Tag: weightloss

Videos

Study: Overeating sugar doesn’t make you gain weight? | How high carb vegans lose weight on 3000+ calories

Miche

Happy Saturday! Today I have a video for you where I go over a scientific study on what happens when people overeat sugar. Specifically, how much sugar you can turn into fat (through de novo lipogenesis), and whether sugar makes you fat.

Study summary

This study compares lean and obese participants in terms of their de novo lipogenesis (DNL), which is the process of converting carbohydrates into fats in the body. The researchers fed people 3 diets for 4 days each: a control diet to maintain their weight, and two overfeeding diets. The participant were in a calorimeter room during these diets to measure exactly what they burned off, and their activity and rest was controlled. The control diet was a pretty normal, Western-style diet: about 50% carbs, 40% fat, and 10% protein.

In both overfeeding diets, they were overfed by 50%, half of which was fat (butter and oil added to meals), and half of which was sugar (sugary drinks). In one overfeeding diet, they were overfed with sugar in the form of glucose, and in the other diet, they were overfed sugar in the form of sucrose. There were no differences in the outcomes by the type of sugar, so I don’t talk about that in the video.

The researchers looked at what happened to the sugar especially: how much of it they burned off, how much of it they turned into fat, and how much it contributed to body fat gain. They also looked at whether fat or sugar leads to more increases in DNL, how the overfeeding diets affected insulin and blood sugar, and more. I spend most of the video going over the results, and what they mean for you!

Here’s a link to the study: https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/74/6/737/4737416

Extra science notes

Here are some notes on parts that I cut out of the video, since they’re more for people specifically interested in science!:

  • The effect of increased energy expenditure with the overfeeding diets wasn’t statistically significant, but there was a consistent increase in all 4 overfeeding groups (lean and obese, sucrose and glucose). Given the small number of subjects, it is likely this effect would be significant if more subjects were included. There are also other studies finding this increase in metabolism with increased food intake, which I plan to make another video on too! (e.g., https://www.nature.com/articles/ijo2012202)
  • Fat balance and carbohydrate balance each explained 43% of the variance in DNL. Therefore, it appears that overeating generally rather than solely carbohydrate intake may be responsible for increasing DNL.
  • The numbers on the plot are in kilojoules, which is a standard scientific unit for energy. For the video, I converted it to calories to make it more applicable. If you look at the paper yourself, note that many of the numbers are in kJ (or grams, for macronutrient balances) per 96 hours.
  • The paper was funded by sugar interests, which would be a big problem if it were the only paper showing low rates of DNL like this, or if their main goal was to show how low DNL is. Luckily, there are many other studies showing similarly low rates of DNL, but I chose this one as the example for this video because it was a nice method, published in a top nutrition journal, and made the numbers available. The main goal of this study (aka what the sugar industry wanted) was actually to test the differences between sucrose and glucose in DNL–they found no effect. Also, they focused more on how DNL doubled than how low it was, suggesting their goal wasn’t to push a low-DNL sugar agenda.
  • Here is another paper reaching the same conclusions, from Berkeley and not funded by the sugar industry: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC185982/

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Recipes

Fluffy Baked Potato Chips Recipe [Vegan]

Miche

Fluffy vegan baked potato chip recipe

Sometimes I like to make elaborate meals like my most recent strawberry shortcake recipe, but other times… I just want some potatoes. These guys are my favorite way to eat simple potatoes! They’re like a cross between chips and a baked potato—crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside, and so addictive.

And it’s so simple, I almost feel silly even calling it a recipe. I usually have them with just salt and pepper, but they can be flavored so many ways, with sauces afterwards or spices while baking! (I add a few ideas below)

Nutrition note: contrary to popular opinion, potatoes are a nutritional powerhouse! Not only are they packed with fiber and resistant starch which are both great for weight loss (see my video on resistant starch & weight loss), but they’ve got almost every nutrient you need to survive. For example, one 400 calorie meal of these potatoes would give me 20% of my daily protein needs; 10g fiber; tons of potassium, B vitamins, and vitamin C; omega 3s, and a bunch more.

