Chances are you’ve seen the stereotypical high school movie with dumb jocks and scrawny geeks tormenting or exacting revenge on each other.

It usually goes something like this: Dumb jock tries to intimidate geek into helping them cheat on the next big exam. Geek refuses and gets stuffed into their locker. Next scene: Geek exacts some sort of revenge on jock. Play end credits.

For the most part people assume that athletes are not academically minded and conversely, that the honour roll is filled with phys ed-avoiding nerds, but is this true?

If you take a look at the PN staff we’re a bunch of geek jocks (or is that jock geeks?). When people meet us, they aren’t sure whether to ask for help with the Sunday crossword or which way to the gun show. That combo of “letters after our names” and “varsity letters” seems rarer than a truly healthy fat-free cookie… at least in theory.

Maybe these formulaic movies are wrong! Gee, next thing you’ll tell me is that two people who hate each other will not fall in love after bickering non-stop for 90 minutes on screen.

Physical education versus “academic”  subjects

What’s the first thing that schools do when their funding gets cut? They sack physical education and pretty much every other extra-curricular activity, which is nearly entirely athletic teams.

What do they do if they need to improve academic performance? Replace phys ed classes with other more “academic” classes like math, science or English. Some zealous schools may even ditch recess. After all, they reason, playing dodgeball isn’t going to help the little darlings get their MBAs, right?

You’d think there must be some sort of research to support this idea that cutting physical education improves academic performance, right? Well actually, no. If anything, it’s the opposite.

Let’s get physical

Research has demonstrated some major intellectual benefits to physical fitness.

• Physical fitness stimulates neural development, which includes greater density of neuronal synapses and higher capillary volume, both of which may help brains function [1].  (Think of it like upgrading the brain’s wiring.)
• Students who are more physically active have greater attention spans than sedentary students [2].
• Being physically active results in:
  • higher self-esteem
  • lower anxiety
  • lower stress and…
  • higher academic performance [3-5].

Hmm, so far the stereotype of the dumb jock has little support.

All these studies say that if you want to be smarter, then you should be fitter… which is the exact opposite of what everybody does when they need more mental oomph:

• If you need to do really well this term, you probably lock yourself in your room and study. No time to go to the gym or go for a walk! Gotta just sit and study.
• Maybe your child failed an exam, so you decide to punish them by grounding them from playing on the school athletic team of their choice.
• Maybe our school’s test scores are dropping — that must mean we need more homework and less recess!

We tend to imagine that the brain and body are somehow unrelated, or that focusing on one takes resources away from the other.

Testing the theory

In this review, the researchers try to figure out whether there is, in fact, a relationship between physical fitness and academic achievement in math and English in a US public school system.

Chomitz VR, Slining MM, McGowan RJ, Mitchell SE, Dawson GF, Hacker KA. Is there a relationship between physical fitness and academic achievement? Positive results from public school children in the northeastern United States. J Sch Health. 2009 Jan;79(1):30-7.

Methods

To figure out whether there’s a correlation between physical fitness and how well students do in school, the scientists in this study got hold of two key pieces of information:

• Academic performance records: Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) in math and English for the Cambridge Public School Department (CPSD) for grades 4, 7, and 10 in English; and grades 4, 6 and 8 for math
• Physical fitness records: physical fitness tests passed by each student in March and April 2005 that evaluated cardiovascular endurance, abdominal strength, flexibility, upper body strength, and agility with one point each. Students passing all five tests would get a full 5 marks out of 5.

They assessed 1478 children for this study.

Results

After they crunched the numbers, researchers found that the more fitness tests the students passed, the better they did at standardized tests of math and English.

Even more interesting: for some reason math scores were more closely linked to physical fitness than English scores.

Conclusion

More physical fitness was related to better performance in standardized math and English tests.

The researchers suggest some possible explanations for why physical fitness and academic success could be linked:

1. Students that test well may be more motivated to be successful in general.
2. Being more physically fit could be part of better health, which includes nutrition and healthy body weight. It’s actually better health that leads to better grades, not how many situps you can do.
3. Physical fitness may help with concentration and behaviour in school. Thus fitness enables students to learn more effectively.
4. Physical activity may help with mental health and self-esteem, so that students don’t suffer with stress, anxiety and depression (which then inhibit their performance).
5. As I mentioned in the beginning, exercise and fitness seem to help with brain function, so that should help students get better grades.

Study limitations

Chances are that all these possibilities contribute to academic performance to one degree or another.

However, in this study, researchers have only found that the two are linked — not that physical fitness causes better academic performance.

Additionally, while the academic performance tests were standardized (every child took exactly the same test), the physical fitness testing is probably not as reliable.

What does this mean? For example, let’s say you ask your friend how many pushups they do. They say 50. You’re impressed until you see them actually do a pushup, and realize they’re only half-assing it by doing the top half of the rep.

Now, I’m not saying that children can’t have picture-perfect exercise form… especially not your adorable offspring… but there’s a slight chance.

Bottom line

The US Institute of Medicine recommends that children do at least 1 hour a day of physical activity to help health and weight issues. This 1 hour of activity may improve your kid’s grades more than 1 hour of daily tutoring.

And it doesn’t have to be organized sports, either.  Indeed, studies show that unstructured play (aka “getting outside” or “let’s run around pretending to be superheroes”) is essential for kids.

So push for more physical activity in your child’s life… as well as your life.

While this study doesn’t show that improving physical fitness, or even that physical fitness causes better academic performance, it does find that if you’re more physically fit you’ll likely be better at math and English.

Hit the gym, and you might just understand non-Euclidean geometry after all.

References

1. Studenski S, Carlson MC, Fillit H, Greenough WT, Kramer A, Rebok GW. From bedside to bench: does mental and physical activity promote cognitive vitality in late life? Sci Aging Knowledge Environ. 2006 Jun 28;2006(10):pe21. Review.
2. Shephard RJ. Habitual physical activity and academic performance. Nutr Rev. 1996 Apr;54(4 Pt 2):S32-6.
3. Ekeland E, Heian F, Hagen KB, Abbott J, Nordheim L. Exercise to improve self-esteem in children and young people. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2004;(1):CD003683. Review.
4. Shephard RJ. Physical activity and the healthy mind. Can Med Assoc J. 1983 Mar 1;128(5):525-30. Review.
5. Flook L, Repetti RL, Ullman JB. Classroom social experiences as predictors of academic performance. Dev Psychol. 2005 Mar;41(2):319-27.
6. Burdette, Hillary, Robert C. Whitaker. Resurrecting Free Play in Young Children: Looking Beyond Fitness and Fatness to Attention, Affiliation, and Affect. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2005;159:46-50.

It doesn’t matter what country I am in or what type of client or athlete I am working with — they WILL ask about cardio.

• “How much cardio should I be doing?”
• “When’s the best time to do my cardio?”
• “I want to get leaner — should I do more cardio or more weights?”
• “I hate cardio. Do I need to do hours and hours to achieve my goals?”
• “I am up to 2 hours of cardio a day – where do I go from here?”

I don’t think there’s actual confusion about cardio. Rather, I believe cardio is simply being misused.

Most people are pretty clear about what they are doing and why, but they are using cardio inappropriately.

I was a police officer for over a decade. I often spoke to school groups about use/misuse and abuse of alcohol or drugs.

It dawned on me recently that there’s a strong similarity between the inappropriate use of drugs and alcohol within that population, and the inappropriate use of cardio within the fitness population. It is rampant, and it is based on ignorance and fear.

When I say ignorant, don’t take that the wrong way – do not confuse ignorance with stupidity. Ignorant simply means  being uneducated, unaware, or uninformed in a certain area. My goal is to inform you how to use cardio properly.

No more cardio cluelessness!

Here’s a big question for starters:

What do we mean by “cardio”?

When you ask questions about “cardio”, you need to be more specific. The industry as a whole, particularly print media (fitness magazines), needs to start talking about “cardio” appropriately and using common language.

“Cardio” is short for “cardiovascular”, which refers to the lungs and heart, and their associated systems.

I assume when someone asks about “cardio”, they are referring to longer, steady state, low to moderate intensity sessions of a repetitive movement. This can be easily done on any “cardio” machine such as an upright bike, rowing machine, elliptical trainer or Stairmaster but can also be done with no equipment, such as walking or jogging (depending on the individual’s level of conditioning).

