The benefits of hemp protein v. whey protein

May 30th, 2013 2 Comments

As someone who is constantly moving these days, I find it hard to sit for more than one meal a day. Fruits and veggies are easy to take with me; sources of protein, not so much. I can’t tell you how many hard-boiled eggs cracked in my purse before I realized I should put them in a plastic bag….I know, I know, it’s silly….In NYC, hard boiled eggs have actually become a new trend and high-margin item for the coffee/bagel street venders, so I can grab a couple for $1/an egg and be done with it.

Of course an easy option is a protein shake so I get greens, fruit, and protein all in one shot. The question is: what kind of protein do I use? Hilary, my nutritionist in Atlanta, argues whey is the only true complete protein. However, after some consideration and research, I’ve been giving hemp a shot.

According to several credible sources, hemp is one of the best sources of protein. It proves to be “complete” because it contains ALL of the essential amino acids we need as well as other nutrients not present in our bodies. Made up of edestin and albumin (the latter resembles the protein in egg whites), the protein is easily absorbed and assimilated (which makes it a great choice for post-workout consumption to help your muscles recover). Also contained in those little canibus seeds: calcium, iron, vitamins C, E, B1, B2, and carotene. Finally, hemp also has fiber!

Generally, whey and soy protein powders contain more protein per scoop, but they are both heavily processed and difficult for the body to digest. Neither contain vitamins and minerals unless they are added. As a dairy product, whey can be high in saturated fats; hemp is not. The fatty acids in hemp actually aid in the absorption of the vitamins and minerals. Soy protein contains inhibitors to absorption (and I flat out just don’t eat any processed soy products with the exception of some occasional soy sauce).

Now, which hemp protein powders should we use? Good question! I’ve been loving Vega One “Natural” flavor protein, but it’s not all hemp and it’s a little too sweet for me. An all hemp protein can be difficult to find. I can’t stand the Garden of Living Raw Protein, but from a “natural” standpoint it seems to be the best. Click here for an extensive discussion for EVERY vegan protein powder that’s on the market. I want to sample them all first and then asses my options based on what I can stomach. I will say I think having a Vitamix blender helps in this process. That thing makes every smoothie so, well, smooth, a little banana is all you need to conceal the taste of protein.

If you’re still want to go your own whey (pun intended), Hilary suggests Whole Food’s 365 vanilla or chocolate protein powder, a Think Thin bar, or one of these new Swanson organic protein shakes.

THINGS TO LOOK FOR ON THE LABEL WHEN CHOOSING YOUR PROTEIN:

15 to 20 grams per serving/scoop/pouch
source of sweetness and carbs (less is more! you can add sweetness with fruit)
source of fat (should be a “good” fat/oil)
additives (less is more! except when we’re talking vitamins)

Here is a quick guide to the favorites from the blogger with the extensive review list. Maybe we can start here on our mission. If you find one you love, please leave it in the comments below!

Resources: NaturalHealth365, Livestrong, HealthyEating, ChoosingRaw)

Tweet this!

Juice bars, cleanses, raw food EVERYWHERE! How do you choose?

May 9th, 2013 No Comments

When I was living in The South – aka the part of the country that is always 5 years behind – I was hard pressed to find fresh pressed juice (terrible joke intended). Coffee culture is infiltrating quite nicely, but juice not so much. Whole Foods finally capitulated and started selling an unpasteurized** juice with a green tint, but it’s mostly derived from apples.

Since I’ve moved back to LA (and NYC for a New York minute – I can’t help myself), I see now there is a juice bar on EVERY corner. Literally, there are so many I don’t have time to try them all!

So that leaves us with several questions:

How do you determine which hot spot serves “the best” juice?
What do I do if I don’t like all of the ingredients?
How much is too much to spend on juice?
Do I NEED to do a cleanse?
Which cleanse is right for me?

Thankfully I think I have come up with an easy answer for you. My solution is actually in sync with most answers in the food industry: GO LOCAL!

