Author: offwhiteliving

Eating well on an outdoor adventure

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This past weekend my husband and I spent some time with the Chemeketans in Smith Rock, OR for a little R&R on the rock.  It was amazing – such a display of nature’s beauty.  Check it out at Sunset

Historically, climbing trips are an excuse to binge out on whatever one would want because, hey – we’re exercising so much, right.  I love climbers but man, do we love our junk food….. look here, I almost feel victim to the deadliest climbing food of all: Cheddar stuffed sausages on big fat white buns.  Whew….near miss!

Good thing I was saved by all the healthy stuff I brought, like bison burgers and veggies.  I actually learned a lot about my commitment to wellness this weekend, because I had tons of tempting foods around me and i simply did not want to eat them.  The greatest part was that I did not want them simply because I don’t feel well when I eat them.  This was a huge shift for me, as usually I’m driven by the calories or “good” vs “bad” mindset and that usually leaves me stressed.  However, over the past couple of years, I’ve been able to let that go and see my relationship with food from a place of personal serenity and simplictity.  It just happens to be that for me this means no refined carbs, no “joining in” with the crowd to eat simply because I want to fit in.

So, I’m pretty excited about the meal I made (no pics, sorry), because it was pretty resourceful for the circumstances and the supplies I had available.

Smith Rock Sautee

  • 1 tbsp butter, as “taken” from the Smith Rock cafe at your breakfast meal earlier (Plan A was to bring some butter or oil, but I forgot it!)
  • Two colored bell peppers, chopped into 1″ pieces
  • 1 lb asparagus, trimmed and chopped into 1″ pieces
  • 1 tbsp all purpose seasoning or Spike, or something of the like
  • 1 lb buffalo burger patties

1 sauce pan and 1 coleman stove are all you need to make what turned out to be a fabulous meal that served 3 hungry climbers, with augmentations of hummus/veggies/salsa/chips/watermelon.  I’m telling you – climbing makes you pretty hungry.

Fire up the coleman and put the saucepan on med heat.  Add the butter and the veggies.  Cover with a lid or whatever you have around.  Stir and saute for about 5 minutes.  Add the spices.  Cook another 2 minutes and then remove.  Set in a plastic camping bowl on the table. In the same saucepan, crumble up the 3 buffalo patties and pseudo-stir fry them.  because they are lean, you are going to have to stir a lot.  Cook for about  7 minutes.

Serve the buffalo and veggies with some watermelon wedges and an ice cold drink of your choice (beer was the choice for most this evening.  I stuck with water because it was seriously 101 degrees all day and I was pretty toasted).  Enjoy under the setting sun with good friends and good stories.

And who ever said that living off-white had to be painful?  our meal was the envy of the table 🙂

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living posh on low-sugar nosh……

offwhiteliving2 Comments

I love it when I find a good blog that share my bizarre love of food, health, and culture.

Today when I was bumming around looking for low sugar websites I came across this one:

http://becksposhnosh.blogspot.com/2006/01/low-sugar-desserts-and-sweet-treats.html

Pretty sweet!   I like the idea of a low sugar recipe contest, so to speak….so, if anybody wants to share a favorite low or no sugar recipe that we can post, please do!  It can be dessert, a bread or baked good, or some way that you’ve creatively used low sugar foods to make yummy foods.  If you have a picture of it, even better.

One of these days I’ll put all the recipes in a file, but that would require me to have free time before 9;30pm every night 🙂

Ciao,

Rebecca

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If these foods could talk……

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what would they be saying?

A call to live “off white” is a call to live more closely (and eat more closely) with nature. Its a call to “listen” to the quiet wisdom of our planet. So, what is nature saying when we feel compelled to, say, whip up some  guacamole and lime on a sunny day in Mexico to go with our eggs (like in this pic)……let us listen in.

