Of course, you don’t need to spend hours in your kitchen with an eyedropper of lysine solution, carefully calibrating your intake.
Just eat a variety of protein-rich foods and let nature do the rest.
What does a high-protein diet look like?
People often assume that “high protein” means “low carbohydrate”. In fact, you can eat more protein without making any drastic changes to other things in your diet.
Many types of diets can be considered high-protein. “High protein” is a bit of a relative concept; there’s no clear rule.
The average protein intake for adults in the US is about 15 percent of calories coming from protein.
The Institute of Medicine suggests that up to 35 percent of total calories is an OK proportion of protein for healthy adults.
And most researchers would say that once you get more than 25 percent of total calories from protein, you’re in “high protein” territory.
Here’s what high- and low-protein diets might look like for a given meal.
The upper tolerable limit (UL) of something tells you how much you can eat without having health problems.
Currently, there’s no established UL for protein.
Does that mean you can eat as much protein as you’d like without any negative side effects? No. It just means researchers haven’t figured it out yet.
But we do know that eating up to 4.4 g/kg (2 g/lb) body weight didn’t cause any short term health problems in clinical studies.
The Institute of Medicine suggests that high protein intake, where about 35 percent of your calories comes from protein, is safe.
What does that mean in grams per kilogram body weight (or g/lb body weight)?
Say you’re 74.8 kg (165 lb) and reasonably active. You need about 2,475 calories per day to maintain your weight.
If you get 35 percent of your total energy intake from protein, you’d be eating about 866 calories from protein each day.
1 gram of protein has 4 calories. So 866 calories is around 217 grams of protein per day.
That’s about 1.3 grams per pound of body weight, or 2.9 g/kg.
Will eating a high-protein diet hurt me?
For years, people have been concerned with the safety of eating too much protein.
Will eating too much protein explode my kidneys?
How about my liver? My left femur?
The most common health concerns of eating more protein are:
- kidney damage
- liver damage
- osteoporosis
- heart disease
- cancer
Let’s explore these.
Claim: High protein causes kidney damage.
This concern about high protein and kidneys began with a misunderstanding of why doctors tell people with poorly functioning kidneys (usually from pre-existing kidney disease) to a eat a low-protein diet.
But there’s a big difference between avoiding protein because your kidneys are already damaged and protein actively damaging healthy kidneys.
It’s the difference between jogging with a broken leg and jogging with a perfectly healthy leg.
Jogging with a broken leg is a bad idea. Doctors would probably tell you not to jog if your leg is broken. But does jogging cause legs to break? No.
That’s the same thing with protein and kidneys.
Eating more protein does increase how much your kidneys have to work (glomerular filtration rate and creatinine clearance), just like jogging increases how much your legs have to work.
But protein hasn’t been shown to cause kidney damage — again, just like jogging isn’t going to suddenly snap your leg like a twig.
High-protein diets do result in increased metabolic waste being excreted in the urine, though, so it’s particularly important to drink plenty of water to avoid dehydration.
Verdict: There’s no evidence that high protein diets (2.2g/kg body weight) cause kidney damage in healthy adults.
Claim: High protein causes liver damage.
The liver, like the kidneys, is a major processing organ. Thus, it’s same deal as with kidneys: People with liver damage (such as cirrhosis) are told to eat less protein.
Yes, if you have liver damage or disease you should eat less protein. But if your liver is healthy, then a high-protein diet will not cause liver damage.
Verdict: There’s no evidence that high-protein diets (2.2g/kg body weight) causes kidney damage in healthy adults.
Claim: High protein causes osteoporosis.
Eating more protein without also upping your fruit and vegetable intake will increase the amount of calcium you’ll lose in your pee.
That finding made some people think that eating more protein will cause osteoporosis because you’re losing bone calcium.
But there is no evidence that high protein causes osteoporosis.
If anything, not eating enough protein has been shown to cause bone loss. Bones aren’t just inert sticks of minerals — a significant proportion of bone is also protein, mostly collagen-type proteins.
Like muscle, bone is an active tissue that is constantly being broken down and rebuilt. And like muscle, bone needs those Lego building blocks.
Women aged 55 to 92 who eat more protein have higher bone density. So eating more protein improves bone density in people most at risk of having osteoporosis.
