The Business Traveler’s Diet Problem: Staying Fit When on the RunWritten by Protica Research
Despite fact that accurate nutrition information can be accessed by almost anyone with an Internet connection or a library card, 21st century has picked up where last one left off: one dominated by poor eating habits.The reason for this national dietary deficiency is not due to any single source or kind of nutrition misinformation. Nor can it be said that a lack of interest or effort on part of health-conscious Americans is to blame. Actually, there are more health-conscious Americans than ever before. The problem of poor eating habits is not a strategic, idealistic, or tactical one it is a logistical dilemma. Americans of all ages live such busy, fast-paced lifestyles, that eating nutritious meals is seen as something of a luxury to be enjoyed on special occasions or when one rarely has a few hours to prepare a complete meal. Seldom is this healthy eating challenge more pressing, however, than for typical business traveler[i]. The second biggest source for unhealthy food in life of a typical business traveler begins at airport. The vast majority of these hubs of transit activity offer travelers a selection of fast foods or snack foods that are usually very high in carbohydrates, unsaturated fats, and loaded with calories. Yet if airport or station is second biggest source of unhealthy eating, then what is first? Without doubt, it is on airplane itself. In past, criticism levied against airline food was its sheer tastelessness and lack of variety. Yet as overall awareness of nutrition – and lack of nutrition – in some food sources has grown over past decade, a related distress has grown over nutritionally flawed food that most business travelers are subjected to while en route. Indeed, according to a study by American weight-loss program organization Nutricise[ii], average meal served by airlines in all service classes tops 1000 calories. This high number for a single meal is more than half daily total number of calories for “average eaters”. Yet this problem goes beyond calorie counting. Almost 45% of 1000+ calories in an airline meal come from fat which is a full 15% more than some experts recommend as 30% optimum daily fat-from-calorie level[iii]. In response to this challenge, some airlines are offering more eating options for business travelers, including vegetarian and vegan meals that are typically (though not always) lower in saturated fat, calories, and sodium. However, a 2003 study[iv] by Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) regrettably noted that of 10 airlines surveyed, only 1 of 10 was observed to provide easily available healthy eating choices. 3 of 10 airlines offered some degree of healthy eating options, though planning ahead was necessary -- something that is not always feasible for business travelers. The remaining 6 airlines surveyed were criticized for providing little or no effort at offering vegetarian (i.e. low-fat, low sodium, low calorie) in-flight eating options. On top of this, business travelers are faced with yet another eating challenge that those not in air are not forced to address. Whereas most people “on ground” can physically leave a restaurant or deliberately choose to purchase food that conforms to a healthy eating regimen, those “in air” are often forced to accept what they are given. Most business travelers are typically short of time and running from meetings to airports and back again. Therefore, decision to eat high-fat, high-calorie, high-sodium, and altogether unbalanced airline meal is often better than alternative of not eating at all.
| | Protein - The Denominator Customary to All DietsWritten by Protica Research
The Human Body is in a constant flux with environment. Matter and molecules flow in and out, casting themselves into its complexities. Although body lends them structure, it is intake—the diet—that decides its physique. To control what goes in a diet is to choose what stays inside. Dietary decisions reflect an awareness of metabolism and nutrients needed to modify it. There may be a host of diets purported for each activity and illness. However, one macronutrient that is invariably required, in substantial amounts irrespective of physiological state, is protein.Proteins hold this special place in every diet for a variety of reasons. They connect DNA to rest of cell and modulate all cellular functions and responses. They are scaffolds of human body that struts a billion cells. Proteins are also workers that shuffle around body relaying messages, carrying out repairs and digestion. Oxygen from lungs and many nutrients from gut are protein packed and delivered to their destination. The motors in muscles and antibodies in immune system are all proteins. If genes code life in a helix of DNA, then proteins are life in its decoded form. Their pervasiveness makes them indispensable and, protein synthesis a priority in metabolism. Add to this myriad of functions astronomical turnover rate of proteins, and continuous protein synthesis becomes vital. Every protein has a short life span and is soon broken down into its constituent amino acids. New proteins are required to take their place. The skin itself is renewed every seven days. Then there are proteins that get used up, damaged or excreted, and need to be produced again. Protein synthesis goes on at a frantic pace even in normal people. Then there are periods of rapid growth, like athletes in training, teenagers, convalescent patients, babies, pregnant or lactating mothers, where protein synthesis reaches an all time high. Proteins are broken down for other reasons as well. In times of stress, illness or starvation, body just cannot find enough sources of energy. In such circumstances, proteins are taken apart into their constituent amino acids and are used as fuel. Therefore, in all physiological states, cells are constantly at work, churning out new proteins. To maintain this obligatory and intense rate of protein synthesis, body needs a dedicated supply of amino acids. Unfortunately, unlike carbohydrates and fats that are stockpiled, human body has no arrangement to store extra amino acids. The persistent demand for proteins and amino acids has to be met anew every day and from three possible sources: cellular production, diet or breakdown of other body proteins. Of these, cellular production would be most convenient. If cell could produce all required amino acids, there would be no compulsion to provide them in diet. However, there are amino acids that just cannot be produced in body. These ‘essential amino acids’ have to come from diet.
|