The BluePrint Cleanse was a pioneer in the juice biz and for that we paid good money and still give mad respect to Erica and Zoe. But you have so many other options now, take them.

This lesson was driven home for me in Atlanta when I discovered Shannon Sliger’s dtox juice bar tucked away off Roswell Road in Buckhead. After all of the cleanse brands I’ve tried, hers has been my favorite thus far. I got to customize the ingredients (no ginger please!) and quantity of each kind of juice (I added a cranberry grapefruit). Plus, the fresh pressed juice over a cold pressed juice is so much more flavorful and satisfying. She also includes a wheat grass shot and an aloe elixer (to help with digestion). On the menu there is also a 7 day liver cleanse people rave about and my favorite coffee substitute, the Puerh Latte with fresh frothed almond milk.

Did you hear what I said: ENJOY the juice!

There are so many things you have to tolerate or “do for your own good.” Green juice is delicious once you get over the stigma of it. And if you don’t like, try another brand or shop. All green juices are not created equal. You don’t want to be paying upwards of $8 for something you’re sucking down.

Just beware of the added sugar please. There is usually something in green juice that makes it sweet and “tolerable” like green apple. You want to make sure the juice isn’t all apple and only a little green. The only thing that will do for you is send your blood sugar on a roller coaster ride. Consider adding beets or carrots to your juice to make it sweeter instead of apples or citrus. Both are high in vitamins!

I digress, but you know I don’t go on rants often, so this must be important.

REASONS TO BUY JUICE/CLEANSES FROM LOCAL PRODUCERS:

1. There is no doubt it’s fresh. They make it to sell out daily.
2. They don’t have to cold press the juice to last for days so you get more bang for your buck.
3. Cold pressed juice is great for keeping in your fridge and a cooler in your car.
3. Often you can customize the juice’s ingredients (I like extra greens) AND your cleanse.
4. It’s cheaper in general and no shipping costs!
5. Locals compete so they’re more creative with their recipes.
6. You can get an education from the owner about what their recipes and what your body needs.
7. Whole Foods fresh juice bars suck. They don’t care about the “recipe.”
8. Juice is good for you. It allows your body to absorb all of the nutrients of veggies without having to work too hard. Feel free to drink it with nuts, eggs, or chicken so you’re digestive system has time to absorb all the goodness and your tummy is full.

You know I travel a lot, and I’ve been able to find a fresh juice bar and raw food restaurant in EVERY city I’ve been to. NO EXCUSES. One of my readers/followers actually called the juice bar I posted on Instagram in El Paso to say hello! (Made my day :) The El Paso guy was surprisingly legit with his recipes.

Bottom line: Vegetable Juice – UNPASTEURIZED** juice (read the label) – is good for you. Drink it alongside eating a protein and a little fat like a “does-a-body-good” meal. Cleanse for 3-5 days as a way to hit your sugar-addict reset button.

**When fresh fructose is pasteurized it’s properties change to be like that of sugar like you see in a bag in the grocery store. Put the Tropicana down (even for your kids) and pay the money for the real, fresh deal. Your body will thank you.

If you’re considering a cleanse, click here for a post that includes links to all of my tips and cleanse reviews.

(Full disclosure: 3 day dtox cleanse was provided for free in exchange for a review. However, I don’t want to check my bank statement to see how much money I spent there while in Atlanta. Obsessed with her green smoothie and kale salad is an understatement!)

Tweet this!

5 Tips for sugar detox – my article in JEZEBEL!

March 3rd, 2013 No Comments

Click the image to enlarge!

After a 3 day juice cleanse, eating vegan 2 days before and after, and abstaining from bread, dairy, coffee, and sweets for the duration, I feel great! Apples taste as sweet a cake now.

