one word...CHOCOLATE:)

I've just started teaching nutrition part time at a local community college as this was my educational background before becoming a chiropractor. Nutrition is a huge subject with a lot of misinformation out there.

A good comprehensive book that is very factual but relatively easy for the layman to read is "Understanding Nutrition" 10th edition by Whitney/Rolfes.

This is the book that I use and base my course on.

I agree with the chocolate. Its great going down, but too much and I'm way over the edge, quick. This is a problem for me because it is my only remaining real vice. The thing I have noticed most over the years is the quantity of food I eat. If I stop when I know I should, I never have that post-lunch crash. But if I keep going either to finish my portion or because my mouth tells me to, I am almost certainly done for.

---

Partially-Hydrogenated

Chocolate is good for the soul.

"Chocolate is good for the soul. "

I'm a total chocoholic, especially for the really dark stuff, so in defense of chocolate, let me add that it contains substances called flavinoids which are anti-oxidants and may be involved in protecting us against such conditions as cancer or heart disease.

So no need to feel guilty if you're a chocolate lover. :-)

[reply]I'm wondering if anyone has had success in altering ones diet/nutrition to effect, in a positive way, there overall mood,[/reply]

Beer is food

Aaaahhh, yes. The darker the better.

I recently found 70% Lindt Swiss Thins. One or two squares a day are enough to keep me sane.

I also like this Extra Extra Dark Chocolate Bar from Fauchon in Paris. Best with a glass of ice cold water.

Now you've really got me going. I just went to the fridge for a piece of dark chocolate. It's better than sex sometimes. :-)

hey i heard that the benefits of those choco-antioxidants are cancelled out by the dairy in milk chocolate, so you should stick to dark... anyone have an explanation for this?

Does this book deal much with food allergies and food effects?

~Matt

The milk protiens in dairy chocolate bind chemically with the flavonoids and make them less easy to absorb.

Dark chocolate is made primarily with cocoa and contains the flavonoids in an absorbable form. Definately eat the dark stuff for this reason.

"Does this book deal much with food allergies and food effects? "

Not that much. Food actually gets blamed for more mood swings than it probably causes.

True allergies are quite rare but in some cases can be life threatening if people go into anaphylactic shock. Some people have severe reactions to peanuts, shellfish, etc.


What is more common is food intolerences. A good common example would be monosodium glutamate (MSG) which is used on Chinese take out food, etc. Another would be lactose intolerence for people who have trouble with milk products. Typical symptoms would be headaches, stomach aches, nausea, etc.

Hey Matt~

I think it's hard to change a life time worth of habits, but I also believe it's possible. Like with anything, smoking, drinking, eating crap you have to want to make the change. I've recently started changing my diet and I was a TOTAL sugar addict and I too would suffer a serious crash in the afternoon, so much so I thought I was going to fall asleep a few times on my drive home from work. I've sadly learned there's no way around my sugar desires other than completely cutting it out. I can't have just one, I don't work that way and that's what I've come to learn. I try not to think to far ahead and just take one day at a time. :)

I can tell you I have had success with my emotions and moods! My energy is SO much better since I've cut out the high glycemic, simple sugar foods. Is it difficult? heck yes and I dread whenever I have to go to a party with crap food as I'm not that strong yet with my new ways! :)

Sometimes I dream about birthday cake with gobs of frosting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

Sorry if I want off topic a bit, but this has been a huge area of interest to me lately as well!!

This is partly why I'm looking for info. Not looking to spend a couple of months experimenting to find out what may or may not couse various effects. I woudl like to find a book, books etc that might list how various foods may effect various aspects of ones mood, energy level, ect etc and see a realistic way of limiting or removing that food from ones diet.

Say for instance sugar, or simple sugars. Obviously I can't eliminate it completely, but maybe in certain dosages or under certain circumstances it has lesser or no effect. Maybe it's not teh sugar at all but some fo the other ingridiants that typically accompany sugar or types of sugar etc etc.

