Whole Grains Uncovered!

Food labels use the words “whole," " refined," or “enriched,” to describe the grain being used.  Grains come in all shapes and sizes, ranging from large kernels of popcorn to small quinoa seeds.  The healthiest of the three is whole grain.  It is unrefined, meaning it contains all three of its part: bran, germ, and endosperm.

Refined grains are milled, which removes both the bran and germ, giving the grain a finer texture and extended shelf life.  Eliminating two-thirds of the grain, the bran and germ, which is protein, nutrient, and fiber-rich, makes the product significantly less nutritious.

Enriched means some of the nutrients that were lost during processing were added back in.  If it has been fortified, nutrients that don't occur naturally in the food were added.  Most refined grains are enriched, and many enriched grains are also fortified, with vitamins and minerals like folic acid and iron.  Although fortified gives a product more nutritional value, it’s always better to get vitamins and minerals through foods like fruits, vegetables, legumes, or lean meats, which naturally contain them.  

Whole grains are the healthiest of the grains because they contain higher amounts of vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids, fiber, antioxidants, and phytochemicals.  Listed below are several types of whole grain.

Types of Whole Grain Include:

·         wild rice       

·         brown rice

·         whole wheat

·         oatmeal

·         whole oats

·         barley

·         whole rye

·         bulgar

·         amaranth

·         millet

·         quinoa

·         popcorn

Whole Wheat?  Whole Grain?  Multigrain?  They all sound healthy, but they are not the same.  If it doesn't have the word “whole” on the package, it means it might not be made from the entire kernel.

Whole wheat is made from the entire wheat kernel, whereas whole grain can be made from any whole grain kernel, or just one.

Multigrain contains a few different grains, but it doesn't necessarily mean any of it is from whole grain.  Whole grains and whole wheat are more nutrient dense, as they are rich in nutrients but low in calorie content, compared to empty-calorie foods, like sweets, candy, ice cream, and soft drinks.  Made with whole grain usually means made with very little.  If it says wheat flour, it has been refined, thus it is not whole wheat.

When choosing grains, read labels carefully and look for “100% whole wheat,” or “100% whole grain.”  Wheat, whole wheat, and 100% whole wheat all have different meanings and nutritional values.  Buyer Beware!

Learn more about which grains go well with other healthy food choices, by contacting Dan @ (978) 807-8579, or visit seachangefitness.net.

Dan Kinsella is an Exercise Physiologist, with a degree in Sports Medicine.  He's a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) through the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA), as well as a Certified Nutrition Specialist.  To learn more about this article, or his personal training services, visit seachangefitness.net or call (978) 807-8579 to schedule your FREE consultation!

Taking a Bite Out of Nutritional Bars

Have you ever looked at the label of a nutrition bar?  I'm talking beyond where it highlights the amazing benefits of having 40 grams of protein, claiming you'll pack on a ton of muscle, and guaranteeing it will melt away the fat.  Take a closer look at the ingredients next time; you'll be surprised.

Although nutrition bars are convenient to eat and portable to carry, the quality tends to be directly related to taste.  The better it tastes, the worse it is for you and vice versa.  The better tasting ones are highly processed, have artificial ingredients and fillers; many times, the better tasting ones contain very little protein compared to “healthier” ones, which contain fewer sweeteners. (I use that term loosely, since most bars are just slightly better than a candy bar.)

One way of eliminating unhealthy bars is by looking at their ingredients.  Since they are listed according to weight, find bars which list the protein source (whey, soy, casein, etc.), before the artificial sweetener (glucose/fructose/corn syrup or sugar).

In order to prevent bars from being hard as a rock, manufacturers use glycerin (also known as glycerol), which is sugar alcohol.  Glycerin is used to trap water within the bars in order to make them soft.  The government classifies glycerin as a carbohydrate by process of elimination.  It's not a fat since it has no fatty acids; it's not a protein, since it has no amino acids; thus, the only macronutrient category left is a carbohydrate.

Looking at the label of nutrition bars, most manufacturers do not list glycerin as a carbohydrate, since they claim it does not raise blood sugar.  Although they should list it, it's a deceptive marketing loophole, since the FDA doesn't regulate supplements.  It might be labeled “low-carb” only because the majority of glycerin is not included in the final count.  If it's not listed as a macronutrient, consumers can't keep track of how much they're actually getting.  If they are counting glycerin it adds 4.3 kcals/g towards the total caloric intake.  What company in their right mind would want to promote more calories if they don't have to?

The sweeteners added are a whole other story. If you've seen the words high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, corn sweetener, fruit sweetener, sucrose, etc., run the other way.  Companies use these artificial sweeteners to make bars taste good and keep costs down.  Limiting artificial sweeteners and looking for natural sugar like sucrose (table sugar), will be your best bet.

The fat content in bars tends to be as high, if not higher than some candy bars.  If you think the fat is healthier, think again.  They often come from the same source of fat, (cocoa butter, vegetable oil, hydrogenated oil, palm oil, etc.)  Look for bars low in saturated fat that use canola oil if possible.

Although not a great source of protein, hydrolyzed collagen is often used because it doesn't harden as it ages, it is inexpensive to produce, and the taste is decent.  Other protein sources include hydrolyzed whey, caseinates, whey protein concentrates, soy protein isolates, hydrolyzed protein, whey protein isolate, and sometimes egg or beef.  A good nutrition bar will primarily be made of a whey protein concentrate or isolate and some type of caseinate.

