Tag: fat

Don’t Forget Your Back

Most of us spend a large portion of the day hunched forward.  Think about when you are working on the computer, cooking, driving or even relaxing.  Your typical posture during these activities is head and neck forward, shoulders rounded forward, back curved and hips flexed.    When you remain in this position for an extended period of time, the muscles in the front of the body tend to shorten or contract, while the muscles in the back of the body tend to weaken.    This can be a set up for back, neck and shoulder problems and in addition, tends to make you look shorter, heavier and less confident.

Stretching before and after exercise as well as during the day is often overlooked in the rush to “get your workout in”.   Stretching however, has numerous benefits.   According to a study published in the Annals of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Medicine in September 2016, by I Fekhfekh, et al, dynamic muscle stretching of the knee musculature actually resulted in an increase strength gain in those muscles.  Interestingly, this study also found a decrease in the postural stability of the knee after stretching.    In English, it appears that stretching helps your to build strength, but may decrease the stability of the muscles you stretch at least temporarily.

In general, stretching helps to improve flexibility, joint range of motion, and usually is helpful for injury prevention.    Stretching helps by increasing blood flow to the muscles stretched.  This increased blood flow carries important nutrients to your muscles to allow for muscle growth and repair.  In addition, the increased blood flow helps to wash away muscle “waste” which leads to decreased soreness and inflammation of the muscle.

If allowed to remain in a contracted position for a prolonged period of time, our muscles will shorten.  For example if you spend a large portion of your day sitting in a chair or driving, the muscles in the front of the hips, your hip flexors will shorten.  These muscles have a direct effect on both your posture and your back health.

 

So what should you do?

It is important to stretch the muscles in the front of the body at least daily.

Exercises that focus on the hip flexors:

-Kneeling hip flexor stretch  – in the position of a lunge, allow your back knee to touch the floor and drive the hip of your front leg forward.  This will stretch the hip flexor of the knee on the floor

–Pigeon stretch – extend your right leg straight back and bring the heel of your left leg underneath your right hip.  Then drive your hips forward towards the ground.  Stretch and repeat on the other side.

– Yoga poses such as: low lunge, crescent lunge, upward facing dog, and revolving side angle pose

 

Stretches that focus on the chest muscles and prevent rounded shoulders:

– Door Frame stretch- stand in a doorway or at the corner of a room with your arms up like you were going to stop traffic.  Line your arms up from the elbow to the hand with the doorframe or in the corners of the wall.   Step towards the door and you should feel a stretch in your chest (pectoralis “pec” muscles) and hold for 20-30 seconds.

– Wall slides – stand with your back to the wall and keep your shoulders against the wall.  Walk forward 1-2 steps and slide your arms up and down the wall and squeeze your shoulder blades together.  You should feel a stretch in your upper chest muscles.

–Shoulder squeeze stretch –  clasp your hands together behind your back and slowly try to lift your hands.  Squeeze your shoulder blades together to stretch out the chest wall.

– Yoga poses include : bridge pose, camel pose, cobra pose and cow face pose

 

Stretches for your neck:

– Chin Tucks (Neck Retraction) – keep your shoulders back and your head in a neutral position (eyes facing forwards, chin level) slowly move your head backwards until you feel a slight stretch in the back of your neck.  Hold for 10-20 seconds and repeat.  If needed you can apply a gentle pressure on your chin with your fingertips to press your chin backwards and deepen the stretch.

Incorporating these exercises into your daily routine will help to prevent shortening of the muscles in the front of the body which leads to poor posture and often pain of the neck and back.  As always, if you are having pain which persists you should be evaluated by a certified health care professional to ensure that these exercises are safe for you.

This week we primarily discussed stretching exercises to prevent muscle contraction, and next week we will discuss the importance of strengthening the back muscles to further combat the issues of a hunched posture.

Carb Cycling

Our bodies primarily run on two sources of fuel, carbohydrates and fats.

Carbohydrates provide us with readily available energy and are used as our default fuel.  Carbohydrates fuel our workouts and allow for muscle growth.  In addition, carbohydrates cause a spike in insulin levels which in turn promotes fat storage.   Carbohydrates are stored as glycogen by the liver and in the muscles.  When your carbohydrate intake is high, these stores fill up.  In this case, carbohydrates are converted to fat and stored by the body as potential energy.

