Tag: nutrition

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Popular Diets: Considerations for Athletes

The American Heart Association (AHA) recently issued a scientific statement evaluating popular diets against current recommendations for diets promoting cardiometabolic health. This review explores which diets may be better for long-term sustainability and how popular diets overlap with nutritional considerations for athletes.

Research Reviewed: Popular Dietary Patterns: Alignment With American Heart Association 2021 Dietary Guidance: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association

Why did the AHA prepare this statement?

Diet types have different levels of flexibility based on rules or recommendations. While flexibility is important, vague rules can also lead to misunderstandings or unintended food choices that may work counter to long-term health goals. For example, certain popular diets may fall outside of certain macronutrient distribution ranges and/or exclude major food groups. Popular media, and even some clinicians, misunderstand the evidence base of dietary patterns promoting cardiometabolic health. The goal of the statement is to compare popular diets to evidence-based AHA Dietary Guidance and provide clarity regarding the implementation of these diets.

What are the 2021 AHA Dietary Guidelines?

Refreshed every five years based on scientific reviews of available evidence, the AHA Dietary Guidelines associated with good cardiometabolic health and prevention of disease are based on ten criteria. AHA established these guidelines considering diets require flexibility based on individual, social, and cultural preferences in order to support healthy behaviors.

Popular diets AHA Guidelines

Popular diets defined and scored vs. the AHA Guidelines

The researchers conducted a review of publicly available literature regarding diet trends, including randomized control trials and descriptions from health organizations. They excluded diets designed to manage non-cardiometabolic diseases, short-term diets, and commercial diets with unclear definitions. After these exclusions, the researchers established the defining features of each remaining diet type.

Ten dietary patterns emerged based on similarities in macronutrient profiles, emphasized food groups, and restricted food groups.

Each of the diets was scored using a points system against the AHA guidelines, where a score of 1 point per guideline was given if the diet matched the guidance, 0.75 points if it mostly matched, 0.5 points if it partially matched, and 0 points if the diet was contrary. The subject matter experts discussed their scores to achieve consensus. A normalized score of 100 indicates perfect alignment.

Only criteria 2-9 were scored. Criteria 1 (maintain a healthy weight by adjusting energy intake and expenditure) is not directly attributable to a specific diet. Weight loss, maintenance, or weight gain can be achieved through any diet type by adjusting calorie energy intake. The authors note, “Low energy-dense foods such as vegetables and fruits are associated with greater satiety, and some evidence suggests that higher intakes of fiber and protein promote satiety. Energy balance may also be influenced by dietary restraint: Highly restrictive diets can support short-term energy restriction and weight loss, but have been associated with higher food cravings and attrition over time, although that may be modulated by individual characteristics. In addition, food availability and exposure to highly palatable, often ultra-processed foods may affect energy balance.”

What were the results?

DASH, Mediterranean, Pescatarian, and Ovo/Lacto Vegetarian diets had highest alignment with the AHA Guidelines.

Low-fat diets (<30% of calories from fat) and Vegan diets were mostly in alignment with the AHA Guidelines.

Very low-fat diets (<10% of calories from fat) and low carbohydrate diets (30-40% of calories from carbohydrate) had some partial alignment with the AHA guidlines.

Paleo and very-low carbohydrate diets (<10% of calories from carbohydrate) were poorly aligned with the AHA Guidelines.

DASH earned the top score. This dietary pattern was developed upon AHA recommendations.

Analysis

Considering health-promoting diet and long-term sustainability

I’ve plotted the AHA scores versus the number of food groups eliminated. Assuming no necessary dietary restrictions, the elimination of food groups or foods may make long-term adherence to a particular diet more challenging. In the short term, some find that diets with more food restrictions can be beneficial for their goals by reducing the number of daily decisions about food. However, these restrictions can be challenging to adhere to in the long term, considering the social, mental, and emotional aspects of food beyond simply “fueling the body”.

Diets that align best with the AHA Guidelines (DASH, Mediterranean, Pescatarian) also tend to have fewer food restrictions. Low fat (20-30%) and low carb (30-40%) diets also offer higher flexibility, although low-carb diets show lower alignment with AHA recommendations.

Due to the exclusion of meats, poultry, seafood, eggs/dairy, ovo/lacto vegetarians and vegan diets have more food restrictions, but still score well along AHA recommendations. Very low-fat diets are also almost necessarily vegan diets in order to achieve <10% of calories from fat, with additional elimination of nuts, oils, and seeds.

Paleo and very low-carb diets have poor alignment with heart-healthy diet guidelines and also tend to have more restrictions.

