Tale Of The Tape; Which Grain Is The Greatest: Brown Rice Or Quinoa?

No matter how long you’ve been training, the issue of carbs is always a thorny one.

Well-read bodybuilders know that even though processed-grain products like white bread have their place in a diet (such as postworkout), whole grains, like oatmeal and brown rice, are generally the better choice for most meals. But what about “new” grains, such as quinoa? If it stood toe to toe with the vaunted brown rice, which would be crowned the victor?

The Winner Is

Quinoa

Reason

Before we get to the reason, we want to clear up one tiny, niggling detail. Quinoa isn’t technically a grain. It’s the seed of the goosefoot plant, a relative of spinach; it’s been cultivated in the Andes Mountains for thousands of years–but because it is physically similar to grains and can be ground into flour, it’s called a pseudograin.

Quinoa dominates just about all whole grains because it has lysine, one of the nine essential amino acids that you must get from your diet because your body can’t synthesize it.

Other grains have some lysine content, but not enough to count; quinoa’s lysine content is sufficient for it to be considered a complete protein. If you make quinoa the side dish to a chicken breast, you’re not only getting all the benefits that a whole grain offers (no insulin spike, increased satiety, reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, improved gastrointestinal health); you’re also getting an extra serving of high-quality protein.

Research

If that were all quinoa had going for it, it would still beat brown rice hands down. But there’s more. In a study conducted in 2002, researchers found that eating quinoa was associated with an increase in insulinlike growth factor-I levels. IGF-I is intimately tied to muscle growth.

Quinoa also has higher levels of micronutrients that are implicated in muscle growth.

Magnesium not only helps maintain the muscle you have, but also plays a role in creating more muscle. Potassium, a mineral that assists in pulling fluid from the bloodstream into muscle cells (creating a pump), is also important to recovery after exercise. And folate, which is one of the B vitamins, is required for muscles to make new cells. That is exactly what it does after every workout.

Table

This table compares the nutrient and amino acid contents of 1 cup cooked quinoa and 1 cup of cooked brown rice.

Author: Jordana Brown
Source:
COPYRIGHT 2004 Weider Publications
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning
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Are All Calories Created Equal in Weight Loss?

  

Key Points

• The law of thermodynamics suggests that energy must be conserved, but this may be an oversimplification of the weight management challenge.
• Certain nutrients may have a more potent satiating influence than others, which may help people manage their intake and weight.
• Understanding these influences may help fitness professionals support their clients with weight loss and weight loss maintenance goals.

Energy in versus energy out: The end of the story?

The weight loss debate centers often around the validity of the law of thermodynamics. This law of physics, when applied to human physiology and energy metabolism, suggests that if we eat food containing energy (measured in kilocalories) than we must either expend this energy or convert it and store it as fat. By extension, many weight loss paradigms maintain that whether you eat a handful of jelly beans or a baked potato (about the same amount of energy), and this intake represents a Kcalorie surplus, both will be stored as fat with equal efficiency.

Energy balance refers to someone eating what they expend. So, if all of the foods, drinks, and supplemental nutrition are equal to everything they “burn” (basal metabolic rate, + daily activity + exercise activity) then they are said to be in “energy balance.” There is no doubt that people gain weight when there is an energy imbalance, in other words, when they eat more than they expend. How much they gain depends on the magnitude of difference between energy in and energy out, and how long this imbalance occurs. The rate of gain can even be predicted if the magnitude of difference and duration are known. However, the term “energy balance” is somewhat of a misnomer, because we are never really in complete energy balance. It is the corrective responses (eating a little more one day and a little less on another) that result in weight regulation. People who eat a little more one day and a little less the next, without even thinking about it, have what scientists consider a “healthy corrective response” and they can maintain their weight without a lot of conscious manipulation (i.e. dieting, calorie counting etc.) However people with less vigorous corrective responses experience a slow upward drift and weight is gained gradually (1). 

