PanaFit – All Things Health & Fitness

In lieu of the grand opening of Chipotle in Kendall Square at 2 Cambridge Center (right in the heart of the square by the red line T stop, TechStars/DogPatch Labs and Champions).  This is a fantastic location for the chain and I suspect will be one of their busiest locations in the Boston/Cambridge metro area over time. [Remember, they give away free food on opening day!  Currently projected to be late June, early July]

It’s interesting to observe the 50/50 split in responses I get when I ask if people think Chipotle is healthy.  The right answer is that it can be easily, but it’s going to depend on your view of what good nutrition actually is.  I’m going to outline what to order for most people’s different nutrition philosophies, however, want to know the #1 way to make it better for you?  Don’t order a burrito, order a burrito bowl.  The tortilla is technically the only processed food in their mix and full of worthless carbs, synthetic B-vitamins, and gluten to top it off.  In addition, I won’t be recommending the fajita vegetables because they’re fried in soybean oil (Update: apparently the rice has soybean oil added to it as well.  Update 2: They’re testing “other oils”, but why? What do they think is the problem?  And what fats are they testing? Update 3: They’re testing rice bran oil and sunflower oil, I say use the High Oleic (70%) Sunflower oil if those are the only two choices, a lot less Omega-6 and more Vitamin E).

Lastly, before I go into what to order, I will say one of the best things about Chipotle is the food quality, meaning, they use hormone & antibiotic free meats, hormone free dairy in addition to locally sourced vegetables (does not imply organic at all though).

So here’s the quick answer of what I would order:

Generally Awesome Order:  Burrito Bowl with Chicken, White Rice, Black Beans, Guacamole, Sour Cream, Tomato Salsa, Green Tomatillo Salsa and Lemon (from the condiments counter)

Post Workout:  + extra serving of Steak or Carnitas, Corn Salsa, Cheese    – Sour Cream

Here are the bowls I would order for different dietary philosophies:

Paleo (Low Carb) Bowl:

Steak, Guacamole, Sour Cream, Tomato Salsa, Green Tomatillo Salsa, Lemon

Paleo 2.0 (Moderate Carb) / Perfect Health Diet / Primal Bowl:

Steak, White Rice, Guacamole, Sour Cream, Tomato Salsa, Green Tomatillo Salsa, Lemon (Add black or pinto beans if you find them acceptable and want some fiber & antioxidants)

Slow Carb from the 4 Hour Body by Tim Ferriss:

Steak, Black Beans, Pinto Beans, Guacamole, Tomato Salsa, Green Tomatillo Salsa, Lemon

Vegetarian Salad Bowl:

Lettuce, White Rice, Beans, Guacamole, Sour Cream, Cheese, Tomato Salsa, Green Tomatillo Salsa, Lemon  (do not use any of their “salad dressings”, stick to extra Tomato salsa)

Vegan Salad Bowl:

Vegetarian Salad Bowl – Sour Cream – Cheese

Fruitarian:

Guacamole (2X), Tomato Salsa, Green Tomatillo Salsa, Lemon…

Extra Recommendations:

- Some level of fat is always recommended via Guacamole or Sour Cream since that will lower the glycemic index of the meal the most and optimize nutrient absorption and protein digestion

- Lemon is always added since acids (citrus) will lower the glycemic index of the meal, although not as much as fat

- Ordering Carnitas (Pork) is a good idea since it’s actually pastured at Chipotle but mainly because it’s a high source of Selenium which most people don’t get enough of

- When ordering Chicken or Carnitas (Pork), it’s almost always best to get Guacamole as well because the Vitamin E will be protective against the higher percentage of polyunsaturated fats in those two

- I usually skip the lettuce in bowls of any kind because I think it typically waters down the taste.  You want the saltiness from the meat and salsas to really bring out the flavor

Do not Recommend:

- Chipotle’s fajita vegetables:  These are fried in soybean oil which makes them more inflammatory than the Vitamin C and Carotenoids they provide will protect against.  If you still want them though, order Guacamole to get the Vitamin E or eat some almonds with your meal

- Brown Rice:  In the Paleo world, we’ve learned about anti-nutrients such as phytate and lectins.  These can irritate the gut lining and are bound to the minerals present in the bran, thus you don’t absorb the nutrients.  So it’s better to just eat the toxin free white rice (this is the only processed grain that is deemed a “safe starch“) and get your nutrients from meat & vegetables

- Beans:  Same reason as above, beans also have anti-nutrients which can be detrimental to the gut.

