Best Whey Protein: Could Diet Foods Slow Weight Loss and Hinder Fitness?

Healthy eating, which contributes to fitness, requires a certain amount of understanding about ingredients and how to read labels. Here is a recent daily food and drink record from a client of mine who is on a diet food regimen and yet is having trouble trimming his waistline and getting fit.

8am: Popular bottled nutrition smoothie

10am: Apple with diet energy drink

Noon: Tuna sandwich with fat-free apple chips

2pm: Popular diet cola

4pm: Popular protein bar

6pm: Popular pre-formulated prepared “hearty beef stew” meal

7pm: Popular diet cola

You would be surprised how many nutritionally uneducated athletes have similar daily routines.

My client had the constant frustration of wondering: “How can I still be having trouble trimming my waistline when I am on such a strict diet?”

How is it that a body can consume diet drinks and prepackaged foods that have been specifically designed to lower calorie intake and support complete nutrition, and yet experience bloating, fatigue, weight gain and several other serious health issues?

Let’s take a look at the actual ingredients of my client’s “diet” foods.

The front label of the popular nutrition smoothie says, “Complete, balanced nutrition to help stay healthy, active and energetic,” with a large upper label that claims, “No. 1 Doctor-recommended.”

Turn to the back of the bottle for the ingredients, and you will find that the top four ingredients are: 1) water; 2) sugar; 3) corn syrup; and 4) maltodextrin. Ignore the fact that my client is paying a high price for a product that primarily contains “water,” and let’s take a look at the remaining ingredients of this nutrition smoothie.

Sugar, also known as sucrose, is a processed and refined carbohydrate that, according to clinical studies, has been linked to diabetes, depression, weight gain, obesity and a variety of other health issues. Sugar is also highly acidic and forces your body to balance the acid load by leaching calcium, a non-acidic compound, from your bones, adding to your chances of developing osteoporosis and decreasing bone strength.

One of the most serious threats that sugar poses to an individual is its effect on the pancreas and liver. A high or consistent consumption of sugar can cause decreased insulin sensitivity, which is a precursor to adult-onset diabetes. It can also cause a frustrating inability to metabolize carbohydrates properly. These unused carbohydrates are eventually transferred to the liver, where they are converted into fat, and relegated to the waistline, hips, butt and anywhere else you tend to store fat.

The third ingredient in the popular nutritional smoothie is corn syrup. High fructose corn syrup is the primary sweetener in soft drinks, which is why numerous studies have connected soda consumption to weight gain and obesity. Like sucrose, corn syrup is a processed, refined carbohydrate that can decrease insulin sensitivity and can easily be converted into fat by the human body. And like sucrose, corn syrup is completely devoid of vitamins, minerals and nutritional value.

Maltodextrin is the fourth ingredient. Maltodextrin is also a processed and refined carbohydrate, and is often used by competitive cyclists, marathoners and triathletes who are burning 800-1,000 calories per hour and who need a sweet and highly dense energy source during training or competition. Ironically, in the popular nutrition smoothie, maltodextrin is featured as a supplement designed to reduce caloric intake