Health-exercise-nutrition

[Redfire]

About a year ago or so I started caring about health, and so I started to research about health-related topics. I became completely frustrated by the huge amounts of contradicting information and websites trying to sell you stuff, and I really can't believe there aren't any simple guides available. I do not wish to be a health expert, but I just can't commit to something when I don't know what it's actually doing.

Nutrition seems to be a bit simpler than exercise, since there are some obvious guidelines such as cutting out junk food (and any trans fat). But when it comes to exercise most literature is based on bodybuilding, and that's not something I'm interested in.

I found a definition of health in a forum which seems pretty accurate:
- Being energized for an entire day
- Having pain-free and restriction-free movement
- Emotionally good feeling
- Good performance (both mental and physical)
- Longevity

I guess that's how I felt when I was a child, but since 12 or so I never felt that way. I'm never completely energized, I have some anxiety (nothing too serious though), I usually feel mild pain for no reason, headaches, etc.

So I'm wondering if any of you have any literature or suggestions to share on these topics. You can also comment how you view health. Personally I care about it just can't seem to take much action since I barely know how it works.

 

[Linsejko]

I get the same feeling. INTP's have been described as 'architects', and it can be immensely frustrating when other people can't seem to organize their fields in a clear, coherent fashion.

Worth knowing is that physical activity is an important factor in psychological health; there's a strong correlation between physical activity and happiness.

Vegetables are important, fruits are good--fruit juice has too much sugar to be of real use, in general, and should be avoided except for occasional consumption. White meat is better than red. Hydration is crucial and often neglected, and can make a world of a difference on your health--try and just keep water always within arm's reach, and start realizing how often your body goes for it.

Artificial foods are bad in general, and the more ingredients on the back, the more likely they are bad for you. Stretching is good.

Sprinting is better for you than long jogs. Running does not ruin your knees long term.

Sleep is the foundation of all health--however, you don't need as much sleep as your body will try and take advantage of if you give it all day.

Sunshine is important.

Exercise isn't nearly as important to losing weight as people would have you think--most people will never work out intensely enough to burn enough calories to make a difference. It's almost all in diet. The most important change exercise can give you is a mental one.

Cook your foods as little as possible--heat destroys food, basically. It's just always a question of how much is destroyed. Coconut oil and grapeseed oil are the best for using, if you must fry. (I must, for the record. ) Process food as little as possible, period.

Moderation is good. Variety is good. That applies for just about everything--exercise, eating, thinking, relationships, whatever. Don't do the same workouts every time; mix it up. Don't eat the same meals every day; mix it up. Learn to love cooking, making it an alchemy to be figured out, and go out looking for new combinations. Greenbeans can actually be awesome. Delicious salads ARE possible. Seasonings--basil, thyme, rosemary, etc.--are amazing and wonderful and refreshing and will make you wonder why you ever wanted all the other junk.

Go easy on the salt. And cut out--completely--sodas. They're just toxic and need to go. I usually get water and squeeze a lemon into it at restaurants, occasionally adding a little sugar to make free lemonade.

Also, sugar is pretty darn bad for you. Try and cut it out as much as possible. Really, it's poison. ("If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.")

There you go--my years of research (kind of a big hobby of mine) summed up off the top of my head. Hope it helps.

 

[snafupants]

Shouldn't maxims made about most or all people be taken with a grain of salt? I'm not overtly trying to be contrary but simply stating the effects of a certain vitamin or food or exercise regimen would be more helpful than calling myriad health stuff good or bad. What's good for me may be disastrous for you based on our dissimilar genetics, bodies, experiences, metabolisms, emotional states, previous diets, and the like. Looking back over these posts, there are clearly exceptions to my maxim against maxims, like cigarettes, alcohol, and soda, which are pretty much bad news for everyone because of their crudeness: somatic dynamite.

 

[Redfire]

Most of the mentioned things still make a lot of sense though, water is definitely important (I drink 4lts every day, which is way more than I would drink if I just did it not to be thirsty).

