How Your Brain Affects What You Eat

I recently attended a nutrition symposium presented by the Harvard Medical School called "Your Brain Can Help You Eat Better." The sessions were all extremely interesting and each warrant their own post, but in the meantime I wanted to give a brief summary of a few things that I got out of some of the talks that I was able to attend. Hopefully they'll give you something to think about next time you reach for that large bowl or consider whether or not you really have time to exercise...

Primary Obesity: Automatic Effects of Food Marketing presented by Jennifer Harris, PhD, MBA

Take away: During studies done at Yale's Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity they discovered that when food advertisements were shown to kids during a TV show, the kids ate 45% more. Adults shown snack ads also ate more. Seeing food ads caused people not just to eat more during the show that they were watching, but after as well. Pre-schoolers were given the exact same food; one from a package with a cartoon character and one in a plain package. They thought that the one coming from the package with the character tasted better.

Thought for Food: How Imagined Consumption Reduces Actual Consumption presented by Carey Morewedge, PhD

Take away: Imagined consumption reduces actual consumption. People who imagined consuming 30 M+Ms (one by one) then ate fewer M+Ms than those who imagined eating either three or none at all. Thinking about something like a spider can cause the same affect in your body as actual seeing it in person; the same is true with food, if you think about the look, taste, and smell it can have a similar affect (in your brain) as eating it, so you'll then actually consume less.

Effects of Exercise on Brain and Cognitive Function presented by Kirk Erickson, PhD

Take away: Exercise, even modest amounts, and even if you don't start until later in life, can:

• increase brain volume (even after just 6 months!)
• improve cognitive function
• increase functional connectivity
• increase brain perfusion
• improve task-evoked brain function

The more fit the person, the greater the volume of the hippocampus. However, the exercise must be aerobic (vs stretching/toning). There is not yet a good understanding of why the brain is getting bigger.

A Limited Resource Model of Self-Control: Implications for Eating Better presented by Kathleen D. Vohs, PhD

Take away: The more you use self-control in one situation, the less self-control you have left in the next situation. For example, if you're told to suppress emotion when watching a sad movie, then you are given food, you'll eat more than if you weren't told to suppress emotion (this is if you're actively dieting).

Combating the Sugar, Salt and Fat Addiction presented by David Kessler, MD

Take away: You can probably read this for yourself in his book The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite. He looked at why we're so overweight now vs in the past. One reason is that the barriers are gone: food is available 24/7 and on every corner. People in the past would never have eaten walking down the street, in their cars, in class, etc. Another point is that processed food, which has lots of salt, sugar, and fat, is self-stimulating and addicting. There's a lot more than that and it's all very interesting so definitely check out his book.

Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think presented by Brain C. Wansink, PhD

Take away: This was probably one of my favorite presentations. I had learned about a lot of his studies in my nutrition classes already. You should also check out his book, Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think. Based on studies that he has performed, you should:

• Eat out of a smaller bowl (you'll eat more out of a bigger bowl even if you don't like what you're eating)
• Put the healthy options at eye-level in your cupboard (you're more likely to eat what you see first)
• Only eat in your kitchen or dining room (in one case study even just putting a fruit or vegetable on the table, not necessarily eating it, caused a couple to lose weight)
• Think about the layout/design of the places you eat most and how that might affect the choices that you make (see his article in the Washington Post about getting kids to eat better in a school cafeteria without them knowing it)
• Not necessarily trust your stomach to tell you that you're full (in a study with refillable soup bowls participants said that they were not full because they thought that they had only eaten a half of a bowl of soup).

So, as you can see, there is a lot to think about when it comes to how your brain affects what (and how much) you eat! If you're interested in watching the webcast of these talks, they'll be posted soon here.

Guest Post! Getting the Most Out of Your Warm-Ups

Today's guest blog post about stretching comes from personal trainer Chris Chapman, a friend who suffered through Organic Chemistry with me this past spring. Chris will be guest blogging more in the future, so feel free to leave questions for him in the comments section...

Are you getting the most out of your warm-ups?

Before beginning a workout, whether it is a 3-mile trail run or an upper body strength day, you need prepare your body for the specific demands of that workout.  Done are the days where before we start exercising we do some arm circles, maybe a toe touch, and of course, the standing heel-to-butt quad stretch.

The best way to prepare the body for exercising is to use dynamic stretching (a.k.a. mobility drills).  Dynamic stretching is a sport-specific movement that prepares the body for exercise by actively moving a joint through range of motion used in your sport or activity.  Contrary to static stretching (holding a stretch for 15-30 seconds to lengthen a single muscle), dynamic stretching forces muscles to work together while raising your body temperature and increasing blood flow to the muscles. 

You are wasting your time by walking on the treadmill for 10 minutes or running a couple of laps to “warm-up” the body and then picking a couple of stretches to hold for 15 seconds.  A proper warm-up should take 10-15 minutes, and most of that will come from dynamic stretches (remember these will increase your body temperature and blood flow).

Over the next couple of weeks I will tell you which dynamic stretches you should be using that will increase your mobility (the quality of your joint’s movement), reduce the chance of injury in your exercise, and best yet, improve your performance in your activity! 

