F.A.Q.

Fruit & Vegwhat is meant by „5 a day“ ?

What is meant by „5 a day“ ?

Fruit and veg are the most promising source for vitamins and minerals, fibre and further active plant ingredients such as antioxidants. With 5 servings per day (approx.. 600g) you get an adequate amount of these nutrients. A good variety in your choices (make sure you cover every colour), fresh and freshly prepared foods is vital to cover all your needs.

How much fruit & veg is one serving?

One serving equals the volume of your clenched fist.

For kids this is about 70 g of veggies or 100 g of fruit (= 510 g/​day), adults should be consuming 120 g of fruit & veg (= 600 g/​day). This is only the edible part, after peeling etc.

What’s better: raw or cooked?

A healthy diet includes both, raw and cooked fruit and veg. There some loss of vitamins duet to heat in the cooking process (e.g. vitamin C or folic acid). On the other hand, steaming or cooking your veggies increases the bio availability of other active ingredients (e.g. beta carotene or lycopene).

Raw is essential to cover your need of heat-sensitive vitamins, hence it’s recommended to consume 1 serving of your daily 5’s raw.

What about frozen fruit or veg?

Nowadays you’ll find plenty of fruit and veg in the frozen food aisle in your grocery store. Technology in the production process of frozen food is quite amazing. It takes only a couple of minutes from harvesting to freezing. This assures that the fruit and veg is super fresh and full of valuable nutrients – often better than what you find in the fresh produce section. Careful though: much of the frozen products contain sauces and spice blends that have no only favourable ingredients. Make sure to buy only natural „no-nonsense“ ones.

Reference: (5 a day, SGE, BLV):

Why is iron deficiency such a prevalent thing and why should active people make sure to avoid it by all means?

Among the many different roles iron plays in our, its part in the creation of red blood cells is most important. The red colour comes from haemoglobin – a molecule that binds oxygen and transports it in the blood stream. binds oxygen and transports it in the blood stream. Iron deficiency thus impairs the oxygen transport capacity of the blood and directly leads to performance losses and fatigue.

Our body cannot build iron and need to source it only through our diet. The net requirement is about one to three milligramms. We need to eat much more iron than this tiny ammount. Our body can only use about 10% of the iron intake.

Athletes often show higher iron losses through sweating, regularly heavy impact on the sole of the foot or prolonged training at altitude.

The recommended daily intake (RDI) for females is 15mg and for males 10mg. Women have higher needs because of increased losses in menses. These amounts are generally sufficient for athletes as well. Some situations or individual differences in iron uptake can increase the RDI, e.g. very high iron losses through sweating or regularly heavy impact on the sole of the foot or prolonged training at altitude.

To prevent iron deficiency you should be aware of a few points:

Haem-iron (from anima sources) is better available for humans than non-haem iron (plant-based). Very good iron sources are red meat or liver.

Good plant-based sources are legumes (lentils, soy), nuts and seeds (pistachios, sunflower seeds), veggies and herbs (parsley, cress, onions).

Dairy contains only little iron hence meat and veggies are to be preffered.

Convenience food often contains substances that lower iron uptake. Hence fresh produce or clean frozen foods are better.

While vitamin C improves iron uptake, Dilluted fruit juice helps to boost iron uptake

coffee, tea, milk, cocoa, Coke or red wine decreases it. These drinks should thus not be consumed with a meal.

References:
Schweizerisches Rotes Kreuz, Ernährung, Blutspenderatgeber

Animal protein, vegetarian or vegan – what is the healthiest diet?

What diet you choose has become much more than just a question of health and status. Moral, environmental, societal and ethical aspects have gained increasing importance in this discussion. Here, I only cover nutritional aspects and refrain from any other ways of judging this.

From an evolutionary standpoint it is safe to say that our body (digestive system from teeth to stomach and gut) is geared to have a mixed diet of animal foods (meat, dairy, eggs) and plants.

In fact, it doesn’t really matter from what sources we get our nutrients as long as we cover our needs in ample sufficiency.