There is a concept I learned in school, called the “Doctrine of Signatures”. It is when things in nature resemble the aspects of health that they help. For instance, a Walnut looks like a little brain – and the fats in walnuts are good for brain function. We simply have to look for these subtleties.
Today a client of mine sent me an email with all kinds of interesting “facts” about fruits/veggies, so I’m passing it along :0 All I can say, is that the I’m going to see if my boobs get bigger and my cycle gets easier if I enjoy more of the meals indicated in the picture. Perhaps nature is not only wise, but grants us these selfish gifts if we keep eating of her bounty…… Joking, of course!

What your food is saying:

A sliced Carrot looks like the human eye The pupil, iris and
> >radiating lines look just like the human eye…
> >and YES science now shows that carrots greatly enhance blood flow to
> >and function of the eyes.
> > A Tomato has four chambers and is red. The heart is red and has four
> >chambers. All of the research
> >shows tomatoes are indeed pure heart and blood food.
> >
> >Grapes hang in a cluster that has the shape of the heart. Each grape
> >looks like a blood cell and all
> >of the research today shows that grapes are also profound heart and
> >blood vitalizing food.
> >
> >A Walnut looks like a little brain, a left and right hemisphere,
> >upper cerebrums and lower cerebellums.
> >Even the wrinkles or folds are on the nut just like the neo-cortex.
> >We now know that walnuts help
> >develop over 3 dozen neuron-transmitters for brain function.
> > Kidney Beans actually heal and help maintain kidney function and
> >yes, they look
> >exactly like the human kidneys.
> > Celery, Bok Choy, Rhubarb and more look just like bones. These foods
> >specifically target bone
> >strength. Bones are 23% sodium and these foods are 23% sodium. If you
> >don’t have enough
> >sodium in your diet the body pulls it from the bones, making them
> >weak.
> >These foods replenish the skeletal needs of the body.
> >.
> >Eggplant, Avocadoes and Pears target the health and function of the
> >womb and cervix of the female –
> > they look just like these organs. Today’s research shows that when a
> >woman eats 1 avocado a week,
> >it balances hormones, sheds unwanted birth weight and prevents
> >cervical cancers. And how profound
> >is this? …. It takes exactly 9 months to grow an avocado from
> >blossom to ripened fruit. There are over
> >14,000 photolytic chemical constituents of nutrition in each one of
> >these foods (modern science has
> >only studied and named about 141 of them).
> >
> >Figs are full of seeds and hang in twos when they grow. Figs increase
> >the motility of male sperm and
> >increase the numbers of Sperm as well to overcome male sterility.
> > Sweet Potatoes look like the pancreas and actually balance the
> >glycemic index of diabetics.
> > Olives assist the health and function of the ovaries.
> >
> >Grapefruits, Oranges, and other Citrus fruits look just like the
> >mammary glands of the female and
> >actually assist the health of the breasts and the movement of lymph
> >in and out of the breasts.
> > Onions look like body cells. Today’s research shows that onions help
> >clear waste materials from
> >all of the body cells. They even produce tears which wash the
> >epithelial layers of the eyes.
> >

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Life, on 60g of sugar per day

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The World Health World health organization suggests a diet of less than 60 g of sugar per day or less.    Generally speaking, us humans can consume approx 200g of total carbs per day, so about 25% of them could be sugars, according to this model.

Some folks, especially sugar junkies trying to recover, ought to consider 100 – 150g of carbs per day or less, and make sure those carbs are from fiber containing sources.

So, how can we do it?  I ask myself this question everyday.  While I don’t go about my day counting carbs or sugar, I certainly keep these numbers in mind, mainly in the form of the concept of low sugar eating.

