Preventing or Reversing metabolic syndrome, Healthy balanced diet, Calories count per gram, Summary for intake and tips on nutrition, Carbohydrates, Fibers, Protein, Fats, Vitamins and Minerals
Preventing or Reversing metabolic syndrome
You can prevent or reverse metabolic syndrome by making lifestyle changes, by losing weight, exercising regularly, eating a healthy, balanced diet to keep your blood sugar levels, cholesterol and blood pressure under control.
Let us see how to achieve this.
Healthy balanced diet
A healthy balanced diet should have all the below 7 essential nutrients in the recommended quantities per day.
The seven essential nutrients are carbohydrates, dietary fiber, protein, fat, vitamins, minerals and water.
American Dietary reference, Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) intakes suggest that adults consume 45% to 65% of their total calories from carbohydrates, 10% to 35% from protein and 20% to 35% from fat.
Fat loss happens when you eat less calories than burn. This can happen through calories restriction (CR) or by exercise or by both.
Since you will be restricted in calories, your good RDA for fat loss would be slightly different, and it will be something like from carbs 35 to 45%, from protein 25 to 35% and from fats 30 to 35%. This is defined as max allowable balanced fats, adequate protein and remaining is carbohydrate.
The CR is calculated as per the below reference.
Your calories restriction/reduction should be from 25 to 35% of your normal activity (sedentary life style) calories calculated as without any exercise.
As a general rule, people need a minimum of 1,200 calories or 60% of sedentary life style calories to stay healthy. People who are overweight may require more than 1200 Cals.
Normally don’t go below 65% of the sedentary style food intake.
Try not to go below these values. You can increase the exercise. Do not risk your health or invite health problems. Never compromise on your protein intake. It should be around 120 to 160 grams per day, depending on your weight.
1 Cal/kcal = 4.2 joules
Calories per grams on nutrients
Water 0 Cal
Club soda 0 Cals
Carbohydrate 4 Cals
Insoluble fibers 0 Cal
Soluble fibers 2 Cals
Protein 4 Cals
Pure Alcohol(ethanol) 7 Cals
Fat 9 Cals.
Summary for intake and tips on nutrition
You need to calculate your daily intake total calories as per the above values.
Grains like rice and wheat contains mainly carbs and protein, when cooked it becomes 3 times volume as it was raw.
Some Vegetables store a lot of water and less carbs, you need to calculate calories accordingly. Fruits also the same but the sugar content can vary too much, avoid such fruits.
Carbs and protein are 4 Calories per gram. Fats 9 Cals per gram.
You need to choose low FII (food insulin index) foods from the list. FII should be less than 60 as far as possible. For a food with higher FII, eat less quantity.
Carbohydrates in meals
Grains with high protein and fiber whole wheat, oats, finger millet, pasta.
Non-Starchy Vegetables,
Brussels sprouts, Broccoli, Cabbage, radish.
Artichokes, Avocados, Asparagus, Bean sprouts.
Cauliflower, Celery, Cucumber, leeks
Eggplant (also known as aubergine).
Salad greens, green leafy vegetables, kale, Spinach, okra
Mushrooms, Onions, garlic, turmeric, black pepper.
Tomato, Turnips, Zucchini (courgette), lettuce,
Bell peppers of all colours (capsicum). Good for eye sight.
Low carb fruits,
Strawberries, Raspberries, Cranberries.
Blackberry, Cantaloupe, peach, water melon.
Avocados, Lemon, lime, grape fruit (not grapes).
Papaya,Guava.
Honeydew. Good for eye sight.
Kiwi. Good for eye sight.
Fibers
Souluble fiber
Soluble fiber include dried beans, oats, oat bran, rice bran, barley, Avocados, pears, figs, guava, citrus fruits, apples, strawberries and Brussels sprouts.
Insoluble fiber
Insoluble fiber include wheat bran, whole grains, cereals, seeds, nuts, cauliflower, celery, cucumbers and courgettes, green beans and the skins of many fruits and vegetables.
Protein
Animal proteins are complete, including meat, poultry, fish, eggs and dairy.