Sodas and sugar: no problem. For some reason I don't crave them as much, and I don't even like cake, for example (pretty weird, I know). Now salt: I don't know if I'll be able to cut it out. Most foods seem tasteless to me without salt.

And exercise, well, I'm very skinny so weight loss is not something I care about, but it relieves my anxiety and helps me to sleep quicker. The thing is, once I feel better I often quit and the vicious circle comes again.

There is one thing I doubt though: running and knees. I do think there's a possibility of injure or slow deterioration. That's why they say swimming is the safest exercise (apart from working out the whole body). Maybe swimming is enough, although I often hear that weight lifting is essential too, but I just hate the gym and to be honest I don't mind being skinny

I often wonder if there are some smoothies that can replace some of the veggie requirement. For example: I find carrots disgusting, I tried them in every way. But maybe if I could do a smoothie of, say, apples and carrots I could drink it quickly and be done with it. But I guess it would have to be one strong blender. I did juice carrots and apples once, and it was actually very tasty, but most of the carrot goes away in the juicer, so I guess it's not as nutritious.

But I'm rambling. Thanks for the answers.

 

[Agent Intellect]

Snafupants is right. The relatively new fields of nutrigenetics and nutrigenomics shows that different people require different health regimens.

For instance, lipid metabolism is influenced by certain genes (1). Some people don't respond to low fat diets or diets that aim to decrease fat because of genetics (2). Genetic differences between men and women can influence how polyunsaturated fatty acids are metabolized (3).

I've found a good place to start cutting through the bullshit and get a good basis for nutrition is the Advanced Nutrition and Human Metabolism textbook.

 

[Cogwulf]

Hydration is crucial and often neglected, and can make a world of a difference on your health--try and just keep water always within arm's reach, and start realizing how often your body goes for it.

A few years back I started taking a glass of water with me to bed, and it makes a huge difference to how well I sleep.

Sprinting is better for you than long jogs. Running does not ruin your knees long term.

Not if you do it properly. It really is worth going to a specialist shop to get the right sort of shoes for you. And it is also a good idea to get a session with a trainer to check your technique also.
Personally I like the idea of shoes like this that simulate barefoot running, I'm not a runner but I'm thinking of getting a pair for walking and hiking.

Spoiler

But you can completely avoid any possible problems altogether by doing a non-impact sport like cycling.

There is one thing I doubt though: running and knees. I do think there's a possibility of injure or slow deterioration.

Slow deterioration never seems to have been proven to happen, what is the case though is that improper technique or over-exertion cause injuries, and injuries considerably raise the risk of problems later in life.

Exercise isn't nearly as important to losing weight as people would have you think--most people will never work out intensely enough to burn enough calories to make a difference. It's almost all in diet. The most important change exercise can give you is a mental one.

I disagree, the amount of calories you burn during the exercise is unimportant as you say, but exercise still has a big impact on weight loss because of the effect it has on metabolism. As little as 10 minutes of moderately intense exercise a day will increase your baseline metabolism level, so you will be burning considerably more calories whilst you're resting.

Go easy on the salt.

You need salt to live, specifically you need salt to maintain water balance and proper muscle function. Most of the talk about salt is simply scaremongering, you only need to cut down salt intake if you are already suffering from health problems. Otherwise if you have to much salt in your diet, you are almost certainly consuming far too much of many other things anyway.
In the UK at least, many foods are being sold as "reduced fat and salt" with the implication that it is therefore okay to eat more of it. But really it is much more healthy to eat a small amount of salty fatty food, than a large amount of "healthier" variants.