Through the years, here is what I have learned.  I have to make my sugar grams count, otherwise I’m going to be upset that I have nothing sweet and special to look forward to.  Here’s how I live on 60g of sugar per day (including the sugars in fruits):

  • Focus on lower sugar fruits like green apples, berries, cantaloupe, plums, peaches.
  • Avoid juice, flavored water or using sweetener in my tea at home.
  • Have Stevia in my purse to use for sweetening beverages when I go out.
  • Use unsweetened applesauce.  The difference here is 5g sugar/serving
  • Mix oats with fruit and spices, like cinnamon, for flavor.  I typically don’t add sweetener.
  • Use only plain yogurt.   I don’t do much yogurt, due to the dairy thing, but I will go plain when I do!
  • Watch the sugar in pasta sauces.  On average, a serving of jarred sauce has 10-12g of sugar.  I look for something with about 8g.
  • I avoid boxed cereals altogether.  They are high in total carbs, usually wheat or corn based, and don’t do a good job of watching portions.  For me, its just best NOT to go there.
  • Unsweetened almond milk ROCKS!  We are talking 3-5g of sugar as compared with 12-15g for even rice milk.  Add some stevia if you need more sweet.
  • Skip the ketchup and bbq sauce, unless it “really” goes with the meal (like a BBQ house, which I do like once every 3 yrs)
  • Tell the important people in my life I’m not eating a lot of sugar.  It helps keep me accountable.  I’m a sugar junkie, always looking for her fix, so I’m gonna take a mile when I’m presented with an inch!
  • Lay off of the dried fruit.  I found myself over-indulging in raisins, dates, and dried apples a lot when I started to avoid traditional sugar.  The challenge for me is that 1/4 cup of raisins is about 25g of sugar, and I can shovel in 2-3 handfuls mighty fast…..  I still eat dried fruit, but I try and add them to salads or eat them in front of someone where I’m less likely to pig out.
  • Be very, very humble.  My sugar desires are monsterous at times.  I must be honest with myself about them, and respect the food I am eating as having an effect on me.    Every time I make a good choice for my body, I feel sooooo grateful.

These same guidelines apply to white flour, which is not too much different from white sugar.  I tend to avoid wheat in general, which makes that one an easy choice.  I always skip the crackers, cereals, muffins (unless I know they are wheat-free, but even then quite often I just pass – they set me up for cravings), pastas, and a lot of breads.  Ezekiel bread is a treat in our house, and I choose to enjoy 1 slice per day when its around.  I use a lot of lettuce leaves as bread and whole grains in place of pastas, which helps avoid the interference of white or wheat flour.

Sometimes it gets me down to have to think so much about sugar….and then sometimes I just don’t think about it.  Unforutunately for me, however, not being conscious of it typically makes me end up eating a lot more of it that I’d prefer, as the sugar addict in me will always find a way to get her fix unless she’s kept in check.

Rebecca

Food, frugality and fortitude

offwhiteliving6 Comments

So, I’m kind of a cheapskate.  In general I hate paying for things.    I especially hate it when things I used to pay X for now cost X + 1 (or whatever)…..Its a joke amongst friends/family that my purse squeaks a bit when I open it.  Yes, you self-helpers out there, I AM working on it.

Lately the cost of food has increased dramatically.  Let’s take a look at some common examples

Just last week I stood in the grocery store, making some choices about what to put in, based on price. The items in question were:

Good Earth tea ($3.99/box of 18 bags
Beef (grass fed, $5.99/lb)
Avocados ($1.25/each)
Brown Rice Tortillas ($3.50/pack)

There were a few others, but these stood out in my mind.    I felt these items were rather expensive for what I could get from them, when considering volume and serving size.  I aim to spend $100/week on groceries for my husband and I to eat together.  We eat out approximately 1x/week WHEN WE HAVE THE FOOD WE LIKE IN THE HOUSE!  When we don’t have easy to prepare, wholesome and tasty food, we eat out.  A typical eating out experiences is $10-$15/person, depending upon where we go.  If I purchase a hot tea away from home, it is minimum $1.50 per serving whereas my Good Earth tea was only about $.25/tea bag.

Therefore, my question became clear: Would purchasing the whole food based items at the grocery, for more $$ per item than in the past, save me money at the end of the week based on frequency of eating out, etc.