I’m going to ride the clean eating, nothing processed, sugar-free wave a long as I can. Cutting out dairy is hard because I rely on yogurt for protein often….and I miss the taste of a cappuccino but thankfully not the caffeine. It was a pleasant surprise to discover I’m not addicted to caffeine. I will admit I splurged on wedding cake last night and it was DELICIOUS, but I don’t feel like I need more. The only thing processed I’ll ingest is in my wine glass. Unfortunately white wine tastes too sweet so I opt for red, a healthier choice anyway. A this point, one glass is enough to get me tipsy so I’ll be a cheap date for a while.

After practicing what I preach in the article regarding water, I’m also fully hydrated for the first time in my life. I can’t say it makes me feel any different overall, but the water is very filling and surprisingly satisfying after a meal.

More on the cleanse, sugar, and my new coffee substitute when I return.

Tweet this!

So many reasons NOT to “save up” and starve for a special dinner

February 14th, 2013 1 Comment

I myself have said and hear from others countless times, “I’m not eating so I can go out to [fill in indulgent restaurant here] tonight.” Well, even though it sounds good and the numbers even out, famine now doesn’t mean you can or should feast later for several reasons:

By not keeping your metabolism in motion, you slow it down. ”Going long periods of time without eating, you will start to produce cortisol which will cause you to store everything from that meal as fat so it’s better to keep your metabolism revved up so that you will metabolize that meal more efficiently,” says Hilary King.
Your blood sugar will drop drastically and you’re not going to feel good or act appropriately. Your productivity will suffer as well.
If you’re hungry all day, you’re more likely to eat even MORE at dinner.

So how can you help yourself if you want to indulge??? My nutritionist Hilary King has some suggestions for you!

Exercise regularly at least an hour a day to keep your metabolism in high gear.
Eat complete meals of lean protein, complex carbs, and good fats so you’re satisfied without snacking.
Have a healthy snack (veggies, nuts) before you go out to dinner so you don’t blow your meal on bread.
Cheat on salty and fatty foods instead of sweets. The more sweets you eat, the more you will crave them.
Choose a protein you’ll enjoy and limit the bad side dishes to just a couple bites.
Eat some veggies (NOT STARCH) with dinner to slow down the absorption of alcohol and sugar into your blood stream.
Opt for red wine or clear alcohols without juice mixers as your beverage.

Basically, if you maintain a healthy and balanced diet, train your body to burn fat, and limit simple sugars, you can splurge without starving yourself or feeling guilty.

Tweet this!

Make-ahead meatballs

December 13th, 2012 No Comments

In Hilary’s list of holiday survival tips, she mentions making meals and snacks ahead of time so you can eat them quickly when you’re in a festive frenzy. This recipe below fits that bill as well as being a great source for lean protein (which will keep you full and energized throughout the day).

Subtract the spicy and it also looks like a great option for kids!

Spicy Turkey Meatloaf Muffins!!

from Nicole Landress at BLAST900

Prep Time : 10 min

Cooking Time : 45 min

Number of Servings : 12

Ingredients

2 packs Jenni-0 Extra Lean Ground Turkey
1 cup dry quick cook oatmeal
3 Egg Whites
1 1/2 cups red onion (diced)
1 1/2 cups zucchini (shredded or diced)
1 – 2 Jalapeños
2 garlic cloves or 1 tbsp. garlic powder
2 tbsp. yellow mustard
2 tsp. ground cayenne pepper
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
Optional: any veggies you want!

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375*

Spray a 12 cup muffin pan with cooking spray and place to the side.

Mix all dry ingredients together. I like to place the oats in a food processor for a second or two.

Next dice the onions, jalapeños, and garlic. Shred your zucchini using a cheese grater. You can really add any veggies you like, spinach is very good in this recipe!

In a large bowl, combined the turkey, eggs, veggies and mustard.

Add in your dry ingredients and mix well.

Make 12 muffins that are slightly smaller than a baseball and place directly into muffin pan. Sprinkle with cayenne pepper if you like a little spice!!!!

Bake for 45 min or until the inside is no longer pink and Enjoy!!!