The ability for the body to store excess energy is endless.  Your body will simply continue to store fats in the fat cells if there is an excess of energy intake.   Fat cells release leptin.  As was stated in a previous article, leptin is a hormone that regulates energy expenditure and appetite.  When circulating levels of leptin are high, your appetite will decrease and your energy expenditure will go up.   Conversely, when leptin levels are low (as with a high carb, low fat diet), your body increase your appetite and decrease your resting metabolic rate to store energy.

The caveat to the above statement is that in people with significant obesity, their leptin sensitivity decreases.  Because circulating leptin levels are directly proportional to the amount of fat or adipose tissue present, obese individuals have consistently high circulating leptin levels.  The constant elevation of leptin results in decreased sensitivity to leptin, or leptin resistance.  The result is that despite high levels of fat, these individuals are still hungry and continue to store fat.

Fat metabolism is turned on by the body when glycogen stores get low or circulating levels of leptin decrease.  Compared to carbohydrates, fat provides the body with a more sustainable form of energy.  About 100 grams of glycogen is stored in the liver and the rest is stored in the muscles.  These glycogen stores in the liver can be depleted in just one day of fasting.  When glycogen levels drop, it takes different individuals varying amounts of time before their body can efficiently metabolize fat to makes ketone bodies.  Ketone bodies can then be used as a form of energy.

The theory behind carb cycling is to provide the body with the beneficial effects of carbohydrate intake (i.e. muscle growth, fuel workouts, gut health) without the drawback of increased fat storage due to elevated levels of circulating insulin.

By eating a low carb diet, insulin sensitivity is increased and glucagon (a hormone which increases the synthesis of glucose from glycogen) production is increased as well. The ultimate result is more efficient fat burning for energy.  In theory, a prolonged low carb diet can lead to decrease in thyroid hormone production, elevated cortisol levels (a stress hormone), loss of periods (amenorrhea), bowel dysfunction and immune dysfunction.   According to Paul Jaminet, PhD, low carb diets can also cause the body to decreases production of certain proteins and molecules resulting in symptoms of dry eyes, dry mouth, and decreased healing times in superficial wounds.  Persistent low carb diets also can stress the liver.  When needed, the liver synthesizes glycogen from proteins (or fats) in a process called gluconeogenesis.

Carb cycling is used to allow the beneficial effects of low carb dieting, but to offset or prevent the above mentioned potential side effects.  In individuals consuming a consistently low carb diet, the body becomes very efficient at burning ketone bodies(fat).   Often these individuals reach a plateau or stall with their weight loss attempts.  By adding in a higher carb meal or “cheat meal” this essentially jump starts your metabolism and up-regulates the fat burning process through the effect of leptins.

It is important to note that using complex carbs such as sweet potatoes, brown rice, slow cooked oatmeal, yams, etc. is more beneficial than using simple carbs such as breads, sugary foods, candies etc during your high carbohydrate days.  This is because complex carbohydrates are digested more slowly and do not cause as much of an insulin spike.  Complex carbohydrates that are not processed also contain vital vitamins, minerals and nutrients your body requires. In addition, it is felt that the undigestible (resistant) starches found in certain plant-based complex carbohydrates may have a beneficial effect on gut flora and increase mucin (one of the main parts of mucous, which helps to lubricate/ moisten body surfaces) production to offset symptoms of dry eyes or dry mouth.

The timing of carb cycling is very important.  For example, eating a meal high in carbohydrates before bedtime will promote fat storage due in increased insulin levels and decreased energy demand.   At this time, research indicates that the best time to increase carbohydrate intake is after a heavy training, lifting or sprinting day when the glycogen stores are depleted.   The carbohydrate influx will be used by the body to refuel the glycogen stores instead of stored as fat.   This increase of carbohydrate intake will also raise the leptin levels transiently.  The rise in leptin levels will result in a decrease in hunger cravings and prevent down-regulation of hormones which would otherwise decrease the overall metabolism.

The reason for fat cycling or decreasing fat intake on the high carb days is to allow an individual to maintain a fairly consistent calorie intake.  On the lower carb days, high quality fats can be eaten to increase calorie intake and stimulate satiety.  On higher carb days, fats should be limited so that overall calorie intake for the day remains constant.  In addition, the combination of high carb and high fat intake can result in an unfavorable changes in the type of fats found in the blood stream.

In summary, carb cycling is a way to allow an individual the benefits of eating a low carb diet, without the potential drawbacks of a persistently low carb diet.  Intermittent carbohydrate “refeeding” helps to prevent “stalls” in weight loss, refuel glycogen stores in the liver and muscles, regulate leptin levels and prevent possible thyroid or immune consequences of continuous low carb diets.   If one suffers from symptoms of worsening hypothyroidism or adrenal fatigue, it may indicate that more complex carbs should be added into the diet.  In those individuals with significant obesity, carb cycling is often not as effective in “jump starting” the metabolism due to persistently high levels of leptin, or leptin/insulin resistance.   To help decrease insulin resistance and increase leptin sensitivity, a low carb diet coupled with adequate sleep, routine exercising and stress relief is recommended.