Yes, yes, yes!!!!  Despite the fact that groceries are more expensive than before, if we can limit out dining out by even once per week, we are still saving money.  Even purchasing all those items on the list, which yield more than 1 serving, would save over 1 meal out.  Factor in the nutritional benefits of eating in, and its a slam dunk deal.

Now, I do believe we need to have some fortitude during these economic times.  It makes sense to use the grocery $$ we have sensible.  It also means schlepping home when my tired body wants to simply find a cozy spot to sit and have somebody else make the meal.

Here’s what I’ve come up with for ideas on how to save some $$ at the store and still eat well, the off-white way.

  • Puchase whole fryer chickens and carve them yourself.  You can get nitrate-free lunchmeats this way too!
  • Purchase only what you will eat that week in fruits/veggies.  Uneaten produce that goes bad is simply a was to $$.  If you can only cook 2-3x in  week, it doesn’t make sense to buy elaborate veggies that would need to be used everday.
  • Bring groceries to work as a way to avoid buying snacks or eating out at work.  Baby carrots, bags of spinach, a bottle of salad dressing, a supply of teas and beverages…all ways to make eating well convenient and cheap.
  • Buy raw ingredients and make your own…whatever.  Instead of pre-made trail mixes (spendy and full of sugar), buy bulk items and make your own.  Use whole oats instead of quick and buy them in the bulk section.  No need to pay Mr. Quaker for his fancy can.  You can even find agave nectar, flax meal, most grains/rices, and dried fruits in bulk these days.
  • Buy enough for at least 4-5 days so you don’t go to the store daily.  This is a total waste of time, gas, money and energy.
  • Make your own soups, deli salads and pasta dishes for work.  Spending $7 on ingredients for a nice home-made dish that you can eat for 3 days will save $$, as these things typically run $3-7/lb at the deli or grocery.
  • make your own cookies, breads, etc.  Don’t give Starbuck’s $2 for a muffin you can make for $.50 that has better nutrition.  Bob’s Redmill flax meal has an awesome recipe.
  • Buy a water filter and stop buying water bottles.
  • The more packaging, the more it costs.  Buy in large quantity and make up your own mini-bags of ‘whatever’. The whole snackpack thing is a gimmick – you can do it at home.
  • Purchase yogurts, applesauce, cottage cheese, etc in larger containers and take a smaller container with you to work each day.  Reuse the smaller container
  • Give the generics another chance. Some generic stuff actually has better nutrition than the “fancy” stuff.  Example: WinCo’s Cascade Pride english muffins. They cost $1 less than Thomas and have no HFCS, more fiber, and I hear they taste pretty good.

Okay folks, off to bed for me.  I like this topic, but I need some sleep :0

Wishing you all an off-white day tomorrow!

PS: The cost of corn, wheat, and sugar are also on the rise – even better reason to stop eating these things!

Self love

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When I awoke this morning I had an amazing sensation: the feeling of gratitude and love for my body and being…what a concept!  I can certainly say that a major reason why I can connect with these feelings is because I am continuing to create distance between me and those toxic foods that skew my mind (the white stuff).

I actually enjoyed breakfast so much that I took a little picture.  This sort of creativity is always a sign in me that I am healing, feeling good, and going with the “flow” of life.

This pic also denotes something more left-brained than just a reflection of self love thru food: it represents 1 standard serving of Almonds.  For me, part of self-care is staying conscious of how much of a food I am eating, even if it is healthy.

Just 2 days ago I was chatting with a gal who struggled with kidney stones due to too much protein.  She had switched to a ‘healthy’ diet, which included 2 CUPS of nuts, day….yowza…..and got kidney stones as a result.  Perfect example of good intentions gone awry or the law of diminishing return.

Slowly my stubborn mind is seeing the grace and benefit of being moderate, gentle and peaceful in my approach.  How nice to have space left in my belly after a meal because I’m not as attached to eating the fullest servings I can.  There is much power in declining the need for “more”.