(Eating more protein plus adding resistance training: Double win for bone density.)
Verdict: High protein diets do not cause osteoporosis, and actually may prevent osteoporosis.
Claim: High protein causes cancer
Unfortunately, we still don’t have conclusive human studies on the cause of cancer and the role of protein.
There are studies that asked people how much protein they ate over their lifetime, and then looked at how often people got cancer. The research shows a connection between protein intake and cancer rates.
But these studies are correlational studies and don’t prove that protein is the cause of cancers. Plus, some researchers have gone so far to say that studies relying on subjects to recall what they ate are basically worthless because human memory is so inaccurate.
A big part of the proposed cancer and protein link comes down to confounding factors, like:
- where you get your protein from — plant or animal
- how you cook your protein (i.e. carbonized grilled meat)
- what types of protein you’re eating (e.g. grass-fed steak versus a hot dog)
And so on.
In other words, we can’t say that any particular amount of protein causes cancer.
Verdict: Limited evidence that protein causes cancer; many other confounding factors.
A study from 2014 looked at protein and cancer risk. It was widely misinterpreted as proof that eating a lot of protein caused cancer.
First, it was actually two studies, one asking people questions and following them for years; and one that fed mice a high-protein diet and implanted them with cancer.
With the human study, researchers looked at people’s self-reported protein intake and their rates of cancer over the following 18 years.
They found that people aged 50-65 who ate diets high in animal protein (≥20% of total calories) had a 4-fold greater risk of dying of cancer over the next 18 years compared to people who ate a moderate amount of protein (10-20% of total calories).
(Just so you get an idea, smoking increases your risk of cancer by 20-fold.)
Then, it gets more interesting, because for people over 65, eating more protein decreased cancer risk by more than half. In summary:
Eating more protein from 50-65 years old was associated with a higher risk of death from cancer, but over 65 years old that association was reversed.
The second part of the study is where people really misunderstood what the study had proven.
Researchers fed mice a high-protein diet (18% of total calories), then implanted cancerous cells. They found that the high-protein diet increased tumor size. This is not a surprise, since protein increases IGF-1 (an anabolic protein) that stimulates growth in pretty much all tissues, including cancerous tissue.
Higher protein diets stimulated cancerous growth in mice.
So, while eating more protein might increase the size of existing tumors (depending on what treatment someone is undergoing), this study does not show that high-protein diets cause cancer.
Claim: High protein causes heart disease.
Eating animal-based protein daily is associated with an increased risk of fatal coronary heart disease (70 percent for men and 37 percent for women), whereas plant-based proteins aren’t linked to higher rates of heart disease.
This suggests that where you get your protein from may matter more than how much protein you eat.
However, just like cancer, the link between heart disease and high-protein diets is from questionnaires rather than a double-blind randomized study (the gold standard in research).
There are many confounding factors. For one, consider the type of animal — does seafood cause the same issues as red meat, for example?
We don’t yet know the whole story here.
Verdict: Limited evidence that protein causes heart disease and the source of protein is a major confounding factor.
A new study in the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) looks not only at protein intake, but where people got their protein from.
More than 131,000 people people were asked:
- how much protein they ate; and
- if it came from animals or plants.
This study took over 35 years to do (starting in the 1980s).
What they found:
Eating more animal protein was associated with a higher risk of death… if you were also doing something else that was a risk factor.
Such as:
- smoking
- being overweight
- not exercising
- drinking alcohol
- history of high blood pressure
- low intake of whole grains, fiber, and fruits and vegetables
Eating more plant protein was found to be associated with lower risk of early death.
What does this mean?
You might think at first glance that you should eat less animal protein, since this study seems to say that animal protein is bad for you.
But there’s more to it.
If you’re doing everything else “right”, then eating more animal protein doesn’t seem to be a problem.
Likely, it’s not the animal protein on its own but a lot of lifestyle things that come with eating more animal protein.
For instance, this study began in the 80s. At that time, nearly every doctor told their patients to eat less fat and meat, and to avoid eggs.
So if you were a somewhat health-conscious person, then you’d likely be eating less animal protein compared to someone who was less health-conscious (or if you went against your doctor’s advice) — but you’d also likely be engaging in a bunch of other health-supporting decisions and activities.