When we totally get rid of all animal food sources in our diet (i.e. vegan) we increase the risk of nutrient deficiencies a lot, since bio availability and nutrient-density of certain nutrients is far lower:

Proteins (essential amino acids)
it takes a thoroughly combined blend of plant-based proteins to cover the amount and quality of amino acids – especially for active people. to cover the amount and quality of amino acids – especially for active people. By combining ideal sources, the protein-score can be raised.

Omega‑3 fatty acids(Ω‑3)
They play a key role in preventing inflammations in our body and support our immune system. Plant-foods contain less of the Omega-3s. They are good in reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases and other inflammatory illnesses. Animal foods such as dairy, fatty fish, grass-fed beef are good Omega‑3 sources.

Vitamin B12

Meat or liver contains a lot of vitamin B12 (cobalamin), followed by fish, cheese or eggs. By cutting all sorts of animal foods from your diet, you hardly get enough cobalamin without using any supplements. cheese or eggs. By cutting all sorts of animal foods from your diet, you hardly get enough B12 without using any supplements.

Vit D3

Actually this is more a hormone than a vitamin. Our skin produces it from cholesterol under sufficient sunshine exposure. Animal food sources (D3) are more effective than their plant-based counterparts (containing a less effective form, D2 ).

The compliance in using sun screen is a major cause for increasing numbers in vitamin D deficiencies. More and more research finds out the relevance of this vitamin, also in the recent Covid-19 pandemic, where it seems that a lack of this vitamin increases the risk of acquiring the virus and suffering from more severe symptoms.

Iron, Calcium, Zinc, Selenium
These minerals occur in lesser amounts in plants a/​o with a lower bioavailability.

Nutrient deficiencies rarely manifest very immediate and only show over time. Cutting out certain foods from your diet should lead to increased awareness, diligence and monitoring of your nutritional status.

Cutting out certain foods from your diet should lead to increased awareness, diligence and monitoring of your nutritional status. A vegetarian diet (including dairy, eggs and maybe even fish) proves less complicated to cover all dietary needs.

Summary:
With an omnivore, mixed & balanced diet, we have the least risk to suffer from nutrient defficiencies. This on itself doesn’t guarantee though, that we are talking about a healthy diet. This is where most studies fall apart, claiming vegatrians /​vegans eat healtiher. It’s almost impossible to compare these diets like for like. A long-term comparison with equally energy balance and nutrient intake would be necessary.

In my own humble opinion, I think it’s key that if you eat animal proteins, it’s necessary to make sure that they come from a animal-friendly source. That makes those products more expensive, but is non-negotiable to me. I am really keen about these ethical aspects. And often times it is that fairly produced products also are of a better quality.

References (SGE):

Which oils are best to use in the kitchen?

Oils differ largely in their nutritional value and aptitude for use in the hot or cold kitchen. Oil from plants with a balanced fatty acid pattern and a high content of omega‑3 fatty acids are of highest nutritional value (e.g. canola, walnut, flaxseed, wheatgerm). Apart from that we need to know which oil to chose for what purpose, because not every healthy oil is suitable for high temperatures. The following list gives a brief recommendation.

  • Cold kitchen(e. g. salad dressings, for adding flavour): canola, extra-vergine olive oil walnut, pumpkin, flaxseed, Chia, hemp.
  • low-med temperatures poaching, steaming, slow cooking): canola, olive (refined), sunflower.
  • High temperatures (frying): high-oleic canola, HO-sunflower
  • Baking (cakes, pizza): butter, margarine, canola, olive
  • Spreads: Butter, Margarine

Reference: Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Ernährung

Is low-carb a better, healthier diet than a balanced macronutrient ratio?