Eating Time With Regard To Exercising

To answer this question, I have been reviewing the literature on this topic and it appears that there is not a general consensus on this subject.  The answers, which are still up for debate seem to depend on the goals you are trying to achieve.   It appears that not only the timing of meals, but the type of meals, and the timing of exercise plays a role on the metabolic effects.

In an animal study by Sasaki published in Nov 2014, his findings suggest that eating in the morning and exercising later in the afternoon or evening has a more beneficial effect with regard to body fat and weight gain.  In the group that ate early and exercised later, the was less body and fat weight gained.  In addition, there was an increase in skeletal muscle weight gain.    So according to his findings, eat earlier in the day and exercise later for increased fat loss and increased skeletal muscle weight gain.

Bo published a study in Dec 2015 in the International Journal of Obesity that found that the same meal consumed in the evening resulted in a decreased resting metabolic rate and increased insulin response. In English, this means that you will essentially burn more Calories by eating a meal in the morning then you would by eating the same meal in the afternoon or later evening. Furthermore, multiple studies have observed that skipping breakfast is correlated with obesity, elevated BMI (body mass index) and increased waist circumference.

According to KJ Hackney in a study published in the journal of Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, consuming protein before heavy resistance training (weight training) results in an increase in resting energy expenditure (increased metabolism) as compared to consuming carbohydrates prior to heavy resistance training.   Other research suggest that whey protein is beneficial because it is fast absorbing and contains branched chain amino acids, specifically leucine, which has anti-catabolic (muscle breakdown) and increased anabolic (muscle building) signaling.

For trained athletes who are competing in endurance (long time or long distance) exercises, the recommendation at this time is to consume low glycemic carbohydrates or complex carbohydrates such as oatmeal, heavy mixed grain breads, or most vegetables.  Exercising in a fasted state compromises fuel stores and results in less than optimal performance.    There is also some research to suggest that high fat or even protein intake before exercise can be beneficial as well.  Therefore, again there is no definitive consensus on the type of food to consume prior to exercise.

In another study, published by Sasaki in 2014 in the Journal of Nutritional Science and Vitaminology, eating between 1 and 4 hours before exercise resulted in no difference in the metabolism of trained subjects.    The metabolism of both carbohydrates and fat oxidation remained the same despite the timing of intake.  Thus, as long as you eat between 1 and 4 hours before exercise there is no difference in the body’s ability to metabolism fat and carbohydrates afterwards.

Obviously, eating a very heavy meal immediately before exercise is not recommended because your body will shunt blood to your stomach and GI tract to help with digestion and this blood flow will be at the expense of your muscles.    Small meals with moderate complex carbohydrates and protein, such as an almond milk smoothie, with protein powder and a little fruit, eaten at least 30 before exercise may be ideal.  This allows for some digestion to occur prior to exercise and allows for fuel stores to replenish.

With regard to eating after exercising, the British Journal of Nutrition published a study in 2013 by NM Farah, that contradicts the above studies, and demonstrated that there may be an advantage for body fat regulation exercising before breakfast instead of after breakfast.

Further research suggests that eating a meal right after resistance exercise (weigh training) may increase muscle mass and decrease adipose (fat) tissues as opposed to eating a meal several hours after weight training.  After your workout, your body needs to repair itself and restore the energy you just burned.    For the first 2 hours after your workout, your body uses your food intake to refill your muscle energy stores.  Two-hours post exercise, this ability to store energy decreases by about 50%, and then those Calories are more likely to be stored as fat.

As was discussed in prior articles, insulin sensitivity is very important.  The more resistant you are to insulin, the more likely you will have issues such as abdominal obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, etc.   By eating within 2 hours after exercise, there is a beneficial effect on your body’s insulin sensitivity for the next 24 hours.

A small meal at least 30 minutes to 1 hour prior to exercise appears to refuel your energy stores and enable more optimal performances during exercise.   Eating within 2 hours of completing exercise helps to refuel your muscle glycogen stores and appears to enhance metabolism and increase insulin sensitivity for the following 24 hours.    Our bodies are remarkably complex and depending on genetics, environment, and baseline level of fitness, our needs are different.   As always, it is important to listen to your body and eat accordingly.