The problem with these types of studies, called correlational studies, is that you can never be sure whether the associations are caused by one onto the other or if they’re simply happening at the same time.
Protein quality matters
Most people think about how much protein, but they don’t think all that much about the quality of the protein they’re eating.
There are huge differences in the chemical makeup of a given protein source, and how valuable that protein is nutritionally.
The higher a protein’s quality, the more easily it can give your body the amino acids it needs to grow, repair and maintain your body.
The two big factors that make a protein high or low quality are:
- Digestibility:
- How easy is it to digest?
- How much do you digest — and absorb and use?
- Amino acid composition:
- What amino acids is it made of?
A high-quality protein has a good ratio of essential amino acids, and allows our body to use them effectively.
Amino acid composition is more important than digestibility.
You can have way more protein than you need, but if the protein you’re eating is low in an important amino acid (known as the limiting amino acid), it causes a bottleneck that stops everything else from working (or at least slows things down).
High-quality proteins have more limiting amino acids, which means the bottleneck is lessened and our bodies can use that protein source better.
Scientists use many ways to calculate protein quality, or how well we might digest, absorb, and use a given protein.
Here are a couple.
Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score (PDCAAS)
PDCAAS is calculated using a ratio of limiting amino acids and a factor of true digestibility to give you a value that lets you know how much of a given protein is digestible.
The higher the score, the higher the quality of protein.
PDCAAS is the current gold standard for measuring protein quality, but there are a few other protein quality scoring methods that we cover in the Precision Nutrition Level 1 Certification program.
Indicator amino acid oxidation (IAAO)
When we don’t have enough of a particular indispensable amino acid, then all the other amino acids, including that indispensable one, will be oxidized (i.e. essentially wasted) rather than used for stuff like repairing tissues.
It’s kind of like a team sport: You can’t play without the goalie, so all the players sit around twiddling their thumbs, even though they’re all great players in their own right.
But if we’re getting enough of that particular amino acid, then we won’t see all that oxidation. We have a goalie and the rest of the players can play.
So, you want the IAAO score to be low, indicating that all your amino acids are doing their jobs to rebuild you.
Thus far, the IAAO method seems like a very useful way to judge the metabolic availability of amino acids from different protein-containing foods, and to determine total protein requirements for all kinds of people.
New assessment techniques like IAAO are giving us a more precise idea of protein use, which means that we may see recommendations change in future.
Most likely, based on these recent findings, the RDA for protein will increase — i.e. doctors may tell us to eat more protein.
“Complete” and “incomplete” proteins
Back in the day, scientists used to talk about “complete” and “incomplete” proteins.
If you had a plant-based diet (i.e. vegetarian or vegan), you were told that you had to eat a mix of incomplete proteins (i.e. protein from a variety of plants) at each meal in order to meet your needs.
We now know this isn’t true.
As long as you eat a mix of different protein sources, you’ll get all the amino acids you need. No need for mealtime protein algebra to make sure you’re getting all your amino acids.
That being said, many plant-based sources are less protein-dense than animal sources. So if you choose not to eat animal products, you’ll have to work a little harder to get more protein from a wide variety of plant sources to make up the difference and meet your protein needs.
Animal vs. plant proteins
More and more, it seems that where you get your protein has a huge impact on your health.
Eating a high-protein plant-based diet improves health outcomes compared to low-protein diets and high-protein animal-based diets. Again, it comes down to the quality of your protein more than how much protein you’re eating.
If you’re a diehard carnivore, no worries — just add some more plant protein to your diet. Diversity is good. Hug some lentils today.
Why might you eat MORE protein?
Since we need protein to grow, maintain, and repair our tissues, hormones and immune system, there are times we need more protein.
The standard RDA of 0.8 g/kg is great if you’re sedentary and not building or repairing your tissue.
But you may need more protein if you are:
- physically active, either through workouts or your job
- injured or sick
- not absorbing protein normally
- pregnant / breastfeeding
- younger (and growing)
- older (and potentially losing lean mass)
Higher protein diets can also:
- lower blood pressure;
- improve glucose regulation;
- improve blood cholesterol; and
- improve other indicators of cardiometabolic health.
Win all around.
Here are some specific scenarios that might call for more protein.
