While the vast majority of the critique on the food and beverage industry is currently focused on Soda and Sugar sweetened beverages, there is still dangerous sugar levels lurking in your refrigerator. At no other time in history have we seen such a epidemic emerging around metabolic disease and sugar has everything do do with it. But the fact is that SUGAR SELLS PRODUCTS. We have a sweet tooth in this country and the food products industry knows just how to exploit it. The addiction and the disease are going to overtake our health care system unless we stamp it out by paying close attention to what goes in our mouth. Even the ‘Healthy’ stuff needs to be questioned, so here are some key Red Flags that you should watch out for in your “Healthy” Yogurt.
Ahhhh, Marketing. It is truly a wonderful thing. Colorful packaging, sleek commercials and of course an appealing health claim can really move product. The Yogurt game is like none other when it comes to marketing. You can take a cheap product to make, hinge your entire sales pitch on a few specific health claims and put it right next to the most sought after product in the grocery store, MILK. Yogurt has long flown under the radar because there has always been other bad guys to chase. While junk food like potato chips, and sugary bread products constantly take a whipping in the media, Yogurt enjoys relative anonymity in the dairy section.
A Recent study has shown that many yogurts (especially the ones marketed to kids) has just as much sugar as any dessert you avoid in the freezer isle. The Hidden Sugar content and exaggerated health claims demand a GUT check. Here are 3 Reasons why you should question your Yogurt.
1. High Sugar Content= Metabolic Disease
By now you have probably heard that excess sugar in your diet is a recipe for inflammation throughout your body. Inflammation, especially chronic inflammation leads to a host of diseases from Diabetes to Alzheimers. Many commercial yogurts like the ones you find in the stores contain 13-16 grams of sugar per serving. Kefir, Yogurt drinks can contain up to 27grams of sugar per serving. And yet we still feel good putting yogurt in the cart. Or giving it to the kids.. I can tell you straight as a parent that I used to give my kids yogurt because they used to LOVE it. And no wonder; you can buy sleek looking tube-o-yogurt that the kids can just inject into their mouths and BAM!!! thats an injection of 16 grams of sugar to keep them fired up for the outing!.
Greek Yogurt has many claims of ‘probiotic’ benefits and essential nutrients but there is a 90% chance that you aren’t just buying the unflavored, straight from the Cow, Greek yogurt. You are buying the sweetened version.. But they hook ya with the marketing dont they!!?? Check you sugar content…..
2. Low Fat Yogurt is overly processed.
In my opinion, Low Fat anything is BULLSHIT. Nowhere in nature is there a animal or plant that comes in 2 varies, one full fat and one low fat. The process of making food, Low Fat, is exactly that… a process. Your food has to go through an extra machine or through some chemical process to deplete the relevancy of the food. Along with the sugar high that we have been living on since the 70’s, there has also been a LOW FAT craze. By taking out the fat in Yogurt you do 2 key things that basically make the food negligible. First, you deplete the essential amnio acid CLA or (conjugated linoleic acid). This building block of cells help regulate the metabolic process. If you take it out of your diet, you possibly are making yourself fatter through cellular disfunction. Second, through extra pasteurization and processing, you kill all of the GOOD BACTERIA that are touted in the marketing of Yogurt. It is true that FULL FAT GREEK YOGURT has beneficial bacteria, but once you heat the shit out of it and take the fat out of Yogurt, well… there goes the good. Buy Full Fat, unflavored , Greek Yogurt. None of that Low Fat shit.
3. Soy is the Devil.
Is Soy yogurt really a thing? Well, yes it is. There are some humans that cannot tolerate dairy from cows. There are some humans that believe that Yogurt from Soy is more Humane than Yogurt from Animals. Here is the deal with Soy. Soy is cheap as F*^K to produce and can be molded into anything, just like High Fructose Corn Syrup. Soy has harmful effects on the Thyroid, inhibits the synthesis of certain proteins in the GUT, and can make BOTH men and women Fat due to its effects on the metabolic system. Soy Yogurt is hidden behind the “DAIRY FREE” label 90% of the time. Right next to that label is probably one that says “LOW FAT”. That marketing sells!! Soy tastes like shit so there is probably (in small writing on the back) high amounts of sugar hidden in the product.