Vegan fluffy baked potatoes

Ingredients:

  • 2 medium yukon gold potatoes (~300g)
  • Salt and pepper to taste (I use ~1/2 tsp seasoning salt, 1/8 tsp pepper)
  • Optional: spices to taste (can also use to replace salt): smoked paprika, taco seasoning, curry powder, chili lime seasoning, 21 seasoning salute (or other italian seasoning)

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 420 degrees F.
  2. Slice potatoes into ~1/8″ thick slices width-wise (aka, so they’re circles not ovals), as evenly as possible. The best way to do this is with a mandolin, but a knife will do!
  3. Put them in a large tupperware, add spices, and shake them around to get them evenly coated.
  4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread potato slices out in a single layer on the parchment paper with some space in between them. (Use multiple sheets if necessary)
  5. Place baking sheet(s) in oven. If you have multiple sheets, place them side by side on one rack rather than stacked on a rack above the other–you want both sheets to get full heat from the top and bottom of the oven!
  6. Bake for 18 minutes, or until there are large golden brown bubbles on top of all of the slices, like in the photos. But don’t let them get fully browned!
  7. Eat immediately, since they’re crispiest while hot!


Enjoy,

 

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Videos

Scientific Studies: Losing Weight Releases Toxins in your Blood + 6 Ways to Reduce your Pesticide Levels

Miche

Happy Monday! Today I have a video for you where I go over scientific studies on toxins: how weight loss actually raises the amount of toxins (especially pesticides) in your blood, what those toxins can do to your body and what types of symptoms they cause, and 6 science-based steps you can take to lower your pesticide levels.

Some of the symptoms & diseases that pesticides could cause:

  • Hormone imbalance (can cause endometriosis, painful periods, acne, PCOS), birth defects & infertility
  • Inflammation (can cause eczema, headaches, fatigue, indigestion, etc.)
  • Cancer
  • Brain fog & neuron loss
  • Hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism
  • Autism
  • ADHD
  • Diabetes
  • Asthma

See the video for how you can lower your toxin levels, based on science.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Weight loss & elimination study links:

Health study links:

 

Want to help me do more of this kind of research for you? I would really appreciate your support on Patreon!

Starch Solution, Videos

I’M NOT HIGH CARB LOW FAT ANYMORE? | Weight loss progress pics & advice

Miche

I’m back in action, with a diet update for you! In the video, I show you my weight loss from a high carb diet (starch solution) versus my new diet. Plus, what my new diet is & why I LOVED being high carb but it isn’t my current way of eating.

Subscribe to my channel!

Thanks for stopping by,

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Recipes

Recipe: Creamy Tofu Tikka Masala (Vegan)

Miche

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Ever since I went to college three years ago, the biggest obstacle to being 100% vegan was an Indian restaurant called Biryani house. My college town is teeming with vegan options, but this place had the absolute best food I’d ever tasted in my life. And that’s a big deal for me, because I’ve had the good fortune of eating at a lot of great restaurants.

I used to go there with friends a couple of times a month to gorge myself on their freshly baked aloo naan, perfectly spiced vegetable biryani, and most importantly, their decadent paneer tikka masala. Unfortunately, my vegan aspirations were dashed due to the fact that their tikka masala not only sported paneer (cubes of Indian cottage cheese), but was also likely drowned in heavy cream.

(Fun fact: my weight seemed to fluctuate along with how often I went there.)

When I finally got more serious about being 100% vegan last year, I had to stop going there. And as if to enforce my self-discipline, it actually closed a few weeks after my decision, for unknown reasons. A bittersweet moment.

Anyways, getting to the point: I’ve been trying to recreate that tikka masala for quite awhile now. After a few tries–all of which were delicious, but not decadent like theirs–I finally came up with a recipe that tasted almost the same. It’s creamy, spicy, much healthier than its restaurant counterpart, and most importantly, vegan. And I’m pretty darn excited about it.

Now to work on aloo naan recipes!

