Probiotics, weight loss and bloating

I ain't no doctor,

This info is my experience with gut issues and what helped me.. It may or may not help you but at least it might give you some idea on what to try or what to avoid... But again I'm not a doctor so this isn't a cure or diagnosis take what you want from it..

Anywhoooo,

HI !

Today I'm gonna talk about gut issues and how to help them.

I wouldn't say I have IBS but let's just say I'm not regular and every so often I have random pain attacks in my digestive tract. So knowing me I've read a lot about it and tried heaps of different things for myself.

From a supplement point of view these helped me HEAPS!

- Aloe Vera juice

- probiotics (more on this later)

- vital greens

- magnesium

- caffeine (gets things moving if you know what I mean)

Things to avoid

- having to much of the same food

- having too much of the same type of fibre

- too much processed foods

- too much gluten (if sensitive to it)

- lots of seeds (i find my body has a hard time breaking them down)

- too much high fructose foods

- alcohol

- not drinking enough water!

- stress and anxiety

- being impatient on the loo... Wait for your body to do its thaaaang! Sit on there and read my blog, two birds with one stone!

Probiotics, weight loss and bloating

The last few days my stomach was bloated and sore, i was even heavier on the scale because i was bloated and constipated.So i took a probiotic then tadahhh i started feeling heaps better! But why?

Probiotics are also essential for optimal digestion of food and absorption of nutrients, and they help your body produce vitamins, absorb minerals and aid in the elimination of toxins.

Probiotics can repopulate the gut’s healthy bacteria by adding billions of different strains of flora, thereby improving vitality and helping stave off chronic disease, bloating, IBS symptoms and even anxiety!

Other studies have shown that the composition of the gut flora differs in people who are obese and diabetic, and people who are normal weight with no metabolic irregularities.

Other studies have shown that changes in the gut flora can increase the rate at which we absorb fatty acids and carbohydrates, and increase the storage of calories as fat. This means that someone with bad gut flora could eat the same amount of food as someone with a healthy gut, but extract more calories from it and gain more weight.

What all of this research suggests is that healthy gut bacteria is crucial to maintaining normal weight, feeling less bloating and general metabolism function! 

So there! If you're feeling bloated, or off, or just did a course of antibiotics GET OFF YOUR CHAIR GO TO THE SHOPS AND GET SOME PROBIOTICS..

THAT IS ALL.

USA Misleading Food Labels

Quest bars

Walden Farms Calorie free dips

Bcaa supplement..

What do these all have in common?

COUNTRY LABELING DISCREPANCIES!

CASE #1- The Quest for fibre calories

So my investigation on this topic started with Quest Bars. How could something so delicious have so little calories. I went on my google and pubmed search and the results were just as I hypothesized!

So Quest is saying that the fibre used does not absorb in the gut so doesn't equate to calories for the day...

After some more investigation, and a read into the lawsuit where one man sued them for false nutritional label but we won't go into that now lol I came to these conclusions-


Fibre does have calories. According to the "Canadian Food Inspection Agency"-
Fibre contains 2 cal/g!

But the USDA doesn't add this into their labeling!

THE EVIDENCE-

"Advances in scientific knowledge indicate that an energy value of 2 kcal/g for dietary fibre more accurately reflects its metabolizable energy in mixed diets.

Some jurisdictions such as Australia and New Zealand, Japan, and the European Union have adopted the energy value of 2 kcal/g for dietary fibre.

However, in the USA, the calorie calculation is different, namely, the amount of insoluble fibre can be subtracted from the total carbohydrate content. Therefore, the energy value assigned in the USA to insoluble fibre is 0 kcal/g and the energy value for soluble fibre is 4 kcal.

Health Canada (And Australia) considers the energy value for carbohydrate that is not digested in the small intestine, but is fully fermented in the large intestine, is 2 kcal/g. This will be the general value used for all unavailable carbohydrate, including dietary fibre, in the absence of specific values. This will also apply to inulin for which the previously calculated value was 2.2 kcal/g." 2

So pretty much, everyone BUT the USA is covering our butts and adding a calorie value JUST incase our bodies absorb the fibre because science isn't sure yet. 

Not only that, the sugar alcohols used in these products have calories too but aren't counted in the labeling.

This doesn't mean you should stop eating them though!! EAT THEM!!
They are-
- Delicious
- High in protein
- High in fibre (which helps you poop and other good things in your body)

It only means add 20-30 calories to your quest bars in MyFitnessPal! Because the labeling is American.. Same thing for anything you get from America! 

CASE #2- Walden where is the Farm

So I LOVE Walden Farms calorie free dip, but I noticed when I bought the one from America the labels were different to the Aussie one. Check out the labels below.

                                         

 American-













Australian-
 

So I emailed them and this was the response-

BOOM!

And what do they both contain? FIBRE!

Case closed.

Case #3- BCAA's

"Protein shall not be declared on labels of products that, other than ingredients added solely for technological reasons, contain only individual amino acids"- FDA guidelines

In other words because it's not a macronutrient per se, they don't feel the need to add it into calories or protein content... But we do in Australia because... science.