Nutritional Information : serving size 1 muffin

Calories : 140

Total Fat : 2 g

Sat Fat : 1 g

Carbs : 8 g

Protein : 24 g

(via BLAST900 tumblr)

Tweet this!

Holiday Survival Tips from My Nutritionist

December 13th, 2012 No Comments

Hilary says you CAN have fun and still be healthy over the holidays. Here are her tips for survival:

Before the Parties

Do NOT skip meals!! You know when people say, “Oh I’m not eating lunch because I’ve got this party tonight, and I know I’ll eat there!” WRONG! Do NOT go to the party hungry. Try eating something before hand like a think thin bar so that you don’t go in hungry!

At the Parties

Do NOT hover around the food table. Get a small plate, put what you want on it, and walk away! Work the room, talk to people—focus on the company rather than the food.

Put protein on your plate FIRST!! Start with protein and then move to rich vibrant colors.
Rather than loading your plate the first time, put a little on, and if you want more later, you can always go back.
Be picky!! Passed hors d’oeuvres are small, but they add up FAST. To avoid eating 2,000 calories worth of cheese puffs, limit yourself to 3 you love—if you can, pass on the crab cakes and other fried fare.
If you’re at a sit-down dinner party, cut your first helping in half. That way, you can enjoy seconds (and your host or hostess will feel good about that), and the total amount of food you eat will be about the same as a normal-size portion.

Be Smart About Alcohol

Keep your calories and your buzz under control!

A single shot of vodka, gin, or rum with club or diet soda and a squeeze of lime is about 100 calories.
Low-cal options like light beer or wine have fewer than 150 calories per serving. They’re perfect if you sip one all night.
If you’re the type to make several trips to the bar (no judgments!), ask the bartender to fill your glass halfway each time to keep your total intake down.
Champagne or pink Prosecco are both great options. Not only are they low on the calorie chart—80 to 120 per glass—but you’re more likely to sip rather than guzzle.

Holiday Shopping Snack Attack

Ohhhh the mall food court! All of the gift decisions you face at the mall will make you more vulnerable to temptation at the food court so keep things in your purse.

Pack Snacks! 30 pistachios or 24 almonds in a Ziploc bag with two dried plums or apricots, or even some turkey jerky or a snack bar like Think Thin—get protein—it’ll keep you full.

Holiday Special Treats

Why are we such suckers for holiday desserts? The scarcity theory: things we think are in limited supply, are more desirable to us than non-scarce items.

Holiday-themed coffee drinks and sweets are often more caloric than regular ones, so stick to the basics: add your own cinnamon to your every day coffee or drizzle your own vanilla or peppermint extract.

Fast Food At Home

We get it, you’re busy! This means less time to prepare meals, so you may be tempted to eat at the drive through for convenience.

Making recipes in advance that you can store in the freezer to reheat for dinner on busy evenings.
Crock pot dinners are another good option for protein then just add steamed veggies.

Get your Protein Early

Eat a protein-based breakfast. Healthy proteins and good fats will give you an energy boost in the morning and prevent cravings later in the day.

Try a whole boiled egg or some salmon with avocado instead of cereal or toast.
Use nut butter like almond butter on Ezekiel or gluten free toast.

Tweet this!

The part that sucks….but works!

October 11th, 2012 No Comments

Portion control. I have never counted fat grams, calories, carbs, none of it. I just ate what I wanted when I was hungry or swore off sweets. In those days, I was constantly hungry and eating all the time. Well, that’s all changed….and I’m so much better off!

You know I’ve been on this nutrition program that is supposed to create a a lifestyle where I can eat more, workout less, and feel better. The point is to train my body to burn fat because even though we eat more carbs, what we don’t burn gets stored as fat. Even though I haven’t followed her programs to the letter (I still drink way too many calories and indulge in desserts often), it has really made a huge difference for me. The key has been portion control. Hillary came up with my portions based on my activity level.

At every meal AND snack, I need to consume 20-30 grams of protein, 25-30 grams of carbs, 7-10 grams of fat, which comes out to around 250-300 calories.