So much of what I see happens in myself and others when our body-minds are skewed with junk food is the inability to listen to the subtleties of life and our physical/emotional/spiritual needs.  The white stuff puts the sensory system on over-drive and whammy!  All intuitive responses are gone….at least for me because I have a serious inability to handle the white stuff.  Its all or nothing, so I’ll choose nothing – there is more freedom in every other aspect of my life without it 🙂

Oh, for those who are curious, here is what I did with the almonds:

“Fill you for a few hours” oatmeal:

1 oz whole oats

1/2 – 3/4 cup water
1 tsp vanilla + cinnamon
1 banana
1 serving almonds (about 22)
2 tsp dried cranberries

Cook oats on med heat.  Half-way through add the fruit, vanilla and cinnamon.  When fully cooked, add the nuts (I like the crunch of keeping the nuts raw).  This meal packs about 15g protein, 8-10 g of fiber, 15g of fat and approx 25 g of carbs…and about 320 kcal.    A great way to to add a little TLC to your morning.  Can’t do gluten?  NO problem: use Bob Red Mill’s Gluten free cereal or rice cereal instead.  Can’t do nuts?  No problem.  Bob’s flaxmeal adds the fat/fiber of the nuts, and a little pat of butter would do the same.

Things I love: Be Three

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There is a new online newsletter called Be Three.  Its for women, its clever, sassy, and the staff seems really cool based on their bios.  Check it out, and for those who just don’t get enough emails in their inbox every day, they even have a daily newsletter.

I don’t often address my yogini side in my posts (Try and focus on nutrition and sustainable wellness, but yoga is certainly a part of that!), but I loved this article, titled: Get your chant on:

Get Your Chant On

swaha.jpg

Last week, you found out that chanting isn’t just for saffron-robed monks, and that (heck yeah!) you’re willing to try it out for the sake of inner peace. Now, let’s turn our focus on ”what is a chant” and how easy it is to get your chant on.

What Is a Chant?
1. Words: One of the most popular spiritual words du jour is Om because of its intention to cultivate a sense of connection with those around you. And while many chants use Om as the main repetition, chants can range from this one-word mantra to a forty-verse ode to a brave monkey, like the Hanuman Chalisa.

2. Short and Sweet: Chants are often short and easy to remember, and, much like the songs you learned in grade school, are done in a call-and-response fashion (so that fading memory of yours doesn’t have to recall much at all).

3. Simplicity: All you need for chanting is your voice. No super-yoga flexibility, odd-shaped implements, or worldly-strength required.

4. Strength In Numbers: If singing in public ranks up there with public speaking on your top-fears list, worry not. While chanting, you’re singing with others – no solos required.

What to Chant?
Turn on one of these playlists – in your car, when you’re cleaning your apartment, or right before bed – and you’ll be on the fast track to zen.

Krishna Das: Check out this chant master’s CD collection of traditional chants, available for download on your iPod.

BMW – the ultimate driving (me crazy) machine

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Lately I’ve been taking my BMW for a spin more than I should.  What I’m talking about is the BMW in my brain: the Bitching, Moaning, and Whining.  Yes, it is the ultimate driving machine – of my neurosis!

Seems like I’ve been living in the problem a bit, and not in the solution…and what happens when I’m there: I get caught up into the desire to eat sugar, forget my responsibilities and become self-centered.

There is a reason I haven’t posted much in the past week – I’ve simply been self consumed.  LIving an Off-White life is all about personal accountability, responsibility, and balance.  Well, this week I none of the above.  I also saw a correlation between my attitude, my stress and my lack of self-care.  I ate too quickly, I did not give myself the simple pleasure of sitting at the table for dinner.  I did not connect with friends as much.  yada, yada, yada…..you get the idea.

What is it about the BMW’s of our minds that make the simple principles of self-care, especially with nutrition, so difficult.  Is it that I don’t feel worthy of good choices?  Is it because I see all the people in the TV and magazine Ads having so much fun with their junk food that I want to join in?  Is it simply that stress really does drive the need to just simple carbs, go into a food coma, and forget life.

