Nutritions

Exercise and water

Two-thirds of an adults body consists of water-it is an integral part of all your body cells and is critical to sustaining life.
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Fat in Your Diet

Fats are always looked at as a negative in a diet...well in almost all diets anyway, as Atkins tends to think that they are OK.
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Importance of Vitamins

The body needs a minimum amount of vitamins and minerals each day to remain healthy and function properly.
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Importance of Carbohydrates - Javed Ansari

Carbohydrates are simple sugars or long chains of sugars which are linked together. Paradoxically, carbohydrates are the preferred fuel during exercise of high intensity but they are stored in extremely limited amounts in the body. This storage form of carbohydrate, called glycogen, is found primarily in muscles and liver. The glycogen in the muscle is used directly by the muscle which is being exercised. In other words, once its limited stores of glycogen are gone it cannot "borrow" from other resting muscles.

Depletion of glycogen by the working muscles leads to severely impaired exercise performance, which at its extreme is known as "hitting the wall". This makes obvious the need to

1. Increase glycogen stores prior to exercise

2. Supply carbohydrate during prolonged exercise

How much carbohydrate is enough? We often express recommendations in terms of percentages of total calories. Even recreational athletes probably need to obtain 55-60% of their daily calories from carbohydrates. Most people can do this if they consume 3 grams of carbohydrate per pound of body weight. However, seriously training athletes probably require 4 grams of carbohydrate per pound body weight, or 60% of their calories from carbohydrate. For example, a 150 pound person who is playing everyday, say, 2 hours per day would require approximately 600 grams of carbohydrate daily. This carbohydrate would provide 2400 calories.

Examples of high carbohydrate foods:


Breads	Cereals	Grains	Pasta	Vegetables	Fruits

Timing for carbohydrate If the carbohydrate is to be taken during exercise it should probably be in beverage form. Beverages may be more quickly absorbed than solids and present less potential for stomach upset. A sports-type drink that has a concentration of 6-8% carbohydrate is likely to be easily absorbed during exercise. Most people can tolerate 1/2 cup to 1 cup of liquid every 20 minutes. This tolerance depends upon the individual and the type of exercise performed.

To avoid hypoglycemia or low blood sugar during exercise, carbohydrate should probably not be consumed within 1 hour of the start of exercise. The best pre game strategy is to eat a light meal which contains 100 or so grams of carbohydrate 3-4 hours prior to exercise.

In addition, one of the best times to provide carbohydrate to the body is immediately after a workout. Immediately after exercise the muscle is most avid to restore the glycogen it has used during exercise. Perhaps the best way to restore glycogen is to keep a drink which contains carbohydrate in your gym bag, and drink it prior to leaving the locker room or before you hit the shower at home. Alternatively, you can eat a high carbohydrate food, such as bread, bagels, pretzels, or fruit. The goal is to consume at least 50 grams shortly after exercise.

Exercise and the importance of water - By Javed Ansari

By now everybody knows that drinking the recommended 8-10 glasses of fluids per day provides essential hydration for everyday activities. But during a vigorous workout, hydration is even more imperative. Without it, performance, comfort and concentration suffers. Approximately two-thirds of an adult's body consists of water which is an integral part of all your body cells and is critical to sustaining life.

When we start to exercise we produce heat and our bodies soon reach boiling point after about an hour, as a safeguard we start to sweat which cools down the body and stops us from over heating (hyperthermia). Sweating not only leads to a loss of water from the blood but also electrolytes (such as sodium) which are essential if the body is to function efficiently. It is therefore essential that you drink fluids before an exercise session. Having said all that we must remember that during everyday activities like walking, washing up, cleaning the house, etc we also sweat and consuming regular glasses of water will keep the body in a hydrated state.

A dehydrated body decreases the effectiveness of your training session by impairing your concentration and coordination, reduced coordination could cause injury, and this will mean an ineffective training session.

So what are the signs of dehydration ?

Well, thirst is a very poor indicator of your state of hydration and by the time you feel thirsty you’re likely to already be dehydrated. Top up your fluid intake on a regular basis. Other symptoms include headaches, tiredness, dizziness and irritability. One quick method to monitor hydration levels is the pee test, as urine colour is a good indicator of hydration status. Ideally your urine should be virtually colourless. The darker the colour the more likely you are dehydrated. Think of your first pee in the morning which is usually a darker colour meaning dehydration, this can be improved by having a glass of water by you bed every night and topping up throughout the night.

Sweat loss during exercise sessions vary dramatically between individuals and different weather conditions i.e. cold day, hot day, but as rough guide you should look to drink about 150ml of fluid every 15 minutes. However, a more accurate guide to your personal hydration is to weigh yourself before and after training , (preferably without clothes as clothes will be damp after a session and therefore weigh more), the difference in weight before and after is equal to the amount of fluid llost. If your weight is equal before and after, congratulations your well hydrated, if not drink more during training. Trial and error is the key here, if you weigh 1 kilo less this is equal to 1 litre of fluid that needs to be consumed.

Just a quick point on what fluids to consume, for most people, drinking plain water before, during and after an hours moderatively intensive training session is enough. But if your sessions are longer and or more intense you may need to drink a sports drink which will contain carbohydrate/electrolytes. If you’re a person who cannot consume plain water , you can top it up with juice, ensuring that your body is not only rehydrated , but also replenished with energy.

So if you want to get the most out of your training sessions:

Drink before, during and after training

When not training, top up before and after drinking alcohol and known caffeine products (tea, coffee, soft drinks)

Weigh yourself before and after training to find your level of water loss

Monitor the pee test even when not training drink more throughout the day and especially during the night.

