The 411 on Proteins! (Part 1)

Did you miss me Nutrinutters? I hope so  ;)

I apologize for going missing for a couple of weeks, but I am back! and here to talk about protein.

This usually is a topic that interests more people looking to build muscle, but bare with me on this...we all could benefit.

First, here's a little 411 on protein:

It comes from the Greek word protos meaning "first". I confess that part was new to me...see, we learn something new everyday ;)
You may have heard that protein is important if you want to build muscle but the truth is it has other quite amazing functions as well! You see, your body needs protein to build new cells, maintain tissues and make new protein for your body to use. Does this give you flashbacks of biology class and migraines with it too? Don't be afraid, I'll further explain..

The reason why we need protein is because our bodies are full of it!
Wanna see some of the neat places where protein makes an appearance?

• hair, nail and outer layer of skin are made of a protein called keratin that cannot be digested by our bodies, which is why it can be harmful to bite our nails
• Muscle contains quite a number of different proteins.
• The inner structure of bones
• Ever heard of hemoglobin? It's in our red blood cells. This is a protein that carries oxygen throughout our bodies
• Don't get scared of this next one: enzymes. These are very special proteins that do specific jobs such as digesting or breaking down food (not to be confused with the movie "Breaking Dawn" ;) ). These are so important that about 1/2 of the protein that you eat each day goes into making these.
• DNA
• and the list goes on!

As we can see, protein is quite important in our body not only to develop Johnny Bravo muscles...

In case you are not from his time, meet Johnny:

So where can I get me some?? Should I order one of those protein shakes? 

NOPE! say NO to these shakes little nutrinutters. I won't get into those today because I wanted to simply introduce protein in this post. But what better way to get your protein needs than through eating delicious foods? Never had those shakes, but I've heard their taste is not that great.

To create the suspense for the week, I'll continue this on next week's post...so DON'T MISS OUT! ;)

Coming soon: How much protein do I need? What are good sources? What's wrong with protein supplements? What should I have before and after a workout?

 -The Nutrinut-

Sugar, aaahh, honey honey

Ciao Nutrinutters!!

So the other day I looked ahead of me and saw the parents of a 1-2 year old little girl feeding her juice boxes and I will not reveal brands, but she was also chewing on a "fruit snack". I guess that doesn't sound too bad right? If my kid doesn't like fruits its a lot easier to get them to chew on these. That way I am following the recommendations and my kid is getting aaall the nutrients they need without fighting me on this, right? Huuumm, well, you tell me....

Let's analyze this a little better shall we? Below is the food label of the "fruit snack"

Remembering the little guide I posted for you guys on food labels, it does not look quite that bad right? No fat at all, sodium levels are also not that high, and oh, look! vitamins! Looking a little lower in the list of ingredients.....WOOAH! waaaaaiit a second.....is this a fruit snack or substances in a little bag disguised by sugar?

As a general rule, when the list of ingredients occupies most of the bag and consists of names you can't even attempt to pronounce, that's usually not a good sign of a healthy good for you product, much less for your kid.

Another aspect to look at here is that the 2nd and 3rd ingredients are sugar! If you guys remember, the ingredients that appear first in the list are the ones present in highest amounts in the product. Interesting...we are feeding our kids these because they are healthy yet very little of it is an actual fruit snack. Here we have another product containing pure sugar and artificial flavors. What happened to giving our kids a banana??

Going back to that food label, the calories don't seem that high, so what is the problem with a little more sugar? First, you must remember that this is just a snack and that most of those calories are offering your body nothing more than sugar and not many nutrients. Also, don't forget that we are designed to adapt. If all you are used to is the sweet taste, you will very likely want everything very sweet. Am I trying to deprive you from the pleasures of sweet taste? Absolutely not. However we must be aware of the amounts of sugar that we are having in our diets and feeding our kids. There are serious consequences other than not being able to fit into our "skinny jeans". Obesity has been on the rise in adults and children with major health consequences following.

So what can I do to change this?

• Eat a fruit when you crave sweets (in season fruits are pocket friendly and sweeter)
• When eating oatmeal, make your own and add sweet fruits and cinnamon instead of sugar.
• Avoid adding extra sugar to beverages (tea, coffee, juice)
• Make your own fruit juice instead of drinking soda, energy drinks, fruit drinks .When the fruit is sweet, you'll see no sugar needs to be added! ;)
• Read food labels!! 
• If sugar, corn syrup, honey, fructose, dextrose are listed in the beginning of the ingredient list,  the product is high in sugar. 

Remember, your kids will follow your example. We are the adults and need to guide our kids to eat healthier. Let's make them proud!  ;)

-The Nutrinut-