I suppose the answer can be all three.  For me, the reason behind all the BMW moments was based in a fear of uncertainty.  I thrive on stability and control.  I like when things are the same, yet they never are.  So much is evolving in my life: career, residence, the role my husband plays in our life (grad student), financial insecurity…..it goes on and on.

Can anybody else relate?  I’m so interested in this human phenomenoa of wanting to neglect self in order to buy into fears and stress.  Yes, I get it that fears/stress are valid, but it never feels better  to give them all my power.

My hope is that I’ve done the footwork, prayer, and surrender over these issues, at least for now, and can get back to what I do love : blogging, connecting with friends, making healthy meals and being creative with food, and trusting that this evolution is absolutely perfect in its awkwardness.  Isn’t everything beautiful at one point awkward (I think of flowers opening for the first time, baby chicks with ugly patchwork down feathers, storm clouds that you can’t tell if rain is coming or not).  My biggest lesson to realize is that I am, and always will be, perfectly imperfect, and no amount of fantasizing about mile-high cheesecakes or donuts is going to change that truth.  For me, or for anybody else.

So, here are a few steps I’ve taken to get my mojo back;

1. Spend time with a friend on Sunday afternoon
2. Make some time for my husband on Sunday night after his trip out of town
3. Eat simply for 3 days: focus on 3 meals/day with the emphasis of these meals being fruits/veggies, and a lean protien.  No grains, and get off the dairy again.
4. Write in my journal
5. Post here, and be honest with myself and others about me
6. Look at websites of people I admire – ever reminding me to stay connected to my dreams and realize that nobody wakes up in one day with it all put together
7. Turn OFF THE TV – it is so demoralizing and food-tempting for me.
8. Go for a walk instead of a run on Saturday – gave myself permission to be in “flow” instead of force.

Blessings,
R

Splenda is not so splendid

offwhiteliving3 Comments

Yet another reason I’m not a fan of Splenda…….corn.
What, you ask, do corn and Splenda have in common?  If you take a look at the back of a Splenda packet, you’ll find a very imporant word: Dextrose.

Dextrose is a sugar derived from corn.  The same plants that gives us high fructose corn syrup also produce dextrose.  Now, dextrose can also be derived from other things, like grapes, but much of the dextrose we eat comes from corn.

Why all the hype about corn?  What gives?  Corn continues to be a hot button because we are over-using it; the typical American approach: Something has a good aspect to it, so we exploit it and over-work it, and then wonder what went wrong.  Our food (including dairy, meats, legumes, grains, etc) is at least 25% corn-based, from the reading I did in both “Omnivores Dilemma” and “Fast Food Nation” recently.  The reason is that many of our lifestock eat corn, so we get the residual issues in our bodies.

Corn sensitivity, like gluten or dairy sensitivity, is on the rise.  Of course it is – when we over-consume something, our bodies get sensitive to it.  It’s like being poked in the same spot on your arm 1,000 times.  Sure, a poke every now and again isn’t so bad, but constant poking yields a bruise, dysfunction on the skin and sensory feedback and general irritation.  Same with food.  We over-eat something ,especially if that something is genetically modified (and you can be your bottom dollar Corn is genetically modified, especially nowadays).
The other reason artificial sweeteners don’t excite me is that they miss the point: we are addicted to sweet.  Wouldn’t you (who are also fellow addicts like me) agree that once you get the taste for sweet, it’s over?
Americans consume a lot of sugar, we all know that
What I think is under-represented is the genetic and biochemical drive to consume that sugar even when we know it is not good for us.  What would serve us better are foods/recipes/mindsets that help us put our sweet craving aside.

In Chinese medicine it is said that a sweet addiction is an addiction to “the sweetness of life”.  We want it to taste like honey all the time, and when it doesn’t, we go looking for the honey.

