The 50 Most Shocking Facts about Diet & Exercise- Part 1

This was a programme that was on Channel 5 on New Years Day.  If you missed it, click on this link http://www.channel5.com/shows/50-shocking-facts-about-diet-and-exercise/episodes/50-shocking-facts-about-diet-and-exercise 

This programme did get a lot of people talking, look at some of the comments alot of which are pretty negative.  I agree with one person in that this programme was entertainment, don't take everything that was said as gospel!  Don't want to bore you by talking about all 50 instead thought I'd talk about some of the ones that stood out for me. 

The programme started by saying "We are in the midst of an obesity epidemic with a quarter of UK adults classed as clinically obese.  So its little wonder that the diet and fitness industry is worth 6 million pounds every year".  Sadly I think this fact is true.

No 50 was a yucky but interesting one.  They say no matter how hard we try to eat a healthy diet these days we are eating more organic protein.  In a normal food supply were going to have contaminates.  You cannot keep bugs out of food.  Factories producing food in huge scales are probably going to have rodents running around!  Stats - Peanut butter 145 bugs OR 5 rodent hairs!  Tomato Juice  10 fly eggs OR 5 fly eggs plus 1 maggot!  Its estimated we could be eating up to a 1lb of bugs a year, could this be doing us any harm? 

There expert said NO.  When you eat something food goes into your stomach and you produce a very powerful acid called 'hydrochloric acid' which is designed to kill off bugs and other nasties that may be harmful to us.

No 47 was all about bread and the facts included were, that the ingredients declaration for it is less than for other foods.  And one of the most common processing agents for it comes from chicken feathers!  No wonder then you wouldn't find this in the ingredient list!  Bread now has extra fat and preservatives pumped into it to make it last longer.  For years bread was seen as a low fat healthy food until supermarkets decided to inject it to preserve its shelf life.  Bread can be made in half an hour.  They have partially fermented yeasts in bread.  No wonder many people are getting problems after eating bread.  Why? Because the yeast is fermenting in their gut.  Bread is also very high in salt that could lead to a stroke.  Apparently they say if salt was taken out of bread around 7,000 strokes a year could be saved in the UK!

So make of this what you want.  It's not necessarily going to make me stop eating bread, I'm one of the lucky ones as I don't seem to suffer too much bloating when eating bread.  But bread is also high in carbohydrates so I aim to have it either pre or post workout.  I may also try and source my bread from our local baker rather than from the supermarket, and ask for the ingredients.  I'm sure they'd be happy to divulge this information.  And my friend Becky has a bread maker so I may ask her to make my bread, at least I'll know what she's put in it :)

The next one was 'Germs and the Gym'.  Germs and bacteria thriving in hot and sweaty parts of the gym can lead to fungus conditions such as athletes foot and verrucas to colds, stomach upsets and streptococcal infections.  You could even pick up a nice strain of super bug MRSA that causes boils, joint infections and even pneumonia.  They (the experts) suggest you take two towels, one for wiping down equipment and one for wiping down yourself.  Also keep your gym bag clean, your putting your sweaty dirty clothes and trainers in here leaving traces of germs and bacteria.  Either wash out your gym bag a couple of times a week minimum or my easiest suggestion would be to transfer them to and from the gym in a plastic bag or supermarket bag.  Then throw this away (or preferably recycle it) each time.  

Can't say I've ever caught anything from the gym.  If someone gets a cold in our house, it usually does the rounds, unavoidable I'm afraid.

Extra tip when it comes to showering and drying yourself off.  Chaps, athletes foot can be spread to your genitals!  So when drying yourself, start from the top and work down.  Never dry your feet then your genitals!  Ladies, beware the same applies to you!

No 45 Can bananas turn you radio active?  Yikes hope not I often eat 2 or 3 a day with no problems.  They say bananas contain extremely large amounts of Potassium 40 a radio active substance that can make them positively nuclear!  Phew its okay, 1 or 2 is fine, but have more than 12 and you could have 'hyperkalamia' which causes nausea, irregular heart beat and cardiac arrest!  Seriously who in there right mind would eat 12 bananas in one day!

No 41  3 minutes of exercise to get you fit!  Yes I agree (hoorah) this type of exercise is known as HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training).  For example 30 seconds sprint on a bike with 1 minutes active recovery repeat twice (or more).  Repeat these several times per week.  This type of training will improve insulin sensitivity, improve cardiovascular fitness, and promote long term fat loss better than longer slow duration cardio.

No 39 Skimmed milk and White paint.  Titanium Dioxide the chemical used to make paint white also makes our milk white.  Its also found in cosmetic products, sunscreen, sweets, cottage cheese and its also the coating on our paracetamol pills.  Again it may not stop me from using semi skimmed milk but sometimes if I want a change from dairy, I use coconut, soya or almond milk.

No 38 No pain No gain!  Take the 70's Jane Fonda aerobic classes, you constantly keeping up with the teacher and the girl next to you.  Pushing yourself through the barrier is still being taught today to get results.  Don't be obsessive, injuries could include torn ligaments, stress fractures and in some extreme cases heart attack.  You need to differentiate between good and bad pain, take water and rest if you need to.

No 36 Laxatives for loosing weight.  NO There is a misconception that they will speed up the transit of food.  That isn't the case, laxatives work on the latter part of the large intestine which is where water is reabsorbed.  By taking laxatives you will lose water, electrolytes and salts and unabsorbable things like fibre and unfortunately you will lose weight because you are loosing those things NOT fat.  Long term laxative abuse will lead to dehydration and heart problems, it will affect your energy levels and brain function and may lead to colon cancer.

No 35 Colonic Irrigation and Detoxing.  They say no value in it at all.  Your increasing risks of a perforated bowel and it alters the absorption of certain minerals in the bowel that could lead to low levels of potassium in the blood which can cause numerous problems.  The human body is designed to rid itself of toxins and waste without shoving a tube up your bottom!

Looks like I've got far to much to say on the subject, so I'll be back with part 2 later.

Till then, stay healthy and well.
Amanda