Protein for athletes
Athletes and active people should eat more protein, but we don’t know exactly how much more.
The current recommendations vary from 1.2 to 2.2 g/ kg of body weight.
The International Society of Sports Nutrition says a range of 1.4-2.0 g/kg is safe and may help with recovering from exercise.
It looks like 2.2 g/kg (1g/lb of body weight) is the highest recommendation, but this shouldn’t be confused with the idea that more than 2.2 g/kg is unsafe.
More may not be necessary, but there is little evidence that more is unsafe.
Protein for aging
As you get older, you lose lean mass — both muscle and bone. This affects how long you live, as well as how functional and healthy that life is.
New research shows that most older people, particularly women over 65, need more protein than the current recommendations to slow down muscle loss.
Experts now recommend over 2.0 g/kg of body weight for people older than 65.
Protein for building muscle
The more protein in your muscles, the bigger and stronger your muscles can get.
Bodybuilders have long known that there is an “anabolic window” after a workout (24-48 hours) during which muscles are especially greedy for amino acids.
So, if you’d like to build muscle, make sure you eat a protein-rich meal within a few hours after training. Some advanced folks also like to add branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) or essential amino acids (EAAs) as a during-workout or after-workout supplement.
Here, it seems that a fast-digesting animal protein supplement (whey) is better at getting your body to make more muscle compared to plant-based protein (soy). Of course, you can also just eat “real food” after working out.
Protein for losing fat
Eating protein helps with losing fat, for a few reasons.
1. When you eat more protein, you tend to feel fuller longer.
Protein stimulates the release of satiety (stop-eating) hormones in the gut. So when you eat protein, you naturally tend to eat less, without feeling hungry.
(You can test this theory if you want. Go and try to eat an entire plain skinless chicken, or a few pounds of lean fish.)
2. Protein makes your body work to digest it.
Not all nutrients take the same energy to digest. Fat and carbohydrates are pretty easy for your body to digest and absorb, but protein takes more energy to digest and absorb.
If you eat 100 calories of protein, you’ll only use about 70 calories of it. (This thermic, or heat-producing, effect of protein is why you sometimes get the “meat sweats” after a big protein-heavy meal.)
3. Protein also helps you hang on to lean mass while you’re losing fat.
When you’re in a significant energy deficit (i.e. eating less than you burn), your body tries to throw out everything — fat, muscle, bone, hormones, etc. — all the stuff you need. It doesn’t tend to throw out just fat and keep muscle… unless you eat lots of protein.
A recent study at McMaster University in Canada explored what would happen if people who were on a very low-calorie diet (about 40 percent less than normal energy needs), ate a lot of protein, and worked out hard.
For 4 weeks, a group of young men in their 20s were basically starved, but on a high-protein diet — about 2.4 g/kg.
So, for instance, a 200 lb (91 kg), relatively active young man whose energy needs would normally be 3000 calories per day might get:
- 1800 calories per day (40 percent less than normal)
- 218 grams of protein per day (2.4 x 91 kg)
This means that out of those 1800 calories per day, about 48 percent of them were from protein.
The men trained hard — lifting weights and doing high-intensity intervals 6 days a week.
After 4 weeks, on average:
- The men gained about 1.2 kg (2.6 lb) of lean body mass (LBM).
- They lost about 4.8 kg (10.5 lb) of fat.
The fact that they lost fat isn’t surprising, though that amount of fat loss in 4 weeks is pretty impressive.
What is surprising is that they gained LBM.
There was a control group, who ate more of a normal-protein, low-energy diet — about 1.2 grams of protein per kg (so, for our 200 lb / 91 kg man, that would be around 109 grams per day). This group, on average:
- Gained 0.1 kg (0.2 lb) of LBM
- Lost 3.5 kg (7.7 lb) of fat
This study was only 4 weeks long, and on a specific population group under close supervision, but it’s a cool experiment that suggests protein might be able to do some nifty things even under difficult and demanding conditions.
It’s particularly useful because it’s a randomized controlled trial. In other words, it’s not a food questionnaire where you try to remember what you ate last year — it’s a direct comparison of two similar groups whose food parameters are being closely monitored.