I can certainly see this in myself.  I’ve used sugar as a compadre to cope with the drama in my head for many years.  Without it, life still seems a little sour, and yet with it I am a slave to its effects.

I suppose the call to action here is to invite myself and others to look at the role sweet foods play and ask ourselves if that role is really suiting our life’s dreams?  And for the times when something sweet would be really appropriatae, why not make something real, good and of the earth?
For such an occasion, I have a recipe.  Maybe its weird to post a dessert recipe here, because I’m talking about abstaining from sugar, so this one is for the birthday party, the 4th of July picnic, or whatever else is a call to celebrate.

I have to thank Better Homes and Garden’s for the inspiration.  I was looking for a recipe for a birthday potluck at work and my new mag came to the door, offering a recipe that catapulted me into creative recipe creating mode.

Blueberry-lemon-coconut-pie (and low sugar too!)

1/2 cup virgin coconut oil
3/4 cup whole oats (you can blend them for 30 seconds for a finer flavor, if you’d like)
1/2 cup spelt flour
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut
2 tsp cinnamon and nutmeg, each
1/2 cup flaxmeal
1/4 cup sucanat

In a small saucepan, heat coconut oil over medium heat until melted and warmed (1-2 minutes).   In a med bowl, stir oats, flour, coconut, flax, spices, and sugar.  Stir in butter and mix.  Press into the bottom of a 10″ pie dish, or 13″x9″ pie dish.  Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

Filling:

6 eggs (or 3 eggs + 4 whites)
1/2 cup spelt flour
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp lime peel
2 cups blueberries (I warmed 2 cups of blueberries on the stove w/1 packet Stevia to bring out flavor prior to adding)
1/4 cup sucanat.

In a medium bowl combine eggs, sugar, 1/2 cup spelt flour, lemon juice, baking powder and nutmeg.  Beat for 2 min.  Stir in lime peel and berries.  Pour over crust.  Bake 30 minutes at 350.  Serve chilled after 2 hrs of refrigeration.

This one was a hit with all the co-workers, even those who don’t normally eat healthy.

I’m learning the power of having a well planned, special treat on occasion versus the daily consumption of “junk” sugar, which doesn’t actually make me feel good, and certainly doesn’t add anything to my health.

Blessings

R

More on the price of convenience: a NEAT perspective

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Recently a fellow blogger, named Jeff, wrote this:

  1. Jeff M, on April 15th, 2008 at 7:30 pm Said: Edit Comment

    The average long haul truck driver leads a sedentary life and stops at travel centers 5 times each day. Their diet is heavy on snacks and all-you-can-eat buffets. It should come as no surprise that 73% of professional truck drivers are overweight or obese, more than twice the national percentage. Truck drivers may “celebrate the cost savings” but their bodies are clearly paying a greater price.

Yowza!!  5 times/day…….that is crazy.  This topic reminded me of something I was recently reading in a Mayo Clinic newsletter.  It was a discussion on the epidemic of obesity due to lack of physical activity.  Truck drivers are certainly examples of a population who both move very little AND eat very calorie-dense foods.

So, I did a little research on something called NEAT:
you can check it out at this Mayo clinic link.

NEAT: NON-EXERCISE ACTIVITY THERMOGENESIS

Introduction
Looking out over this crowded coffee bar, I see a 40-year-old man reading a newspaper. He is stationary. He sits next to a 30-year-old woman. She can barely sit still. She gets up and curves between the tightly squeezed tables, just to get a napkin and then gesticulates wildly as she talks on her cell phone. He has still not moved. He thinks now of his three-year-old daughter at home; “she just never stops” he thinks. He smiles to himself and scratches his nose. She gesticulates further as she tells a friend of a rat she saw scuttling rapidly on the subway rails. A taxi drives by. The driver immigrated from an agricultural community in the Ivory Coast. Birds soar high over-head. All these living beings exhibit spontaneous physical activity or, Non-exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT).

