Matter Nutrition

1. Aim to have the following every day: a huge bowl of salad, a (super) protein shake, and a meal with the family.⁣

2. Hide all your naughty snacks, or just don’t buy them. Out of sight out of mind vibes here.⁣

3. Hire a coach to keep you accountable! We know many in Dubai, DM us and we can easily guide you to someone right for you!⁣

4. Plan your eating (just like your day) in advance! Plug it all into My Fitness Pal (or any similar diary) and leave a 20% leeway.⁣

5. Create a fitness to-do list daily. Tick things off and compound your wins in the long run

Water makes up more than 60% of our body weight. It is responsible for many functions that help our body run more smoothly such as digestion, blood flow and body temperature regulation.

Signs of acute dehydration are being more prone to injury, lethargy and a higher likelihood to break habits and diet. This eventually results in a drop in blood volume and blood pressure.

It is critical to ensure you stay hydrated. Some ways to tell you aren’t hydrated are if you’re feeling thirsty (duh), you’re craving salt or your urine color is dark yellow.

A simple way to ensure you’re staying hydrated is to compound your habits. Chances are that you’re having coffee, eating food and (hopefully) going to sleep every day. Before every one of those actions, have one or two glasses of water. You can also set an hourly reminder to “Drink a glass of water”

Hydration supports most functions in your body, which helps you perform at your best.

What are the implications of caffeine on our sleep?  How much is too much? And what do we know to be considered as “just right”?

Caffeine is a stimulant mostly found in tea and coffee that takes action on your brain and nervous system in an attempt to combat tiredness and keep you alert.We love it for the taste of tea/coffee, to make up for sleep deprivation which can be caused by having caffeine too close to bedtime or excessive intake (over 500mg per day), or to stay active and alert.

Potential benefits of taking the recommended dose of caffeine (4-6 mg/kg) are improved energy levels, mood, and concentration because it blocks an inhibitory neurotransmitter. It can also improve physical performance because it boosts adrenaline levels.

However, studies show that consuming caffeine up to 6 hours before going to bed might delay your circadian rhythm by an hour, ultimately reducing the total amount of sleep you get as well as deep sleep you enjoy.

So what does the research show? Caffeine concentrations in the body reach their prime level between 45-60 minutes after consumption. Anything over 500mg of caffeine per day puts you at high risk and is considered dangerous. We recommend you take 4-6mg/kg body weight between 8-11AM in order to minimize negative risks and maximize benefits.

Caffeine is a superdrug. It is the most widely used psychoactive substance available to us.

Being a legal stimulant, it is used by most of us almost every day, whether it is intentionally part of your daily routine or indirectly ingested through something else. It’s found in coffee (obviously), tea, soda, candy, painkillers and pre-workout. For a lot of us, it is a critical part of our morning routines. We love the benefits – increased energy levels, heightened focus, source of antioxidants, source of micronutrients like riboflavin (vitamin b2) and pantothenic acid (vitamin b5) – but it also has other implications on your body and general health.

Frequent and consistent use of caffeine leads to dependence. Numerous studies have tested the reliance on and withdrawal from caffeine, and most have shown a clear correlation between the consumption of caffeine and physical or mental impairments following discontinued use.

It is important for us to recognize that regulated use of caffeine is critical to your wellbeing. The average dose for a healthy adult is around 200mg/day, taken over the course of several hours. This could look like 2-3 cups of coffee. Data has shown that moderate intake is not associated with any of the often discussed adverse effects of caffeine.

As usual, the conclusion is: everything in moderation.

We, at Matter have been diving into diet trends and questioning how they come about, who they’re for, and what their effects are on you. We’ve been researching the research, and here’s the one thing we have to say – Diet trends are just trends.

Every day, science covers new ground and examines alternative approaches to healthy eating. When something picks up momentum, or worse, media attention, we unknowingly fall for what is simply the ‘discovery of the day.’ In no way are these definitive ways to eat, especially not for a prolonged period of time. When selecting a diet, there are so many things to keep in mind to ensure you’re eating enough, you’re eating for your body and lifestyle, and most importantly, you’re eating from a place of self-love.

Paleo, Keto, Master Cleanse, Raw, Juice Detox, Atkins, Vegan, Alkaline, even Baby Food (yes, Baby Food). All of these diet trends have just one thing in common – they’re trends.