If we presuppose that people are like math problems (Calories in versus Calories out), the solution to weight gain seems simple, eat less and move more. But if Calories are the beginning and the end of the story, why do we engage in endless debates about demonic nutrient categories, food timing, and the delivery of magical combinations of nutrients for weight loss? If 200 calories of carbohydrate equals 200 calories of protein, then why do we debate high protein versus low fat diets? Because scientists are actively examining why this deregulation of calories occurs in some people and not others, and this discussion gets attention at the consumer level. Unfortunately here, mythology and marketing often prevail over evidence, hence the $19.6 billion spent in the United States on sports and weight loss supplements alone (2).

It’s not which diet, but how closely it’s followed that matters!

There have been a number of studies using foods that were tagged with nonradioactive isotope (carbon-13) that show the better adherence to a diet, the greater the weight loss. In other words, it is adherence to a diet, and not the diets themselves that makes a difference (3). Evidence shows that any diet will result in weight loss if it reduces calories that were previously over-consumed.

Therefore, if the type of diet people consume matters less than their ability to follow it, helping weight loss clients adhere to their program becomes even more important. Additionally, while energy balance is vital to weight loss, nutrition scientists and counselors are also interested in the quality, not just quantity, of Kcalorie intake. Nutrient density – the amount of essential nutrients per Kcalorie -- is a critical concept for healthy eating in general, and it becomes even more important when restricted budgets for weight loss are implemented. Like a financial budget, when funds are limited, the fundamentals must be covered before any “extras” can be accommodated. If all of a sudden you have a drop in income, you are going to make sure that you’re essentials (rent, car payment, health insurance, etc.) are covered, before non-necessities are purchased. Likewise, with a restricted food budget, the essential nutrients (vitamins, minerals, fiber and phytochemicals, as well as necessary carbohydrates, fats, and proteins) must be provided before the energy budget can accommodate discretionary Kcalories. 

In an attempt to better understand which programs demonstrate the best compliance, scientists explore the advantages of macronutrient manipulation. Many studies concur that the use of a higher-protein diet may improve perceptions of satiety during energy restriction, which may facilitate a reduction in energy consumption under free choice dietary conditions. Controlled energy intake in association with a moderately elevated protein intake may also help dieters maintain or accrue fat-free mass (4, 5).

Also being researched in the context of improved satiety are foods with a low glycemic index (GI) and their contribution to an energy restricted program. The glycemic index, first reported on in the 1980s, is a ranking of a food’s ability to contribute glucose to the blood stream. It is a measure of blood glucose excursion per unit of carbohydrate. Foods with a high GI are rapidly digested, absorbed, and transformed into glucose. These processes cause accelerated and transient surges in blood glucose and insulin, and possibly an earlier return of hunger sensation and consequent excessive caloric intake. Some studies (glucostatic theory), suggest that differences in insulin response between low GI meals (or meal replacements) and high GI meals may be responsible for prolonged satiety and this may prove an effective method for reducing caloric intake and achieving long-term weight control (6). 

What can fitness pros do to help?

Although any dietary or lifestyle program must be personalized, it might be useful for fitness professionals to suggest some of these strategies to help their clients feel fuller and eat less. For example, recommending higher fiber, minimally processed foods will not only increase health promoting nutrients, but may also help clients feel fuller, longer because they are lower GI foods. Suggesting that a client include a few ounces of protein (string cheese log, nuts, tofu, chicken, etc.) may also help them stay fuller throughout the day and reduce some of the hunger driven snacking. While none of these areas of exploration (low GI, higher protein, etc.) should become the exclusive principle around which a dietary program is developed, incorporating some of them into your existing nutrition guidance portfolio may help some people eat less. 

In summary, while Calories do matter, and weight loss is a result of tilting energy balance in favor of expenditure, succeeding at that task is complex and multifactorial. Using nutrient dense foods that help people feel fuller longer, may promote good health and an appetite that is easier to manage.

