Thermogenesis: Increasing fat loss through diet

Thermogenesis occurs when the metabolic rate increases above normal. Thermogenesis, or the thermogenic effect, is activated by a few different mechanisms including nutrition, exercise, or exposure to cold (Don't advise going and standing in the cold :) ). Macronutrients have different effects on the thermogenic response. When food is ingested, the metabolic rate (energy used) increases above the fasting level. The rise is often referred to a specific dynamic action (SDA). In the case of protein, it is thought that thermogenesis occurs because the body much use energy to process protein, which is then used as building blocks for tissue growth and repair (Protein taking more energy to digest). Carbohydrates and fats function primarily as fuel, and are more efficiently metabolized, without much energy input. Therefore they have much lower thermogenic effect.

Being able to use thermogenesis through diet to your advantage is not hard to achieve! Everyone's fat loss diet is different but for the most part the breakdown of the macronutrients will be something around 50% Carbohydrates, 30-35% Protein, and 15-20% Fat per day. (Generally speaking your protein intake would be around 20% with either raising your Carbs up about 5%. But more often than less you take calories away from fat and add to protein) Increasing your protein at the 30-35% mark will bring you anywhere from 1.5-2.5g of protein per body weight (normally, the rule of thumb is to be a 1g of protein per body weight).

Now that you have the macro's broken down, you need to be able to split up the protein accordingly throughout the day. The most important meal of the day for a fat loss diet is BREAKFAST!!! (breakfast is the most important for any goal really, but thats for another post) Breakfast is going to be used to jumpstart the "engine that burns inside" (metabolism) which sets the tone for your thermogenesis throughout the day! You are going to want to have about 25% of your daily protein during this meal!! Also, we cannot neglect the other macros fats (natural almond butter, fats from eggs (not too many), olive oil, coconut oil, along with many others you can look up on google), complex carbs (oatmeal, ezekiel toast, whole wheat toast), and last but not least SIMPLE CARBS (fruits, jams, and jelly).

What we achieved in this post is to properly help you start your breakfast for individuals looking to lose weight. Take these EASY and SIMPLE rules and see the change in your appetite, metabolism, and your appearance. Obviously you need to be consistent with this concept and eat a clean for the other 4-5 meals. But this is a great way to start!

As always, please comment if you have any questions!!!

Understanding Macronutrients

Macronutrients are nutrients that are required daily in large amounts, and are thought of in quantities of ounces and grams. They include carbohydrates, protein, lipids, and water. Macronutrients supply the body with energy and serve as the building blocks for growth and repair. Macronutrients occur in all foods and vary in proportion.

Carbohydrates and lipids are the macronutrients primarily used to provide the body with energy. Proper energy substrate intake is important to balance energy expenditure and maintain desired body composition and performance. Energy requirements vary with age, activity, and foods eaten. Daily energy requirements can range from 1,700 to over 6,000 calories per day.

Carbohydrates yields 4 calories per gram
Protein yields 4 calories per gram
Fat yields 9 calories per gram
Alcohol yields 7 calories per gram
Water yields 0 calories per gram

In the past, it was assumed that all calories supplied by nutrients were metabolized the same way and that their total calories content was equally used for energy. In recent years, scientists have determined that energy content of different macronutrients may vary slightly in the body depending upon the relative proportions of the other macronutrients present in the diet, the type of macronutrient, the presence of vitamin and mineral cofactors, the level of hydration, and the physical conditioning of the body.

      *Side Note: The paragraph above should let you know that one specific diet is not for everyone!
                          The dieting world is FULL of fad diets that put a lot of false information in dieter's                               heads to lure them in for MONEY!! The main reason why the diet industry is so                                   wealthy is due to people constantly coming out with a new diet to help you lose the                             weight but they never once tell you how to maintain your weight loss. Basically,                                   understand YOU are going to have different needs than Sue or Bob from the gym.                               Seek advice from someone who has a nutritional background, and do not get your                                 knowledge from the next fad on the internet.

Protein is considered a protected nutrient the body reserves its use for the synthesis of tissues and molecules instead of energy instead of using ingested protein and protein that makes up muscle tissue. In fact, a thermogenic response has been detected in response to eating diets high in protein. Having said that, high protein diets are not for everyone. The rule to thumb is consuming 1 gram of protein per lb of lean body mass (LBM).

Next post we will go more into the thermogenic process that you can create with your diet! Remember to comment if you have any questions, concerns, or have anything different. Also, feel free to Facebook message if want to discuss an issue in private. Have a great day everyone!!