Increasing your water intake has many long term benefits for you, but initially you will be taking regular toilet breaks, this will soon settle down once your body gets use to the increased intake of fluids, and before you know it your body will be performing at the optimal level it was design for.

I shall be posting articles periodically about all aspects of health and fitness, for any questions about this article or anything health/fitness related, please do not hesitate to contact me javed on 9820661648

The Importance and Confusion of Fat in Your Diet - Javed Ansari

Fats are always looked at as a negative in a diet...well in almost all diets anyway, as Atkins tends to think that they are OK. The reason that most people try to avoid fats is that they tend to be less of a priority for your body to metabolize; the body would rather metabolize the carbohydrates and then Fat or Protein. Another issue with fat is the number of calories per gram, a gram of fat has 9 calories as opposed to Protein and carbohydrates which have 4 calories per gram. So your body is going to more than likely store any extra fat taken in as, well.

So you should watch out for the fat in most cases. Still it is important to take in some fats, you body can not exist without any fats and in fact stores vitamins A, D, E and K in fat. These vitamins are required to maintain good health. One thing to be aware of is that these vitamins, because they are stored in fat can build up and be toxic…how toxic? Well I have not heard of anyone getting sick from them but without them you would surely get sick.

Research has shown, because people who consume a high-sugar diet tend to consume lower amounts of fat and vice versa. If you think about this it means that your mind will look at a sugary or a fatty food in the same way and will crave both in the same way.

Most people’s questions about fats are what kind of fat should they be eating to be eating healthy. There are three types of fat that comes from food. Saturated Fats, Polyunsaturated Fats, and Monounsaturated Fats. All three are found in foods that come from animals or plants, but the amount varies. As a rule, more saturated fat is found in animal than vegetable foods, where more polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats are found in vegetables than animal foods. Cholesterol is also found in foods from animals.

Saturated fat is mainly found in foods of animal origin, but some vegetables also have large amounts. These are called saturated vegetable fats and are often found in processed bakery goods and nondairy milk or cream substitutes. These are: Beef, Brazil Nuts, Butter, Cheese, Chocolate, Coconut, Coconut Oil, and Lard

As a rule of thumb when shopping, saturated fats are solid at room temperature. When you have a lot of saturated fat in your diet, your liver responds by making more cholesterol. This raises your blood cholesterol level. It is the most harmful type of fat you can eat.

Polyunsaturated fats come mainly from plants. They are liquid at room temperature. Eating polyunsaturated fat can reduce blood cholesterol levels. Examples are Almonds, Corn Oil, Cottonseed Oil, Filberts, Fish, Margarine, Mayonnaise, and Pecans

Monounsaturated fatsare mainly found in foods that come from plants. They are liquid at room temperature and can reduce blood cholesterol levels, but less than polyunsaturated fats do. They can, however, raise HDL cholesterol (the “good” kind of cholesterol)levels.

Examples are Avocado, Canola Oil, Cashews, Olives, Olive Oil, Peanuts, and Peanut Butter.

Trans fats are what make vegetable margarines have a butter-like texture, and prolong the shelf life of packaged foods. The effects of trans fats are still not known, but it is believed that they, like saturated fats, cause blood cholesterol levels to iincrease. As we have learned over the last couple of years that trans fats can not be metabolized by our body so they are poisonous and very unhealthy.

For any questions about this article or anything health/fitness related, please do not hesitate to contact me javed on 9820661648

The Importance Of Vitamins To Your Body - By Javed Ansari

The body needs a minimum amount of vitamins and minerals each day to remain healthy and function properly. A balanced diet normally supplies sufficient vitamins. However, serious disorders can still develop if the diet does not meet your body's needs. Symptoms of a deficiency in vitamins and minerals usually appear when the lack is already in a relatively advanced level.

For instance, people who do not have enough of the vitamins A, B1 and B2 suffer from recurring tiredness, mental or emotional disturbances, loss of appetite and chapped lips, among others.

The common causes of these vitamin deficiencies include poor eating habits, alcoholism, emotional stress, the improper absorption of vitamins and minerals (usually due to liver or intestinal disorders), the intake of medicines that interfere with the ingestion of vitamins and lack of exposure to sunlight.

In our quest to get that "perfect" body, we actually tend to lose our focus on the real things that should matter to us, such as our health and well-being. Thus, we end up not only neglecting our insides but possibly our relationships with others as well. Cutting down on our daily calorie intake does not necessarily assure us of a slimmer waistline and smaller thighs. However, having our calorie-levels set way down low what dieticians actually prescribe is not only sheer shallowness but a cause a lot of ill effects on your health. From mood swings to fainting spells, our bodies tend to give out whatever "distress signals" it can think of just to tell you to stop that mindless way of dieting.

When it comes to dieting, do bear in mind that food is not the enemy - it never was. It?s actually the way we abuse our bodies that can turn everything into a downward spiral. Stop obsessing about what you?ve eaten in a day (or the lack of it) in order to keep yourself fit and healthy you?ll actually need food (with all its vitamin and mineral content) to help you achieve this. Remember, do everything in moderation (especially in dieting).

Unknown to the "anorexic community" who would rather die than actually eat, there are certain vitamins and minerals - that we can get from the right type of food which are actually essential how we?ll be able to convert these nutrients into energy rather than just store them into our thighs and bellies as fat. As much as we try to deny ourselves of the proper amount of food that our bodies need in order for it to run much more efficiently, we actually need a big lifestyle change and make sure to always keep in mind recommended daily levels of vitamins and minerals that our bodies need in order to be healthy and fit.