What to consider as an athlete

The AHA heart-healthy diet recommendations were created to promote good health and prevent disease at the general population level. They don’t take into account inter-individual variability within a group, nor the specific dietary needs of athletic populations.

I’ve prepared a summary of AHA alignments and areas requiring more attention by athletes. Diets scoring higher for promoting cardiometabolic health can also be strongly aligned with the needs of athletes towards performance improvement and other beneficial training adaptations.

Take Home Points

  • Not all popular dietary patterns are well aligned with diets supporting long-term cardiometabolic health.
  • Dietary patterns that support the goal of improving athletic performance can strongly overlap with dietary patterns that support cardiometabolic health. Diet patterns that are misaligned with supporting cardiometabolic health also have more potential shortcomings for athlete health and performance.
  • When choosing a diet, think about what you can stick to long-term. It may be helpful to implement a diet that enables diversity/less restrictive food choices.

Feel overwhelming? If you need help navigating the nutritional landscape for your specific athletic needs, please contact me.

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Unwrapping Nutrition Labels

Nutrition Labels

What we see and believe from reading food labels affects what we buy. Unwrapping nutrition labels can be difficult. Here are a few things you probably don’t know about the Nutrition Facts label.

Food manufacturing companies grow revenue and profit when they can effectively address evolving customer desires and deliver additional real (or perceived) value. Increasing demand for convenience food is driving significant innovation across the industry in an effort to drive growth and meet customer expectations. Products frequently target specific customer segments looking for certain food characteristics, e.g. “low-carb”, “natural”, “keto-friendly”, and “plant-based”. You’ve likely seen the increasing number of protein and nutrition bar options, cereals, crackers/chips, spreads, and other on-the-go foods being marketed to you for health, weight management, performance, or some other factor.

To help consumers to compare nutritional value between products, nutrition labels based on a standardized set of nutrition facts was implemented in 1994. They are regulated by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Updated Nutrition Facts

Regulations around nutrition labels on foods, and legally-allowable marketing claims have arguably been behind the times for well over a decade and have not kept pace with new product innovation. In a positive step forward, this year the Nutrition Facts Label received a significant overhaul. The updated label requirements have been designed to allow consumers to make better-informed choices in the interest of public health – accounting for the linkage between diet and chronic diseases such as obesity and heart disease. You may have noticed some of the obvious changes, such as the product calories being printed in a larger and in bold font. It’s important to understand what information the labels and packaging can provide. Here are a few deeper insights about nutrition labeling of which you may not be aware.

1: Some marketing phrases legally mean something, while others don’t.

Certain marketing phrases have a defined legal meaning per the FDA and can only be used on products if they meet certain criteria.

  • “Low Calorie” – no more than 40 calories for > 30g serving
  • “Light/Lite” – this one can have three different meanings. 1) For foods containing more than 50% calories from fat, the light version must be reduced in fat by 50%. 2) For foods containing less than 50% calories from fat, total calories in light version should be at least 1/3 less. 3) Could mean that the light product has 50% less sodium than regular version.
  • “Low-fat” – 3g or less of total fat per serving
  • “Fat-free” – < 0.5g of total fat per serving
  • “A good source of XX” – contains 10-19% of the Daily-Recommended-Value (DRV) in the amount that is typically consumed.
  • “High in XX” – contains 20% or more of the Daily-Recommended-Value (DRV) in the amount that is typically consumed.

As you can see, a “light” version of a food does not necessarily mean it is low calorie, but it’s probably lower in calories. The FDA is serious about labels that can be misleading. For example, if a food is labeled as no sugar or zero sugar, it must also place the statement on the label “not a low-calorie food” unless it also meets that criteria. Many consumers equate sugar-free foods with being low calorie – which is often not the case.

Many other claims utilized on packaging have no standard definition, and food manufacturers need to make sure they are not running afoul of the FDA so are careful in the way they state product features.

A prime example – you won’t see packaging that explicitly states a food is “low carb”. The FDA has no standard definition on what “low” means in terms of carbohydrates. Instead, the product will highlight “Net Carbs” (total carbohydrates less dietary fiber and sugar alcohols). This is a direct math calculation from from the Nutrition Label Facts and so removes subjectivity.  

Another work around is to portray a food as fitting within a type of diet plan without qualifying it, e.g. “keto-friendly” or “paleo-friendly”. These statements make no direct claims about nutritional value and benefits thus are allowable.

2: Serving sizes are larger for many foods in the recent label update.

Manufacturers must now reflect serving sizes based on the amount of food people typically consume, rather than how much they should consume. You will notice that serving sizes have grown larger. For example, a standard serving of ice cream is now 2/3 cup versus 1/2 cup.

