We look at the latest health trends with wellness expert Kyle Buchanan in ‘The Kyle Files.’ Kyle tackles questions on coffee naps, caffeine intoxication prevention, buffered vitamin C, and the hype around green bananas. Get ready for expert insights and myth-busting to keep you informed on your wellness journey.
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When it comes to Wellness there is always a new slate of Trends as many individuals try to hack their health with the hopes of feeling their best but there is of course a lot of misinformation out there so here’s our resident Wellness expert Kyle Buchanan back for another round of the Kyle files
Good morning you to morning good morning all right let’s Dive Right In our first question this morning Kyle comes to us from rosemary in Nelson BC and she asks have you heard of a coffee nap and what are your thoughts there was so many good questions today so I’m excited have you
Heard of a coffee nap nope okay so a little explanatory so bear with me but a coffee nap involves drinking a small coffee or espresso right before taking a short 20-minute nap and it can result in in more of a pickme up than either on
Their own and the reason has to do with caffeine and something called adenosine which is the compound in our body that makes us feel sleepy it accumulates in our brain during the day and when we sleep adenosine is cleared from the brain caffeine works by blocking adenosine receptors but it needs those
Receptors to bind to which can be limited if it’s midday and we’re tired and they’re already being occupied by a Denine so that’s where this concept comes into play caffeine takes like 20 minutes to kick in so when you have a coffee and go right to sleep during your
Nap your adenosine levels drop which free up those receptors for the caffeine to act on when you wake up so you can get a bigger caffeine cake when you wake up and theoretically more alertness now I find that very few people can do this successfully they’re normally good
Nappers to begin with but for people like truck drivers who have to stay sharp and work long hours or or shift work workers it really can be a kind of a a cool hack okay our next question is from Jeremy from Bramton Ontario who asks just heard of this what is okay
We’re talking caffeine some more caffeine intoxication how do we prevent it so this made headlines a couple weeks ago Jeff and I were talking about it Hot Topic it’s a Hot Topic so caffeine intoxication is sort of what it sounds like it’s when you’ve had way too much
Caffeine or way more than your body can handle and it can cause a range of symptoms from the Jitters to erasing heartbeat to seizures and in very very rare cases even death so depending on someone’s genetics most of us can handle anywhere from 2 to 400 milligrams of
Caffeine a day which is about 2 to five cups of coffee for this intoxication level we’re talking over 12200 milligram of caffeine or over 12 cups of coffee and it’s worth noting though that this intoxication can be the result of things like caffeine pills and energy drinks
And when it comes to prevention it really is about knowing your own tolerance and what you can handle because for some people that way too much Point might be a lot less than someone else’s and for others they can easily do over 12200 milligrams of caffeine and be completely fine so it is
Important to know yourself what I would say is if you are doing you know six seven cup of coffee and an energy drink and a pre-workout before you work out it it just might be worth taking stock as to as to why you need so much of it and
You know take steps to support other areas of your life you and I were talking the other week though it’s really a different way of thinking about coffee because when I hear intoxication I automatically think alcohol right yeah but overdo the alcohol transferring that to caffeine and coffee just is a
Different way of thinking it is like too much of anything can suddenly become a bad thing right even water too much water you can you know deplete your electrolytes and out so yeah it’s moderation moderation moderation yeah okay Maryann from Calgary up next and she’s confused as she ask what is
Buffered vitamin C and is it different Kyle from regular vitamin C really really great question so they both vitamin C the difference lies in how gentle they are on the gut so a little explanatory again so bear with me but vitamin C is called ascorbic acid so
When you read ascorbic acid on a vitamin bottle it’s just regular vitamin C which is Absol absolutely fine some people find though especially if they have a sensitive tummy or are dealing with things like ulcers that taking this regular form of vitamin C can be too
Harsh on the gut and so enter buffered vitamin C so when vitamin C is buffered it’s combined with a mineral like calcium for example that serves as a buffer to help make it less acidic and easier on the gut so in this example when you’re searching for it it wouldn’t
Read ascorbic acid in the ingredients instead it would say vitamin C as calcium ascorbate so that mineral and the ascorbate indicating vitamin C other forms include magnesium ascorbate or sodium ascorbate so all this to say if you have tried vitamin C supplements before and they’ve been too harsh in the
Gut going out and getting a buffered vitamin C just going to a store and asking for one because they’re trained to know is a really viable option especially if you do want to supplement with vitamin C or are doing larger doses okay all right our last question comes
From Donna in Dartmouth Nova Scotia she wants to know more about bananas here Jeff is the banana question uh I have been seeing people recommending green bananas on Instagram are green bananas actually healthier than ripe bananas thank you Donna and Kyle can we please put this to rest you
Mentioned off the top of the show I have been taking so much heat about my bananas that I’ve come in to work with here we are each and every morning is this dangerous is this unhealthy for me cuz Caroline says that that’s just wrong it doesn’t look good it’s like an
Antique banana in that look at that so it’s not that they’re necessarily healthier it’s just that green bananas have a different nutritional profile than ripe bananas slightly so it depends also on the person eating the banana and what they want out of it green bananas are high in something called resistant
Starch which is a type of starch that resists digestion and can serve as a Prebiotic in the gut so green bananas do support gut health as well blood sugar control as well but depending on the person the green banana might cause some stomach issues at first and things like
Constipation especially if they have too much of it all at once okay as the banana ripens and turns more yellow yes that starch gets broken down into more simple sugars which even though it does have a bigger impact on your blood sugar is easier to digest and the amount of
Antioxidants actually goes up as the banana ripens as well interesting so so there’s benefits to both it depends on what you want out of it if you’re looking to lower your sugar intake increase your fiber and get a cheap Prebiotic green bananas are great if you are looking to get some natural sugars
Maybe before a workout or a midday boost and are wanting something that’s easy on the gut ripe bananas are absolutely fine so you’re you’re good either way I’m okay you’re okay I will give you this though that banana we just saw there is probably a day away from being bred too
And you can use it for cooking but if I’m impressed you can freeze it too and mash it sure smooth smoothies great yeah it depends on you and the banana you want to eat a fancy way it’s it’s British thank you Kyle if you have a question for Kyle
You’d like answered on the show send him a DM on Instagram at it’s Kyle B thank you thank you thank you you to