We don’t recommend a highly restrictive, high-protein diet combined with a Spartan-style workout plan as a long-term strategy, but if you want to try something crazy for 4 weeks, see if you can replicate these results!
Why might you eat LESS protein?
Protein and longevity
Everybody is looking for the elixir of life; from 17th century chemists to Monty Python.
And for years, living in a semi-starvation state has been shown to increase lifespan in nearly animal from flatworms to rats to humans.
Looking into it more closely, it looks like restricting protein rather than calories, is the key to longevity.
Protein is anabolic: It triggers your body to build more tissues and other body bits. This is great if you want to build muscle, but there’s seems to be a downside: Eating protein triggers the body to release and make more IGF-1. In some people, this decreases longevity.
There’s a lot of work on lower IGF-1 and longer lifespan in animals (flatworms, rats and mice mostly) and some in people.
But it’s more complicated than saying that less protein leads to less IGF-1, which means living longer. There’s a genetic component. Some people do better with more IGF-1. In their case, more IGF-1 later in life actually increase lifespan.
And in terms of quality of life and functional longevity, a higher protein intake is probably still better. A semi-starved body may indeed live longer… but probably not better.
Age-related muscle loss alone could have serious consequences for metabolic health and mobility.
So: It’s difficult to say whether this is a good idea, despite interesting data. We probably need more research to say for sure.
What this means for you
If you’re a “regular person” who just wants to be healthy and fit:
- Follow Precision Nutrition’s portion recommendations.
We suggest a portion of lean protein at every meal, to keep that protein pool full and ready to help your body repair and rebuild.
- Try different kinds of protein.
Expand your repertoire and menu. This will help you get the best range of nutrients from real food.
- If you’re over 65, eat more protein.
This helps slow down age-related muscle loss, which improves long term health and quality of life.
- If you’re a plant-based eater: Plan your meals carefully.
Without animal products, you’ll probably have to work a little harder to get enough protein. You might consider adding a plant-based protein powder to help yourself out.
If you’re an athlete:
- Follow our PN portion recommendations.
We suggest a portion of lean protein at every meal, to keep that protein pool full and ready to help your body repair and rebuild. You may need more than this if you are especially active.
- Boost your protein intake around exercise. Eating protein around workouts may improve your body’s response to exercise. If you can tolerate whey protein, that’s one of the best options. Or, stick with real food.
- Increase plant based protein sources. The more the merrier.
If you’re a fitness professional / nutrition coach:
- Understand the basics of a high-protein diet.
Know when, how, and for whom high-protein diets might not be appropriate. If in doubt, learn more from trusted medical and research sources — which, as always, does not include random people of the Internets.
- Help people understand as much as they need to understand in order to make an informed choice, with your guidance.
Your clients will likely have questions. Prepare your answers in advance.
- Refer out as needed.
If you think a client might have an underlying health condition, work with their doctor to make sure they don’t have kidney or liver disease that a high-protein diet should be avoided.
- Stay within your scope of practice.
Remember: Unless you’re licensed for medical nutrition therapy, you’re not authorized to prescribe any type of diet for medical conditions. Don’t tell your client with kidney disease that they should go on a high or low diet to treat their disease.
More to this than you realized?
After reading this article, you might feel like nutrition is more complex than you thought. We get it. In the age of 24/7 health news and fitness-celeb podcasts, it’s tough to get the real story.
It’s our mission to cut through the crap.
Women and men in our Precision Nutrition Coaching programs get help optimizing their food intake for fat loss, improved health, and athletic performance in sustainable, long-term ways.
And fitness and health professionals in our Level 1 and Level 2 Certification programs learn how to help their clients in the same way.
Coming .
If you’re a health and fitness pro and would like to learn more about becoming an elite, world-class nutrition and lifestyle coach, check out our Precision Nutrition Level 1 Certification program; it kicks off soon.
Important: Since we only take a limited number of students each time we offer the program, and it sells out every time, the best strategy is to add your name to our free presale list.
Getting on the list gives you the chance to sign up for the certification 24 hours before everyone else. Even better, you save big on the cost of the program.
[Of course, if you’re already a student or graduate of the Level 1 Certification, check out our Level 2 Certification, an exclusive Master Class for elite trainers looking to perfect their nutrition knowledge and coaching techniques].
References
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