The next step is determining how many ounces, slices, pieces, and servings of different foods go into that. I was given two tools to do it: a Biggest Loser scale and VeniceNutrition.com software. Hillary came over and held my hand in the beginning to show me the system. It’s super easy, but also tedious to measure everything out. The great part about it is that once I weighed everything I didn’t have to do it again because I know my portion by site. Plus, I eat the same things a lot.

Let’s take breakfast for instance. I like vanilla greek yogurt with fruit and almonds. Now, I don’t like plain yogurt, but the flavored yogurts are high in carbs. So I mix plain and vanilla to even out the sugar which allows me to put in more fruit. Eight ounces of yogurt is my personal limit, so I measure out 5 ounces of 2% Vanilla and 3 ounces of Non-fat plain.

I get 2.5 ounces of pineapple (about 9 chunks) for carbs and 0.5 oz or 8 almonds for fat.

Lunch usually revolves around chicken or turkey for me. Here’s my portion of chicken breast, so much more than I would ever eat before.

If I’m making a salad, I add fat with dressing and either feta cheese or avocado.

(We used a bad avocado so a good one wouldn’t go to waste.)

The hardest part about doing this right is when I make meals that combine ingredients, like turkey meat sauce. I haven’t gotten to the place where I know how much sauce I can have. What I do know is that if I buy a 1 pound package of turkey, I need to eat about 1/8 of what is in the pot. Since the tomatoes are high in carbs I then just put the sauce over broccoli instead of noodles so I’ll have fiber to fill me up. The only thing missing now is fat, so I get to add parmesean cheese on top! Unfortunately 6 ounces of wine puts me over my calories, but not my carbs, so I take the glass and skip dessert, which I’m not hungry for anyway!

The breakdown looks something like this on the Venice nutrition site.

(Click the image to see it bigger.)

One big thing I’ve noticed: THE MORE RAW AND NATURAL FOOD I EAT, THE BIGGER MY PORTION TO MEET MY REQUIREMENTS. Processed foods are so high in carbs and calories, that I can’t eat as much before I hit my limits.

It’s all still a work in progress, and maintaing the balance isn’t always easy (chips and salsa snacks!)…. But the promise of a diet-less lifestyle sounds pretty nice so I’m sticking to it!

Tweet this!

2 rules to picking nutritious produce

September 13th, 2012 No Comments

All fruits and veggies are not created equal in terms of their nutritional value and it’s challenging to keep all of their facts straight. So my nutritionist Hilary King offers these two helpful guidelines to help us make better decisions when we’re shopping. They’re not fool-proof, but they work most of time.

We want fruit and veggies with COLOR and CRUNCH.

1. The more COLORFUL the better!

In most cases of fruits and vegetables, the more color they have, the more vitamins and minerals they contain for us. For example, dark green kale is better for you than romaine lettuce. Red peppers and tomatoes are better for you than yellow peppers and tomatoes. The skin of red apples is more nutritious than that of green apples. Red potatoes are better for you than yellow potatoes. Sweet potatoes follow this rule and are the best potato for you.

However, color also indicates that the fruit or veggie is riper, which means it is sweeter, and therefore higher in carbs. Think about the evolution of a banana. Although, you just learned that a banana is not the best choice of fruit for you because it lacks color and texture (explained below). I was surprised to hear that bananas don’t even have much potassium as we believe they do.

2. Choose CRUNCHY over soft.

Hilary says we should choose the most CRUNCHY and SEEDY produce. Both indicate fiber. The exceptions would be celery, iceberg lettuce, and cucumbers that are lacking in color so they aren’t the best choices from a nutrition standpoint. You’re best produce is organic kale, broccoli, red peppers, green beans, carrots, and berries.

Cooking veggies is ok, but when you heat them to softness then you know you have lost some of their fibrous value.

For more nutrition tips from Hilary, click here.

Tweet this!