FOR example-

Purple Wrath EAA's complex (American)

Australian Bulk Nutrients EAA complex

On the FDA website they stated they are planning on making these changes to labelling-

Dietary fiber 

•  – Retain zero kcal/g for insoluble fiber 
• – Change the caloric value of soluble fiber to 2 kcal/g 

Sugar alcohols 

• Isomalt (2.0 kcal/g)
• lactitol (2.0 kcal/g)
• Xylitol (2.4 kcal/g) 
• Maltitol (2.1 kcal/g)
• Sorbitol (2.6 kcal/g
• Hhydrogenated starch hydrolysates (3.0 kcal/g)
• Mannitol (1.6 kcal/g)

References
1- http://inspection.gc.ca/eng/1297964599443/1297965645317
2- http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/consult/fibre-fibres/consul-fibre-fibres-eng.php#a53

Magic of magnesium

So I've been taking magnesium supplement for a while as it helps for so many things, but has been shown to help for anxiety.

Here is a list of things magnesium can do--

- Reduce muscle cramps, spasms & tension

- Lessen pain associated with migraines

- Headaches

- Improve sleep

- Address neurological disorders such as anxiety and depression

- Help you poo by calming the digestive tract down lol

- Allows nerves to send messages in the brain & nervous system

- Regulates the metabolism of nutrients such as protein, nucleic acids, fats and carbohydrate

- Regulates cholesterol production and helps modulate insulin sensitivity 

-Assists in energy production, DNA transcription and protein synthesis

- Maintains the structural health of cell membranes throughout the body

So pretty much errrrthing!

The thing is what type?

I've tried them all! But recently I was listening to "Dishing up Nutrition" podcast and they mentioned magnesium glycinate is the best form for anxiety....

So randomly ages ago I bought magnesium glycinate (just a fluke because it was cheap) so the other day my anxiety was so bad ALL day and I decided, just out of the blue I would open this one and have it instead of my usual magnesium which has a blend of all types of magnesium ie aspartate dehydrate, glycinate, orotate, phosphate.

Anyway long story short, hours later I was about to go to bed and I was like 

"um I feel so much better... But why?"

So I was trying to figure out what I had different that day...

Then it hit me!

THE MAGNESIUM GLYCINATE!

So I've been having this new one for the last two days and my anxiety is SO much better!

So make sure you research and check your supplements. You might have the right idea at heart but just not be getting the appropriate type... 

Food high in magnesium include-

Kelp, wheat bran, wheat germ, almonds, cashews, buckwheat, brazil nuts, dulse, filberts, millet, pecans, walnuts, rye, tofu, soy beans, brown rice, figs, dates, collard greens, shrimp, avocado, parsley, beans, barley, dandelion greens, and garlic

But what about performance?

In two studies I've read and heard about on the podcast barbell 1 have both shown a boost in performance with supplementing magnesium.

A study concluded that supplementing with magnesium helped one group increase bench press gains by 17%! http://www.jissn.com/content/pdf/s12970-015-0081-z.pdf

Another study found here- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/24015935/ resulted in volley ball players improving alactic anaerobic metabolism after taking a magnesium supplement even though the players were not deficient in Magnesium! And an increase in long jump, squat jump and all the plyo stuff that volley ball players do..

Most importantly THIS study concluded an increase in gains (via quadricep torque measurements). They hypothesized this was due to the role of magnesium in ribosomal levels in protein synthesis, for the group taking magnesium (compared to placebo group). They did leg ext and leg press 3 x 10 reps 3 times a week but here's the link if you want to have a look at the abstract http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/1619184/

THE END.

Hormones, amenorrhea and weight loss

I emailed the menopause clinic today (the place where my Doctor is, that have me on my hormones supplements and are trying to figure out what's going on with my natural hormone production) and told them I'm still suffering from anxiety and could this be hormone related...
I secretly knew it would be but I was curious to see what they would say.

My consultant emailed me back and said "Yes it can be related to hormones.

Can you please let me know your availability for an appointment?"

INTERESTING! 

This is also what I heard from the podcast I was listening to yesterday- "Dishing up Nutrition". The ladies on there have so many episodes about how food and hormones can have an effect on anxiety. 

What I've read so far is this-

1. Without progesterone or an imbalance in hormones, women may begin to feel more overwhelmed and easily stressed. In many women, this leads to anxiety issues, including tension headaches, palpitations, digestive issues and more - and in some cases, even full blown panic disorder.  
2. When progesterone is lacking, women often suffer from estrogen dominance, which means that she doesn’t have enough progesterone to keep up with the amount of estrogen as progesterone is a woman’s calming hormone. This leads to symptoms like anxiety, sleeplessness, irritability, mood swings, breast tenderness, weight gain, bloating and more

Will be interesting to see what the doctor has for me then! 

Another thing I want to discuss is amenorrhea and weight loss. Amenorrhea is when a woman who has been having normal menstrual cycles stops getting her periods for 6 months or longer. 

You are more likely to have amenorrhea if you:

• Are obese
• Exercise too much and for long periods of time
• Have very low body fat (less than 15 - 17%)
• Have severe anxiety or emotional distress
• Lose a lot of weight suddenly 
• Polycystic ovarian syndrome
• Reduced function of the ovaries

When I lost my period at the age of 14 I was in the process of losing 13kg and completely changing my eating/exercise habits.

