(#310): Debunking 5 Nutrition Myths Everyone Believes Pt. 2

I read somewhere that in the sea of nutrition information available in the world ... there is a heavy tide of inaccuracies.

Could not agree with something MORE!

In Episode 301 of the Crash Course Podcast, we went over the top 5 nutrition myths that everyone seems to believe, but there were so many I needed a part two. SO here we go!

Today, I wanted to debunk the following MYTHS:

1. Low-fat / fat-free foods are healthier choices
2. Full-fat products cause weight gain
3. Certain foods like cinnamon burn fat
4. A detox diet will clean toxins from the body
5. Everyone should follow a gluten-free diet

Follow us on instagram @liveunbreakable or @livingunbreakable and be sure to join our mailing list at liveunbreakable.com for free recipes, workouts, motivation, and lots of fun delivered right to your inbox!

Transcript

01:32 Coach Shaun: I can't believe we're already almost at the end of September, it's absolutely crazy to me how fast this year is flying by, how ridiculous, but it's almost my birthday month, and I'm really excited. Yay October.  So guys, I recently did a debunking nutrition myths podcast not too long ago, and I went over 5 of the top most common or most heard or most shared or whatever nutrition myths at the time.  That podcast got so many questions and so many people reaching out so I thought I would do another one, because I hear about these myths all the time, and it hurts me, it hurts my soul that these are still out there and people still believe them because of what the media is telling them in society and all this other stuff. So I want to be able to share, I want to be about educate, I want to be able to empower you to make the best decisions that you can for your life, your body, your lifestyle, your diet, and whatever.

The only way I think I can do that is by continuing to bust some of these myths, so I asked you guys for them.  I literally put this out on Instagram; I asked you, what are some of the most common myths that you've heard or that you still believe or things about nutrition that you think are true and you hold very close to you in your mind when you're making decisions for yourself. And these are some of the ones that came up. If you don't follow me on Instagram, follow me @livingunbreakable or @liveunbreakable, you can also reach me from liveunbreakable.com.  So let's dive right in.

03:10 Coach Shaun: The first one, the first two are really linked together, but the first one we're going to go over is that low fat or fat-free products are healthier choices. This is not true, this is a myth. I know in nutrition, specifically dietitians, really debate and they go back and forth, in the science on this jazz, whether or not low fat foods are better for you than full fat foods.  The ultimate answer is that there isn't a one-size-fits-all solution to this because there's genetics and a lot of differences for people and allergies, and the way that your body works is different; so there is no one-size-fits-all answer for this, so I'm just going to share some information and you can help to make the best decision for you and your family moving forward.

So some of the questions that I've gotten that kind of spurred this were is low fat yogurt better for you than regular yogurt, or light versus regular salad dressing, or should I be doing olive oil and vinegar instead of asking for a salad dressing at all, skim milk compared to a nut-based milk or something, because the fats are higher in one versus the other, maybe they're even the same.  But what you really want to think about is when some things say a low fat, it typically means higher carbohydrates, so think of those 100 calorie low fat bars that came out and with all those other weight loss products in the 90s that were basically 100% carbohydrates.  It’s basically eating a cookie or eating bread or a sandwich or something like that when it comes down to it, because eating low fat, high carb foods actually increases your triglycerides, which is no better than eating a high fat diet, it's basically the same.  So whether you choose a low fat, high fat, vegan, vegetarian, whatever it is, it's really important that you focus first and foremost on getting enough protein, because that's typically what. especially Americans, are lacking in their diets and in no lifestyles, it's just not something that we've prioritized.

05:07 Coach Shaun: Carbohydrates are easy, they're fast. And so it's something that is really easy for us to get to whereas protein is typically a little bit harder.  Without enough protein, you're probably going to feel hungry more frequently, which is counter-productive, especially if you're talking about weight loss or thinking about snacking. Essentially, when you're thinking about low fat foods, look at how much sugar there is, what the sodium is, what they're made of, you know how much carbohydrates versus fat versus proteins are you getting? What’s the breakdown there? Because choosing a fat-free product to reduce calories can actually backfire because you're going to find yourself feeling hungrier sooner because you're not going to be satiated, so you might be snacking more often on low-calorie foods, which defeats the whole purpose.  Look at the label when you're choosing between fat-free or low fat or regular or whatever it is, and make sure that you're looking at the sodium and sugar content as well. 