It’s what the FDA believes is the average serving across everyone, including a 100 lb. 5’ 20-year-old female and a 250 lb. 6’ 55-year-old male. Considering this, the label serving size is not a recommendation of your portion. It’s important that you assess the right portion for you.

3: You may be getting more calories or nutrients than the package states, and there is allowable rounding.

Food companies have a lot of leeway in terms of the accuracy of their nutritional information. Calories and nutrients (including vitamins and minerals) are allowed a 20% variance. The accuracy of the information on the Nutrition Facts Label is the responsibility of the company selling the food, not the government. The FDA does go around sampling, purchasing, and analyzing products from store shelves to perform checks, but the extent and frequency of these checks is unknown.

Bottom line – it’s within legal bounds for a 200 Calorie packaged food to have 240 Calories (i.e. 200 + 20%). That being said, food manufacturers know it’s in their best interest to be a accurate as possible to keep customers happy.

The caloric value of a product containing less than 5 Calories may be expressed as zero or the nearest lower 5 Calorie increment. For example, a serving with 4 Calories can be reported as zero Calories. It’s truly rare that a food would have zero calories. Likewise, 47 calories would be rounded to 45 calories. You shouldn’t be concerned about these trace number of calories, but note they can add up if you consume a large quantity of “zero-calorie” and “low-calorie” foods.

4: The new “Added Sugars” line can be a very powerful decision-making criteria for food selection.

The new “Added Sugars” line can be immensely helpful in identifying foods that are intentionally made extra sweet to for no other reason than to be super tasty. Limit foods that have high quantities of added sugars relative to total sugar and total carbohydrates, unless you are specifically in need of a high sugar food for explicit purpose (e.g. fuel for endurance training, recovery from resistance training).

5: “Sugary” sweeteners don’t count towards “Total Sugar” or “Added Sugar” and they don’t have as many calories as typical carbohydrates.

Confused? The FDA’s assessment is based on recognition that certain sugar and sugar-like sweeteners are not metabolized by the human body in the same way as table sugar. However, they do count towards the “Total Carbohydrate” and you will often see them on a separate line item as “Sugar Alcohol”. While regular sugar is assigned 4 Calories/gram, certain other sugars and sugar alcohols are indigestible or only partially digestible and so their caloric value is assessed lower.  Everyone will derive a slightly different caloric value from many of these sweeteners depending on your own ability to digest them. Here, I provide a table of common sugary substitutes as well as the FDA’s caloric assignment.

SweetenerDescriptionFDA Caloric Assessment
AlluloseSimple sugar (epimer of fructose).
Our bodies can’t effectively metabolize allulose – it’s absorbed and passed in urine. No meaningful impact on blood glucose or insulin.		0 Cal/gr.
ErythritolSugar Alcohol. Our bodies can’t metabolize it – it’s absorbed and passed in urine. No meaningful impact on blood glucose or insulin. For some, it causes gastric distress due to fermentation in the colon.0 Cal/gr.
Mannitol Maltitol
Xylitol
Sorbitol		Sugar Alcohols. Our bodies can only partially metabolize them and they have a smaller impact on blood glucose and insulin versus sugar. These can also cause gastric distress due to fermentation in the colon.1.6-2.6 Cal/gr.

Hydrogenated starch hydrolysatesA mixture of sugar alcohols. Our bodies can only partially metabolize them and they have a smaller impact on blood glucose and insulin versus sugar. These can also cause gastric distress due to fermentation in the colon.3 Cal/gr.

You many also see sugar alcohols marketed as a reduction in total carbohydrates for lower “net carbs” or “impact carbs”. Personally, I would not categorically call sugar alcohol-containing products “free foods.” Some of these products can still contribute a significant amount of carbohydrates.

6: Some dietary fiber has calories. Also, fiber does not have to be “natural” to be beneficial.

Soluble fiber is partially digested in our gut and is assigned 2 calories/gram. On the other hand, Insoluble fibers travel to the intestine with little change and are not digested in any meaningful way to are assigned 0 calories per gram. Both are important to our diet.

Dietary fiber that can be declared on the nutrition label includes naturally occurring fibers from plants as well as certain isolated or synthetic non-digestible soluble and insoluble carbohydrates that have been approved by the FDA. Both natural and synthetic fibers are beneficial for meeting fiber intake. You may have come across ingredients such as glucomannan, beta-glucan soluble fiber, psyllium husk, cellulose, guar gum, alginate, inulin, soluble corn fiber/resistant maltodextrin, and locust bean gum. These all count toward dietary fiber and are typically added to products to promote feelings of fullness.

