(No Bullshit) Nutrition
(No Bullshit) Nutrition
Coffee & Sex
Appetizer — Did the title catch your eye? I hope it did. These two things have literally nothing in common, but one can lead to high cortisol levels and the other can also lead to decreased cortisol levels. ;)
Entree — Alright, as we all know, I am in PA school. Caffeine is necessary and absolutely needed. This information is not to dog on caffeine, because I am sadly addicted, but to inform you of what you should actually be drinking and how to pick the best energy drinks, coffee, green tea, etc.
Also - before I forget to mention this and before I dog on coffee/caffeine, HAPPY CHESTNUT PRALINE SEASONBABYYYYY!!
Anyways…
The FDA recommends up to 400 mg of caffeine a day is ~safe~. This is roughly the size of four brewed coffees, two/three shots of espresso, 4-5 green teas, a few scoops of preworkout, etc.
Your large coffee (venti?) at Starbs is probably 3-4 shots of espresso. Take this into account the next time you order a coffee! The “negative” side effects of insane caffeine intake include, jitters, anxiety, etc. You have probably heard these a thousand times. In reality, if you are also in school, getting caffeine jittery is not good for you. The high amount of caffeine can actually decrease testing performance, impact your sleep (which kills your performance), and overall disrupt focus.
Is there a huge difference between coffee and energy drinks? No, but you definitely look more sophisticated holding a black coffee than a red bull, I don’t make the rules. One of the main differences I could find between the two drinks is the additives in energy drinks. Your red-bulls, monster, etc, most of the time have amino acids, massive amounts of supplement in them (super unnecessary), and sometimes strange preservatives, dyes, flavorings. If you don’t check nutrition labels of the energy drinks, I recommend doing this the next time you drink one. The sugar content is insane for your small can of red-bull, or you may be getting 300% of your daily value of one of the vitamins added (which isn’t great for you?)
Another way energy drinks are typically consumed is in a fast fashion, somewhat of a “chug”, if you will. This causes a huge energy/sugar increase followed by a crash. Coffee is typically sipped (unless you chug this as well) and seems to have more mild and spread out stimulation.
Overall, if you are a die-hard energy drink person, a recommendation that I have tried and researched are the V8 energy drinks (no, they don’t taste like tomato juice). Other recommendations are moderate your intake, and slow down when consuming.
If you are a coffee person, remember that the fancy drinks you get may have your daily caffeine intake in one cup. Be mindful of these things! If you’ve had a venti espresso from starbucks, you probably should not be taking 2 scoops of preworkout at 5 pm to get you through the night.
Dessert — Things to decrease your stress/cortisol levels so you can chill the f**k out sometimes. (This list may or may not be approved by research - use at your own risk.)
Sex (if you’re into that)
Working out (you probably should be)
Reading a sm*t book ( I mean seriously can I even wait for the new fourth wing to drop?)
Maybe just reading a normal book (boo)
Drinking some water (also lame)
Sticking to a routine / schedule (necessary)
Etc.
Almost the holidays!! Keep pushing through lovely people.
Love,
Jadon
Extras:
UoPeople, W. of. (2024, June 19). Coffee vs Energy Drinks: The battle to keep you awake. University of the People. https://www.uopeople.edu/blog/coffee-vs-energy-drinks-the-battle-to-keep-you-awake/
Cleveland Clinic. (2024c, August 12). The buzz about coffee, chocolate and the caffeine we consume. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/know-whats-in-your-coffee
Commissioner, O. of the. (n.d.). Spilling the beans: How much caffeine is too much?. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/spilling-beans-how-much-caffeine-too-much
Communication, M. and. (2024, August 22). How much caffeine is too much? understanding the risks. University of Utah Health | University of Utah Health. https://healthcare.utah.edu/healthfeed/2023/08/how-much-caffeine-too-much-understanding-risks
Life Balance While in PA School
Hello and happy f**kn post midterms. Sorry I have been completely MIA on my nutrition blog, been trying to survive!! I’m gonna touch on life/stress/workouts/and how to balance it all while in school. I have successfully been working out 4-5 times a week for 45 minutes or more everyday, so here is my tips (yes, I’m just better than you duh).