I found that if I don't eat any salty foods during warm periods or when I'm regularly exercising, I start suffering from symptoms such as muscle cramps and headaches, and water just goes straight through me. Apparently my salt intake during these times was "healthy".
The problem is that the balanced diet that doctors always tell us about is exactly the same for an active 20 year old as it is for a 60 year old who sits in an office all day. This applies to everything, fat, salt, calories etc. There is no sense at all in recommending a diet to any individual unless you consider their lifestyle, general health and their baseline metabolism (and other genetic factors as AI mentioned).

And cut out--completely--sodas. They're just toxic and need to go. I usually get water and squeeze a lemon into it at restaurants, occasionally adding a little sugar to make free lemonade.

I agree. I stopped drinking fizzy drinks a few months ago, and to my surprise if I try to drink any now, they taste foul. I would say that it's addictive though technically it is not; but anything that sweet causes us to crave even more sugars, and because it is a liquid it never satisfies us, and this results in a viscous cycle.



Something else that I would mention is the place of carbohydrates in the diet. This includes both sugars and starches, but I meainly refer to staple foods (potatoes/grain/rice etc.)
These are a relatively recent introduction to our diets, only really appearing after the start of agriculture a few thousand years ago. Prior to this we had a hunter-gatherer diet which rarely included these things, and thus we are not really well adapted to them. Our body doesn't respond well to such a high intake of starch and produces loads of insulin to try and turn it all to fat. The only reason that starches comprise the largest portion of our calorie intake is economic, there is no possible way to sustain the worlds population using any other food group.

It's worth noting that a diabetic diet is much healthier than a "balanced" diet, but unfortunately most people who eat a diabetic diet already have hugely compromised health.

 

[Jah]

Try out programs of intermittent fasting (e.g. www.leangains.com or www.rippedbody.jp (good sources) )

Science seems to indicate that intermittent fasting may have the same longevity-promoting effects as Calorie Restriction, with less loss of muscle. (and in addition, Fasting, Coffee and high-protein diets are all recognized as having cognitive enhancing effects...)

As for workouts, Heavy, infrequent and high intensity. As you get past starting levels you probably won't need anything beyond a 20-30 min investment each week. (and as you get stronger, even less time; culminating in something like 10-15 minutes spent between three-five different exercises (shouldn't be necessary with anything beyond squats, deadlifts, benchpress and chin-ups.) each week.)


I consider this a good place to start:
http://rippedbody.jp/2011/10/08/leangains-intermittent-fasting-guide-how-to-do-it-by-yourself/
(Alternatively you can even spread the workouts further, and having two workouts per week. with 3-4 days between.)

If you want more depth go to leangains and/or http://jackkruse.com/the-quilt/ which will be more technical as to why I have given you the advice I just did.
(Especially the stuff about Leptin Set-Point & carb refeeds, and signal hormones. Kruse seems to have the credentials down as far as the effects of diets go, while Berkhan (founder of Leangains) seems to know the relation further between the manipulation of body-composition and diet/exercise. Very No Bullshit.)

 

[the_s_rabbit]

My BMI is too high to offer any credible advice. But if I were to offer advice, I'd say to just keep changing it up. I do at least 4 different types of exercise for cardio. Another thing you can do is interval training. Sprint for 1 minute, jog for 4 minutes, repeat, etc. Eventually you'll get to where it's the other way around: Sprint 4 minutes, jog for 1. If you're going to do interval training, you can shorten the duration; maybe just 20 minutes per session.

For lifting, I try to do stuff that involves several different muscles, like pull-ups and dips. The only time I really isolate is for the lower back. I have issues there, so I isolate to make sure that the muscles down there are solid.

Whatever you do, start slow and build yourself up. If you go in and do 4 heavy sets of curls to failure on the first day, your arms will hate you for the rest of the week.

And stretch afterward.

Drink water and Gatorade to replace electrolytes after cardio.
Protein shakes are good too.

I don't have any other advice on diet. Mine is terrible.