According to all sorts of media buzz, low-carb is the only way to be lean, healthy and perform well. Spoiler alert: I strongly doubt that. I strongly doubt it. As a matter of fact, the way we compose our diet with the three macronutrients (i.e. carbohydrate, fat, protein) strongly depends to our lifestyle. To explain briefly: carbs are the main source of energy for activity of increased intensity. While we are rather passive, working in an office (seated) or at very low intensities, such as doing groceries, talking a casual walk etc. we can burn fat as source of energy. That brings us to the practical conclusion: people choosing a very inactive lifestyle benefit from a low-carb approach.

Their metabolism remains healthier if they don’t eat too many carbs and consume healthy fats. Yet, there is a big BUT – punt unintended: people that choose not to move much at all are creating a very subpar environment for their health anyway! people that choose not to move much at all are creating a very subpar environment for their health anyway!

But back to the carb-question: for active people or even athletes it’s well worth eating 4560% of their total energy from carbs. That’s not a all-access pass to Candyland! Not all carbs are equal. Include healthy carbs (starchy, fibre-rich) foods in your meals regularly and limit sugary treats.

Shortly before, during or after activity “fast carbs” are the way to go (stabilizing your blood sugar levels, increasing a sustained effort and adding to your recovery).

For elite level athletes we chose a periodized approach for carbs over the course of a season, where there are times with a high amount of carbs and intentionally created situations where carbohydrate availability is low. This is done to boost training stimuli and increase performance when the gun goes off.

The low-carb movement comes from the weight-loss industry a/​o fitness realm. While images of heavily shredded physiques are stunning, the process to get there is often not sustainable a/​o healthy. While images of heavily shredded physiques are stunning, the process to get there is often not sustainable a/​o healthy.

For an athlete it is important to know the relevant aspects to perform well in a sport and those might differ from a purely visual appeal. I want to support my clients for sustainbale progress and not just a beauty fix. It’s great that the current fitness trend led people from 1550 to be more active. But behold of the power of social media. Distorted realities and unrealistic goals can be a poisonous motivation. Those who are after max-shredded physiques support a low-carb diet, since this helps to carve out the last bit of (healthy) body fat and retained water.

But this is not the health-benefitting way and not suitable to max out your sports performance.

Last but not least: within very ambitious physique-goals there is an increasing use in banned substances (Anabolics, growth hormones, diuretics, amphetamines). These are no joke and banned not only if you compete in a WADA-sanctioned sport!!! HANDS OFF!

References:

Protein-enriched foods – how much is enough?

Grocery stores are packed with protein-enriched foods. Cereals, dairy, soups – you name it. The questions needs to be asked: are we getting not enough protein in our diet? The average Swiss consumes enough protein.

There are two age groups that consume slightly not enough that consume slightly not enough (teens and people >70 years of age)

The individual need is influenced by one’s activity and lean body mass. Physical activity and a large muscle mass increases the protein need, because this tissue is constantly rebuilt are even expanded through proper training. Amino acids, the building blocks of protein, are put together in our body to form all sorts of tissues – among others, muscles. Maintaining or building muscle mass hence needs protein.

A moderately active person should consume 11.4g/kg. With individuals who are very active, this goes up to 1.62g/kg. Men should consume more than women, for their higher lean body mass. Higher protein consumption gives you not an incremental benefit.

Recent research shows that not only the actual amount, but also the way how protein is spread out through the day (and night) is important to achieve the best results. is important to achieve the best results.

Conclusion:
Protein-enriched products are not superior to “normal” food. They can help to achieve desired consumption, but are not a magic bullet. It is best to eat a healthy, mixed diet throughout the day and to choose real food first before relying on supplements.

References:

What do I need to eat to gain muscle mass?

First comes the right training (intensity, amount)to initiate anabolic processes.

On the nutri­tion side, building lean body mass take protein and energy. The exact amount of protein depends on the individual, but for athletes it is somewhere between 1.52g per kilogram body weight per day.

Getting in enough protein is rarely the bottle neck. Most athletes underestimate the amount (i.e. surplus!) of energy they need to consume to really build muscle, which can be hard with an already high energy need with all the training. Consuming more energy than what they burn often scares athletes, because they think they get fat. Striking the right amount is the secrete ingredient here.

References: