Supplement marketing tricks… 💊

The supplement industry is very good at convincing us that we have a problem and that their product is the solution. Good marketing isn’t the same as scientific evidence.

Here are some common tricks:

1. Appeal to false authority: A celebrity, influencer or even a medical professional isn’t automatically an expert in nutrition. Check whether their qualifications are relevant and whether they’re being paid.

2. The anecdotal fallacy: ‘It worked for me!’ is a personal story, not scientific proof. Testimonials may be genuine, exaggerated or completely fabricated. Even when they’re true, one person’s experience cannot tell us whether something works generally.

3. Straw man arguments: Deliberately misinterpreting someone’s argument to make it easier to attack. E.g if I said ‘most people don’t need supplement X’ that doesn’t mean nobody needs it. People may say ‘well I have a specific medical condition that requires it therefore you’re wrong’ and use that to debunk your argument. People with particular medical needs are not ‘most people.’

4. Attacking the person: ‘Don’t listen to her, she isn’t in shape.’ Someone’s appearance doesn’t determine their knowledge. Equally, a six-pack, white coat or enormous following doesn’t make someone credible. Look at the evidence, not the person.

5. False cause, correlation vs causation: ‘I started taking collagen and my skin improved.’ One happening after the other doesn’t prove it caused it. Perhaps they also changed their diet, skincare, sleep, stress levels or exercise habits.

6. Appeal to emotion: ‘If you cared about your health, you’d buy this.’ This uses fear, guilt or shame to make you buy. Not purchasing an expensive supplement doesn’t mean you don’t care about your health.

Supplements are useful when there’s a genuine need, but ‘natural,’ popular and heavily promoted doesn’t mean it’s necessarily effective or safe. Ask what the claim is based on. Is there good-quality evidence? Is the person qualified? Are they selling something? Could something else explain the result?

Once you recognise these tricks, you’ll see them everywhere. Your health and your bank balance may thank you!

🤗

Xx

“Calories can’t tell the time…. “ ⏰

It’s really easy to fall into the trap that eating your meals/snacks etc at certain times of day (or not eating at certain times of day) will help you lose weight (fat) more quickly.

One common idea is that you should fast for a certain number of hours during the day and only eat within a certain window of time. This varies but is usually an 8hr window or so. Proponents of this method suggest that by only eating during certain hours you can forget “complicated” diets etc and lose weight without doing anything more. You’ll hear lots of people saying they’ve achieved great fat loss using this method and they undoubtedly have. So surely it works then? Well yes it works – but only because those people have ended up eating fewer calories and therefore been in a calorie deficit, and lost fat/weight.

The problem with this method is that it doesn’t account for individual’s daily caloric requirements. So if someone started this method, but was eating more than their daily calorie requirement within that 8hr window, then they wouldn’t make any progress. Studies have shown that this method ONLY results in fat /weight loss when participants eat fewer calories than they are expending, and are therefore in a calorie deficit. Meal timing is irrelevant in terms of fat loss, it’s energy in vs out that matters.

Having said that, for some people, it’s easier to eat fewer calories if they restrict the hours in which they are “allowed” to eat. So if skipping breakfast, or not allowing yourself to eat after 8pm works for you then go for it! BUT you still need to be eating in a calorie deficit. For some people though, fasting for long periods of time, or skipping meals, isn’t a sustainable strategy long term. It can result in reduced energy levels, and excessive hunger, leading to periods of “binge” eating and therefore eating more than their daily calorie target. It can also lead to less activity (and therefore fewer calories burned) due to low energy levels.

So basically – do what works for you, but remember it’s the total calories that count – not when you eat them

🤗

Xx

Low calorie or “normal” ice cream ?….. 🍦

Here are two ice cream options – one is a low calorie ‘healthy’ one – a Guud raspberry Greek style yoghurt one. The other is an oldie but a goodie and just a “normal” ice cream – the humble strawberry split.

Now anyone who knows me knows I’m a massive fan of the low calorie ice cream options, not just because they’re low calorie but because most taste good. But it’s very easy for people to discount the “normal” strawberry split because it isn’t marketed as low calorie or ‘healthy’. So whilst these are obviously not directly comparable in flavour and texture etc they are very similar and serve a similar purpose – as a dessert or snack. One is marketed as low calorie, one isn’t.

I think it’s safe to assume that many of use would presume the yoghurt ice cream is the “healthier” option as it’s marketed as low calorie. In reality it’s not – the strawberry split is actually considerably fewer calories. So if you were tracking calories and trying to lose weight/bodyfat then the strawberry split would be a better choice. The sugar content of the two is almost identical, not that sugar is bad but many people would assume the yoghurt one was lower in sugar.

Overall the differences are relatlively small. Neither is a “healthier” option – it’s ice cream. Ice cream isn’t consumed to provide us with nutrients – it’s consumed because we enjoy it – so choose the one you enjoy most! However, as always, be aware of those calories – you may find some of your favourite ice creams aren’t actually as bad as you thought they were!

Now go and enjoy an ice cream

🤗

Xx

Fasted vs non-fasted Exercise… 🏃🏼‍♂️

There’s a fair amount of confusion out there about whether you’re better off exercising fasted (on an empty stomach) or after you’ve eaten something (non-fasted) and whether one is better or worse for fat loss.

The confusion arises because people often talk about how exercising on an empty stomach increases fat oxidation. This then gets conflated with fat loss. Fat oxidation is the process of using fat for energy in the body. When you eat something the body secretes insulin to aid in the processing and metabolism of the food for energy and storage. Insulin reduces fat oxidation, so less fat is used for energy. So the argument is that if you haven’t eaten anything yet that day then you won’t have secreted any insulin and therefore fat will be oxidised and used for energy.

Whilst this is true – you will have more fat oxidation, it doesn’t actually mean more fat loss. Fat loss is dependant on overall calories consumed, on average, over the day/week/month etc. Even if you exercise before eating, you still need to have a calorie deficit for that day otherwise any excess calories will still be stored as fat. So It makes NO difference to fat loss whether you choose to eat before or after exercise.

For some people they prefer to exercise on an empty stomach, but for others they need some food in their system to workout. From a workout perspective if you haven’t eaten yet then you may find you fatigue faster and aren’t able to work as hard, so you may end up burning fewer calories. So it’s very much personal preference!

However bear in mind that doing too much intense fasted cardio does impact hormone production. Firstly, it causes stress hormones like cortisol to rise, thyroid activity to be depressed, and in women decreases the production of kisspeptin (disrupting the release of estrogen and progesterone) which isn’t great!

🤗
xxx

‘A quick refreshing drink…’🥤

During the warm weather you might be out and about and fancy a quixk refreshing iced drink. A cold drink doesn’t always feel like ‘food’ so many of us don’t really count the calories properly in our heads. But some of these drinks can pack more calories than an actual meal.

In this example a large Starbucks Caramel Mocha Cloud Frappuccino (which sounds delicious!) comes in at around 469 calories. In comparison the Starbucks Chicken and Chorizo Focaccia only contains 394 calories which is significantly fewer

That’s not to say you should never have the Frappuccino. If you genuinely fancy it, go for it! Eating (and drinking) is about pleasure as well as nutrition. The key is simply being aware. If you think you’re only having a quick drink, and then later have lunch as normal, you have actually consumed the equivalent of two lunches without realising it.

It’s just a reminder that liquid calories still count. Unlike a meal, they often don’t leave us feeling particularly full, making it easy to eat exactly the same amount afterwards. So next time you’re tempted by a fancy iced coffee or Frappuccino, just stop and make sure you’re aware of the calories it contains. It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have it, just make it a conscious choice rather than one that slips under the radar.

As always knowledge is power!

Enjoy! 🤗

Xx