06:04 Coach Shaun: Now tied to that, people also think that full fat products equal weight gain, so they want to avoid them at all costs, if it doesn't say low fat, they don't want it in their house, they don't want it in their life.  I really thought we got rid of this with diet culture, but I understand that the word fat makes a lot of people uncomfortable, so when they see it in a grocery store, they want to see low fat or no fat or zero trans-fat. Whatever it is on the label, but that doesn't mean what you think it means, and if you want to understand more about nutrition labels and understanding what some of those labels actually do mean I did a podcast on that. So just scroll back in the history and you guys will be able to find that; I can share it on social media as well, because that's really helpful when you're looking at what food do you want to incorporate into your diet for the next week or two weeks as your meal prepping and they don’t always mean what do you think they mean. I don't want to spoil it because that podcast is really good and it just is so frustrating because the marketing behind them is so good, and you just want to sit there and be like, Oh well, this is a zero trans-fat, so it's going to be better for me than the one that doesn't say that, but that's not actually the case.

It depends on what's in it, what products you're talking about, what your lifestyle looks like, how active you've been, etc. So talking about full fat products, it doesn't necessarily equal weight gain, in fact, I'm a super advocate that you can eat a full fat salad dressing, with cheese if you want to, with meat if you want to, all in moderation.  If you want something that has higher fats or that is a full fat food, you can balance that out, and it's probably going to be better for you because you're not going to be as hungry as soon as if you're eating a low-fat version. So one of the reasons that I recommend a higher protein, higher fat diet is because you're going to feel more full after that meal.  Fat, protein and fiber take longer to digest in any other macronutrients, so they leave you feeling fuller for longer periods of time between meals you're going to be more satiated; a low fat meal of skin-less chicken breast and vegetables is only going to get you so far, and if you're a body builder or one of my body building clients, you already know that, you already have a very strategic meal plan and a very strategic work out plan that you are following, so this does not apply to you.  But for everybody else who's just trying to change their lifestyle and just be a little bit healthier, you're going to find yourself starving if you're trying to maintain a diet that consists of only skinless chicken breast, vegetables, and rice, it is not going to feel good for you.

08:37 Coach Shaun: And you're going to want to have some healthy fats in addition to lean proteins and these fiber filled vegetables on the side. Now, note that not all fats are created equal either, you want to be choosing heart-healthy, unsaturated fats like olive oils, maybe nuts, nut butters, avocados over those that are in higher saturated and trans fats, including fatty meats or high fat dairy products, etc. So not all fats are made equal when you are looking for foods to incorporate into your lifestyle into your diet.  For meal prepping, you're going to want to look for foods that complement each other from a macro nutrient standpoint and from a caloric standpoint, especially if weight loss or weight gain is your goal.  Even if maintenance is your goal, you want to make sure that your calories in versus calories out are being matched or on whatever level you're trying to reach for your goals, and the best way to do that is just reading your nutrition labels. What we've actually seen in research is that people who follow a high fat diet can feel less hungry, but it's also beneficial for heart health; a high fat, low-carb diet, you normally see a decrease in triglycerides, lower blood pressure, and weight loss, which are all linked to better heart health anyways.  Your LDL or bad cholesterol might increase a little bit, so maybe that's something you want to talk to your doctor about, if it's something that you've been discussing with them before you're on medication for, but that increase usually isn't that significant, so if you haven't been struggling with it, chances are, you would be totally fine, but for weight loss, it really just comes down to caloric intake, more calories out than in, and you're going to be in weight loss, if you're taking in more calories than you are putting out, then you're going to be in weight gain.  And if they even out, you're going to be in maintenance, which is where most of us should be, or at least understanding how to be.

So let's go into some examples here, these two myths are something that I hear a lot about, and there are very specific foods that people brought up, so I want to make sure I address those, too. So the first one is going to be full fat versus low fat yogurt, regular yogurt doesn't really have much protein and it's typically a really high in sugar, especially the ones that taste good. That's why people like them. I would say Greek yogurt is going to be the better option if you ever do something you want to incorporate into your diet because it's higher in protein, but if you're going for one of the flavored ones or one of the ones with syrups or whatever, and it is probably going to be higher in sugar too, so just read your labels and understand.  It’s not bad to have a sweet treat like a Greek yogurt over something like a brownie once in a while, that's totally fine. Neither food is good or bad for you just know that you're intaking more sugar when you have those foods and be able to balance that out with carbohydrates and fiber and protein in other meals.

