Bloated? Might be that sodium!

Its 5:30 AM and I'm sitting here at Dallas Airport on my way to the Diva Half Marathon Expo in Long Island and I am feeling pretty good, primarily due to the fact that after training 11 clients the day before and taking a red eye with no sleep, I was pleasantly surprised by a girl that worked at starbucks that asked me if I was a Mexican actor because I looked like one =) Who says you need your beauty sleep??

Ok, lets move on before my head explodes...What I really wanted to share today with you is the disturbing trend that I have been noticing being abused by the food industry.

As most of you know, the media loves to tear down the rep of fat....Fat will go right to your thighs, fat is bad, blah blah blah. Yes, too much fat is ba

d (then again too much of anything is bad right?) but did you know that fat is the most efficient source of fuel in your body and that your body could not possibly survive without enough fat. So before you go for that fat free, low calorie snack, take a closer look at the nutrition facts and you will most likely find the true enemy: SODIUM.

Besides being an incredible preservative, it has a much sought after taste that most people enjoy. Its also responsible for high blood pressure, heart disease, and bloating. Thats right, sodium retains water in the body leaving you with that bloated feeling. To add to the list, recent studies also suggest that eating too much sodium triggers sugar cravings.

And since fat is looked upon as the enemy, the food industy loves to ride that wave and take advantage of cosumers by producing more fat-free or low fat, low calorie foods and "magic" diets.

Since sodium stays out of the media, most people are not aware of its effect...but you can be sure that in that fat-free, low calorie food there is plenty of sodium to make up for the lack of everything else all while preserving the food. Its a win win situation for the food industry...they can make a product thats fat free, low calorie, all while injecting tons of sodium to still add taste so the consumer will buy.

So just keep an eye out next time you are shopping for your favorite foods. Fat free or calorie free may do more harm than good...keep an eye out for that sodium (Unless you are training for endurance events, in which case you need to replace the electrolytes/sodium lost through heavy sweating)

Moderation is key once again =)

Alright..gotta board...Stay disciplined and I'll see you at the studio!