---

References

(1) Bray G and Champagne CM, Beyond Energy Balance: There Is More to Obesity than Kilocalories, J Am Diet Assoc. Volume 105, Issue 5, Supplement, Pages 17-23 (May 2005).
(2) Nutrition Business Journal, 2009 Sports Nutrition and Weight Loss Report 
(3) Dansinger ML , Gleason JA , Griffith JL , Selker HP , Schaefer EJ . Comparison of the Atkins, Ornish, Weight Watchers, and Zone diets for weight loss and heart disease risk reduction (A randomized trial). JAMA . 2005;293:43–53 .
(4) Leidy HJ, Carnell NS, Mattes RD, Campbell WW. Higher protein intake preserves lean mass and satiety with weight loss in pre-obese and obese women. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2007 Feb;15(2):421-9. Leidy HJ, Carnell NS, Mattes RD, Campbell WW. 
(5) Paddon-Jones D, Westman E, Mattes RD, Wolfe RR, Astrup A, Westerterp-Plantenga M. Protein, weight management, and satiety. Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 May;87(5):1558S-1561S. 
(6) Kong AP, Chan RS, Nelson EA, Chan JC. Role of low-glycemic index diet in management of childhood obesity. Obes Rev. 2010 Jul 21. [Epub ahead of print

Get in Shape!

Best Exercises To Firm Up Your Butt
Is your aerobic training really helping to firm up your butt? The benefits of jogging in your neighborhood, through the woods or on the beach are twofold. You get the aerobic conditioning along with added shape and tone to your legs and butt muscles. Unfortunately, you don’t get the same benefits when you use many of the indoor aerobic machines such as treadmills, stationary bikes, stair-steppers or elliptical machines. Read Full Article >>

Biggest Workout Mistake
Of all the different workout mistakes, probably the one that slows down your results the most is performing aerobic exercise in an anaerobic state. Simply put, doing your aerobic exercise at too high of an intensity for your current fitness level. It’s easy to think that just because you are doing an aerobic exercise, that it is aerobic. That’s not necessarily the case. You could be performing your aerobic activity at such an intensity, that it becomes anaerobic and stress producing on your body. Read Full Article 

Exercise of the Week!

Two-in-One Toning

Rushed for time at the gym? Try this exercise to hit your back and delts in one shot. What to Do: Three sets of 12 to 15 reps Target Muscles: latissimus dorsi, rhomboids, trapezius, lateral deltoids Set Up: Stand with your feet hip-width apart, holding a light to medium dumbbell in each hand. Keeping a slight bend in your knees, hinge forward from your hips until your torso is about 45 degrees to the ground. Extend your arms toward the ground [A]. Action: As you maintain a straight back, flex your arms to draw the weights up until they reach the sides of your ribcage [B]. Slowly extend your arms back toward the floor, keeping a slight bend in your elbows [C]. Next, raise your arms up and out, leading with your elbows, until your arms are almost parallel to the ground [D]. Lower your arms back to the start and repeat. TIP: Want to hit your rear deltoids? As you set up your starting position, lean forward from your hips until your torso is parallel to the ground; from this position, you may need to bend your knees more for stability. Here is another move to get beach body ready - strengthen your rotator cuffs with this lying rotation! Related Links:1. Your On-The-Go Upper Body Routine 2. Tone Your Triceps 3. Sculpt Your Rear Delts Danielle's notes: Do this on dyna disk, reebok board or bosu and you will intensify the burn in your legs too!

Courtesy of Oxygen Magazine

Your Fit Fat

By Monique Ryan, MS, RD With a smooth and creamy texture, avocados have aptly earned the nickname the “butter pear.” But don’t let their misleading moniker fool you into thinking that avocados are too rich to be a regular part of your clean eating diet. The truth is, this nutrient-packed (though fatty) fruit works wonders for your waistline and nearly every other part of your body, too. Here, the many ways in which this fat works for you, not against you. Builds muscle. Dietary fat performs many essential functions in your body, and one of them is the production of testosterone, a main trigger in muscle growth. Strengthens bone. Dietary fat is needed for the production of estrogen, a bone-building hormone. One cup of avocado slices also provides 44 milligrams of magnesium, a mineral essential to bone health. Researchers at the University of Tennessee found that for every 100-milligram increase in magnesium, there was a two-percent increase in bone density. Avocados are also a good source of the bone-builder, vitamin K. Keeps you slim. Healthy fats promote a feeling of fullness between meals and snacks. By controlling hunger, you will reach your fat-burning goal faster as you stay within the proper caloric range. Helps your heart. Avocados are the only fruit high in monounsaturated fat, the premier fat for cardiovascular health. Research shows that upping mono fats in a cholesterol-lowering diet lowers harmful LDL and increases beneficial HDL cholesterol. Mono fat also reduces levels of C-reactive protein, a marker of inflammation. Avocados are also high in a type of plant sterol that can lower bad cholesterol. Plus, with 136 milligrams of potassium per ounce, avocados work to reduce the risk of developing high blood pressure. Protects your peepers. Avocados are high in free-radical-fighting plant pigments called carotenoids. Lutein and zeaxanthin specifically protect your eyes from age-related vision diseases. Optimizes food power. To unleash vitamins A, D, E and K from tomatoes, spinach and carrots, your body needs a bit of fat to fully absorb them. Food scientists at Ohio State University found that half an avocado consumed with a carotenoid-rich vegetable salad significantly increases absorption of these beneficial nutrients. Try these great avocado recipes: Crab- and Shrimp-Stuffed Avocado Fantastic Chicken Fajitas Healthy Black Bean Salsa