Wake up early and pay someone else to force you to do it
It sucks. It totally sucks. I know it does!!! I wake up around 0430 everyday, which seems insane (and it is) but it is the only way I will workout. If I don’t get up and do it right away, I will not be doing it at all.
If you invest money into working out (and you’re cheap), then you will go to it. I get charged $10 if I skip the workout class I schedule, aka I am going to the class. If I don’t skip it, then maybe I can go get a coffee with the $10 I saved. Girl math!
Meal prep, meal prep, meal prep
I am being so freaking serious about meal prepping. You need to do it. I know it’s a lot of work, but seriously. You need to eat - especially during school.
Your brain needs at least 130 g of carbs a day to run at its highest potential, otherwise you will resort to ketones and aka not be as smart (jk but that’s what I say).
Meal prepping some carbs, protein, and healthy fats to keep you going throughout the day is sooooo important. Trying your best to not snack constantly all day, and instead eating an actual meal helps me tremendously.
Stick to your routine and schedule - aka don’t give in to peer pressure!
I try to do my best to balance around going and doing some fun things, but also maintaining my routine. I know what time I need to be in bed and what time I need to be up, and I stick to that. If that means I need to drink early-evening-drink/day-drink, so be it! I am sticking to my routine.
Sleeping and how to prioritize it
You need sleep while in a stressful time. Not only does it help you perform better in school, it will also help you with weight gain, stress levels, etc.
Sleep is CRITICAL for learning and and overall health. Please, please, please, if you take one thing out of this blog - take that sleep is going to help you way more than you think.
I always try to get ready for bed a half hour before trying to sleep. I think this helps me get in the mindset to go to sleep. This can be different for everyone! Some people enjoy drinking tea, others enjoy doing a skin care routine, whatever works!
Get an alarm clock. I got a “sunrise” alarm clock from walmart for $12 (thanks Ev!), and it is one of the best things that has ever happened to me. THink about it, you don’t roll over to turn your alarm off on your phone and then proceed to look at it for ten minutes straight, instead you can maybe leave the phone on the nightstand until you’re up and at’em.
Why you might gain weight while in an extremely stressful time
Your cortisol levels are probably insane, but that’s okay! Stress happens!! Remember that this is a season, not an entire life. Your whole life will not be this state of stress, it will all turn out okay.
Honestly, I remind myself of this daily during school. When I am so stressed that I feel sick to my stomach, I remind myself that eventually this will all be okay. Whether it be on the path that you are on now, or a different one, things will be fine. This has taken tons of weight off my shoulders by just remembering that it will all workout regardless of the outcome of school or whatever stressor you may have.
Much love,
Jadon
Health and Wellness/Motivation
Starters - Sometimes I feel as if I know very little about this body I inhabit EVERY SINGLE DAY. From all things sleep, nutrition, muscles, movement, etc, it feels like a never-ending tyrant of sh** I need to figure out. People watching bodybuilders online who are sticking a needle in their a** every other day and dreaming about looking like them is really starting to get to me. Do you take care of yourself outside of the gym? Manage the never-ending workload of stress and bullsh*t going on in your daily life. Have you eaten something other than processed food in the past 48 hours? Do you ever remember what it feels like to walk barefoot? These are all things I am stuck pondering when I start to feel like sh*t for some unknown reason.
Entree - Sometimes, people make a healthy lifestyle wayyyyy too hard and overcomplicated. It really is quite simple - eat foods that fuel you and make you feel good, sleep enough~ish that you don’t need to nap during the day, and move your body for 30 minutes (AT LEAST) in some way, shape, or form. There is no magical cure-all pill (no - Ozempic doesn’t work for this, and it will eat away at your muscles) and not eating because you take Adderall or some other form of suppressant won’t work
long-term either. You should care about your health in the same way you’d care about your closest friend. I worry about my Mom & Dad’s health more often than I should. I talk about nutrition with them consistently, but sometimes step back and say “Am I taking this advice as well?” I think about my brother (who is WAY more committed to lifting and nutrition than I am) and how he is very determined toward a goal when he sets it. His goal this summer is to drop down to 10% body fat (idk what the he** anyone would ever do this for), but he’s so committed to this goal that even I scoff sometimes. Commitment to your body and goals is TOUGH, it is HARD. No one is going to do the hard work for you.