11:27 Coach Shaun: When it comes to milk, full fat vs low fat vs skim, you're going to be more full by having whole milk. We've discussed this, I feel like I've said it a lot in the past couple of minutes, but it doesn't make a substantial difference in carbs versus proteins, it is just the calorie content that you're looking at realistically here.  So there are brands that of milk that are higher in protein, but lower in carbs, like ultra-filtered milk, plant-based milks typically have fewer calories and less fat, but they're often very low in protein, so maybe doing a half and half of almond and cow's milk, or having goat milk and something else, you can add all of that in there to kind of increase your protein a little bit as you're taking them, either in your coffee or for your cereal or your smoothies.  Kefer is also a really good option, it’s a fermented milk, it contains a lot of probiotics, which are really healthy for your gut and your gut bacteria, and they're good for increasing mood, heart health, brain function, and all that stuff.  So if you're looking for an alternative that might be something to look into as well.

Nuts, specifically, are great sources of healthy fats. I mentioned that before, but you just need to watch serving sizes because every nut has a different serving size, so you're going to want to look at the calories that you're in taking for each of these for a snack. So sometimes I’ll have clients, I come in and they say, I had a cup of nuts for snack, it was delicious, and I say, “Oh my goodness, what kind of nuts? Were they salted? Were they flavored? Were they chicory or whatever it is?” Because if they're honey roasted, that's going to be less ideal than if you had plain pistachios vs salted almonds or something like that.  I always go the route of plain or dry roasted, and stay away from sweet seasoned. And try to say 1/4 - 1/2 cup would be a really good serving size for a snack or to incorporate into a salad or anything like that. Of course, you can have more than that or you can have them multiple times a day, totally fine. But just know that if you're tracking your macronutrients, you're going to want to be able to, again, balance that out with higher proteins and carbohydrates.

Eggs I get asked about a lot. I really don't like eating just egg whites, I find them really gross, so I like the egg yolk, but the yolk is also where the cholesterol is. So you're going to increase your caloric intake by eating not just the whites, the full egg is typically 80 calories while the egg white is only 18, but you're going to get more benefit from eating that yolk, eggs are super high in vitamin B and choline, which are great for brain health.  There’s also a ton of research out there saying that having eggs for breakfast is going to help you feel more full than having cereal, which is going to make you have a more productive day.  It is going to help you with all these other things. And it kind of snowballs from there. So I'm a huge, huge, huge fan of eggs. There was a little while after I had antibiotics earlier this year for something, and I was literally very allergic to eggs, I couldn't even have them mixed in with something else. And it was probably one of the biggest struggles I've ever gone through. So if you're allergic to eggs, I'm so sorry, there are a bunch of alternatives, I found them and they're not as good as eggs, and I can help you, so just reach out to me if you need that help, but the good news is I'm no longer allergic to eggs, I can have them again, so I'm slowly incorporating them into my diet.

One of the things that I think gets lost when you are working with dietary restrictions like this is, I was pretty sure I wasn't just all of a sudden allergic to eggs.  I was pretty sure it was a side effect of what my body was going through and how I was reacting. And so I tried to insert eggs into my diet, strategically, for the past couple of months, and I finally had good reaction to it, and so I'm re-incorporating it into my diet very slowly, because I haven't had those proteins in a long time.  So I knew that if I just all of a sudden started eating them every day, that was going to be an issue for my system because I'm still learning to process that protein, I'm still learning process that food, and if I didn't have the right bacteria in my system to do it, I was going to have an awful time, I was going to be struggling, I was going to have upset stomach, maybe I was going to have brain fog or headaches or something like that, and so that's what I didn't want to do, so I'm still incorporating them in very slowly.  Most of my foods still do not have eggs in them, but I can eat them sometimes, which brings me much joy.

16:11 Coach Shaun: Alright, going back to the foods: let’s talk about pasta really quick.  People will come in and say, they really don't want to give up pasta; I don't blame you. I used to love pasta, the only reason I don't eat it is because gluten-free pasta is not the same.  It has drastically different nutritional value than normal pasta, and a lot of people say you know it only has 20- 30 carbs per serving and you are right.  But it's 30 grams of pure carbohydrate if it only contains 1 gram of fiber, so again, you're just looking at balance bean-based pastas are definitely going to taste different and have different texture, but they are higher in fiber and protein, so that might be a little bit easier to incorporate into your routine.  

