Useful things

THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF BONE BROTH: WHAT'S TRUE, WHAT'S NOT?

DO YOU NEED TO GO GLUTEN-FREE?
Poor gluten. Even though it is legitimately avoided by people who suffer some very real side effects from it, it has also been vilified unnecessarily by far too many people.

From the misguided (and frankly ridiculous) belief that gluten is "toxic," to the utterly false claim that gluten makes you fat (it doesn’t, obviously), it’s safe to say that this grain protein has suffered a major image crisis in the past few years.

If you've been considering removing gluten, or have experienced some bad GI symptoms and wonder if it's gluten, this will help you understand what's going on with your body, why non-gluten sensitivity is oftentimes mistreated, and how you should fix your stomach issues.

Does Gluten Make You Fat?
Gluten itself does not make you fat. The majority of people are not gluten intolerant or sensitive. If you gluten-intolerant (or have celiac disease), the bloating and stomach issues that come with eating gluten are difficult and will make you feel like you're gaining fat (you're really just having a reaction to the food itself, like someone with an allergy).

But, for everyone else, there are many things that could be happening in your body. Of course, if you choose to remove gluten and feel better when eating non-gluten foods, do whatever works for you. But, this isn't a solution for most people because gluten isn't inherently bad.

In fact, I’ve had a lot of clients come to me because after cutting out all gluten-containing foods and failing the blood test for celiac disease, they still have the bloating and other symptoms.

They figure they’re just gluten-sensitive, but still can’t find relief on a gluten-free diet and are at their wit's end trying to figure out what’s causing their issues.

It’s a common belief that abdominal symptoms after eating gluten-containing foods indicate gluten sensitivity, but in many cases, this may not be the actual diagnosis.

If Not Gluten, Why Does My Stomach Hurt?
A recent study published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology examined the response to gluten of 231 people who self-identified as being non-celiac gluten sensitive.

The study concluded that only 16% of the participants actually showed gluten-specific symptoms, and a full 40% more had symptoms that stayed the same or increased with a placebo.

Turns out, these issues might not be caused gluten after all: they may be the result of an intolerance to fructans.

Fructans are a type of fermentable carbohydrate. If you’ve ever heard of the FODMAP diet, fructans are the ‘O’ -- as in, oligosaccharides.

They’re also a prebiotic fiber, which means they nourish the good bacteria in our guts. That’s great for people who can tolerate them, but not so much for people who can’t.

None of us have enzymes to digest fructans, which means that they travel to the large intestine, where they’re fermented by our gut bacteria. For most of us, this causes no issues, but for those people who are intolerant to them, fructans can sit in the large intestine and cause bloating, diarrhea, and gas. [Not exactly a trio to brag about to your friends.]

Research shows that fructans may be the source of the abdominal issues that many people suffer from: A 2018 study published in the journal Gastroenterology examined the causes of IBS-type symptoms in people who self-reported having gluten sensitivity. Participants were randomly divided into three groups, each having its own muesli bar that had gluten, fructan, or a placebo.

The study found that the majority of study subjects had symptoms that were triggered by fructan-containing bars, not the gluten-containing bars, which surprisingly caused no effect. Remember, these participants all self-identified as gluten-sensitive, but clearly they were mistaken.

Could fructans be causing your symptoms too?

It’s important to note that fructan intolerance and IBS are two different things. Although they commonly have many of the same symptoms, IBS is a disorder that affects the large intestine.

We don’t really know exactly what causes IBS, but possible causes include infection, muscle contractions of the intestine, inflammation, among others.

IBS appears to be a chronic condition, compared with fructan intolerance, which may be relieved by simply removing fructan from your diet.

What’s The Difference Between Gluten and Fructans?
Compared to fructans, which are carbohydrates, gluten is a protein found in grains such as wheat, rye, oats, and barley, and therefore in any foods that contain these ingredients. Gluten-free grains are low in fructans.

In order to avoid them, it’s important to know which foods contain fructans. Fructans are commonly used in protein bars, breakfast cereals, and snack foods to add fiber and improve texture.

When reading labels, the following ingredients are common fructan culprits:

chicory root
inulin
oligofructose
These are all different ways to list fructans as ingredients.

The fructan inulin is also naturally found in onions, bananas, garlic, chickpeas, watermelon, dates, prunes, raisins, pomegranate, grapefruit, and wheat.

Wheat accounts for 70% of fructans in the American diet, so if you’re following a gluten-free diet to try and relieve your symptoms, you’re probably getting some relief simply by not eating wheat.