Dessert - Take your own advice. Start investing in your own health and take a careful step back if you realize that you maybe don’t take as great care of yourself as you should. Pay attention to how you feel every day and if you feel like sh**, do something about it. Don’t complain to me, your mom, your friend, or whoever else. Get yourself together and really try to implement some changes instead of trying to walk the easy path. I know this post wasn’t debunking or anything crazy, but I just wanted this information on the blog somewhere. Food for thought: Implementing healthy habit changes takes WORK a lot of people are scared to put in.
Your favorite semi-motivational writer,
Jadon
Calorie Deficits/Surplus — What Do They Mean?
Starter - Do you ever hear these fancy fitness people talking about being on a cut/bulk? What about being in a deficit/surplus? Do you ever sit there and wonder wtf these people are talking about in regard to why you need to eat so much more protein than you thought? What are you really supposed to do?
Entree - What is a calorie deficit? A calorie deficit simply means you are burning more calories than you are consuming. A prolonged calorie deficit will cause weight loss. “A daily 500-calorie deficit should allow you to lose about a pound a week — and possibly even a bit more” (Cleveland Clinic)
What is a calorie surplus? A caloric surplus means you are eating more calories than you are consuming (funny how deficit/surplus are just opposites, right ;). A prolonged calorie surplus will cause weight gain. How do I figure out what my calorie surplus/deficit numbers need to be? Using the “Mifflin St. Jeor Equation”. Here is an example of one I find useful:
https://reference.medscape.com/calculator/846/mifflin-st-jeor-equation
The Mifflin St. Jeor equation will calculate your resting metabolic rate (RMR), which would be how many calories you need in a day to simply be alive. The calculator above will then take your activity factor (how often you work out and to what extent) into the equation and calculate what you need on a day-to-day with working out. Overall, just use the calculator and follow what it says, because it is right. Using the range that it will calculate for you, it will show how many kcal you need to be in a deficit (because this is what most people are after lol).
When people talk about body recomping, what does this mean? I am so glad you asked because I wondered the same thing about 2 years ago when the hype on Instagram was “recomping”. It essentially means losing fat at the same time as you gain muscle or turning fat(fuel) into muscle in the body. This is a big “hype word”, but, essentially, if you are taking care of yourself and lifting weights while also eating a healthy diet, this is probably happening to you all the time. You don’t need to do anything special to achieve this, just eat a normal amount that doesn’t have you gaining or losing a bunch of weight and keeps you stable, and VOILA!
Dessert - How long does this sh*t take? A while. Changes in your body take time and commitment. Don’t ever fall for the miracle “LOSE 20 POUNDS IN TWO WEEKS!” type of headline, because healthy weight loss/gain does NOT look like that. I will expand more on fad diets in later blogs (examples: carnivore, keto, 1200 kcal, vegan, dairy/gluten/whatever else free, etc.) Overall, I hope this information is easily digestible and allows you a deeper look into the crap that gets posted online.
With Love,
Jadon
Useful Links:
Cleveland Clinic. (2024a, June 27). What is calorie deficit?
https://health.clevelandclinic.org/caloriedeficit
Cleveland Clinic. (2024, July 1). What’s all the buzz about “body recomposition”?
https://health.clevelandclinic.org/bodyrecomposition
Mifflin MD, St Jeor ST, Hill LA, Scott BJ, Daugherty SA, Koh YO.
A new predictive equation for resting energy expenditure in healthy individuals.
Am J Clin Nutr. 1990;51(2):241-7. doi:10.1093/ajcn/51.2.241.
Collagen Supplementation — Does It Work or Not?
Let’s just start by saying STOP BUYING COLLAGEN POWDER. Once collagen is broken down, the food you consume cannot “fix” or “rebuild” it. It is a BS supplement that is made to make you spend unnecessary money on an unnecessary supplement. (It is also RIDICULOUSLY expensive compared to average protein powder.)
Starters - “Collagen accounts for 30% of your body’s protein. It provides structure, and support/strengthens your skin, muscles, bones, and connective tissues. “Scientific research is lacking for most collagen supplements, but a well-balanced diet gives your body the raw ingredients it needs to help it make collagen naturally.” (Cleveland Clinic). Alright, so you’ve seen it from the experts, now let’s hear it from me (the total non-expert).