Then talking about the 100 calorie snack packs, everybody sends me pictures of these things, they're like, “This has to be good for me, right, it's so low in calories.”  Just look at the nutrition information, because not that all of them are full of nutritional value, some of them are less nutritionally dense than others, so I would rather you have 100 calories worth of almonds that's going to make you feel fuller for longer than a 100 calories of pretzels.  Not to say that you can't do that because you absolutely can, just know that if you have a 100 calorie snack pack of pretzels, it's not going to go for as long as if it were something that's a little bit higher in fat. So even though the calories are identical, the nutrition density is very different.  You probably hear me say nutrition density, and if I've never described it to you, that's exactly what I mean, something that has more nutritional value than something else, even though the calories is maybe the same per serving. So I'd rather you do something that has a full fat version, if you can work it into your macros because it's going to go further for you and be better for you in the long run.

17:56 Coach Shaun: Alright, my next favorite myth is at certain foods like grapefruit, cayenne pepper, vinegar, or cinnamon can burn fat. That's not true. That is a myth, let us squash that right now. I think diets that focus on single foods like this are restrictive and they focus on keeping something out of your diet instead of trying to incorporate something into it, and those diets can be very, very dangerous depending on what the foods are, what your lifestyle looks like, stuff like that, and they're not sustainable at all. Any weight loss that may occur as a result of this caloric restriction is definitely going to come back as soon as you discontinue it, so unless you're planning on eating grapefruit for every breakfast from here until the rest of your life and incorporating cayenne pepper into every food and drinking some apple cider vinegar, whenever you fancy it, you're not going to see the benefits that you're looking for.  I will go with cinnamon for this podcast, but you can replace with grapefruit, cayenne pepper, or vinegar in any off the statements I'm about to make.  Most of the time, people say that they have incorporated cinnamon into coffee and oatmeal and they're feeling great, and so it's going to be the best thing ever for them, and they're already feeling great. That's awesome. Cinnamon is known to increase insulin sensitivity and decrease blood sugar, which are both key components for losing weight and controlling type 2 diabetes as well, and just throwing that in there, but cinnamon is thought to boost to your metabolism because your body uses more energy to process the spice than it does for other foods, because it's full of fiber.  Cinnamon is full of fiber, and that's why it's one of those essential ingredients for achieving that full feeling and signaling to your body that meal time is over, so that's when your body is satiated.

19:56 Coach Shaun: I'm happy I don't need anything else. It kinda helps to kick start that a little bit, so that could also be another reason for it, but that goes for grapefruit, cayenne pepper, and vinegar too. They can all kind of spark that in your system, but when it comes to being a metabolism booster specifically, the hard data is super minimal and really hard to decipher.  It’s well documented that fiber does help you feel full and that a high fiber diet can be helpful for weight loss in some instances, depending on what the reason for weight gain was in the first place, but it's unlikely that you're going to get much fiber from either cinnamon, grapefruit, or cayenne pepper alone because you can only consume so much in one day before it becomes toxic, and you don't want to go overboard on that, but they can actually assist in minimal weight loss when done in conjunction with other things, maybe.  That’s basically what the study says they could be helpful as long as you do them with other things.  If there's a diet that you're thinking of starting, that is focused on one food, either incorporating only that one food or restricting that one food, chances are it's not going to be sustainable, and it's not going to be something that you are going to see long-term benefit from.  It is not going to happen because diets that are that focused on only 1 or 2 things, unless you're doing it under guidance from your doctor or your dietician for some medical need, you just doing it because you heard somebody's uncle's cousin’s say that she lost weight from it, or he gained the weight that he wanted to for his body building competition by doing this doesn't mean that it's going to work for you or that it's going to be healthy for you, so just keep that in mind.