However, some gluten-containing foods, like soy sauce and sourdough bread, for example, do not have fructans, and some fructan-containing foods, like watermelon and chickpeas, do not have gluten.

That means that if you’re intolerant to fructans, a gluten-free diet may not alleviate all of your symptoms and may also limit your diet more than necessary.

How to Fix Your Diet Without Removing Gluten
The FODMAP diet can help you identify if fructans are causing your symptoms. This diet cuts out every group of fermentable carbohydrates - FODMAP is an acronym for Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides, and Polyols.

Don't worry, the diet doesn't require you to remove these foods forever. After about six weeks, you add them back, one-by-one, to determine your sensitivity.

In most cases, by eliminating every one of these carbohydrate groups and then adding them back slowly, you’ll be able to pinpoint which foods are really causing you symptoms and which foods aren’t.

The process can be frustrating as it requires you to live without some of your favorite foods. But, in the end, you’ll likely identify which foods are the source of your problems, meaning you won’t be blindly cutting foods out of your diet trying to make yourself feel better and limiting your food options in the process.

GREEN PROTEIN SMOOTHIE
Get your daily dose of Greens with this nutritious and vitamin-packed smoothie.
Directions: In a blender, add ingredients and blend until smooth, adding a little extra milk as needed. Sip and enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 cup unsweetened almond milk
1/2 cup cubed frozen mango
1 frozen banana
1 large handfuls of baby spinach
½ ripe avocado
1 packet of Ladder Greens
1 packet Ladder Vanilla Plant Protein
Macros: 31g protein / 459 calories / 11g fat / 59g carb

ORANGE DREAMSICLE PROTEIN SMOOTHIE

Looking for a quick-and-easy protein shake that works as a meal replacement, snack, or post-workout boost? The Orange Dreamsicle is a low-calorie option that is high in protein, packed with enough carbs to energize or refuel, and loaded with flavor that will remind you of a favorite frozen treat.

Simply add the 5 ingredients into a blender, mix, and serve. Works with all diets, sensitive to allergies, and can help support weight loss or muscle gain goals.

Ingredients

1 scoop Ladder Vanilla Protein
1⁄2 banana, frozen
1⁄4 tsp. Himalayan salt
6 oz. organic orange juice
1 1⁄2 cups ice
Dietary Information:

Vegetarian, Gluten-Free
Macros Per Serving:

259 calories
27g Protein
31g carbohydrates
3g fat

HOW TO INCREASE WILLPOWER, BEAT ANXIETY AND ACHIEVE MORE
If you're having trouble with any behavioral change -- whether it's losing weight, quitting smoking, or limiting your drinking -- oftentimes, the problem is not planning.

Health challenges come in many forms: there are logistical ones (squeezing in gym time on a jam-packed day), social ones (another happy hour meeting, boss?), and the extremely frustrating genetic ones (thanks for the hip-swelling metabolism, pop).

And while you have to utilize self-control to tame whatever demons are the greatest threats to success, the mental challenges are typically the hardest because they’re the ones least discussed and a complex stew of emotions, hormones, feelings, and baggage that can handcuff even the best intentions—and the most well-devised plans.

“As much as we like to talk ourselves in and out of doing things, the fact is that our emotional responses are what drives so much of our behavior,” says Art Markman, Ph.D., professor of psychology at the University of Texas and author of Smart Change.

“If you can’t overcome emotional factors that prevent behavior change, all of the great planning does no good.”

Though it’s difficult to simplify something as complex as the human brain suddenly saying no to 3 extra servings of hash browns, it is worth looking at three of the more common emotional roadblocks—self-doubt, willpower, and anxiety—for some insights into the best ways to embrace mind games and create new habits as a way to overcome them.

Overcoming Self-doubt
Markman says the best predictor for whether people engage in healthy behavior change for the long-term is simple: You like what you’re doing. But, that doesn’t mean that progress is hiccup-free, and that’s where thinking about thinking can help you during those times.

Negative self-talk is something that everyone has experienced, and it oftentimes seems innocent...but it's not. Self-talk is the little voice inside that casts any shade on your ability to succeed. It sounds something like,

Why on earth would you expect yourself to ditch the ci******es or stop guzzling 64-ounce sodas? You’ve never been able to do it before. What makes it different now? (Shut up, brain!)

“You know that something is wrong, know you should lose weight, but you don’t how to do it—that’s frustration, and you’re angry with yourself, and that’s where self-doubt comes in,” Markman says.