Plant-based sources of complete protein are Soy, Quinoa and Buckwheat (please read the drawbacks if any before you take this from the web).
Legumes are low in Methionine and Cysteine.
Grains, nuts, and seeds are low in Lysine.
You must combine both legumes and grains on the same day to get complete protein.
Lentils are allowed, Protein powders casein or any other medium time digesting protein.
Should not consider big size and soft beans like chickpeas, kidney beans etc. They have high FII.
Fats
The balanced dietary fat percentage of total calories per day is as below,
Saturated fat: less than 10%
Trans fat: 0%
Monounsaturated fat: 15% to 20%
Polyunsaturated fat w6 (essential) 5% to 10%
Polyunsaturated fat w3 (essential), from fish 2 to 4 grams
Cholesterol: less than 300 mg per day.
. Out of total fat intake, 50% or more should be monounsaturated fats from plant-based origin olive oil, olive greens, avocado and nuts etc.
. Saturated fats should be less than 25% of total daily fat.
. W6 polyunsaturated fats should be less than 25% total daily values without being subjected to high heat.
. Also, omega 3 fat of 2 grams from fatty such as salmon, mackerel, tuna, herring, and sardines or fish supplements.
Vitamins
From food and supplements.
Minerals
From food and supplements.
Major minerals
Calcium – RDA 1200mg,
Milk, cheese and other dairy foods, sardine with bones, amaranth, green leafy vegetables such as curly kale, okra, drumsticks leave, sesame seeds, finger millet(ragi), soya drinks with added calcium.
Also, from protein powder.
Potassium- RDA 3500mg,
Beans, lentils, Potatoes, Winter squash (acorn, butternut), Spinach, broccoli, Beet greens Avocado Bananas etc.
Meeting such a high RDA from food will be difficult. Try to supplement.
Magnesium – RDA 350 to 400mg,
Green leafy vegetables, such as spinach, legumes, nuts, cashews, Brazil nuts, almonds, peanuts, seeds, tuna, pumpkin seeds and whole grains, are good sources. In general, foods containing dietary fiber provide magnesium.
Sulphur- RDA Not available. (you get from protein and vegetables except legumes)
Meats, lean meats, egg, fish, nuts, seeds, grains, cruciferous vegetables.
Normally you get through foods.
Also, from supplement MSM.
Zinc -RDA 11mg,
RDA of zinc is difficult to get. You should add,
Red meat, dairy products, poultry, oyster, crab, lobster, liver, pumpkin seeds, legumes, cashew nuts. Part of your supplement vitamin mineral complex.
Meal planning and Budgeting for the supplements per month
Meal planning
Casein/other protein 30 grams each with all 3 meals. People who are skinny fat to minimize muscles loss may require more.
One should take 1.7g/kg of body weight without exercise and 2g/kg with exercise for the day.
Your choice selection can be as above.
Supplements
Notes:
. Add Turmeric plus black pepper wherever possible.
. Fenugreek seeds of 1 table spoon soaked in water for 12 hours can be used
(1) if you are going to take more carbs, drink this water before your food for your carbs for not getting absorbed or
(2) when you are living in hot climate place to reduce body heat, especially when you are taking oily nuts and seeds.
. One tea spoon of oil is 5ml and 45 calories
. One table spoon of oil is 15 ml 135 calories
. One medium size boiled egg is 65 calories
. One sausage 30 g 100 Cals
. Two medium slice brown bread 150 calories
. 1 small slice of cheese 60 calories
. 1 scoop of casein 30 gram 110 Cals (for 3 meals 330Cals).
. Nuts 1 ½ Oz or 43 grams 245 Cals.
Further refer to FII table to choose food type and also from other tables.
You can have yogurt some times to increase your gut good bacteria.
Remember Yogurt FII is around 100.
We can calculate the calories requirements for 1200 Cals diet. Each meal is around 400 Cals. If you need extra calories for less CR or if you are more weight, you can add in the same proportions with each meal.
. Your total protein is 100g, 100x4Cals per gram = 400
. Your carbs will be 100g, 100x4Cals per gram =400
. Your oil/fats will be 45g, 45x9Cals per gram = 405
. Your Mono fats 25g, Saturated 10g, and Polyunsat fat 10g approximately.
Remember your monounsaturated fat is minimum 50% of total fat intake.
Your portion on the plate might look small. You may have to add more non starchy vegetables prepared in the olive oil to get more nutrition and volume.
Protein highlights
You need around 1.7g/kg body weight, on a non-exercising day or 2g/kg of body weight with exercise per day.
The protein should be in all 3 meals 30g net each. 1 Scoop of protein is 25 grams and for 3 meals 75 grams. Plus, you add some more by the way of diet.
Fats and oils high lights
The choice of nuts could be soaked and peeled for sweet almonds, soaked pecan nuts, roasted cashew and soaked peanuts.
One Oz of sweet almonds is 24 almonds is 160 Cals. You should eat around
11/2 Oz or 36 almonds soaked and peeled per day. Total 245 Cals. This will be your balancing of all types of fats.
This is where you should get your W6 fats in uncooked form without subjecting to heat of about 10 grams. You should adjust all the quantity of fats in nuts to get your required proportion of mono, poly and saturated fats.
If you find allergic to one type of nut, try another one from the table. Alternate to nuts will be olive oil, non-starchy vegetables, cheese, paneer, avocados and olive greens to meet the requirements of fats.
Carbohydrates high lights
For the choice of carbohydrates, refer to food insulin index (FII) table. There are no grains with FII less than 60, because of high carb content.
You should choose ones with low carb and high protein and fiber.
Whole wheat, Oat meal, finger millet etc.
Fiber intake
With your CR you should get around 25g of both soluble and insoluble fibers.
Budget
Let us do the budgeting for the supplements per month
Protein Micellar casein 3kg USD 80
Alpha lipoic acid 300mgx60 10
MSM 1000mgx60 10
Omega 3 fish oil 1000mgx60 20
Digestive enzymes 2×30 10
Vitamin B complex + C 2×30 10
Multivitamin mineral complex 15 10
Total USD 150.
Additional for vegetarians
L Methionine 500mgx30 USD 10
L Lysine 1500mgx30 10
Total USD 20.
Calories calculation for creating calories deficit, Body fat percentage finder to fix fat loss target time and Some of the side effects during fat loss and remedies
Calories calculation for creating calories deficit (calories restriction, CR)
You can find out your required calories from the internet.
This depends on your age, gender(male/female), height, weight, and your activity level. Do not select basal metabolic rate. You should select little or no exercise or sedentary life style.
Depending on your health you can start with CR of 25% cut and can go up to 35% cut.
For a 70kg man – example,
For a man with 40 years, height 170 cm, weight 70kg with little or no exercise will be 1900 calories.
Your minimum calories at 65% required per day will be 1235 Cals.
Keep it as 1235 Cals. Don’t go below this 1235 value.
For a 100kg man- example,
Let us consider another man with 40 years, height 180cm, weight 100 kg with little or no exercise will be 2350 Cals.
Your minimum calories at 65% required per day will be 1530 Cals.
Keep it as it is. Don’t go below this 1530. Your time duration for fat loss target depends on another 2 factors, that is your body fat percentage and exercise.
In general, don’t go below 65% calories intake to be safe.
Body fat percentage finder to fix fat loss target time (in months)
Do a web image search, type ‘body fat percentage’ to find out how a certain body fat person will look like. See the images which one is like you and how many percentages you have.
You will know what you are now and how many percentages to lose to get your required target.
Or
You can also use website calculator to find out the body fat percentage.
The required data are gender, age, height, weight, neck size and waist.
The time target depends largely on your percentage of body fat and calories deficit. The percentage of body fat can be as little as 4% for elite athletes and as high as 70% in obese people. The third one is weight/resistance training.
Suppose your body fat percentage is 30% to bring down to 15% and if you weigh 70 kg, you have to reduce 15% that is 10.5kg of fat. If you burn 500 calories a day, you will lose 55(500/9=55) grams of fat. For a month 1.5 kg and you will take around 7 months or even longer.
The target time for this case should be around 7 to 9 months for this range of body fat.
Some of the Side effects during fat loss and remedies
Headache
Lack of mental alertness
Irritability
Insomnia
Erectile dysfunction / low libido.
Remedy
Exercise
Supplements for sleep: melatonin, Vitamin D.
Fat loss challenges and High lights, what is 500 calories means to you, Weight loss and Fat loss, Challenges when working in calories deficit, Fat loss High lights and Monitoring your fat loss
Fat loss challenges and High lights
What is 500 calories means to you in terms of calories restriction (CR), exercising or eating
. Calories restriction (CR),
Cutting intake of carbohydrates of 125 grams.
. Exercising,
Walking at 3.5 ml (5.6 km) per hour, you’ll burn 500 calories in roughly 80 minutes.
Or
Running at a pace of 6 ml (9.7 km) per hour can burn 500 calories in roughly 40 minutes. To shorten this time down to 30 minutes, you’ll need to run at a pace of 8 ml (13 km) per hour.
Or
Swimming at an easy pace for 55 minutes will burn around 500 calories.
Or
Roughly 40 to 75 minutes of cycling, depending on your pace, will burn 500 calories.
. Eating,
If you eat two slices of a regular pizza, you’ll consume 450 calories.
Or
Two medium sized doughnuts around 540 calories.
You need to be always calculative in terms of calories when you are in fat loss regime.
You need to know how it is easy to add calories and how difficult is to burn.
Weight loss and Fat loss
Weight includes muscle, fat, and water from the body. That is, Weight loss is simply a loss of overall body weight.
During calories restriction/exercise, initially, it will be weight loss for 4 or 5 days or even more, then fat loss. Initially it will be body/muscles water loss of about 2 or 3 kgs.
Fat loss is a reduction in body fat.
You should never loose muscles, in fact you should build. Sufficient protein intake distributed throughout the day is essential.
During the entire fat loss program always drink plenty of water.
Take only 3 meals for keeping insulin low for the fat loss program.
Try to keep and count calories requirement every day. For some reason if the calorie you found is low and hungry on some days, consider the below options for eating at that time.
If you cannot control hunger, having snacks, cheese or soaked and peeled almonds is ok but keep the blood sugar and insulin levels low.
Low/Reduced fat Cheese SI 140 (SI- Satiety Index). FII 50.,
Raw Almonds soaked and peeled. Good.,
Peanuts boiled. SI 80. But has good fats. FII 20.,
Roasted cashews (not to be eaten raw). Good.
Doctors advice diabetics, to take frequent small meals to control diabetes depending on the medicine you take, like insulin secretors, secretagogues, insulin which can cause low blood sugar called hypoglycaemia. This is living with diabetes that is opposite for fat loss program. These medications lead to fat gain.
If you take such medication, and if in the fat loss program, you should change it, or reduce the dosage and monitor blood sugar levels frequently, consult your doctor. You should be very confident and should have willingness to follow the fat loss program for about 11 months before changing it.
Consult with your doctor.
Challenges when working in calories deficit
. Calculating the exact amount of calories intake quantity of food every day.
. Updated weighing and calculating calories deficit/intake every month. You need to calculate calories requirements every month.
Your slower metabolism will slow your weight loss, even if you eat the same number of calories. When the calories you burn equal the calories you eat, you reach a plateau. To lose more weight, you need to either increase your physical activity/exercise or decrease the calories you eat.
. Your weighing balance can be wrong or you are not weighing in the same time as before.
. Measuring the actual fat loss.
. Muscle gain and fat loss together by exercise.
Even though one kilo gram of muscle weighs the same as one kilogram of fat, yet they look entirely different on your body. One kg of muscle is harder and denser than a kg of body fat. If you gain 3 kg of muscle and lose 3 kg of body fat, your scale weight will be the same. But you’ll definitely be amazed by how much your body changed.