21:43 Coach Shaun: The next one, and I kind of went into this on a little bit, I think in my previous podcast, but I think it stands to be said again in a different way, so we're going to go with that. This one is that a detox diet will clean toxins out of the body.  This is my favorite topic to discuss because I feel like no one paid attention in biology or anatomy, and you're probably like, yeah, I didn't like, okay, that's fine, but your body can do this on its own, if you have a functioning liver, kidneys, and gastrointestinal track, your body's doing everything that it can to detox your system on a daily basis anyways.  If you're looking to really rejuvenate your body, the first thing you should look to do is increase your water intake, because being hydrated is going to help remove those processed foods from your diet or whatever is sitting in your system is going to be removed by you just treating your body well with whole foods, being hydrated, and getting the recommended amount of exercise. Literally, that's how your body works, that's how we've survived all this time, because we try to get rid of the toxins in our system on our own.  For those of you who are maybe a little bit more unfamiliar with detoxification diets, therapies, or cleanses: they are marketed as a way to improve energy, to spark weight loss, to relieve constipation, headaches, muscle aches, and fatigue, promote health, and the removal of toxins from your system.

23:18 Coach Shaun: Sounds really good, right? That's why the marketing works, but what they don't tell you that your body is doing this anyways, and detoxification programs can involve any number or variety of approaches: using a sauna, reducing environmental exposures, adding in certain herbs or foods, drinking only certain juices, fasting is another great one, cleansing your colon by using enemas, laxatives, or hydrotherapy. I know that one's probably the last one on your list, but it's there, it's on the list of things that are marketed to people who are looking for detoxes, and so while some of these may be offered from what you think are credible health centers or from your favorite Instagram influencer, whatever. There have only been a small number of studies that are held on detoxification programs in people.  Most of these research studies were not done on people, they were done on other animals, so they're not transferable to humans.  It makes my skin crawl, this makes me so upset that people spend so much money on detoxes and cleanses and they don't get the results that they want because obviously, that's not with their body needs.  They need a sustainable diet that they can follow, they need calories in versus calories out.

Understanding macronutrients and how to read nutritional labels. And if this is resonating with you, I really want you to reach out to me because this is exactly the work that I do with people, it's less “you need to listen to what I say and do this meal planning”, and it's much more education behind what nutrition planning actually should look like. Because none of us have been trained on that. Anyways, there's a 2015 review that concluded that there's no compelling research to support the use of detox diets for weight management or eliminating toxins from the body, and then another one in 2017, so that juicing and detox diets can cause initial weight loss because of low intake of calories.  We’ve seen that in a lot of different diets, but they tend to lead to weight gain once a person resumes a normal diet, but there have been essentially no studies on the long-term effects or “benefits” of detox programs.  It’s so painful to see people advertise these, especially on Instagram and TikTok and YouTube, and have people say, “This is going to detox your whole body.”  So we're drinking 12 ounces of water every day and increasing your water intake a little bit.

Just as kind of an aside, because I do think this is very pervasive in diet culture, and I know you guys have heard of some version of the detoxes or cleanses before, but the other side of this that's not shared as much is the very scary real side that people want to hide because they want it to work so badly that when it doesn't work, it has to just be a them issue.  It’s not a problem of the product, it is a problem of the person on the receiving end, and I hate that. So I'm going to share with you a couple of scenarios from the USDA,  The Federal Trade Commission and the US Food and Drug Administration have taken action against several companies have so detox and cleansing products because they either contained a illegal or potentially harmful ingredients, they were marketed using false claims that they could treat serious diseases, and in some cases, medical devices used for colon cleansing were marketed for unapproved uses. 

Some juices, detoxes, and cleanses that haven't been pasteurized or treated in other ways to kill harmful bacteria will actually make you sick, which can help you lose weight, but that's not a fun way to do it.  The illnesses can be very, very serious if you have an auto-immune disorder, if you are a child, if you are elderly, or if you have any sort of weakened immune system at all so that could even be if you have a cold and you go on a detox to try to help yourself, that might not be great because that's probably going to introduce more bacteria to your system and make the problem worse instead of better. Some juices in these cleanses are also made from foods that are high in oxalate, which is naturally occurring, but two examples of high oxalate foods or spinach and beats, and drinking large quantities of either of these can increase your risk for kidney problems. That's not fun, either. Diets that severely restrict calories or the types of food you eat don't usually lead to lasting weight loss because they're not providing nutrients that your body needs, so you're actually doing more longer term damage by doing that.  Doing these 5-7 day cleanses where you're only introducing 3-5 different foods to your system actually kills bacteria that helps you digest food.  Before when I was telling you about how I was allergic to eggs, and I was slowly re-introducing that into my system once I no longer had those issues because my body didn't have the bacteria and needed to process egg anymore, so now when I'm introducing that food, I want to do it slowly and in a sustained way so that my body starts to build up that those bacteria that can really start to break it down, and then I won't have an issue at all.