Danielle's Daily Food & Fitness Journal

Bruins Thursday!


Feeling good, like I knew I would. Although, I am experiencing very sore muscles, my workouts have been spectacular. I'm really enjoying my  Advanced Tae-Bo workouts. I burn so many calories, it's ridiculous. I definitely recommend it. Of course the stairclimber never fails me, I love walking stairs to the beat. The great thing about my functional training strength workouts is that they are different daily, which allows me to do 4 to 5 workouts a week. My metabolism is sky-rocketing. It's fat burning season, come join me!

Danielle's food journal:
Breakfast: tea, banana - 120 calories.
Snack: Ezekiel english muffin, 2 tbsp. organic peanut spread - 340 calories.
Lunch: baked haddock, 1.5 c. broccoli normandy, 1/2c. Success brown rice - 265 calories.
Snack: 1/2c. lowfat cottage cheese, Dannon light & fit yogurt - 170 calories.
Dinner: Greek salad, 4oz. grilled stead, - approx. 500 calories.
Snack: EAS carb control chocolate shake - 110 calories.


Danielle's fitness journal:
AM STRENGTH - 60 min. Functional Training strength class.
AM CARDIO - 60 min. Advanced Tae-Bo.
PM CARDIO - 40 min. Stairclimber.

Bob Harper - Workout Tips - Motivation

The 5 Biggest Fitness Mistakes

By Bill Phillips and the Editors of Men's Health
Apr 06, 2011

People are always asking me questions about fitness. Two reasons: 1) I’m an editor at the world’s largest health and fitness magazine; 2) they think I’m theother Bill Phillips.

Truth is, I’m no fitness expert, but I’ve been at the magazine long enough to play one at cocktail parties:

• “Is it better to exercise in the morning or evening?” (Exercise when you feel like it, which will reduce the chances you won’t do it at all.)

• “Which builds muscle more effectively: machines or free weights?” (Which cleans your car more effectively: a machine wash or a hand wash?)

• “Why don’t I have abs yet?” (Because you have a day job, enjoy Doritos, and aren’t a genetic freak.)

But when the questions get really tough, I turn to Adam Campbell, the Men’s HealthFitness Director. He sits right next to me. Adam understands fitness better than anyone I know.

In fact, a few years ago, I walked into his office and told him that I was hiring a personal trainer. Even though I was exercising—pushups, situps, crunches—I was still packing on pounds. That morning, I’d looked in the mirror and saw a fat guy staring back. I freaked. I needed to make big changes, quick.

“You don’t need to find a personal trainer,” he told me. “You need to find an hour.”

An hour? Adam promised that if I could make time to exercise 20 minutes a day, three days a week—while cutting my two-sodas-a-day habit—I’d be lean again in no time. My workouts were ineffective, he explained, because I was battering the same small muscles over and over. He gave me a workout that hit all my large muscle groups. When these muscles grew bigger, he said, they’d burn more calories—and I’d begin to lose weight.

He was right. Over the next six months, I dropped 20 pounds.

If you’ve looked into the mirror recently and didn’t recognize the person staring back, I’ve got good news. Adam is happy to be your personal trainer, too. I asked him what advice he’d give men and women in my situation: Working out, but not seeing results. He wrote up this list of the five biggest fitness blunders—along with the fixes you need for the results you want.

