Heart disease is the number one killer among men and women in the United States and occurs when your body has too much bad cholesterol or "LDL's". Many people think that eating high fat food is the only cause of high cholesterol, but this isn't the case. The liver actually produces most of the cholesterol in the body upwards of 75%. Even if you eat an all vegetarian diet, you can still have heart disease because your body can turn the other macronutrients into cholesterol via the liver. 
 
Cholesterol is a major component of the healing process, and without it, blood clotting could not take place.  With that being said, it’s very important to control gut inflammation.  This is because the body treats it like any other injury and results with the body producing cholesterol to help heal the inflamed area.  Several foods cause gut inflammation such as dairy, nightshade vegetables, and most importantly, hydrogenated fats.  Trans fats are also called hydrogenated oil.  The oil starts out as an unsaturated fat, but when you add hydrogen to the oil, it turns solid at room temperature.  According to the Mayo Clinic, it’s the worst type of fat because they raise LDL's and lower HDL's.  Trans fatty acids cause heart disease, cancer, increased risk of diabetes, and cause major gut inflammation. They do this by blocking hormones that suppress inflammation while increasing the hormones that cause inflammation, so it’s double trouble.  According to Dr. Lisa C. Vinikoor of the University of North Carolina, the reason trans fat increases the risk of colon cancer is because it alters the balance of bile in the colon.  One study has shown that eating 5 grams of trans fatty acid can increase heart disease by 25%.  There are several diets out right now that totally eliminate these fats such as the paleo diet, whole 30, and others. The goal is to remove as much processed food from you diet as possible. Stick to fruits, veggies, and lean meats. It’s best to eat organic as often as possible, and limit red meats because they can increase colon cancer in high amounts.  For more information about heathy eating and exercise, come visit us at BodyWorks Personal Training.

 

For some, weight loss can seem like a never ending road. On so many occasions, many people claim they have tried everything, but still can't loose weight. These people often try diet supplements, crash diets, and cleanses. However, so much of weight loss comes from what you do with your shoes, not your fork. Ok, but before you jump off the deep end and assume you can eat whatever you want as long as you exercise....Stop. Of course you have to stop eating the excess food that makes you gain weight. One pound of fat has 3500 cal. and you burn roughly 10cal/min while exercising. This works out to be 5.83 hours of exercise to drop a pound of fat. If you were to drop the same amount of weight with diet alone, it would take close to two weeks and you could possibly alter you lean muscle mass if you drop your calories too low. Most people run into major problems loosing weight because of the lack of exercise.  Don't fall for the "a little is better than nothing" mentality. When you decide to shed some fat, success breeds success! One hour of exercise per day, even if it's walking, will produce good results.  Come on in to Body Works Personal Training, and let us show you how successful you can be!