. Hormonal changes especially Leptin, ghrelin and insulin, thyroid and cortisol can stall weight loss after a few months of initial weight loss.
Stalled weight loss remedies,
If it happens, check for the requirements of
Reducing carbohydrates and increasing balanced fats
(Having more carbs, cereals, grains can offset fat loss).
Adequate protein of 120 to 160g.
Increase in Exercise
Add Foods rich in vitamins minerals and fibers
Try Meditation
Reduce stress
Get more Sleep
Increase your overnight fasting time. Eat within10 to12 hours and don’t eat in the other 12 to 14 hours.
If hunger cannot be controlled when the body fat percentage is low, consider diet breaks /calories cycling.
(Eat normal maintenance calories for one week with good carbs then to CR for next 3 weeks to improve your metabolism and to control your hunger when you have already lost good percentage of your body fat).
Fat loss High lights
If you are in calories deficit of 500 Cals, fat lose will happen after 4 days once the muscle and liver deplete the glycogen storage of1600 calories.
. Each gram of glycogen is stored with at least 3 g of water.
. Adipose cells don’t store much water. Either they expand or shrink in size.
. Keep only 3 meals and don’t snack in between.
. Increase the fasting time from the last night meal to next morning first meal to 12 to 16 hours to ensure deficit calories are burned from stored adipose fat.
A 70 kg weight person burns around 60 calories per hour of basic metabolic requirement during rest, and for 500 calories, you will need 8 hrs plus 3 hours to insulin levels to come down provided if you are already in calories deficit of 500 Cals to burn.
Overnight fasting is very important for health and can be a huge benefit to weight loss. The longer you avoid food and drink between dinner and breakfast in the next morning, the healthier you will be. Studies have found that overnight fasting of at least 12 to 16 hours is associated with better glucose control. Long periods overnight without food reduce your risk of many diseases like cancer and diabetes.
Allow your body burn fat between meals. Don’t snack. Be active throughout your day. Build muscles. Perform strength/resistance training exercise.
Monitoring your fat loss
You cannot spot reduce fats.
(But you can build/train each body muscle separately. And try to cover the whole-body muscles.)
To get rid of visceral fat, you will have to burn a lot of the subcutaneous fat also. During this stage, you may look like a zombie.
Eating the required protein distributed over three times of the day, and if you exercise regularly, you would not look that bad.
You should keep protein/casein powder for the all-time requirement.
Don’t worry, you can gain better look, if you eat carbohydrate meal for 2 days and fill your glycogen stores in muscles at any time. Each gram of glycogen is stored with at least 3 g of water.
During fat loss, the pattern of loss would be, you will lose ectopic fats, your subcutaneous and visceral fats both, your belly fat from the sides of the belly and the stubborn fat. The stubborn subcutaneous fat is the lower abdomen and love handles for men, thighs, hips and glutes for women.
When you look in the mirror, the side view of the belly, the depth will remain almost the same, till you reach three fourth of the way of fat loss in the case of males.
Keep looking at the mirror for fat loss from the belly and lower body (for the women) and the muscle gains of the body.
Diets, blood tests, fat loss
Your fasting, postprandial and HbA1c glucose depends on daily intake of carbohydrates.
The similar thing applies to high fat keto diets.
If you eat high quantity of carb, your values will be high.
If you follow high fat keto, less carb, all values will be good.
Your overall status of diabetes is not the indicator as above. Remember your various belly fats still you have on the body. You have to burn it.
However, you should always try to maintain your blood glucose to normal levels to avoid systemic (metabolic risk) and vascular/heart complications by exercise and/or with CR.
Carry out your Blood tests every 2 or 3 months or as required,
. Fasting
. Postprandial
. HbA1c,
Also get your blood lipid profile tested after 4 months.
Only fat loss effects on control of type 2 diabetes in the longer run.
Reversing type 2 diabetes
Reversing type 2 diabetes is like a marathon race, here whoever completes is a winner.
There is no time limit set on this.
You can have some months of break and still can come back for the fat loss program and continue to complete to win.