The commercialization and communication around diet trends often targets adolescents that are exploring changes in their bodies, and women that feel insecure about natural bodily processes, from puberty through to old age. This is not at all to say that men and mature adults aren’t targets too, but often mass media focuses on where they get majority readership. We need to be less susceptible to media, and more critical of why things work and, on a larger scale, what their impact is on our bodies, minds and emotions. Extreme dieting can be incredibly harmful to physical processes, lead to brain fog, and even depression.

The truth of the matter is that our bodies change over our lifetimes. Rather than falling for lines about how to lose weight, undo your binge, look younger, and so on, think about what is right for you in that moment of time. Consult a specialist, not a magazine. Health is personal, it’s not commercial.

At Matter Nutrition, we focus on balanced meals targeted towards your lifestyle and personal goals. We base our calculations on a scientifically-proven methodology. That’s why we count macros, and do not discriminate against any animal, vegetable, or solid food.

There is no perfect diet, because there is no perfect body. You are YOU, and that makes you perfect.

We know you’re thinking about it too 😏

Today we’re going to talk about that dirty word. The one that no one wants to say, but is on everyone’s mind. The word that keeps the world going, but also makes it fall apart. It’s so dirty that it’s been passed through everyone’s hands.

Yes, we’re talking about money.

We are living in one of the most productive, yet most overwhelming, periods in the history of mankind. What that means is that our level of stimulus, physical and mental demand, as well as variety of choice has never been higher. We are consistently pushed to our limits on a day to day basis in order to strive for more, but for some, they can just barely keep up. Often, this puts immense pressure on our bodies, and more so, our pockets.

When it comes to budgeting, there are a lucky few of us that don’t need to think too hard about it. Or at all. And then there are the rest of us, in varying degrees, that count, add, and genuinely think about where every earned dirham is going. For this bunch, maintaining a certain level of quality in one area of our lives understandably leads to a compromise in another. Our personal perceptions and environmental influences usually feed into how we make our decisions on what we invest in and what we compromise on. But often without a logical calculation, these decisions are just impulses.

So, we’re here to help you do the math 👨‍🏫

The average person in the UAE spends 50-70% of their salary on critical needs such as food, water and shelter. By now, we’re assuming you’ve calculated how much you should be spending on these three areas. Once you’ve deducted your rent and utilities, what should be left is your budget for food.

Now, we need to price the actuals starting with the intangibles – mainly, your time. This is entirely dependent on lifestyle and situation, but as a general rule, the more you have of it the less valuable it is. If you are generally short on time, your time cost will be high.

Applying this thinking, if you consider how much time you spend on preparing food in how much it’s worth, and add on the actual food costs, you have your current investment. Does it add up to your food budget? Is it above, or below?

Here’s where we come in. Honestly, we know it’s probably well above your food budget. Often, it’s our time that we value the least when we need to be valuing it the most. And we also know that when you’re short on time, it is even more challenging to prepare nutritionally-balanced meals, let alone on a budget. That’s why we’ve done the work for you. Matter Nutrition has prepared meals to keep you energized and sustained, without investing more than you should or compromising on your wellbeing. When broken down, our individual meal prices when purchased as a plan are much more realistic for the everyday person.

What we’re trying to say is meal plans aren’t just for athletes, they’re for you. They’re here to help you save time and money. You just need to do the math.

The last time we defined the word ‘health’ was in 1948 – we think its time for an update, don’t you?

Our current definition of ‘health’, formulated by WHO, describes it as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”¹ While at the time it was groundbreaking to look beyond only the extreme cases of disease, this definition has not been updated in 60 years and yet so much has changed.¹ It does not account for shifts in our lifestyle, patterns in illnesses, or new types of parameters. Today, there is more demand for a fresh perspective than ever. And that is why we have decided to take matters into our own hands –

We know that we are a direct result of our surroundings; we feed off of it, just as much as it feeds off of us. The health and fitness industries do not operate in a silo – they rely heavily on science, agriculture, and even social behavior. How we live, on both a micro and macro scale, has a massive effect on every organism in our ecosystem. So why are we stuck on something that doesn’t relate entirely to our lives right now? We need disruption in more ways than one. We need evidence-based direction and sustainable solutions for today, and tomorrow. We need to not only eat, but live, better.

Matter Nutrition is founded on curiosity for life. Our medium is food, but we are so much more than a meal plan – we are a movement in lifestyle wellness. We want to make food science-y again, and spread the message that nutrition isn’t just about what you eat, but more so about how you live. Our aim is to provide you with the tools you need to level up through evidence-based products, relatable information, sustainable systems, and actionable steps for your personal growth. We make food that matters, because you matter.

1 BMJ 2011; 343 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.d4163 (Published 26 July 2011)

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