Mistake #1: You Don't Lift Weights
You’ve no doubt been told that aerobic exercise is the key to losing your gut, but weight training is actually more valuable. Three reasons:

1. Lifting protects your muscle. When people diet without lifting weights, research shows that 75 percent of their weight loss is from fat and 25 percent is muscle. That 25 percent may reduce your scale weight, but it doesn’t do a lot for your reflection in the mirror. However, if you weight train as you diet, your weight loss is more likely to be 100 percent fat. Think of it in terms of liposuction: The whole point is to simply remove unattractive flab, right? That’s exactly what you should demand from your workout.

2. Lifting boosts your metabolism. Your muscles need energy to repair and upgrade your muscle fibers after each resistance-training workout. For instance, a University of Wisconsin study found that when people performed a total-body workout comprised of just three big-muscle exercises, their metabolisms were elevated for 39 hours afterward. What’s more, they also burned a greater percentage of their calories from fat during this time, compared with those who weren’t hitting the weights.

3. Lifting torches calories. It’s considered common knowledge that jogging burns more calories than weight training. Turns out, when scientists at the University of Southern Maine used an advanced method to estimate energy expenditure during exercise, they found that weight training burns as many as 71 percent more calories than originally thought. The researchers calculated that performing just one circuit of eight exercises—which takes about 8 minutes—can expend 159 to 231 calories. That’s about the same as running at a 6-minute mile pace for the same duration.

Need a weight workout? Check out the 20 best we've ever published. No matter your goal, we have the right workout for you.

Mistake #2: You Don’t Use the Right Dumbbells
Ladies, we’re especially talking to you on this one. Your goal is to challenge your muscles, not just go through the motions. For instance, if you can lift a weight 15 times, it’s not going to do your muscles much good to lift it for only 8 repetitions. A good way to gauge if a weight is appropriate: Note the point at which you start to struggle. Let’s say you’re doing 10 repetitions. If all 10 seem easy, then the weight you’re using is too light. However, if you start to struggle on your tenth repetition, you’ve chosen the correct poundage.

Mistake #3: You Don’t Work Your Lower Body
To cut inches from your waist, make sure you’re working the muscles below your belt. In a Syracuse University study, people burned more calories the day after they did lower-body resistance training than the day after they worked their upper body. “Leg muscles—like your quads and glutes—generally have more muscle mass than those of your chest and arms,” says study author Kyle Hackney, Ph.D. (c), C.S.C.S. “Work more muscle during your exercise session, and your body has to expend more energy to repair and upgrade them later.” So the best approach, of course, is to hit every muscle each workout.

Mistake #4: You Don’t Watch What You Eat
You can’t out-exercise a bad diet. After all, you can eat 1,000-calorie fast food burger in just 5 minutes, but it’ll take you more than an hour to burn that many calories with physical activity. So make sure you’re not using exercise as an excuse to eat whatever you want. You may even find that regular workouts help you better follow a smart eating plan. Case in point: University of Pittsburgh researchers studied 169 overweight adults for 2 years and found that the participants who didn’t follow a 3-hour-a-week training plan ate more than their allotted 1,500 calories a day. The reverse was also true—sneaking snacks sabotaged their workouts. The study authors say it’s likely that both actions are a reminder to stay on track, reinforcing your weight-loss goal and drive.

Mistake #5: You Skip Workouts
We’re all busy, but that’s usually just a lame excuse. After all, plenty of people find time to exercise. And when was the last time you heard someone say they regretted their workout? Probably never, and here’s why: U.K. researchers found that workers were 15 percent more productive on the days they made time to exercise compared to days they skipped their workout. They were also 15 percent more tolerant of their coworkers. Now, consider for a moment what these numbers mean to you: On days you exercise, you can—theoretically at least—accomplish in an eight-hour day what normally would take you nine hours and 12 minutes. Or you’d still work nine hours, but get more done, leaving you feeling less stressed and happier with your job, another perk that the workers reported on the days they exercised.

Thanks, Adam! For more strategies that will keep you fit and healthy for life, check out The Best Fitness Tips Ever!