 

[Luna]

Even though everyone has different needs, I think these things could benefit anyone:

- Avoid table sugar and sweeteners like corn syrup, artificial sweeteners,etc.
- Eat foods with as few additives as possible.
- Don't overcook foods (especially vegetables).
- Eat vegetables liberally, fruit moderately, and have a big variety..for example, eat a rainbow of different colored fruits/vegetables.
- If possible, eat grassfed, pasture raised, and no steroids animal products. Unfortunately these kind of farms are usually rare, and expensive.
- When you buy bottled water, get spring water. Get a good filter (or if you have the money, a filtration system) for your tap.
- Any food or supplement with Vitamin C, Zinc, and Echinacea are good when you're around a sick/germy environment.
- Eat small meals, don't overeat or stuff yourself.
- Green tea is said to have immune-boosting properties.
- 15-20 minutes of sunshine each day.

Some of these might be obvious... I could write more, but I don't know how much health crap you want to read.

 

[Cogwulf]

- When you buy bottled water, get spring water. Get a good filter (or if you have the money, a filtration system) for your tap.

Contradictory advice, because everything that a filter removes from tap water usually exists in spring water in far greater quantities.

Unless your tap water is ground water from somewhere near coastal areas, as then it can pick up a lot of chemicals from sewage and elsewhere. But if this is the case filters don't do much good anyway.

 

[Luna]

Contradictory advice, because everything that a filter removes from tap water usually exists in spring water in far greater quantities.

Unless your tap water is ground water from somewhere near coastal areas, as then it can pick up a lot of chemicals from sewage and elsewhere. But if this is the case filters don't do much good anyway.

Yea, I know. Spring water has minerals, but might have unwanted contaminants. I think spring water should be drinken in moderation, just for the benefit of minerals, and well-filtered tap should be the regular drinking source. I don't think it's really possible to completely avoid contaminants and still get minerals from water. But, if someone only drank purely clean distilled water, they might end up having mineral deficiencies.

I guess how clean/safe the spring water is depends on where it's bottled at.

 

[Architect]

I've been studying this for 20 years, since having developed poor health in my 20's due to bad habits.

Religion, politics and diet, these are the big three that most people get wrong, largely due to bad information and dogma. If you're looking for the system which explains the basis for optimum health read Dr Fuhrman's books (http://www.drfuhrman.com). His approach has no personal bias, is purely based on research, and is continually updated based on the best and most recent science. He has a team doing the hard work of reading all the research and distilling it, so is the best place to go currently.

Short answers ...

• As you might expect a-priori, the science has proven that a very 'primate' looking diet is ideal for optimal human health. Namely meat less than 5% (if any), no dairy, zero refined foods and calories from (in order) leafy greens, onions, mushrooms, fruits, beans, nuts, seeds and berries. For best results go for the brightest and most luscious of the above (higher nutrient content).
• Forget about hydration, white versus red meat, just avoid the meat except for a little bit once a week at most. You get as much water as you need, if you're thirsty then drink.
• The only thing we've found that will prolong lifespan (and health thereby) is reduced caloric intake, compared to what we generally consider optimum. The ONLY thing. This holds true from yeast to larger mammals that we've tested. In humans this appears to hook into the IGF-1 protein pathway.

So its simple, eat only unrefined greens, beans etc, and eat as few as you need to maintain your ideal weight, and (really ideally) about 20% less than that, say 1800 calories for a grown man. Which is what I do, and I look what I did in my 20's, and I have much better health (and athletic endurance) then I did then.

This is what the latest body of research is showing, everything else is mythology and misunderstanding.

 

[Luna]

The only thing we've found that will prolong lifespan (and health thereby) is reduced caloric intake, compared to what we generally consider optimum. The ONLY thing. This holds true from yeast to larger mammals that we've tested. In humans this appears to hook into the IGF-1 protein pathway.

That's interesting. I think that a lower caloric intake helps because it creates a slower metabolism. Even though having a high metabolism gets a lot of hype..burning calories all the time puts strain on the organs. When metabolism slows down as people age..maybe that could be a self-preserving mechanism?