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Serves 4-5

Ingredients:

  • 400-500g super firm tofu (the kind that is vacuum sealed instead of water packed, and has the density of a block of cheese–I use Tofu Yu. If you can’t find that, try freezing an extra firm block then thawing it out and using it as you would super firm.)
  • 80g cashews (a little less than 3/4 cup), soaked overnight or for a few hours
  • 15oz can of plain tomato sauce
  • 1/2 white onion
  • 1-2 large cloves garlic
  • 1/2 + cup unsweetened almond or cashew milk (as needed)
  • Handful cilantro
  • 1 + 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1/2 tsp cardamom
  • 1/2 tsp coriander
  • 1/4 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne (more as desired)
  • 1/4 tsp paprika (more as desired)
  • 2 pinches of amchur powder

Directions:

1. Cut up the onion and garlic, and combine them with the tomato sauce in a large pan over medium heat. Add in the cumin, cardamom, coriander, ginger, nutmeg, cayenne, paprika, and amchur powder, and simmer for about 15 minutes.

2. While the sauce is simmering, cut your tofu into cubes, and fry until golden (I used a teaspoon of coconut oil, but you could also do it dry). Remove from heat once golden.

3. After 15 minutes, remove the sauce from heat. Allow to cool (if necessary; I didn’t have to for my vitamix) and blend with the drained cashews until smooth and creamy. Add unsweetened almond or cashew milk as needed to get it to your desired consistency.

4. Combine tofu with sauce in a serving bowl, and serve it with jasmine rice, naan, your preferred grain, or enjoy it solo!

Nutrition info: 

  • Calories per 1/5 of recipe: 230 calories
  • Carbs: 17g (3g fiber)| Protein: 15g | Fat: 13g

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Thanks for reading!

Miche

(Cross-posted from my recipe-only blog)

Recipes

Recipe: Chocolate Chip Sweet Potato Muffins (Vegan and Low Cal)

Miche

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Hello friends! Sorry about yet another hiatus. Sometimes life just gets a bit crazy: between classes and research internships and my boyfriend visiting during his spring break, I just haven’t had much computer time. But I think that can finally change during the last 6 weeks of the semester and through the summer! 🙂 Despite the blogging break, I have been uploading daily to my instagram, so feel free to keep up with my food/fitness adventures over there! (Linked in sidebar)

And now, one of my goals for this blog is recipe sharing: I have another dedicated recipe blog I post on, but I thought I’d share the more fitness-friendly ones here in case they’re useful to anyone. I’ll also post about my current fitness routine and goals soon, since I’ve been making a lot of progress in the last few weeks!

So to kick things off, I wanted to share one of my favorite new recipes, from last week: chocolate chip sweet potato muffins. They’re a tad addictive, and my omni friends were shocked that they were vegan (always my test of good vegan food). They were even more surprised when I told them they’re incredibly low cal, too! They’re my new favorite snack when I’m out and about: I’ve been bringing them to class straight from the freezer and they’re perfectly moist and thawed an hour later.

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Makes one dozen small muffins

Ingredients

  • 1 cup oat flour
  • 1/2 cup spelt flour (for gluten free, try buckwheat flour)
  • 1/2 banana
  • 250g sweet potato, baked
  • 1 cup non dairy milk (I used unsweetened soymilk)
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 tbsp maple syrup
  • 1 tbsp splenda, or sweetener of choice
  • 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 -1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp ginger
  • 1/8 tsp nutmeg

Directions

Ingredient prep: Use pre-baked sweet potato, or bake your own in the oven at 375 degrees F for around 45 minutes, or until soft. If you don’t have oat flour, make your own by grinding 1 cup of oats in a food processor–I like mine slightly course. Remove from food processor to a bowl, and set aside.

1. Combine baked sweet potato with banana, soymilk, and vanilla, and blend until smooth. Add maple syrup and sweetener, and set aside.

2. Combine the flours, baking soda and powder, salt, and spices in a medium sized bowl. Stir in chocolate chips, then add in wet ingredients and stir. If the batter is too dry, add non dairy milk until it’s at muffin-batter consistency.

3. Spoon batter into a standard sized muffin pan–it should fill one dozen cups about 2/3 full.

4. Bake at 400 degrees F for 15 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out dry. Allow to cool in pan for 15 minutes, then remove muffins to a cooling rack.

Nutrition info:

  • Calories per muffin: 90
  • Carbs: 16.5g (2g fiber)| Protein: 2.5g | Fat: 1.8g
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One with cashew butter, the other with coconut butter–both are delicious!

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Enjoy!

(This is cross-posted from my recipe only blog)