Long story short I exercised too much, ate too little, my body went into shock mode and shut everything down. I was eating less than 1200 calories a day, carb was a bad word and my main source of food was protein powders and diet jelly. 

I lost my weight but I forgot one crucial thing... Going back to eating maintenance calories. So for yearssss I would train nearly 2 hours a day (crossfit style training) and eat less than 1200 calories because of the simple fear of putting the weight back on after trying so hard to get it off.

No wonder my menstrual cycle went bye bye! Looking at the causes above, I not only exercised too much, I have anxiety (OCD), lost a lot of weight suddenly AND later on found out I has 24 cycts on my ovaries.

What really drummed this home to me was my recent experience with weight loss. I compete in powerlifting so I have a certain weight division I have to be in. For this competition coming up in October I wanted to source nutritional and weight loss help from a specialist in athletes. I wanted to get under my competition weight safely and slowly, but be leaner and stronger....

Its been close to 2 months, not only am I eating over 1400 cals, 125 carbs I have lost over 2 kilograms... That's right I've gone from 49.6kg to now 47.4kg eating so much more food and doing NO cardio... That's right NO CARDIO only strength training!

DISCLAIMER- I am only 152cm tall with a small build, so yes this might not seem like a lot of food for some but I am like a small car vs a truck...I need less 'fuel'.

So lets put this into context and comparison, I am losing weight whilst-

•  Eating over 1400 cals
•  Eating 125 carbs, 115 protein, 50 fats
•  Eating foods that I used to consider taboo such as Lebanese bread and falafels (weird obsession with falafels I might add)
•  Doing NO cardio ONLY weight training.

But in the past I was-

• Eating less than 1200 cals
• Eating NO carbs
• Only eating foods I considered good ie NO bread, NO gluten NO dairy
• Exercising WAY too much (mostly cardio)
• Getting injury upon injury
• andddddd lost my menstrual cycle...

No wonder I lost it! No way my body would be ok to have a baby in that state! I was pretty much starving myself and training like it was my job ! I'm losing weight now by eating more and exercising less... I'm working smarter not harder. 

Not only that, I'm the strongest I've ever been and the lightest I've been since I started powerlifting April 2014.

This is my message for today: 

1. DON'T STARVE YOURSELF
2. GET OFF THE TREADMILL
3. PICK UP SOME WEIGHTS
4. DON'T BE SCARED OF FOOD
5. LOOK AFTER YOUR OVARIES PLEASE

Anxiety 101

Anxiety 101

So today my anxiety was pretty bad for no reason. It tends to do that most of the time. I was listening to a podcast about the relation between anxiety and hormones, also how anxiety is linked to so many more things! Just mineral deficiencies can cause it. An anxiety disorder such as OCD on the other hand is actually a chemical imbalance in the brain. 

What makes it worse it that I lost my period when I was 14 so my hormones are all over the place so the doctors originally put me on the pill...

 Guess what that does?

 Changes the chemicals in your brain... 

So pretty much my brain is a chemical shit storm at the moment while I sort my hormones out. I'm off the pill because it made me get panic/anxiety attacks and I couldn't take it anymore. Now I'm on a low dose natural estrogen cream and progesterone tablet.

So what happens with people who have anxiety disorders is that the receptors in your brain that pick up serotonin and dopamine (happy hormones) don't receive them properly so it pretty much short circuits. So your body releases the hormones but essentially doesn't receive the message. Which leads to anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder. There you go, today's random fact! 

Some supplements and tips that help anxiety include-

- Magnesium 

- Theanine 

- B12 

- GABA (although taking gaba doesn't cross the blood brain barrier, you are better off taking theanine as that helps your brain create more gaba)

- Lay off the caffeine 

- Reduce gluten if sensitive to it 

- Meditation

- Being present in the moment

- Worst comes to worst... Valium .. JUST KIDDING... But kinda serious if you are getting frequent panic attacks. Valium is a short term fix so getting to the root of the problem should be priority number 1!

- SLEEEEEP! Recovery is so important for the nervous system, so relax every now and then! Take a rest day if you need one. Your gainz aren't going anywhere!

So that's where I'm at right now.

Researching how I can fix my lack of menstrual cycle/ hormones and fixing my OCD. I'm currently taking estrogen and progesterone to make sure I still get a dose of them as they do other things in the body.

In training news today was an active recovery day because yesterday I did so much squatting and benching!

So today I just did 

8 x 2 reps @ 70kg squats (every minute on the minute)

Then heapppps of leg press!

1 and a bit months until my next comp!

Excitedddddd :)

Welcome!

Welcome! 

A quick run down on what this blog is about - 

- Me! I'm a 24 years old girl from Australia named Kristy 

- My journey through competitive Powerlifting

- The experience with treatment for anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder

- Trying to figure out why I lost my menstrual cycle 8 years ago and all the problems that come with hormonal imbalances which are more common than you think !

- Answering random questions about nutrition and training through listening to podcasts and reading studies.