ANKLE MOBILITY

One source of knee pain is poor ankle mobility.  If you do not have quality movement in your ankles, your knee becomes less stable and this increase in force on your knee can lead to pain.  Luckily there are drills you can do before you exercise that can decrease the stiffness in those ankles!  My two favorites are the Wall Ankle Mobilization Drill and the Rocking Ankle Mobilization.  Alternate which days you use each drill and perform 12 repetitions on each ankle.

Wall Ankle Mobilization

Eric Cressey does a great job of explaining this drill. 

Rocking Ankle Mobilization

In this drill it you want to rock back onto your heel as far as you can, and curl your toes up off the ground, then you will point your toes as straight as you can.

Check back soon to see my dynamic stretching recommendations for your hamstrings!

-Chris

Chris works at the YMCA of Central Massachusetts as a personal trainer where he helps clients with goals ranging from weight loss to athletic performance.  He graduated from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst in May 2010 with a BS in Kinesiology.  Chris is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) through the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).  In the fall of 2010, he completed his internship in the Rehabilitative Services department at the Fallon Clinic in Worcester, MA.  During his senior year, Chris worked as a Manager and Personal Trainer at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst Residential Wellness Centers.

Oh So Blue, Berry

The heat is here! Which means unlimited amounts of popsicles and ice cream, right? Well... it's true that sometimes the easiest way to cool off is from the inside out, but a lot of delicious-looking frozen treats are high in sugar and artificial sweeteners (even the ones that claim to be good for you).  For example, Blue Bunny FrozFruit Chunky Strawberry, which proudly proclaims that it is fat free, contains 36 grams of sugar and high fructose corn syrup. Yikes.

My personal favorite summer cool-down snack is frozen fruit. You can either freeze the fruit yourself or buy it already frozen (just make sure to look at the ingredients or the small print when buying frozen fruit; it should say something like "no added sugar" and the ingredient list should contain only fruit). My new go-to summer snack is frozen blueberries. I can buy a large, resealable, store-brand bag of deliciousness for much cheaper than fresh blueberries, and they're a great way to cool down. 1 cup contains 90 calories, no fat, 4g of fiber, 15g of sugar, and 1g of protein. Frozen fruit is also great for adding to yogurt in the summer months. The fruit will thaw a bit, but it will still be an extra-cold treat. While you're at it, why not make your own smoothie-pops? Mix together some plain yogurt and frozen berries, toss them into a popsicle mold or ice trays, and a few hours later enjoy!

Other fruits that are delicious frozen include strawberries and raspberries (also often available already frozen with no added sugar), basically any berry, and then an old stand-by of mine, grapes. You can even substitute frozen fruit for ice when serving a refreshing summer beverage; try frozen raspberries in your lemonade, frozen blueberries in your iced tea, or frozen grapes in your orange juice.

One word of caution when eating frozen blueberries... for some reason when the temperature drops, the color seems to be a bit more concentrated, so probably best not to eat a lot of them before an important meeting or photo shoot (unless that photo shoot is for a story about eating blueberries like this one was):

You won't exactly turn into a blueberry like Violet did in Willy Wonka, but your tongue will turn a lovely shade of purple for a little while!

Getting to the Core of SUPing

Almost exactly a year ago I read an article in Natural Health magazine about a new(ish) paddle sport sweeping the active world called stand-up paddleboarding, or SUP for short. Sort of like kayaking standing up, SUPing is hyped as a great core workout and a fun new way to get out and enjoy the water. I talked about wanting to try it ever since I read about it, but this past week I finally got in gear and got out on the water.


To get onto a paddleboard from a dock, you very carefully slide onto it on your knees. If you're in an ocean or lake with a beach you can start out laying on the board and then bring yourself up onto your knees from there. Once you're out and on your knees, you slowly bring yourself to standing, making sure that you're in the middle of the board.

When getting on or off from a dock, make sure that you're on your knees so that you can balance more easily and reduce the risk of falling.

When I first stood up and took a couple of strokes with the paddle I felt a bit shaky in my legs and was nervous that I might feel that way the entire time. However, once I got used to it I was much more steady and comfortable. There were a couple of times I thought I might lose my balance, but I was able to catch myself and didn't fall in once! (Extra motivation not to fall in was provided by the fact that I was on the Charles River.)

It's a nice way to spend an hour or two on the water - relaxing but more of a workout than some other paddle sports. My friend Chris and I passed a number of kayakers who were curious what we were doing - when we told them it was our first time out they were surprised and said we looked like naturals! I was really curious what (if anything) would hurt the next day. Having read about how great this is for your core, I hoped that maybe my abs would feel it, but most of the soreness centered in my shoulders and lower legs (from balancing). Next time I'll try to use my core a bit more and hopefully explore some other bodies of water!

A successful first-time SUP expedition!

Lots of kayak/canoe companies rent SUPs for a low hourly rate (Charles River Canoe & Kayak which is where we rented from has them at all of their locations for $15/hr). They also offer lessons. However, Chris and I decided to go the more budget route of youtube lessons and we were just fine. This guy, John Denny, is a great teacher:

So, what are you waiting for? Get out and try it yourself today - and happy SUPing!