28:32 Coach Shaun: So this is the same thing, if you eliminate something for 5-7 days, your body can kill off the bacteria that eat it, and then you have a harder time when you re-introduce it.  That could lead to bloating, fatigue, brain fog, and a bunch of other gut health issues that you didn't start out with, and now you have detox programs can also have laxatives in them, which causes sometimes severe diarrhea, which can lead to dehydration and severe electrolyte imbalances. Electrolyte imbalances really will end up in the ER, and that's something that you have to handle through getting an IV or some other things, and sometimes the imbalances can cause other issues with your internal organs as well, and then drinking large quantities of water or herbal tea. I've seen a lot, especially if you're going on a keto diet and you're trying to hit ketosis in 72 hours or not eating any food, I guess too, as part of that can also lead to you electrolyte imbalances in your system; landing you in the ER.  If you're doing a colon cleanse by yourself, I don't know why on earth you would want to, but if you are doing that, there are very harmful side effects, including gastrointestinal disease, colon surgeries, severe hemorrhoids, kidney disease and heart disease, that can all happen as a result of doing that by yourself and not knowing the process and not being able to do that properly on your own.

30:01 Coach Shaun: Nice little fun way to end that segment, but I do think that's important because so many people talk about, “Oh, I went on a cleanse for 3 days and it feels so much better." Or “I went on a detox diet for 7-10 days, and I feel great.”  I don't doubt that it did make you feel better because you eliminated processed foods from your diet, but if you have a weakened immune system or you happen to do this after you are traveling for a while, you had been introduced to a lot of different germs and bacteria, your system was already overloaded or maybe you're really stressed and your central nervous system is doing a lot of work.  There's never going to be a perfect environment to do this in, and just because it works for someone else, it does not mean it's going to work for you. So I wanted to share the dirty, nasty side that people often hide from doing these cleanses that end them up in the ER, because no one talks about it because they're scared because they think they're going to be the one in a million, but it didn't work for it but that's not true.

These are way more common stories than you would think, and unfortunately, a lot of my clients have come to me after doing these several times and spending thousands of dollars doing these on their own, and unfortunately causing some damage to their systems in the process.

31:18 Coach Shaun: Alright, and the last one, the last myth that we were going to talk about today is following a gluten-free diet, if you are not celiac or gluten intolerant.  Guys, I did this, so I laugh at myself for doing this before I was Celiac, but it was before I was diagnosed, so maybe I was having issues with gluten at the time.  But I did it because I heard it was an anti-inflammatory diet. This was 12-13 years ago now at this point. And so I wanted to do it because I was an athlete and my knees really hurt, and so I wanted an anti-inflammatory diet, and this was the latest fad that everyone was talking about, and it was miserable because 13 years ago, they didn't have nearly as many gluten-free free options as they do now, not that they have a lot now, but they have a lot more than they used to.  So pro athlete celebrities, Instagram, TikTokers, everybody is talking about going gluten-free and how good they feel; but these diets really aren't for everyone because you're lacking a lot of nutrients when you cut out things that have gluten in them, and they are not sustained in gluten-free foods. 

For those of you who don't understand the fight with gluten that we have here, so gluten is a protein and it occurs naturally, and it can also be added to foods for processing or texture, it's a binding agent, and sometimes it's a flavoring.  Things like pizza dough, baked goods, like that, you'll probably find gluten added in there, but it's also, because it's a binding agent, it's in things like sauces, ice creams, medications, beauty products, and dietary supplements. It's literally everywhere. So if you think you've been following a gluten-free diet, and I just listed something that you use on the daily, chances are you're not following a gluten-free diet, surprise, you're probably following a gluten-reduced diet, which is a whole other thing. So realistically, the only people who should be eating gluten-free are if you have celiac disease, which is literally an auto-immune response to gluten that causes your body to attack the small intestine, which causes belly pain, nausea, bloating, diarrhea, and a bunch of other things too.

