Do you have questions about nutrition? Send them to us at comer@lavanguardia.es, our nutritionist Aitor Sánchez will solve all your doubts.
Hello Aitor. If in the same weekend I have dined three times away from home and not too healthy (fast food predominates), will it affect my health and weight a lot? Or if the rest of the week as well nothing happens? (Helena MartÃnez, reader)
Hello Helena,
It will depend a lot on how those meals have finally been. Especially for the issue of gaining or not weight, since it is very dependent on the energy that is being consumed at that time.
There are cases of patients in which the weekend can stop all the good work they are doing during the week, and other cases where the weekend can be a good time to transgress and do different things up to within a limit that we we want to brand ourselves.
The important thing will be that our week in general is healthy and above all I would recommend avoiding approaches that are all or nothing. For example, if you are going to eat out at places with unhealthy food, it is not necessary to change to healthy establishments. Sometimes changing a few things, such as drinking less alcoholic beverages or soft drinks, may be enough. Another good guideline if we are going to be eating out many times during the weekend, is to change the snacks and the garnishes: French fries are not mandatory, nor are nachos or breaded products to share.
I would recommend that you continue enjoying your plans during the weekend because you are already doing the important work from Monday to Friday, but that you try to avoid that “lost in the river” thought that often drags us when we are eating in a context of celebration.
Hello Aitor. Does hydrolyzed collagen work? (Vanessa Pineda, reader)
Hello, Vanessa, to know if something works it is very important to see what we compare it with. I’m going to try to get us to be a little bit more critical about collagen in the office today.
It is undeniable that it is being one of the most prescribed supplements, but unfortunately it is not as useful as its advertising says. They take advantage of that knowledge that we have of general culture and in which we know that our joints are made, among many other elements, from a protein such as collagen.
They make us believe that by taking collagen, this supplement is going to go directly to our knees and to be able to rehabilitate them, or make them improve or recover their functions and even that our joints do not hurt. It doesn’t work that way and collagen is just another protein supplement.
When we compare collagen versus taking nothing, it is possible that there are benefits because we are taking extra protein, but when we compare it against other sources of protein or supplements, it comes out very poorly in the comparison, so it is preferable to resort to other alternatives such as soy protein or WHEY.
Unfortunately it has also become a supplement that is even prescribed by health personnel and for this reason there are so many doubts about it. I hope we have been able to clarify it and we do not fall for misleading advertisements like this.