Human Energy Expenditure (and semantics)
Even lean individuals store at least two to three months of their energy needs in adipose tissue whereas obese persons can carry a year’s worth of their energy needs. It is the cumulative impact of energy imbalance over months and years that results in the development of obesity or undernutrition.

There are three principal components of human energy expenditure (EE), basal metabolic rate (BMR), thermic effect of food (TEF) and activity thermogenesis. There are also other small components of EE that may contribute to the whole, such as the energetic costs of medications and emotion.

BMR is the energy expended when an individual is laying at complete rest, in the morning, after sleep, in the postabsorptive state. In individuals with sedentary occupations BMR accounts for approximately 60 percent of total daily EE. Three-quarter’s of the variability in BMR is predicted by lean body mass within and across species. TEF is the increase in EE associated with the digestion, absorption, and storage of food and accounts for approximately 10-15 percent of total daily EE.

Activity Thermogenesis has two constituents, exercise-related activity thermogenesis and Non-exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT). For the vast majority of dwellers in the U.S., exercise activity thermogenesis is negligible. NEAT, even in avid exercisers, is the predominant constituent of activity thermogenesis and is the EE associated with all the activities we undertake as vibrant, independent beings. NEAT has an enormous variety of constituents including occupation, leisure and fidgeting. Because of this, NEAT is challenging to study and its role in human energy balance has been difficult to define.

Non-exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT)
NEAT is likely to contribute substantially to the inter- and intra-personal variability in EE. Argue thus; if three-quarters of the variance of BMR is accounted for by variance in lean body mass and, TEF represents 10-15 percent of total EE, then the majority of the variance in total EE that occurs independent of body weight must be accounted for by NEAT. Evidence supports this. NEAT is highly variable and ranges from ~ 15 percent of total daily EE in very sedentary individuals to >50 percent in highly active persons . Even minor changes in physical activity throughout the day can increase daily EE by 20 percent. NEAT is impacted by environment, but is also under biological control .

NEAT and environment
There are many environmental cues that impact NEAT. Broadly, they can be divided into occupational and non-occupational components.

NEAT and occupation
Matched individuals with highly active ambulatory jobs can have NEAT values of 1000 kcal/day greater than sedentary peers. In areas of nutritional need, this has implications for starvation-threatened individuals. In affluent countries, industrialized can convert high-NEAT jobs to lower-NEAT jobs and this has been associated with increased obesity rates.

Non-occupation NEAT

  • Dish washers
  • Cars
  • Remotes
  • Lawnmowers
  • Drive-through
  • Game-boy
  • Elevators
  • Snow blowers

Leisure-time sedentariness has resulted from the availability and volitional use of pervasive mechanization. When the energetic cost of non-work mechanization is estimated experimentally it approximates to, 100-200 kcal/day; a caloric deficit that potentially could account for the entire obesity epidemic.


NEAT and physiology
With experimental overfeeding in humans, NEAT increases. Those who increased their NEAT the most with overfeeding gained the least fat. This suggests that along with self-evident societal slothfulness, NEAT is biologically modulated. Animal data support this. There appear to be central mediators of NEAT. For example, microinjections of orexins into hypothalamic nuclei increase NEAT whereas antagonists decrease it. There may be humoral mediators as experimental hyperthyroidism is associated with increased NEAT. There also be genetic mechanism at play; during overfeeding twinness in part predicts fat gain. Also NEAT is specific for different genetic strains of mice.
Where to from here?

Mechanism: by understanding the neuromodulators and non-central mediators of NEAT; its biological function will become clear.

Physiology: What are the key components of NEAT? What is the role of NEAT in aging, children, gender, and race? How does positive and negative affect NEAT and its components?

Pathology: What is the role of NEAT in obesity and eating disorders?

Intervention: Targeted, evaluated interventions from person to population.

Having read this abstract, please get up and take and short walk down the corridor (or similar). Repeat for each abstract you read. Please let me know how it went.