So, typically, people with celiac disease can't tolerate gluten in any form, and they need to follow this diet for the rest of their lives. I don't know why I'm saying them because it's me.  And I have lot of symptoms and they really suck, and the worst one is joint pain.  Typically if I have gluten, even if it's cross-contamination, even if it's just a little bit, even if people think it's not a big deal, I can be out for 7-10 days with joint pain and it's pretty severe for the first couple of days and it gets a little bit better.  It’s not something that even taking a pain killer or an anti-inflammatory can necessarily help because my system is just attacking itself, which is so fun.  People with gluten sensitivity can also cut some gluten from their diet too, right. There's not really like a clear definition between gluten intolerance and sensitivity or an easy way to explain that necessarily, but if you don't have celiac, but you definitely have a diagnosed gluten sensitivity, then probably cut gluten out. If you're allergic to wheat, also you're probably following a gluten-free diet, so those are the three exceptions to the rule, but keep in mind, if you're cutting out all gluten from your diet, there's a very large risk that you are missing out on nutritious whole grains, fiber, micronutrients from that foods that contain gluten.

So, fortified flour has a lot of stuff in it that you want in your diet that is nutritious for you, but if you're not eating gluten, you will never have that. So B-vitamins is probably the biggest one that stands out to me and that I definitely have to supplement as a celiac, because there are a lot of foods that are in the normal diet that contain gluten and that have those B vitamins that we don't get.  Getting enough whole grains also helps to reduce your risk for heart disease and diabetes, and they help lower cholesterol and regulate your blood sugar. Isn't it great missing out on all of this. And sometimes they contain iron and magnesium as well, so vitamin B, iron, and magnesium are probably the 3 biggest ones that I had to supplement for when I became diagnosed celiac. Great. And some processed gluten-free foods also do contain an unnecessarily high level of sodium or sugar or fat to help make it taste better, which isn't delicious either, it doesn't taste like it has gluten in it, and adding any of those things doesn't make it taste better.

36:08 Coach Shaun: But they think it does.  Like, did you have to taste this before you sold it, but sometimes, and especially if your diabetic this matters a lot more, but consuming some gluten-free foods can actually lead to weight gain or towards blood sugar swings, high blood pressure and other problems too, so just because something is labeled gluten-free a) it doesn't mean it actually is gluten-free, fun fact. But also b), it doesn't make the food healthy for you, it's still a processed food, and sometimes if you're buying a food that can be eaten out of a container directly, that's gluten-free, unless it's whole foods or whole fruits and vegetables, chances are it's been either cross contaminated or that it's not really that healthy for you, so avoid it if you don't need it. Wow. That was a real bummer. These last two are really rough, but I hope that I helped you understand a little bit more about how the foods that you intake can really have an impact on you and your lifestyle or your weight loss or gain journey or whatever it is, especially when we're talking about the balance of macro-nutrients throughout your day or throughout your week when you're thinking about facts or proteins, when you're thinking about how satiated you feel after meals, stuff like that.

That's all very much something that's in your control, as long as you have the tools that you need in your toolkit to identify the foods that are going to make you feel better or feel worse or feel full, or that are going to make you hungry after just a half hour, maybe even an hour. And again, this all goes back to nutrient density foods and having foods that are higher in nutrients, rather than foods that are lower in nutrients.  Even if they have the same caloric values, they're going to have different nutrients in them, and so really when you're thinking about, what should I have before my run, or what should I have after a really intense work out, what should I eat if I haven't worked out all day, all of those things are going to be super specific to you and your lifestyle, but you can start to create a list for yourself of foods that make you feel really good or make you feel really full and have those kind of on standby, so you know what's going to be best for you moving forward. If you have any other questions, feel free to reach out to me on social media.  Y'all, you already know I'm so available there, but if you have never talked to me before, I look forward to having a conversation.

Coach Shaun: Thank you so much for tuning in today. It was such a pleasure having you on the Crash Course podcast, brought to you by the LiveUnbreakable brand. If you enjoyed today's podcast, please some love on iTunes as a review so that I can keep this good stuff coming at you. Or share this podcast with your friends to give them a crash course on something that you're passionate about.  If you're not following me on social media yet, I would be honored to have your follow so search for LiveUnbreakable on any major social media platform and enjoy the extra motivation and knowledge shared over there, and of course, reach out to me at LiveUnbreakable.com with any questions. Until next time, y’all.