The goal to overcome that voice is “self-efficacy”— or having a high sense of confidence in your ability to succeed.

How to Fight Self-Doubt: Winning happens with small victories. Markman says a principle developed by Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky called "proximal development" can help.

The concept is incredibly effective at helping children learn. At any given movement in their development, children are ready to learn the next skill (crawl, walk, run). As adults, it can work the same way. “Do the thing you’re just capable of doing,” Markman says. “That’s your recipe for success.”

The key to making it work? Just like children, you need to find someone who is more experienced to help model behavior, and then build skills in a logical way. For example, if you're learning math, you wouldn't want to go from mastering addition to jumping straight to algebra. The next logical step would be subtraction. Noticing these limitations requires self-awareness.

So, if you want to fight self-doubt, fight the root of your battle (I can't stop drinking soda), and identify when you are most vulnerable. This could look like the following for the soda example:

Vulnerability 1: I'm most vulnerable at night.

Vulnerability 2: I'm second most vulnerable when stressed.

Vulnerability 3: I'm third most vulnerable when I eat at a restaurant.

You'll want to tackle each vulnerability like you're learning a new skill (vulnerability 1 is like learning addition, vulnerability 2 is subtraction, and vulnerability 3 is multiplication). When you break down bigger goals into smaller processes, then you can more easily defeat self-doubt by replacing habits that erode your confidence.

Increase Willpower
I can resist the third piece of lasagna. I can resist the third piece of lasagna. I can resist the third piece of lasagna...Can you pass the parmesan?

Anyone who’s ever struggled with health change knows the face of temptation (and it looks an awful lot like bacon cheeseburgers) and the difficulty of willpower. Markman describes willpower as working in a stop-go system.

We “go” when we’re engaged in goals we want to achieve, and the “stop” part keeps us from doing activities that go against the goals. But, resisting the stop isn’t easy, he says.

Even the most steel-willed people are going to give in, he says. “You can’t just rely on your ability to stop yourself from doing the things that you don’t want to do,” he says.

How to Build Willpower: So you’re not constantly pumping the brakes trying to stop yourself, create environments that don’t force you to make decisions. That’s why something as simple as preparing your own lunch works so well for people who are dieting. It eliminates the choice of having to pass on pizza.

The other key: Cutting yourself some slack.

The most frustrating thing about willpower is that you have limited amounts available. The area of your brain that controls your willpower is located in your prefrontal cortex. You might remember this from biology as the area directly behind your forehead.

It’s the same part of our brain that helps with day-to-day tasks, everything from your short term memory (What did my partner tell me to buy at the store?), figuring out some simple tasks, and even staying focused. That means you're going to run out of willpower and have tough days.

“You also have to recognize that any attempt to change behavior is two steps forward and one step backward—it’s how you deal with the step backward that spells success and failure,” Markman says.

“If you treat a step back as a way to learn about what didn’t work and learn from it, then a single setback isn’t fatal for trying to make a significant change.”

If you’re serious about your health goals and well-being, you need to determine what other areas of your life should be prioritized less so that you have more willpower dedicated to the changes you want to make. Here are a few changes you can make that can help with focus and simplify your efforts.

Creating both long-term goals and short-term goals that matter to you. This will make it easier to fight for them.
Setting up a plan
Creating Milestones
Trying new ways of living
When you establish a plan and a priority, you're more likely to have the energy needed to succeed.

Managing Anxiety
Anxiety is the emotion that tells us there’s something scary in the world that we’re trying to avoid but haven’t had success doing so, Markman says. With behavior change, that comes in the form of not knowing what’s going to happen when you attempt to make the change.

After all, going for a smoke break, eating big meals, or hosting wine events is what you do—and by extension, part of who you are. And changing that is hard. In addition, being public about your change can breed a related emotion because you feel like you’re being looked at and judged, which also produces anxiety.

How to Fight Anxiety: Start by surrounding yourself with supportive, like-minded people—and preferably folks who have experienced what you want to experience. Because let's be honest: it can be hard to credit yourself for progress.

When you shed 5 pounds of the 50 you want to lose, it oftentimes doesn't feel impressive, but it's still a big victory. And, if you struggle with anxiety, support can help encourage confidence and belief - both important for boosting self-esteem.

Ultimately, you want to be your own biggest cheerleader, but you shouldn't carry that burden alone (that will only create more anxiety). Instead, having a team means others can be your cheerleader when you’re a reluctant one.

“It’s important to be with people who can give you a realistic sense of what you can do to be a healthy person—and that you don't have to be a perfect person," says Markman.