Nutrition bars are marketed as a healthy snack alternative for quick energy, weight loss, muscle building, etc., but, after delving a little deeper, you can see just how unhealthy they can potentially be. I'm not saying all protein bars are bad, just buyer beware.  Ideally if you have the chance to consume healthy food, that should take precedent.  Learn which bars are best for your fitness goals and/or email me for a great healthy recipe.  Contact Dan @ (978) 807-8579, or visit seachangefitness.net.

Dan Kinsella is an Exercise Physiologist, with a degree in Sports Medicine. He's a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) through the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA), as well as a Certified Nutrition Specialist. To learn more about this article, or his personal training services, visit www.seachangefitness.net, or call (978) 807-8579 to schedule your FREE consultation!

What is a Calorie?

Recently the question, “What is a calorie?” was posed on an early morning show. The responses inspired me to write this post.  They spanned from, “I think a calorie is based on how....what it's made up of.....I'm not really sure?” to, “Ummm, I'm not exactly sure what a calorie is, but I've always heard it's kind of bad to have a lot of calories and things like that..” Confused yet? 


A calorie is a unit of energy; more specifically, it is the amount of energy (or heat) needed to raise the temperature of one gram of water, one degree Celsius. Even more confused? You're probably not alone. The key word from the definition above is “energy”. Calories give us the energy we need to keep us alive; we need calories for our brains to function, our hearts to beat, and for our lungs to breathe.  We need calories for our daily activities: from working, to working out, and everything in between. All activities we partake in require a certain amount of energy. Strenuous activities need more calories than easier activities.  Think of calories as gasoline for our body's fuel tank.



When you read a consumable label that contains a certain amount of calories (such as 100, 200, or 300 kcals, etc.), it's describing how much potential energy your body could get from eating or drinking it. Alternatively, if you know how many carbohydrates, proteins, and fats are in any given food or drink, you can compute how many calories it contains.  For every gram: carbohydrates (CHO) contain 4.1 kcals, proteins (PRO) contain 4.3 kcals, and fats contain 9 kcals.



Example: 1 serving (½ cup) of Hood Low Fat Cottage Cheese—No Salt Added:



6g of CHO (6g × 4.1 kcals) = 24.6 kcals



14g of PRO (14g × 4.3 kcals) = 60.2 kcals



1g of Fat = (1g × 9 kcals) = 9 kcals



Total = 94 kcals



Although used synonymously, calories on labels are actually kilocalories (kcals), not calories.  This is misleading because one thousand calories = one kilocalorie.  In order to distinguish a kilocalorie on labels, a capitalized "C" in Calorie is used.  Calories are not bad; they become harmful when we eat too many of them and don't burn off enough, which leads to weight gain.  It takes a reduction of thirty-five hundred kcals to lose one pound of fat. To gain one pound of lean muscle, it takes an increase of thirty-five hundred kcals. Want to know how to maximize fat loss or lean muscle gain? Want to know how many calories you're taking in, and more importantly where they're coming from (CHO, PRO, fat)?  Contact Dan @ (978) 807-8579, or visit seachangefitness.net.

Dan Kinsella is an Exercise Physiologist, with a degree in Sports Medicine. He's a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) through the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA), as well as a Certified Nutrition Specialist. To learn more about this article, or his personal training services, visit www.seachangefitness.net, or call (978) 807-8575, to schedule your FREE consultation!

Not All Carbs are Bad!

While anti-carbohydrate crusaders have quieted down in recent years, many people still cling on to the mistaken belief that all carbs are bad.

The glycemic index (GI) is a way to measure the effect of one carbohydrate food vs. another. Specifically, the GI measures the impact of carbs on blood sugar levels.  When carbs are consumed, they’re eventually broken down into their simplest form of glucose, which is sugar.  The rate at which a carb breaks down determines its blood sugar level.  Carbs that break down quickly will have a high GI and those that break down more slowly will have a low GI.  Carbs are necessary to fuel all daily activities, from exercising to working, and general brain function.  Depriving yourself of carbs leads the body to break down its own muscle mass for energy, and severely decrease blood sugar levels.

The chart below represents the three main categories used to classify carbohydrates.

Figure 1: The GI uses a numerical scale of 0 to 100 to measure how quickly or slowly a particular food raises blood sugar levels.  Foods that cause the most rapid rise in blood sugar level will have a higher numerical value. As a reference point, glucose is used with a GI value of 100.

The benefit of using the GI is to regulate blood sugar levels.  When they’re kept within a normal healthy range (80-120 mg/dl), our body runs more efficiently.  If blood sugar levels dip too low, this results in feeling lethargic and/or increased feeling of hunger.  When blood sugar levels are too high as a result of excess carb intake (as well as consuming an improper balance of proteins, carbs, and fats) insulin is released.  Insulin’s job is to lower blood sugar levels, but it does this by taking excess sugars and storing them in fat cells when muscle and liver storage is at capacity.  The faster blood sugar levels increase, the greater the insulin response is in order to minimize this spike. This could lead to an excess amount of insulin being released.   The end result is greater fat storage.  Consuming protein and/or fat with meals will help to minimize the spike in blood sugar levels.

Although the GI isn’t perfect (some say the food isn’t well defined) you can’t lose sight of the goal of regulating blood sugar levels for optimal daily performance, both physically and mentally.  Learn how to maximize this for your workouts and everyday recreational activities by contacting Dan @ (978) 807-8579, or visit seachangefitness.net, to learn more.

Dan Kinsella is an Exercise Physiologist, with a degree in Sports Medicine. He's a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS), through the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA), as well as a Certified Nutrition Specialist. To learn more about this article, or his personal training services, visit www.seachangefitness.net, or call (978) 807-8579, to schedule your FREE consultation!