- Don’t eat Chicken or Carnitas as often since they contain more polyunsaturated fats, but at least Carnitas have a good dose of Selenium

“The gamma-tocopherol form of vitamin E seems to decrease allergy-related inflammation,” Bielory says. In a study from Michigan State University, animals that were given high doses of gamma-tocopherol before breathing in heavily polluted air had less inflammation in their nasal passages than animals that weren’t given the gamma-tocopherol, he says. The dose of this form of vitamin E in the study was extremely high — you would have to drink gallons of soybean oil a day to get the same allergy relief. But using soybean oil in place of other fattier oils certainly can’t hurt.“

Dr. Cate has a great post on the evils of Canola Oil and how it’s in way more food than we realize (just like vegetable & soybean oil) and is one of the worst oils for you given it’s high trans-fat content:

“Here in the US, there is no such labeling requirement, so most consumers never learn that their bottle of “heart healthy” Canola contains as much as 5% trans fat, a percentage that goes way up when Canola is heated during cooking.”

“And since most people don’t happen to have PhDs in biochemistry, consumers don’t realize that the trans fat content is just the tip of the toxic iceberg. Trans fats are a predictable molecular product of Canola oil processing. It’s the unpredictable, randomly mutated molecular configurations that are making so many people sick.”

“How did all this trans and other distorted molecules wind up in Canola oil? From extraction and processing, that’s how. Ironically, the Canola oil that sits in the Canola seed is just fine, even healthy, as it is high in essential omega-3 fatty acids.  The processed Canola oil—extracted with heat and high pressure and the use of harsh solvents, like hexane—is, chemically speaking, an entirely different animal, a substance rendered so rancid you’d think it would stink.  That’s where the “bleaching” and deodorizing come in.”

http://drcate.com/canola-oil-the-blob-that-ate-butter-olive-oil/

Gotta love studies that eating a small amount of chocolate every day can help you stay thin.  However, the truth is that cacao does this, and so you need to be eating >= 75% cocoa chocolate.

I recommend having hot cocoa made with raw unsweetened cacao, cinnamon and a little sweetener (you’ll need it with cacao) as a great snack that picks you up, has a ton of health benefits and suppresses hunger.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120327091227.htm

This is such a great post by a world renowned heart surgeon explaining how the inflammation generated from excess sugar and polyunsaturated (Omega-6) intake is the real cause of heart disease.  Cholesterol and saturated fats have nothing to do with it:

“Simply stated, without inflammation being present in the body, there is no way that cholesterol would accumulate in the wall of the blood vessel and cause heart disease and strokes. Without inflammation, cholesterol would move freely throughout the body as nature intended. It is inflammation that causes cholesterol to become trapped.”

and…

“One tablespoon of corn oil contains 7,280 mg of omega-6; soybean contains 6,940 mg. Instead, use olive oil or butter from grass-fed beef.

Animal fats contain less than 20% omega-6 and are much less likely to cause inflammation than the supposedly healthy oils labelled polyunsaturated. Forget the “science” that has been drummed into your head for decades. The science that saturated fat alone causes heart disease is non-existent. The science that saturated fat raises blood cholesterol is also very weak. Since we now know that cholesterol is not the cause of heart disease, the concern about saturated fat is even more absurd today.

The cholesterol theory led to the no-fat, low-fat recommendations that in turn created the very foods now causing an epidemic of inflammation. Mainstream medicine made a terrible mistake when it advised people to avoid saturated fat in favor of foods high in omega-6 fats. We now have an epidemic of arterial inflammation leading to heart disease and other silent killers. “

http://www.sott.net/articles/show/242516-World-Renown-Heart-Surgeon-Speaks-Out-On-What-Really-Causes-Heart-Disease

Good quick post on Critical MAS attempting to see if Chamomile Tea helps with sleep quality.  Either way, it’s anti-estrogenic so why not have some!

http://criticalmas.com/2012/03/my-chamomile-tea-and-sleep-quality-experiment/

Since we should all be minimizing our Omega-6 intake, I thought this was a great comprehensive post on the Omega content of various foods:

http://paleozonenutrition.wordpress.com/2011/05/10/omega-6-and-3-in-nuts-oils-meat-and-fish-tools-to-get-it-right/