Novidade no mercado, iogurte grego tem mais gordura que o tradicional

Recém-chegado às gôndolas dos supermercados –e forte candidato a virar mania– o iogurte grego tem até o dobro de calorias e três vezes mais gordura que o iogurte tradicional.

Um pote (100 g) do produto da marca Vigor tem 5,1 gramas de gordura saturada e 151 calorias, contra 1,3 grama de gordura e 58 calorias do tipo natural da mesma marca. Já o da Nestlé tem 113 calorias contra 74 do tradicional (sempre considerando a porção de 100 gramas), e quase a mesma quantidade de gordura.

As marcas lançaram campanhas neste mês divulgando as vantagens do iogurte, que já é velho conhecido nos Estados Unidos e na Europa. As principais diferenças em relação ao tradicional são a consistência mais firme e a menor acidez. “É como se fosse concentrado”, diz a nutricionista Cynthia Antonaccio, da Equilibrium Consultoria.

Editoria de Arte/Folhapress

O que garante a textura diferente é a gordura –o da Vigor tem creme de leite na fórmula. E todos já vêm adoçados, com açúcar mesmo.

“É um iogurte pesado”, afirma a nutricionista Lucyanna Kalluf, especialista em nutrição funcional. Para ela, a novidade só tem desvantagens. “Por ser um derivado lácteo, presume-se que seja saudável. Mas duas porções por dia desse iogurte são 300 calorias. Socorro.”

Para quem está de dieta, nem pensar. “Compensa muito mais tomar um copo de leite magro e comer uma fatia de queijo branco. Dá mais saciedade”, complementa.

O iogurte grego está sendo vendido em embalagens de 100 gramas, enquanto o tradicional vem em potes de 170 gramas ou 200 gramas. “Fizeram potes pequenos para o consumidor não assustar com o total de calorias”, opina a nutricionista Daniela Jobst.

“Tem que tomar cuidadoporque, em comparação com o normal, só aumenta o que é ruim: açúcar e gordura. E é a pior gordura que tem [a saturada], de origem animal.”

O novo iogurte pode, entretanto, funcionar para matar a vontade de comer doce. “Às vezes, a pessoa come algo light e acha que não comeu nada. Esse produto deve ajudar a segurar a onda, e é fonte de cálcio e de proteína”, afirma a nutricionista Antonaccio.

GORDO, MAS GOSTOSO

Por meio de nota, a Nestlé informou que o iogurte grego faz parte de uma nova categoria, “voltada para quem busca como principais atributos sabor e textura”. O produto não é vendido como sendo de baixa caloria, lembra.

A Vigor disse que sua proposta “é oferecer um produto superior do ponto de vista de cremosidade e sabor”. Segundo a nota, toda a gordura do iogurte vem do creme de leite, “que garante a textura”.

Fonte: http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/equilibrioesaude/1158487-novidade-no-mercado-iogurte-grego-tem-mais-gordura-que-o-tradicional.shtml

Healthy Recipe of the day!

Sugar-Free Snow Pudding

Snow pudding is light, delicious, and has almost no carbs, fat, or calories. It was one of my favorite special desserts as a child, only without the sugar. It is traditionally served with custard sauce. Raspberry sauce is good, too. You can also substitute lime juice for the lemon, or use some of each.

Ingredients:

• 1 Tablespoon plain gelatin powder with 1/4 cup cold water
• 1 Cup boiling water
• Natural sweetener to equal a cup of sugar (Liquid Stevia is best)
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 3 egg whites

Preparation:

1. Mix the gelatin with the cold water in a large mixing bowl. Let sit for about 2 minutes to soften.

2. Add boiling water and stir to dissolve.

3. Add sweetener and lemon juice. Place uncovered in refrigerator to cool. Stir every 10 minutes or so, until it begins to thicken (this could take up to an hour). My mother’s recipe says the spoon should “leave a trail” when you stir it, but if the mixture is obviously thickening, it works.

4. With mixer on high, beat gelatin mixture until fully frothy, 1 to 2 minutes. A whisk attachment helps. You can use a regular whisk, but be prepared for some arm exercise!