Did any of this surprise you? Let me know and please forward this to friends who may find it interesting.

Need a plan and support to improve your physique, strength and energy? There’s no better time than now to invest in yourself – click here to get started.

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Initiating Healthy Habits

For many people, the new year brings the opportunity for a fresh start towards nutrition and fitness goals. With this opportunity usually comes a great deal of HOPE – the hope of a way to quickly shed holiday pounds, get killer abs, set new personal records in the gym, or have more energy to go about the day.

I get it – we all want to look good, feel good, and we want the results immediately. Unfortunately, there is a portion of the “health community” that preys on your short-term emotions to get you to buy a 30-day crash diet with juice cleanse, tea, or other bogus supplement. The only cleanse going on is in your wallet, and the marketing around these quick fix systems has only gotten worse as our digital attention expands. Please, treat all information you read with a healthy dose of skepticism – check facts.

The sooner we accept that the path to success has no shortcuts and is instead built on a foundation of healthy habits we execute day in and day out, the sooner we achieve sustainable, real results. To kick off the new year, rather than committing yourself to a crash diet, I instead encourage you to initiate one or more of these five keystone healthy habits:

Cooking at home is more frequently associated with higher dietary quality and lower body fat. A large population study of healthy adults conducted in 2017 [1] indicated that those who ate five or more meals cooked at home per week (versus 3 or fewer) ate more fruits and vegetables, were less likely to be overweight, and less likely to have an excess amount of body fat.

How to start the habit: On Sunday mornings, map out a week’s worth of dinners and then hit the grocery store. Take a different route home from work to avoid temptation to stop at your usual haunts. As an added benefit, you will quickly realize you are saving quite a bit of money on food every week!

Ultra-processed foods are engineered to be hyper-palatable via addition of added sugar, salt, and/or fat so that you buy more and eat more. It’s clear to see how this could lead to weight gain. In one recent study [2], subjects on an ultra-processed diet for two weeks consumed over 500 additional kcal/day, resulting in an increase in bodyweight of 1.8 lbs. When the same subjects were then transitioned to a diet comprising unprocessed foods, weight decreased by 2.4 lbs.

If you are daily consumer of ultra-processed, pre-prepared foods, take the transition to less processed options in steps. How to start the habit: make a small swap first, e.g. an afternoon bag of chips for a piece of fruit or chopped up veggies. After this gets comfortable, try transitioning dinner. If you are committed to more home cooking as well, make sure your Sunday grocery list includes more fresh/minimally processed items. Purchasing pre-cut vegetables is one way to save a few minutes in the kitchen; I have a few meal prep recipes in the resources section of this site for some batch cooking ideas.

As a society, we are becoming more obese and sleeping less. Evidence from a number of epidemiological studies suggests that chronic partial sleep loss (generally <6 h per night)  is associated with an increase in the risk of obesity in both children and adults.[3] [4] Practically speaking, how does chronic sleep deprivation cause fat gain?

Unfortunately, it hits us on both the energy expenditure and energy intake sides of the equation. On the energy expenditure side, it increases the likelihood that we are too tired to hit the gym and that we spend more time sitting/not moving about because we are exhausted. On the energy intake side, if we are awake more hours, there are simply more opportunities to eat. Secondly, sleep deprivation disrupts the key hormones that control our appetite (decreases in hunger suppressing leptin, elevation of hunger. Further, chronic sleep debt increases the stress hormone cortisol. Elevated cortisol levels put your body into a state of energy conservation (reduced energy expenditure), making it more difficult to maintain or lose weight.

How to start the habit: 30 minutes earlier than usual (or longer if you can manage it), make sure you are cleaned up and ready for bed. Turn off the TV and put your devices in sleep mode for the night. Making sure your room is dark and relatively cool, get into bed and try to fall asleep. If you still can’t after 10-15 minutes, try reading a book until your eyes are tired, then try again. I’ve found I can fall asleep easier if everything I need for the morning is already prepped the night before – you may want to give this a try.

Note on alcohol: Falling asleep quickly is not the same as good sleep quality. While alcohol may help you fall asleep, it is deleterious to sleep quality. Consider ditching it completely for a little while. Journal any changes in your sleep, eating habits, and overall energy level. You will likely find you feel more rested overall.

No surprise – a sedentary lifestyle is associated with obesity and increased all-cause mortality. Both obesity and insulin resistance are the result of caloric surplus in combination with reduced physical activity. For more sedentary individuals, recent studies have suggested daily physical activity, including non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT), to be favorably associated with metabolic risks and mortality. [5] [6] Simple increases daily physical activity, for example going on a walk on your lunch break, taking the stairs instead of an elevator, and walking across the hall to speak to a co-worker instead of texting them can all contribute to weight management.  How to start the habit: stack a simple activity onto an existing activity at work. For example, after a trip to the bathroom or coffee machine, do a lap around the office before returning to you desk.