~Matt

Kerri,

Getting rid of sugar is one of those things that I have always "wanted" to do, but never been successful at. It's amazing, really. I can force myself to get up at 3am to do a 3hour run, but can't stop myself from eating a cookie (or 12) if someone brings them in. So, how did you go about cutting out the sweet stuff? Did you wean off of it or go cold turkey? Is there a patch or something? ;)



-Jay

 [quote] "My energy is SO much better since I've cut out the high glycemic, simple sugar foods. Is it difficult? ............."


Hey Kkri-


I totally agree on sticking to low to moderate GI foods,but do you allow yourself to take gels and power bars,b/c thats loaded w/ sugars?
Have you replaced the sweets cravings w/ more fruit?

---

_______________________________________________________

Seeing him in deep torment, I said. " You can have my last GU , but its been down my pants for most of the run". - John Hirsch

Take care of your body, its by far the coolest thing you're going to ever own.- Can't remember who told me this, but I love it.

LOL!! I'm the same way, so good about training and wasn't so good about my eating!! I do still get sugar, but natural sugars through FRUIT! :) I also eat low glycemic carbs which also have some sugar. I still get sugar, just not the crazy fun for 60 minutes kind! ;) I went cold turkey, had to, I'm an all or nothing kind of person! :) Each successful day makes the next day that much easier!! :)

Gels only during racing. As far as bars, I use PureFit bars which are nutritionally pretty sound. www.purefit.com I do have some cliff bars, but try to avoid them if at all possible, or use only after a long workout when real food isn't readily available! Definitely MORE fruit!

matt- i can tell you since i quit drinking i feel happier and less "bummed out". in fact, i don't feel bummed out anymore at all--and that is a terrific change.

also, i know when i eat alot of sugar, that will make me bummed out and sometimes cry. the sugar effects my mood that much.

lately, i've started consuming more milk--by way of eating cerial. i noticed that (this is gross) i have more mucus production and i chalk that up to the milk. it's been a few weeks now, so it has subsided, but when i started up it def was the case.

my favorite book on this stuff is prescription for nutritional healing, as well as the nutrition almanac. good stuff.

Have you been checked for borderline diabetes?

Even if you're normal for diabetes, you may be borderline hypoglycemia, you want to replace the refined carbohydrates with fibre rich carbohydrates and get adequate protein.

Foods are listed by a glycemic index. The glycemic response refers to how quickly glucose is absorbed after a meal, how fast blood glucose rises and returns to normal. It's best to eat foods that trigger a modest rise in blood glucose levels and return to normal slowly and smoothly. In otherwords, start eating foods with a low glycemic response that are ranked low on the glycemic index.

I'll see if we can find you a website.

No haven't been checked but could be a possibility.

I've always had relatively severe swings by food intake, seems to be getting more severe as I get older or could just be it's getting more irritating.

I actually have a listing of food by GI, a couple actually. I think one is listed in Charmichael's nutrition book, can't remember the name right now.

~Matt

Here's a good list of glycemic ratings for different foods!!

http://www.coachkp.com/...es/glycemicindex.htm

It sounds like this could be an area that is worth you following up on. Just goggled "glycemic index" and had a million plus hits. So there's lots of info. Here's an example:

http://www.diabetes.ca/...n_About/glycemic.asp

Me too! I'm a sugar freak! I was working with a nutritionist a while ago and she made me realize that I was eating WAY too much sugar. A little here and a little there was adding up to like 250% more than I needed! I would start feeling crappy in the afternoons - sleepy, dead, and not-so-smart - and I would go after more sugar. And then I would crash. And repeat.

So, I have done a lot better since at cutting down on simple sugars. I go for a lot more fruit (like apple w/ natural peanut butter) rather than say Hershey's kisses. It's helped tremendously. I don't crash in the afternoons anymore.

But, I do LOVE birthday cake. white cake with white icing. it's sooo bad and sooo good! heehee