5. Add egg whites and beat until stiff (soft peaks are good enough if they hold their shape fairly well). This might be another 2 to 5 minutes, so keep checking. Leave in bowl or transfer to another bowl or mold. Refrigerate — you can serve it any time, but it will set up well in about 15 minutes.

Serve with custard sauce, or defrost some frozen raspberries and sweeten to taste – this makes a nice sauce.

Nutritional Analysis:Each of 8 servings has (drum roll) about half a gram of carb and 11 calories. Raspberry sauce made from 1/4 cup frozen raspberries (no sugar added) adds 2 grams usable carbs and 2 grams fiber. Custard sauce adds about the same.

Source: http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/desserts/r/snowpudding.htm

What happens when you’re not eating ENOUGH calories?

When most people start dieting, they slash their calories and add a large amount of exercise to their daily routine. That’s fine, but they usually cut their calories way too low. Add in the extra exercise, and all of a sudden you have an extreme calorie deficit that is working against you.

Not eating enough calories causes many metabolic changes. Your body is a smart machine and senses a large decrease in dietary energy. Your large calorie deficit might work for a few days or even weeks, but eventually your body will wake up and sound alarms that it needs to conserve energy. It doesn’t want to just waste away. It needs that energy (fat) to survive. So, what does your body do when it senses prolonged energy restriction? Not eating enough calories…

• Slows down thyroid production – Your thyroid is responsible for fat, carbohydrate, and protein metabolism among other things. Your body has the ability to slow down thyroid output in an effort to maintain energy balance [1].

• Decreases muscle mass – Muscle is highly calorie intensive to maintain. In a prolonged extreme calorie deficit, it is one of the first things that your body looks to get rid of. Your body needs the fat, wants the fat, and the muscle can be spared. It breaks down the muscle tissue and uses it for energy.

• Lowers testosterone levels – An important hormone for both men and women,testosterone is just one of many hormones that are affected with severe calorie restriction[2]. Testosterone is anabolic to muscle tissue. Without it, it becomes that much harder to maintain, let alone put on muscle mass.

• Decreases leptin levels – Leptin is one of many energy regulating hormones. More importantly, it’s a “hunger” hormone that tells you whether to eat or not. High leptin levels signal that it’s OK to stop eating, while low leptin levels are a signal to eat more energy. Because of this, leptin levels decrease in calorie restricted environments [3].

• Decreases energy levels – There are many physical actions your body takes when you’re not eating enough calories to lose weight, but there are also some mental ones. Neurotransmitter production is limited, which can lead to a lack of motivation. It’s your body’s way of telling you to “slow down” – conserve your energy.

How Many Calories Should You Be Eating?

Your goal should be to eat as many calories as possible and still lose weight. You always want to start high and then come down with your calorie intake. It’s much easier to do this than come up in calories after your weight loss has stalled and you’ve lost all your motivation. How many calories should you eat? There is no perfect number. Each person’s metabolism is different. Calorie calculators are a good starting point, but they can’t take into account all the individualistic variables.

To do that, you need to find your calorie intake either through:

• Experimentation – I laid out a plan to determine this number in – How Many Calories Should I Eat? You might want to give it a read.

• Measure it with a device – I personally use the BodyMedia FIT Armband to determine my calorie burn. You can read more about it here. I’ve found it to be accurate within a 10% margin of error.

The problem is most people want the weight gone, and they want it gone now. Weight loss is a patience game. It takes time and consistency to make it work. Losing 2lbs per week is the most I would aim for. At this pace, it will ensure that the majority of your weight loss is coming from stored body fat instead of muscle. You will also give yourself the best chance to build muscle while you lose fat, which is what you should be striving to do. To find out what portion of your weight loss is fat and what portion is muscle, I highly recommend you pick up a $5 pair of body fat calipers to measure your body composition. It will make weight loss much easier if you can hold onto your muscle, or even put some on in the process.

So if your progress has stalled, but you think you’re eating the right foods and exercising intensely, more than likely your problem is that you’re not eating enough calories to lose weight. Eat as much as you can, get in as many nutrients as possible, and your weight loss will start moving forward again.

Reference: http://www.coachcalorie.com/not-eating-enough-calories-to-lose-weight/