If you you already go to the gym or get some form of regular fitness – congratulations on forming this amazing habit! And since you are already there, we can build or “stack” another good habit on this habit. After your training, add on some finishing moves! How to start the habit: Do something simple, requiring little time, for example for example 10 air squats, 10 push-ups, and 2 minutes of jogging or stationary bike. Week over week, gradually add additional reps or time as possible. You would be surprised how these small adders accumulate to your benefit over time!

If you are looking for accountability and help reaching your goals, please reach out.

[1] Mills, S., Brown, H., Wrieden, W. et al. Frequency of eating home cooked meals and potential benefits for diet and health: cross-sectional analysis of a population-based cohort study. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act 14, 109 (2017)

[2] Hall, K.D., Ayuketah, A., Bryctha, R. et al. Ultra-Processed Diets Cause Excess Calorie Intake and Weight Gain: An Inpatient Randomized Controlled Trial of Ad Libitum Food Intake. Cell Metab 30, 1, (2019) 

[3] Patel, S.R., Hu, F.B. Short sleep duration and weight gain: a systematic review. Obesity 16, 3 (2008)

[4] Beccuti G, Pannain S. Sleep and obesity. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care 14, 4 (2011).

[5] Loeffelholz C, Birkenfeld A. The Role of Non-exercise Activity Thermogenesis in Human Obesity. [Updated 2018 Apr 9]. In: Feingold KR, Anawalt B, Boyce A, et al., editors. Endotext [Internet]. South Dartmouth (MA): MDText.com, Inc.; 2000-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK279077/

[6] Hamasaki H. Daily physical activity and type 2 diabetes: A review. World J Diabetes. 7, 12 (2016)

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How to Set Your Nutrition and Fitness Goals

A common trait of high achieving individuals is that they set relevant and concrete goals – goal setting for health and performance is no exception.

Why do we need to establish goals? Simply, they are the markers along our journey towards long term success. When we are feeling lost or aimless, we can return to our goals to solidify our direction and purpose. They help us focus our attention on efforts that are most beneficial and they also help us prioritize our time to make the most out of every day.

It takes some careful consideration to set relevant and tangible goals. To help you identify and articulate your goals, let’s walk through the process and an example.

First, establish a vision statement – what longer term success looks like. In essence, it’s a snapshot of your future self that captures your big dreams and aspirations. The only standard to measure against is what will provide you the most meaning, personal satisfaction, and wellness. Vision statements are a source of motivation – when the going gets tough, return to yours to remind you why you started.

I have several vision statements spanning my personal and professional life. It does not have to be as concrete as a goal. Here is my personal nutrition and fitness vision statement:

Ten years from now, I will remain lean and at a healthy body weight, have excellent health markers with low risk for disease, and be stronger and faster than I am right now.

Once a vision statement has been established, how does one achieve the vision? This is where goal setting comes in. To effectively set goals, use S.M.A.R.T. goal setting. This is a tried and true method I’ve used and implemented both in the corporate world as well as personally. It is so well-known, you may already be familiar with it at work. The S.M.A.R.T. criteria dictate that goals must be:

S – Specific. What will you accomplish and what actions will you take?
M – Measurable. What metrics will you use to measure the goal?
A – Achievable. Is the goal reasonable? Do you have the skills and resources necessary to accomplish the goal?
R – Relevant. Does the goal align with your vision?
T – Timely. What is the time frame for accomplishing the goal and is it realistic?

Why is S.M.A.R.T. so important? By setting clearly defined goals, you can then track progress, celebrate tangible achievements, and be more confident in your own capabilities. If your goals are too general or open to interpretation, you may not be able to plan a course of action to meet the goal, or be confident that you actually achieved the goal. Let’s walk through an example of a nutrition and fitness goal:

In three months, lose 10 lbs and be able to run five miles by eating healthier and working out more.

Let’s test how well this goal is written against S.M.A.R.T.

Specific? Not quite. This goal tells me what needs to be accomplished (drop 10 lbs and run five miles), but it is too general about HOW this will be accomplished. It needs to define how you would eat healthier and work out more. For example, If I just add more vegetables to my diet, that’s probably healthier, but will it truly allow me to meet my weight loss goal? Likewise, if I work our more by only lifting weights, will it make be a better runner? It will certainly be overall, but unlikely to be the most efficient course of action. We need to be laser-focused on the activities that get us to our goal most effectively.