A great alternative to Soy is Goats Milk Yogurt. Having a daughter with sensitivity to cow milk, we buy Goats milk and she loves it. Goats milk is usually more thoughtfully processed which means higher GOOD bacteria and of course Full Fat.
Conscious food choices are the way to healthier living. If we wish to buck the trends, then turning over every product and scrutinize the ingredients and processes by which its made are critical. Yogurt can be a nutrient and protein dense food that can help your GUT and keep you moving closer to your health goals. But buying blindly, or with your eyes only, is not going to help you get to the goal line. Lets make moves and tilt the balance towards health. Ill be her to support you the entire way.
In Love and Health,
Eric
1/28-2/1 ***This is Deload week after the Squat Exposure cycle. The focus for the coming weeks will be to hit all the metabolic pathways and test recovery periods before the CrossFit Games Opens begin. “Grace” Is here this week so have some fun with that. Grinders and Punches to the face, follow the Programming and become a beast (or just fit as F*^K)
1/28
Baseline:
3X
400m Run
10 Push Ups W/ Trunk Rotation
10 KB Goblet Squat
10 KB Lateral Goblet Lunges
Lunge Flow:
5 @ Each/ Per Leg
-Ankle Roll Outs
-Hamstring Pulses
-Elbow To Instep Lunge + Rotations
-Samson Lunge
-Pigeon Stretch
WOD;
5 Rounds For Time
40 Weighted (KB) Front Rack Lunges 53/35
30 Cal Bike
20 V Ups
10 Ring Dips
1/29
Baseline;
3X
250m Row
12 D Ball Deadlifts
12 Deadbug Ipsalateral Reaches
12 Side Lunges
Hamstring Primer:
3x8
-Deficit Romanian Deadlift
-Pendlay Row
Strength:
Deadlift
8 Min EMOM
3 Deadlift (Heavy)
*Build in weight at least 3 Times During EMOM.
Strength WOD;
4 Rounds for Total Time
25X Kettlebell Deadlift 70’s/53’s
150m KB Farmer Carry
25X Lateral Jumps over KB’s
Cool Down:
Banded Hamstring Stretch
Reverse hand Plank Hold 2:00
1/30
Baseline:
800m Run
3X 10 @ each
Banded Pass Thru
Banded Good Mornings
Banded Lateral Walks
Banded Squats
Banded Press and Rip
Clean Warm Up :
W/ Barbell
-Clean Deadlift
-High Pull
-Muscle Clean
-Hang Power Clean + Tempo Squat
-Hang Squat Clean
-Full Clean + Jerk
Clean Complex:
EMOM 20
-1 Squat Clean
-1 Front Squat
-1 Jerk
*Use 65-70% of your working Max
Conditioning:
‘Grace”
30 Clean and Jerks for Time
135/95
Cool Down:
Roll OUT Lower Back and Hips.
Roll OUT Lats
1/31
Baseline;
5X
250m Row
3 Rounds OF Modified Cindy
(5 Jumping Pull Ups/ 10 Push Up + Hip Tap/ 15 Squats)
WOD;
AMRAP 5
27 Cal Row
27 Burpee Over Rower
27 Chest To Bar Pull Ups
—Rest 3 Minutes—
AMRAP 5
21 Cal Row
21 Burpee Over Rower
21 Chest TO Bar Pull Ups
—Rest 3 minutes—
AMRAP 5
15 Cal Row
15 Burpees Over Rower
15 Chest TO bar Pull Ups
Core Work:
20 Strict Toes To Bar
1:00 Superman Hold
1:00 Plank Hold (Each Side)
2/1
Baseline:
1;00 Jump Rope
10 Kip Swings
:45 High Knee Jump Rope
20 Arm Swings
:30 Quick Single Unders
30m Bear Crawl
:15 X2 High Knee Jump Rope Intervals W/ :10 Between sets
40 Jumping Jacks
Pressing Complex:
Press 5-5-5
*In 3 Sets, Build to a heavy set of 5.
Push Press 3-3-3
*In 3 Sets, build to a heavy set of 3. NO CYCLING!!
Push Jerk 1-1-1
* In 3 Sets, build to a heavy single.
WOD:
6 Rounds for Time
50 Double Unders
30 Push Ups