Digestion Of Carbohydrates

Chemical digestion of carbohydrates begins immediately in the mouth by enzymes present in the saliva. In the stomach, long chains of glucose that make up starch are further broken down. The stomach has some capacity to allow glucose into the bloodstream, which is beneficial to endurance athletes drinking glucose drinks during exercise to promote glycogen sparing. Once in the intestines, glucose and fructose absorption occurs at their respective rates, glucose being taken up faster than fructose. When complex carbohydrates are eaten, alone or with sugars, short chains of glucose polymers in the intestines slowly release glucose for an hour or two. This provides a prolonged supply of glucose in the intestines slowly release glucose for an hour or two. This provides a prolonged supply of glucose to the bloodstream as well as a nutritional energy that spares and replenishes muscle glycogen. 

When compares to protein and fat, carbohydrates are more quickly released from the stomach to the intestines. The more protein and fat present in the diet, the longer the stomach will take to empty. Logically, before and during exercise it makes sense to eat and drink foods very high in carbohydrates to advantage of this process. Again, this is where special sports nutrition drinks play an important part of increasing performance nutritionally. 

Looking for a carbohydrate supplement to help you replenish the carbs for after your workout?!

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• Quickly Hyper-Loads Muscle Tissue With Glycogen To Support Performance, Endurance & Recovery!*
• Designed With A "Sustained-Release" Mechanism For Over 2 Hours Of Stimulant-Free Energy Support!*
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• Mixes Instantly: No Clumping or Gelling!

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A Bio-Engineered High-Performance Carbohydrate

Karbolyn® represents the dawn of a new era of carbohydrate supplementation. Unlike other carbohydrate sources, Karbolyn® is quickly absorbed into the bloodstream like a simple sugar but without the typical spike or crash caused when your muscles run out of fuel.* In fact, Karbolyn® is a "homopolysaccharide" (relatively complex carbohydrate), suggested to be absorbed 18.21% faster than pure Dextrose (a simple carbohydrate).* Yet it still promotes the sustained energy of complex carbohydrates.*

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Simple and Complex Carbs

Today we will build off the "Types of Carbs" post. We will go a little further into what these carbs are and how they effect the body.

Simple Carbohydrates: The Sugars

The principal monosaccharides that occur freely in foods and are not bought tightly to other food molecules are glucose and fructose. Glucose (dextrose) is found commonly in fruits, sweet corn, corn syrup, certain roots, and honey. Fructose (also called levulose and fruit sugar) is found together with glucose and sucrose in honey and fruit. While glucose has traditionally been frequently encountered dietary sugar, fructose is becoming more popular due to the discovery that it enters the blood stream slowly and does not cause a rapid rise or fall in blood sugar levels like glucose does.

      *Side note: Research on fructose has also determined that preferentially replaces glycogen stores           in the liver rather than glycogen stores in the muscles. This is important because the brain                  derives most its glucose supply from liver glycogen, which is especially low in the morning after        the previous evening's fast.

Complex Carbohydrates:

The two most important energy contributing polysaccharides are starch and glycogen. Processed polysaccharides include maltodextrins and "glucose polymers", which are shorter polymers of glucose, and are commonly used in many sports drinks because they dissolve easily in water. Starch and other polysaccharides are referred to as "complex carbs".

Starch occurs in various parts of plants and consists of long chains of glucose units. Starch is a major dietary energy source and is found in grains, roots, vegetables, pasta, breads, and legumes. When starch is eaten, it slowly digests and releases glucose molecules from the intestines into the blood stream at a slow steady rate. As discussed preciously, most simple sugars are quickly absorbed from the digestive system into the bloodstream. Quick absorption leads to high blood sugar levels and conversion to fat by the liver. This is one reason why individuals on a fat-reduction diet should minimize simple-sugar intake (Fruits are fine!). Additionally, individuals who participate in explosive, high intensity sports should minimize intake of simple carbohydrates and fats because they are primarily burning muscle glycogen for energy, not large amount of fatty acids that endurance athletes use for energy.

Types of Carbohydrates

There are several types of carbohydrates, some better than other carbohydrates are categorized as: 

• Monosaccharides (one-sugar molecules)
• Disaccharides (two-sugar molecules)
• Polysaccharides (three or more sugar molecules)

Monosaccharides and disaccharides are commonly called sugars, while polysaccharides are called complex carbohydrates.

• Monosaccharides: Glucose, fructose, sorbitol, galactose, mannitol, mannose
• Disaccharides: 
• Sucrose = glucose + fructose
• Maltose = glucose + glucose
• Lactose = glucose +galactose
• Polysaccharides: Starch, dextrin, cellulose, and glycogen, all which are made of chains of glucose 
• Fibers: Fibers are mainly the indigestible complex carbohydrates (polysaccharides) that make up the plant cell walls, including cellulose, hemicellulose, pectin, and a variety of gums, mucilages, and algal polysaccharides.

Later this week we will look deeper into simple carbs/ complex carbs and their effect on the body.