Entree - STOP BUYING COLLAGEN “PROTEIN” POWDER… unless this is your preferred protein powder, just stop. Collagen supplementation essentially does ~nothing~ for you, and you essentially now have expensive pee. Congrats!
Let’s consider how the body actually structures collagen. Collagen is the most abundant source of protein floating around in your system. Collagen builds your skin, bones, tendons, ligaments, and connective tissue. In simpler terms, connective tissue connects and supports the body. Proteins (collagen) are made from amino acids. Collagen is made up of proline, glycine, and hydroxyproline (don’t worry about this if you don’t know what the f*** those are).
How do influencers prey on our lack of intelligence? They KNOW that most people, as they age, start to see fine lines/wrinkles, aching joints, muscle loss, etc. What better way than to capitalize on the loss of someone’s “youthfulness”, than to try and sell them a quick fix?! Your body naturally produces less collagen as you age, this IS a fact. Drinking a fancy supplement will do NOTHING to fix this. Collagen cannot *FOOT STOMP* CANNOT be absorbed by your body in its whole form. The body will break down this “collagen” into amino acids (fancy words) mentioned above. This can support the amino acid levels in your body, but will do nothing to help “rebuild” collagen in the body. (The AA will go wherever they are needed).
Some things that ACTUALLY help with collagen loss - sunscreen (less exposure to UV light) and a well-balanced diet (shocker, I know), top the list. Consuming healthy amounts of Vitamin C, Proline, Glycine, Copper, and Zinc can aid in the digestion and breakdown of collagen into the respective amino acids. Collagen treatments by dermatologists or plastic surgeons are also a part of this group.
Dessert - (Overall best part/most remembered part of the meal) Collagen cannot be directed to where you want the proteins to be used (example - wrinkles on your forehead). Most companies funding the “research” that claims it can spot-treat your wrinkles are paid off by the companies making the collagen. Your favorite influencer (who is probably not a research scientist) is getting paid commissions to promote total bullsh**. The research proves it is not significantly reducing signs of aging by erasing the look of wrinkles and fine lines on our bodies. I hope this information is easily digestible and allows you a deeper look into the crap that gets sold online.
Best Wishes!
- Jadon
Citations:
Collagen: What it is, types, function & benefits. Cleveland Clinic. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/23089-collagen
Links to more information:
Henry Ford Health Staff. (n.d.). The truth about collagen supplements: Are they really effective?. Henry Ford Health - Detroit, MI. https://www.henryford.com/blog/2023/07/the-truth-about-collagen-supplements
Payal Patel, M., & Maryanne Makredes Senna, M. (2023, April 12). Considering collagen drinks and supplements?. Harvard Health. https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/considering-collagen-drinks-and-supplements-202304122911
Introduction
Hi! I’m Jadon (Kate’s coolest older~ish cousin). I’m going to be discussing all things nutrition, wellness, and overall health.
Starters - similar to an appetizer, but with a simpler name. I feel slightly educated after studying nutrition in my undergraduate and heading into the never-ending realm of medicine that a Physician’s Assistant (PA) can work in.
Finding your niche is fun, but scary in a way that makes you feel uneducated on a topic you feel you should know.
Entree - the bulk of the meal, the meat and potatoes, the heavier foods, etc. There are many topics I’m planning to cover, including supplements (specifically collagen, protein, and vitamins), calorie deficit/surplus/maintenance, building muscle and “toning”, and how to overall un**ck your brain from thinking that influencers on social media are telling the truth.
If you have ever believed an IG influencer who says “This debloat drink works wonders for me and keeps my stomach flat all day!”, and it is a green powder you put in water *shakily raises hand*… this section of Nonsense2cents is for you (because congrats, you most likely drank a light laxative with food coloring).
Dessert - I hope this information will help you feel less alone in getting roped into the never-ending land of fake information that is online. The most influential part of our lives is our “diet”, in my opinion. Your diet can be the food you eat, the media you consume, or how you are moving your body overall. I look forward to getting into detail about topics that set the media into a frenzy with research-based facts and no BS.
Looking forward: “Collagen supplements, are they beneficial or not?”