Dehydration Part 2

Here are three mild to moderate consequences of dehydration:

1) Headaches ­ The brain is 75% water so even moderate dehydration can cause headaches and dizziness. In addition dehydration causes your liver be become overloaded, which can mean at any one time more toxins are present in your body. Your liver is the body’s chemical processing organ, so everything we ingest or absorb into the body goes through the liver to be purified. Water helps flush toxins, such as alcohol, chemicals and solvents present in food and the environment, through the liver more easily as it dilutes them.

2. Lethargy and lack of concentration - These symptoms can be linked to a sluggish liver. The more water you drink, the more efficiently the body can detoxify. If you are dehydrated you will find your liver becomes slowed down by the extra workload and so can’t eliminate as many toxins, making you feel less energetic. In addition reduced oxygen to the muscles and brain through lack of water in the blood may also add to lethargy and lack of concentration.

3. Bad breath - Bacteria builds up in the mouth because waste products that are normally washed out of the body are left in a higher concentration in the throat and mouth. It is also more likely that you will catch a cold if you are dehydrated because cold and flu bacteria are allowed to lurk for longer in the mouth and throat.

Stay Healthy,
John K Russell
Lose Weight Cheltenham
Lose Weight Gloucester
www.nomoregym.co.uk

Dehydration Part 1

Water covers 71% of the Earth's surface and makes up 60–70% of a human body. But what happens when you starve your body of water. May I present to you, "The scale of dehydration":

Here is a table to show what happens to the body as it loses its overall water content.

Note: 1% water loss from a 10 stone person is roughly half a litre of water.

1% Thirst
2% Stronger thirst, vague discomfort and sense of oppression, loss of appetite
3% Reduction in urinary output, dry mouth
4% Increased effort for physical work, sleepiness, apathy, nausea.
5% Difficulty in concentrating
6% Impairment in exercise temperature regulation, increases in pulse and quickened breathing.
8% Dizziness, laboured breathing with light exercise, indistinct speech, increasing weakness, mental confusion
10% Cramping muscles, inability to balance with eyes closed, general incapacity, delirium and wakefulness, swollen tongue.
11% Circulatory insufficiency and decreased blood volume, failing renal function.
15% Death

Stay Healthy,
John K Russell
Weight Loss Cheltenham
Weight Loss Gloucester
www.nomoregym.co.uk

Truth about Saturated Fats Part 3 of 3

How to reduce the amount of saturated fats you eat
The recent FSA survey also revealed that people are unsure of how to reduce these potentially harmful saturated fats. In response, the following tips, which are still not used by many people, may be useful:

• eating fish and poultry in place of red meat can save several grams of saturated fat
• cutting the white fat off meat will cut out the visible saturated fat you eat
• taking the skin off chicken/poultry before cooking it further reduces saturated fats as most fat is located in or just under the skin
• grilling meat is only practiced by 43% of people. This is a healthier way of cooking as the fat from the meat drips away onto the grill pan whilst cooking so you don’t eat it.

These simple changes, if taken up will allow important proteins to be enjoyed as part of a healthy balanced diet, while reducing our intake of saturated fat. No more than 11% of our diet should come from saturated fats which equates to about 20g for women and 30g for men. Grams of saturated fats are written on food packaging labels along with the nutrient content, so you can get an idea of how much you eat per day by adding these values together.

Other top tips are:

• try 1% fat milk and low-fat yoghurts. Look out for cheese that is lower in fat. For example brie, gouda and mozzarella are better than cheddar.
• grate cheese instead of slicing – this means you’ll eat less
• eat less pastry – limit the number of pies, pastries and sausage rolls. Also go for pies with just a lid or a base
• when cooking, use unsaturated oils such as sunflower, nut, and olive, instead of butter, lard and ghee
• chocolate snacks can be high in saturated fat, so eat an apple, banana, some dried fruit, or low fat yogurt instead
• check the label and choose food that is lower in saturates:

High > 5g sat fat per 100g
Low <>

or when using the traffic light system:

Red = High
Amber = Medium
Green = Low

Fats are an important part of a healthy balanced diet (approximately 30% of the diet) and have many roles within the human body. It is therefore important to emphasise that not all dietary fats are harmful. Fats found in oils, nuts, avocados and fish are examples of poly- and mono-unsaturated fats which should make up the other 19% of daily fat intake.

Until Next Time,

Stay Healthy,
John K Russell
Lose Weight Cheltenham
Lose Weight Gloucester
www.nomoregym.co.uk

Truth about Saturated Fats Part 2 of 3

What we need to know
If people knew the potential consequences of a diet too high in saturated fat, they may be persuaded to eat more healthily.

Dietary saturated fats can raise cholesterol levels which can ultimately be a high risk factor for heart and circulatory diseases. These disease states include coronary heart disease, heart attacks, angina and strokes or CVD – the most common cause of death in the UK (www.heartstats.org.uk BHF 2009). Cholesterol is the waxy substance that can clog arteries causing pressure from the circulating blood to increase. This in turn puts added pressure on the heart and can cause blood vessels to burst. When this happens in the brain, it causes a stroke (see below picture).


Diet is a key risk factor in heart disease. A reduction in saturated fat intake may prevent up to 3,500 early and unnecessary deaths a year in the UK (FSA, 2007).

Top 5 contributors of saturated fat in the UK diet
These foods are the top contributors of saturated fat in the UK diet, in order of daily uptake:

1. dairy products including cheese, milk, butter and yogurt
2. meat and meat products including meat pies, pastries and burgers
3. fat spreads including butter
4. biscuits, buns and cakes
5. lastly, but by no means least, chocolate confectionary.

Many of these foods are still important to eat as part of a healthy diet, but moderation is the key!

Until Next Time.

Stay Healthy,
John K Russell
Personal Training Cheltenham
Personal Training Gloucester
www.nomoregym.co.uk

Truth about Saturated Fats Part 1 of 3

Thanks to FutureFit for this series of exercises

According to the Food Standards Agency (FSA), “The UK is currently eating 20% more saturated fat than the Government recommends” (Feb 09). Future Fit Training Nutrition Tutor, Helen Sullivan offers an in-depth view of why we need to limit our intake of saturated fats, and advises us of some healthy alternatives.

Saturated fats are the fats found mainly in animal products, for example the white fat surrounding bacon and beef, or in meat products such as sausages – this fat is solid at room temperature. Unsaturated fat comes mainly from plant products such as sunflower oil, avocados, olive oil, nuts and some fish, and is generally liquid at room temperature.



Public Myths
Research recently revealed that nearly half the UK population thought it was okay to eat as much saturated fat as they liked if they took regular exercise, were not overweight or ate lots of fruit and vegetables (FSA, 2009). People tend to be more concerned about cancer and obesity than cardiovascular disease (CVD), even though this is responsible for 1 in 3 premature deaths in the UK (FSA ’06). CVD covers all diseases affecting the heart and circulatory system – it includes coronary heart disease, angina, heart attack and stroke. Coronary heart disease is caused by a gradual build up of fatty deposits on the walls of your coronary arteries.

People who exercise, who are not overweight or who eat their 5-a-day still need to watch the amount of saturated fats they consume, as they can cause serious health problems. One barrier to this change is that almost 2 thirds (63%) of people think that it costs more to buy healthier foods! - More cost effective healthy tips coming soon. Make sure you catch tomorrow's blog for more on saturated fats.

Until Next Time.

Stay Healthy,
John K Russell
Personal Trainer Cheltenham
Personal Trainer Gloucester
www.nomoregym.co.uk

Lose Weight... Secret Tip

We all know it but never use it. Eat less. Move more! Most people I meet want to lose the weight but make zero changes. So how can you drop the calories without making ANY significant changes.



Secret 1: Portion Sizes!

Secret 1 Challenge: Cook 20% less than you normally do. Or put 20% less on your plate and save the rest for a leftover meal or lunch the next day!

Until next time.

Stay Healthy,
John K Russell
Lose Weight Cheltenham
Lose Weight Gloucester
www.nomoregym.co.uk

Exercise Library Hits Google Page 1

Exercise Library - Fitness in Video for Free has launched on page 1 of google. The exercise library (www.exerciselibrary.co.uk) has hundreds of free clips and exercises to help you lose weight, tone up, condition your muscle, improve your fitness and get better at sport, or just simply look and feel better about yourself.

It's free to join and takes two minutes and is run entirely by myself.

Go to the exercise library and see what you can achieve.

Stay Healthy,
John K Russell
Exercise Library - Fitness in Video Clips
www.exerciselibrary.co.uk
www.nomoregym.co.uk