Measurable? Yes. Progress can be tracked over the three months based on the scale and how your clothes fit. You could even buy a pair of pants one size smaller and see how they are fitting over time.

Achievable and reasonable? Yes. Assuming: 1) free of injury or pain and are able to jog, 2) access to information or a resource to establish a run training plan, and 3) access to information or a resource to establish a fat loss plan.

Relevant? Yes, assuming part of your long term vision is to achieve the physique you want and improve cardiovascular health.

Timely? Yes. This is clear – three months to meet this goal. We’ll assume it’s a reasonable amount of time based on current state.

Conducting this analysis, looks like the goal needs to be improved by adding some specifics about how the goal will be achieved and available resources to ensure you have the right systems and processes in place to meet your goals. Here is how the goal would be updated based on S.M.A.R.T. :

In three months, I will lose 10 lbs and be able to run five miles following the specific fat loss nutrition plan designed to lose 0.8-1 lb per week while keeping my energy up for running, and a 3x/week run training plan established by my coaches.

Aah….now we have it! The goal now provides information about how we will be able achieve it, and we now also can also track progress within our training and nutrition plans.

Ready to start developing your goals? Use this downloadable S.M.A.R.T. Goals Worksheet to help.

To sum it up: goal setting is a critical part of your health and fitness journey. It should not be taken lightly – spend some time questioning yourself and clearly articulating your goals. The rewards for taking the time to set specific goals are immense – direction, clarity, purpose….and increased confidence as you achieve them. Let me know if you found this useful, and I’d love to hear about your vision and goals!

Note: Goal setting is one part of the equation – effective execution is the other. In the next piece, we will discuss the importance of systems as a key element for goal achievement and habit formation.

Contact me if you need some coaching to help you achieve your goals.

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Meal Prep: Green Dragon Lean Turkey Sliders

These lean little turkey burgers pack a lot flavor thanks to Trader Joe’s Green Dragon Sauce.

Lean ground turkey (99/1 or 93/7) is a staple food in my weekly meal prep. Usually I throw it in a pan as-is with whatever seasoning I’m in the mood for….lemon pepper, taco seasoning, hot sauce, harissa, or simple salt and pepper.

One great way to turn ground turkey into a portable snack is to make sliders. For this, my go-to seasoning is Trader Joe’s Green Dragon Hot Sauce plus Everything But the Bagel Seasoning. It takes boring dry turkey and converts it to magical deliciousness – that’s all I’ll say. If I’m in a huge rush sometimes I throw these in a plastic bag and eat as a snack on the road. More often than not, I put them in pitas with some lettuce – and extra Dragon Sauce.

Green Dragon Hot Sauce is a mild sauce, and NOT made with bits of real dragon. No dragons are harmed in the making of these burgers.

Not true.

Important note for this recipe to ensure you get juicy sliders – as you form them in your hands use only your fingertips and just enough pressure to make the shape. We want to keep them airy. If you over-compact the mixture the burgers will turn out tough and dry. During cooking, the patties will puff up a bit, make them flatter again by lightly pressing down on them with a spatula.

An entire 16 oz package of 99/1 lean ground turkey has 104 g of protein, 0 g carbs, and 6 g of fat. I chose to divide the mixture into 11 patties to get just under 10g of protein per burger. Divide how you wish – make fewer or more depending on your plan and how you want to eat them.

Green Dragon sauce is an awesome blend of hot peppers, tomatillos, and garlic that when mixed into extra lean turkey creates a juicy flavorful burger with just a tiny kick of heat. These sliders are great as a stand alone on-the-go protein snack, or in a sandwich. Tasty, simple, and quick weekly meal prep food!

Please let me know if you’ve tried this recipe for your meal prep, and how you like them!

Ready to work on your nutrition plan for fat loss, performance improvement, or just to improve your habits? Contact me.

Disclosure: as an amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This supports keeping the website ad-free.

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Protein For Fat Loss

Protein is the most valuable macronutrient for retention of lean muscle mass while on a fat loss diet. But how much do we need and how does it help us? Here’s the latest from the research.

The Role of Protein – Three Major Points

1) Protein fuels our muscles with the amino acid building blocks needed to repair damage (catabolism) and grow additional muscle (anabolism). Appropriate protein intake and resistance training facilitates these processes to promote fat loss versus muscle loss.

2) As energy intake decreases, we become increasingly hungry. Beyond it’s critical function in muscle recovery and growth, protein increases levels of our hormones that provide feelings of satiety after a meal, and decrease our appetite stimulating hormone. Extended feelings of fullness enabled by appropriate protein intake is a welcome benefit!

