Yes Honey you are healthy
Does honey do anything for our fitness and health?
Yes it does!, honey has antiseptic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antibiotic, antifungal, antibacterial and prebiotic properties.
However, many studies use substantial amounts of honey, (like 50 to 80 grams/day, which supplies 40-65 grams of sugar).
Luckily, we can also derive health benefits from topically applied honey.
When comparing sweetener intake in rodents, honey appears to be less harmful than others (notice we said “less harmful” – because lots of any sweetener consumption tends to be harmful).
Skin
Honey can stimulate tissue growth, collagen and new blood vessels in wounds. It can also absorb moisture and fend off microbes. The antibacterial action of honey might be attributable to sugars, low moisture, gluconic acid (which creates an acidic environment), and hydrogen peroxide. Nitric oxide end products in honey might also be useful.
Allergies
Ingesting pure honey with traces of pollen may help build a better tolerance to local airborne allergens.
Sore throat & cough
Honey is said to soothe the throat and ease congestion. A large review concluded that honey is better than no treatment for acute cough symptoms, and sometimes as good as commercial cough syrups.
Gastrointestinal illness
Honey may relieve indigestion and other GI ailments, helping to destroy bad bacteria in the gut. It may also help to protect against gastric ulcers.
Workout recovery
Honey appears to act like other forms of rapidly digesting carbohydrates when it comes to athletic performance, recovery and promoting muscle growth. Honey has about the same amount of fructose as high fructose corn syrup and less than agave nectar (different varieties of honey vary slightly in their fructose content).
Lower triglycerides with fish oil
To lower triglycerides you will need to consume large amounts of Omega 3 fatty acids. Take 6 capsules of fish oil per day. Take 2 in the morning ,2 at lunch and 2 at dinner. Flax seed oil capsules are "ok" if you dont like the fish oil. Even thou Flax seed is alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), some of it (~10%) is converted to eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) which reduces triglycerides. Also starting a zero carb diet will get you to an optimal level of triglycerides, which is aprox under 100mg/dL. When purchasing a good quality Omega 3 supplement, make sure the ratio is 2:1 of EPA and DHA.
Free weights vs Machines
I read an interesting article a few days ago. It was primarily about the gym fitness industry, and how they really want to keep your business. But they don't what to get sued if you hurt yourself. They also want to get you in and out as fast as possible. This seemed odd but it made sense. The average gym wants more members to sign-up for a yearly membership. The want the average novice to workout 3 times a week and keep paying that monthly membership for life.. or until they get bored and are stuck paying anyways, or cancel.
Well on to the issue with machines, which consist of 80 to 90 % of the equipment in these gyms. There are there for a purpose, and its not to make you strong or to help you lose weight. The main purpose for these machines is to reduce liability for the gym. Its almost impossible to hurt yourself just sitting down and performing one controlled form of movement. If it were to the corporate lawyers they wont even be any free weights. Plus it keeps the novice members coming back. I'm not saying that these machines are to be excluded from any routine, but they must be treated as supplemental to your routine and not the main focus.
The real test is to try to perform the same weight on a machine and with free weights. Notice how your form is key to prevent injury and to control the weight. With free weights you gain "Real World" strength and that is what we all really want. To be strong and fit. Remember always use caution with using free weights. Start light and try to have someone watch your form. Also try to stick to dumbell routines, barbell squats, deadlifts, dips, pullups. It doesnt take fancy or complicated routines to lose fat and gain muscle. Just takes consistency.
Say no to booze, or yes to fake vodka tonic
If you really want to lose weight try avoiding alcoholic drinks. Here's why..
Lets say you consume 2 glasses (10 oz) of wine is aprox 250 calories and a small dinner (500 calories). Your body will first burn off the alcohol calories. If you don't burn more than 250 calories before you go off to bed, you'll have an extra 500 calories of unused energy, which will partially be used and the rest sent to fat storage. Beer and straight liquor is worst. Each shot of rum/vodka is aprox 100 calories. Fruity drinks are just sugar and straight alcohol, which will take longer to burn. If you have to drink, just keep it to the weekends. Another good tip is to drink a cup of water after every drink, tell the bartender to add some lime and tell everyone its a vodka tonic.
The 7 Rules of Nutrition
These aren’t the newest techniques from the latest cutting-edge plan. Rather, they are simple, time-tested, no nonsense habits that you need to get into when designing a good eating program.
1. Eat every 2-3 hours, no matter what. You should eat between 5-8 meals per day.
2. Eat complete (containing all the essential amino acids), lean protein with each meal.
3. Eat fruits and/or vegetables with each food meal.
4. Ensure that your carbohydrate intake comes from fruits and vegetables. Exception: workout and post-workout drinks and meals.
5. Ensure that 25-35% of your energy intake comes from fat, with your fat intake split equally between saturates (e.g. animal fat), monounsaturates (e.g., olive oil), and polyunsaturates (e.g. flax oil, salmon oil).
6. Drink only non-calorie containing beverages, the best choices being water and green tea.
7. Eat mostly whole foods (except workout and post-workout drinks).
So what about calories, or macronutrient ratios, or any number of other things that I’ve covered in other articles? The short answer is that if you aren’t already practicing the above-mentioned habits, and by practicing them I mean putting them to use over 90% of the time (i.e., no more than 4 meals out of an average 42 meals per week violate any of those rules), everything else is pretty pointless.
Many people can achieve the health and the body composition they desire following these 7 rules alone.
Launching new nutrition site soon
I'll be launching a new nutrition counseling website soon.
Don’t put that in your mouth
It should now be evident to you that the easiest way to create the calorie deficit you need to lose bodyfat is to simply avoid putting the extra calories in your mouth in the first place. Even a very modest calorie reduction of 150 calories will result in significant fat loss over time. In the long run, the self-discipline required is much easier to produce than the effort of running on a treadmill for an hour every day (which is a losing proposition anyway). A calorie intake deficit of 500 calories a day is still fairly easy to achieve, and if you have added some muscle to your body the shape change you can produce in 6-12 weeks can be amazing. Initially, you may have to be very compulsive about counting calories, but within a few weeks you will probably learn to manage simply by controlling the portion size of the foods you eat.
3 Rules to Weight Loss
Follow these simple rules to weight loss.
1. Diet: Abs are made in the kitchen. Eat -500 calories of your Basal Metabolic Rate. Avoide anything with corn syrup. 1 pound of fat is 3,500 calories... do the math of how many calories you need to burn, then plan it out.
2. Max Out. Lift some iron. Weight training is essential. Even low weight high reps... Do it!
3. Cardio: Get your heart pumping. Even 15 minutes a day can help. Start slow then increase over time. Walking is lame.. At least jog 30 seconds then walk... Its called interval training.. run 30 secs, walk 1 min, run 30 secs, rinse , repeat...
Plenty of Sleep
Dr. Darden also discovered that plenty of sleep was essential to fat loss. In his research he noted that subjects who were sleep deprived did not lose fat as easily as those who were well rested. It seems that calorie restriction is fairly stressful to the body and any further stressors can result in a protective slowing of the metabolism. My own theory is that a calorie restriction sends a biological signal of starvation and decreased sleep sends a signal that the organism is having to stay up to search for food, or it has to be vigilant because its environment is unsafe. These are probably powerful biological signals that cause a protective slowing of the metabolism.