That Morning Cup
Like many of you, I start my morning off with a cup of coffee. My wife calls me a bit of a coffee snob; she is probably right. I have my favorite roaster and like to point out what subtle nuances of other coffees I do not like. Too much of a citrus and floral note in that one, too much of a spicy finish on that one. When we go on vacation, I know how much she loves hearing my commentary on the coffee that our Bed and Breakfast or Hotel is serving. Side note, if you are going on vacation and need coffee stop recommendations, I can probably steer you in the right direction.
As I mentioned in my Facebook post last night, the media often leads us to wonder whether our morning cup is good for our health or bad for it. It seems like every week a new study comes out that contradicts the last one. Coffee is not alone in this, it happens for all types of food and drink, especially those most of us consume on some type of regular basis. I have heard many conversations that go something like this, "I heard the other day that drinking coffee can help lower your chance of heart disease." Next week it will be, "I heard on the news that drinking coffee can increase your risk of heart disease." The word coffee could be replaced with a multitude of items we eat and drink each day. The answer to whether it is good or bad for you most likely lies in your parents. Without going into the whole science based explanation and putting many of you to sleep, just start getting to know the word NUTRIGENOMICS. Some of you technical types may have already know that this relatively new science essentially looks at an individual's genes and studies how they respond to the chemicals that make up our foods. There is a good chance that in the next five to ten years this science will start to explain why different people have different reactions to given food items (the whole spectrum from weight loss, to food sensitivities, to cancer). Personally, I'm hoping that means that they find a favorable Butterfinger candy bar gene because, confession here, I took three of them out of my son's trick-or-treat bucket when we were strolling the streets last night.
Seriously though, most of us have a pretty good idea what we should be eating and what we should not. I think most would agree that Butterfingers would fall into the "not" category. So, before you get even more frustrated with the media, remember that they are just doing their job of highlighting the latest headlines and rarely have time to tell the whole story. I will still fall back on what my nutrition professor said many times to us. "Eat really, really good most of the time, and enjoy your food." For me this means working towards getting my plate to contain mostly vegetables, some fruit, some lean type of protein and small amount of healthy fats, along with a reasonable amount of minimally refined carbohydrates. I say working towards because, like most people, I probably do not eat as many vegetables as I should and I'm continually trying to find creative ways of getting them into my diet.
So, the take home message is this - the next time you hear about a "miracle" food or diet, the answer is that for some people it may be beneficial. But for some people it may not. Do not let yourself get tossed back and forth by all of the information out there (especially in the media). If you have specific goals, whether fat loss, muscle gain, or performance sports related, and are having a hard time getting there ask yourself, "Is my current way of eating helping me, or is it hindering me?" Most of us should be getting more fresh vegetables, good lean protein, and less starchy carbohydrates. Focusing on these things will get you much farther than the latest "miracle food."
That's enough for today, I need to go make my one cup of coffee for the day. Below is a link to a full article on coffee and nutrigenomics, by John Berardi, PhD.
Nutrigenomics. So does this explain why some people genetically have a harder time with weight loss? They eat healthy, but still are overweight.
ReplyDeleteWouldn't that be something if you could have a gene test to customize your diet for exactly the right types of food for your health.
Tim, yes and no on the weight loss comment. Most of us, myself included, probably do not eat quite as healthy as we think we do, or exercise as much as we think we do. Also outside factors such as stress, sleep, past and current health problems all feed into the overall picture when it comes to fat loss. But you are right, it does probably play a significant part. The science of nutrigenomics is relatively young but is picking up steam and it should not be too long until it is more mainstream. Thanks for your great comments!
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