3) Compared to carbohydrates and fats, protein has a greater energy cost to digest and metabolize – around 30%. You are burning more calories by eating protein versus other macronutrients, all in support of maintaining an energy deficit in a fat loss diet.

How Much Protein? Don’t use the US RDA……

The US Recommended Daily Allowance is 0.36 grams per pound of bodyweight per day (g/lb BW) for sedentary individuals – far too low for an exercising individual, particularly someone who engages in some form of resistance training.

A review of the current research on the impact of protein intake on body composition and muscle protein synthesis indicates that a good target for an average adult who is resistance training is 0.73 g/lb BW per day for muscle retention (and accretion).

Practical Example: a 160 lb resistance training individual currently consuming 64 g of protein per day (0.4 g/lb BW) in a calorie deficit would significantly improve their likelihood of lean mass retention by nearly doubling protein intake to 120 g/day. To compensate for the increased protein, this individual would also need to decrease the amount of carbohydrates and fats; simply adding more protein would create a calorie surplus.

So if 0.73g/lb BW is enough, would higher be even better? It’s tempting to make this extrapolation. In a fat loss diet, we want to dial in the right amount of protein to induce beneficial body composition changes, yet not take our dietary protein so high that we excessively reduce carbohydrates and fats to the detriment of performance, mood, hormones, and other markers. There are some studies indicating that higher (upwards of 0.9 g/lb BW) has no detriment and may further support lean mass retention, the overall number of studies are limited and do not yet justify higher levels across the board. That being said, based on some of the other benefits I do recommend higher protein levels to some clients in consideration of lifestyle, food preferences, satiety, training modality and intensity, and existing lean body mass (body fat does not require protein to support it).

What Type of Protein?

Eating high quality, complete proteins containing all nine essential amino acids (our bodies can’t make these and they must be obtained through diet) is the priority. Complete whole food protein sources include red meat, chicken, turkey, fish, eggs, milk, yogurt, and soy. Beyond recommendation of these foods, a personalized assessment based on your current body composition and goals can be established.

When transitioning to a diet higher in protein, many people find it challenging to meet their daily protein target eating only whole foods. This is where protein powder supplementation can be useful tool. Examples of complete protein powders include, whey, egg, casein, and soy. These are digested at different rates in the body and can be utilized to their advantage at different times of day.

The specific type of complete protein powder used is of secondary importance compared to the importance of meeting daily protein intake. Bottom line – if you are going to start to incorporate protein powder into your regimen, firstly pick one that has all the EAAs, tastes good to you, and is agreeable to your stomach. The specific type and timing can be dialed in after you have formed the habit.

A lot of folks take BCAAs (branched chain amino acids aka leucine, isoleucine, and valine) as a supplement to their diet. Despite their popularity, research is fairly clear that BCAAs are ineffective for muscle protein synthesis and in this regard they are just expensive flavored water. Instead, eat or drink whey protein around workouts. You are getting plenty of BCAAs by consuming the whole foods and the protein powders mentioned above. I’m not against BCAA supplements if they make you feel good – some studies indicate they do help with recovery – but understand you are spending money on something that, from an efficacy perspective isn’t moving the needle much compared to complete protein.

When Should I Eat Protein?

After you’ve locked down the amount high quality protein you need, distribute it relatively even across the snacks and meals that you eat throughout the day, ideally every 2-4 h. There is a diverse body of research regarding how much protein the body can digest and utilize for muscle protein synthesis from each serving/meal and depends on age, gender, body composition, training status, and other considerations. Given the large number of variables, a good range to stay in is 20-40 g of high-quality protein per meal. An example of 20 g of protein would be 57 g (2 oz.) of cooked chicken breast.

Protein Timing and Training?

Specific protein timing is of secondary importance relative to overall protein intake and general distribution. However, if you are engaging in intense resistance training the post-exercise period should incorporate a solid dose of protein and carbohydrate since muscles are depleted of fuel (glycogen and amino acids) and muscle fibers require repair.

There is a misconception that the post-exercise anabolic window for muscle protein synthesis is narrow, whereby if protein is not consumed immediately post-workout, the opportunity for “gainz” will be forfeit. Far from the truth – the aggregation of research suggests that the anabolic period extends many hours post-training. From a practical eating perspective, try to get a dose of protein within 2 hours after training.

