Q. How much sugar should I be eating in a day?
A. Americans eat their weight in sugar each year. Most of the excess sugar ingested is hidden in processed foods. The nutrition facts panel on packages is required to label the sugar content in grams. Here is a quick and easy way to convert grams into teaspoons. 1 teaspoon of sugar weighs 4 grams. So if a product has 40 grams of sugar, 40 divided by 4 = 10 teaspoons of sugar.

Q. What's the difference between Lite, Low, Reduced and Free.
A. Calorie-free A serving contains less than 5 calories. Low-calorie A serving contains no more than 40 calories. Cholesterol-free A serving contains less than 2 mg. cholesterol and 2 g. or less saturated fat. Low-cholesterol A serving contains no more than 20 mg. of cholesterol and 2 g. of saturated fat. Reduced cholesterol A serving contains at least 25 percent less cholesterol than a similar product and 2 g. or less saturated fat. Fat-free A serving contains less than 0.5 (1/2) g. of fat. Low-fat A serving contains no more than 3 g. fat. Low-saturated fat A serving contains no more than 1 g. saturated fat. Reduced fat A serving contains at least one-third less fat than the same amount of a similar product. Lean Cooked meat, poultry or seafood contains less than 10 g. total fat, less than 4.5 g. saturated fat and less than 95 mg. of cholesterol per 100 grams. Extra lean Cooked meat, poultry or seafood contains less than 10 g. total fat, less than 4.5 g. saturated fat and less than 95 mg. of cholesterol per 100 grams. Light or Lite A serving contains one-third fewer calories or 50 percent less fat than a similar product. If more than half the calories are from fat, fat must be reduced by 50 percent or more. Sodium-free A serving contains less than 5 mg. sodium. Low-sodium A serving contains no more than 140 mg. sodium. Very low-sodium A serving contains no more than 35 mg. sodium.

Q. Is it true that carbohydrates make a person fat?
A. If you eat more calories than you expend, then anything can be stored as fat - protein, fat or carbohydrate.

Q. Do protein drinks build muscle?
A. No, appropriate exercise and adequate nutrition build muscle.

Q. Should I try to cut all fat out of my diet?.
A. No. Dietary fat calories should never dip below 10 percent of total caloric intake. Dietary fat carries necessary fat soluble vitamins & essential fatty acids.

Q. Is it true that eating carbohydrates, or any food at night, causes weight gain?
A. No. The body does not have an enzyme with a clock that stores items as fat after 7pm. If the daily caloric intake allows for fat loss or maintenance and is spread throughout a 24-hour period you will not gain weight. Excess calories make you fat.

Q. Is excess protein stored as fat?
A. It depends on the total caloric intake. Any calories above maintenance (excluding the addition needed to add LBM) are stored as fat.

Q. How old do I have to be before I should start using creatine and other supplements?
A. Somewhere between eighteen (18) and twenty (20) is generally a good age to begin using supplements like creatine. On the other hand, supplements like multivitamin/mineral supplements, meal replacements products, or protein supplements could be safely be used earlier to fill in the gaps in a less than optimal eating plan. In general, although it’s better to get nutrients from food, getting a nutrient in supplemental form is still better than not getting it at all.

Q. What is the difference between calories and kilocalories?
A. The "calorie" we refer to in food is actually kilocalorie. 1 kilocalorie is the same as 1 Calorie (upper case C). A kilocalorie is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water one degree Celsius.

Q. What is a "healthy diet"?
A. A "healthy diet" is one that provides enough of each essential nutrient, contains a variety of foods from all of the basic food groups, provides adequate energy to maintain a healthy weight, and does not contain excess fat, sugar, salt or alcohol.

Q. What are RDA's and DRI's?
A. From 1941 to 1989, the Institute of Medicine's Food and Nutrition Board (FNB) released the Recommended Dietary Allowances or RDA's. The RDA's are a single set of nutrient specific values. During deliberations in the mid- 1990's the FNB decided to replace this single set of values with multiple sets of values, including : Estimated Average Requirements (EAR), Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA), Adequate Intakes (AI), and Tolerable Upper Intake Levels, (UL) for designated age groups, physiologic states, and by sex. These values are collectively referred to as the Dietary Reference Intakes, or DRI's.

Q. What is Trans Fat?
A. Basically, trans fat is made when manufacturers add hydrogen to vegetable oil--a process called hydrogenation. Hydrogenation increases the shelf life and flavor stability of foods containing these fats. Trans fat can be found in vegetable shortenings, some margarines, crackers, cookies, snack foods, and other foods made with or fried in partially hydrogenated oils. Unlike other fats, the majority of trans fat is formed when food manufacturers turn liquid oils into solid fats like shortening and hard margarine. A small amount of trans fat is found naturally, primarily in dairy products, some meat, and other animal-based foods. Trans fat, like saturated fat and dietary cholesterol, raises the LDL cholesterol that increases your risk for CHD. Americans consume on average 4 to 5 times as much saturated fat as trans fat in their diets. Although saturated fat is the main dietary culprit that raises LDL, trans fat and dietary cholesterol also contribute significantly.

Q. Do Dietary Supplements Contain Trans Fat?
A. Some dietary supplements contain trans fat from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil as well as saturated fat or cholesterol? It's true. As a result of the FDA's new label requirement, if a dietary supplement contains a reportable amount of trans or saturated fat, which is 0.5 gram or more, dietary supplement manufacturers must list the amounts on the Supplement Facts panel. Some dietary supplements that may contain saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol include energy and nutrition bars.

Q. Are organic fruits and vegetables better for you?
A. Organic fruits and vegetables will limit your exposure to pesticides. However, organic produce tends to be much pricier than conventional produce, and may not be any more nutritious than conventional fruits and vegetables. To get a better dollar value for organic fruits and vegetables, try growing your own, finding a cooperative, or buying from a local farmer. New food labeling guidelines required by the U.S. Department of Agriculture will help you determine if a fruit or vegetable was grown organically.

Q. What should I look for in purchasing a multivitamin?
A. Look for a multivitamin that has 100% of the Dietary Reference Intakes for most vitamins. Be careful of supplements that have greater than 200% or 300% of the DRI, and in especially cautious of ones that have 1000% of the DRI. In such large does, you will excrete out what you don't need for water-soluble vitamins such as vitamin C, and may experience liver damage or other toxic side effects for large doses of fat-soluble vitamins, such as vitamin A.