Closing Notes

It’s important to remember that fat loss and muscle growth occur by separate, distinct processes. Although it is impossible to convert fat to muscle, it is possible to preserve lean body mass while decreasing fat mass during a calorie deficit, and it is also possible to increase lean body mass while decreasing fat mass. Protein intake has a strong influence over this; I work with clients on customized protein quantity, type, and timing based on meal frequency preferences, training modality and duration, and schedule. This ensures we are maximizing the benefits of protein from a body composition, performance, and sustainability perspective. I’ve seen incredible body composition changes firsthand in my clients.

I love keeping up with latest in protein research. I’ll keep you updated on the latest credible findings. As always, please feel free to reach out with questions.

Ready to get started on your nutrition strategy?

Recommended Further Reading:

Morton, R.W., et al,A systematic review, meta-analysis and metaregression of the effect of protein supplementation on resistance training-induced gains in muscle mass and strength in healthy adults, Br J Sports Med, 2018;52:376–38

Schoenfeld, B.J., Aragon, A.A.,How much protein can the body use in a single meal for muscle-building? Implications for daily protein distribution, Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition (2018) 15:10

Rahmi, M.H., et. al, Branched-chain amino acid supplementation and exercise-induced muscle damage in exercise recovery: A meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials, Nutrition (2017) 42:30

Jaeger et. al., International Society of Sports Nutrition Position Stand: protein and exercise, Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, v14, Article number: 20 (2017)

Longland, T.M. et al, Higher compared with lower dietary protein during an energy deficit combined with intense exercise promotes greater lean mass gain and fat mass loss: a randomized trial, Am J Clin Nutr 2016;103:738–46

Trommelen, J. , Loon, L.J.C., Pre-Sleep Protein Ingestion to Improve the Skeletal Muscle Adaptive Response to Exercise Training, Nutrients 2016, 8(12), 763

Aragon, A.A., Schoenfeld, B.J., Nutrient timing revisited: is there a post-exercise anabolic window? Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 2013, 10:5

Wycherley, T.P., et al, Effects of energy-restricted high-protein, low-fat compared with standard-protein, low-fat diets: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trial, Am J Clin Nutr 2012;96:1281–98

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Raw vs. Cooked Food Measurement

Weighing and tracking food can seem a bit overwhelming at first. It takes some time to build the habit of weighing and entering items. It additionally requires diligence to ensure that the food is indeed the correct nutritional representation of both amount and type within the selected tracking system. A common source of error is the weight difference between raw and cooked food. Raw vs. cooked food measurement error can lead to under-reporting or over-reporting energy intake versus actual intake. The impact can be significant – several hundred calories per day or more – if the same incorrect entry is repeated in frequently.

Raw vs. cooked food measurement – which is better?

Measurement of uncooked food is more precise and eliminates the risk of variance related to cooking procedures. That said, sometimes it’s more practical to weigh cooked. Here are a few practical rules of thumb to convert between them.

Meats, poultry, seafood, and potato LOSE ~ 25% water weight when cooked.

Uncooked cooked meat

Whether broiled, baked, or sautéed, animal meat loses approximately 25% of its mass when cooked. As meat cooks, water is driven off (same applies for baked potato!). Only water is lost; the caloric and macronutrient values do not change despite the change in scale weight. Therefore 113 g/4 oz. raw meat is NOT equal to 113 g/4 oz. cooked from a calorie or macronutrient perspective because water has been eliminate in cooking.

This conversion table (shown in both ounces and grams) provides the estimated raw weight of meats based on the cooked weight. Knowing the cooked weight, it’s possible to back-calculate the raw weight equivalent by dividing the cooked weight by 0.75. This accounts for 25% water loss. It also works in the reverse. If you have the raw weight, multiply by 0.75 to get the cooked weight.

Raw vs cooked grams
Raw vs cooked oz

This is handy as an estimation for dining out. Say for example the entrée had a piece of grilled chicken breast and you want to estimate calories and macros in your tracker. If you received ~ 4 oz. of cooked chicken (using the palm of your hand as an estimate), you’d then find a validated entry for raw chicken breast and input the portion as 5.3 oz.

  • 4 oz. raw chicken = 168 kcal, 21.7 g Protein, 6.3 g Fat, and 0 g carbs – incorrect entry for 4oz. cooked coked chicken
  • 5.3 oz. raw chicken = 223 kcal, 32.5 g Protein, 9.4 g Fat, 0 g carbs – correct entry for 4oz. cooked chicken.

Rice, oats, pasta, and beans gain weight when cooked.

Cooking time and volume of water vary between these foods, but the following multipliers are a reasonable estimate to account for water gain. It’s the exact opposite circumstance as meat, the scale weight increases for the same calories and macros due to water weight.

Food weight tracking errors can add up over time if you frequently eat the same foods. I hope that this quick guide was helpful! Contact me if you need some assistance.

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