For most folks, then, “cardio” means something like “go outside and run for a while to get your heart rate up”. That’s not wrong, but it’s not as accurate as it could be.

Energy systems – the key to understanding “cardio”’s effects

Busting out some anaerobic intervals. (I won't say the towel hat is the magic secret to fat loss, but it doesn't hurt!)

All cardio, however, is not created equal. In order to understand why, and how cardio types can differ, you have to have a basic understanding of the body’s three energy systems:

1. Anaerobic a-lactic
2. Anaerobic lactic
3. Aerobic

The main difference between energy systems is the duration and intensity of the exercise and the type of energy source the body uses to fuel the activity.

What many people describe as “cardio” — long-duration, relatively lower intensity movement — works the third system, the aerobic energy system.

Now, there’s a place for this in training, especially if you’re an endurance athlete, or looking for some active recovery — or even just a nice way to unwind with a pleasant jog outside in the fresh air.

But despite what the “aerobics” craze of the 1980s told us, aerobic activity is not necessarily always the best choice for fat loss, athletic performance, or body recomposition.

I prefer anaerobic exercise (the first two energy systems) for myself and for my clients. I am all about results, function and balance. I also like to make the most effective and efficient use of one’s training time.

Aerobic exercise can play a role in accomplishing physique and/or fitness goals, but it must be used properly.

For more on energy systems, see All About HIIT.

Using cardio for good

First let’s look at 3 ways to use cardio, or anything for that matter:

1. USE – Users understand the role of cardio, and incorporate it appropriately within the overall training curriculum or program.
2. MISUSE – There is where ignorance comes into play. Users don’t know or understand why they’re using cardio, and thus use it inappropriately and improperly.
3. ABUSE – Here, we get into the domain of self-sabotaging behaviour. Users know and understand the role of cardio. They know and understand — and have experienced — the consequences of improper use. Yet the individual continues to abuse cardio. There are deep rooted emotional issues along with disordered thinking and behaviours involved here. This person may need guidance and assistance beyond a performance coach or personal trainer. This is an addiction where logic, knowledge and experience are ignored. (To see whether you fall into this group, scroll down for our handy checklist.)

Using cardio appropriately: an example

I prefer to work with those who are using cardio appropriately and I can help them use it in different or better ways.

An example of this is someone who previously started their cardio progression 16 weeks before their “peak” date such as a wedding day or a physique contest.

I would look at things like their natural carb tolerance, metabolism and other individualization tools such as blood type and Biosignature profile and may suggest that they wait until 6 to 9 weeks out to start their cardio progression.

Or I may recommend they switch from an upright bike and treadmill to an road bike and outdoor walk. They are using “cardio” properly, but I help them use it better or differently in order to continue to get results, or get more optimal results.

Misusing cardio: an example

Of course, people come to me for advice, so I don’t reject clients simply because they aren’t getting things quite right immediately! After all, they’ve been told by mass media sources that they should be cardio junkies.

I also enjoy working with those who are misusing “cardio”, because often they respond by saying, “I had no idea! I just thought to get leaner I should do more and more cardio! This will save me time and I will look and feel even better.”

They have no hang ups or unhealthy attachments to cardio, and they’re quite compliant with my recommendations once they have been better educated about the role of cardio, where it fits within the energy systems, and how they can use it effectively.

An example would be someone who is doing three days a week of 30 minute resistance training sessions (weight) and five 40-minute cardio sessions a week.

I flip that and have them do five 40-minute strength training sessions a week and follow each of those with 12 minutes of either steady state or interval training (anaerobic) “cardio” sessions.

This results in much less total “cardio” time, plus more metabolism and hormone boosting strength training – thus, better results in less time!

Abusing cardio: two examples

If you're spending hours and hours here every week, you may have a problem.

Here are two examples of cardio abuse. I think they exemplify some of the ways in which people can develop unhealthy attachments to cardio, and keep abusing it despite knowledge and evidence about the consequences.

A very tall, thin and lean female client was doing 60 minutes of steady state cardio at 40% of her heart rate almost every day, even though her goal was to look more toned, lean and muscular. In fact, she was an ultramarathon runner who raced every 3 weeks on average! In her case, she misused cardio because she was trying to lose weight.

She also consumed far too few calories to support this activity — about 1500 on an average day — and her carbohydrate intake was very low. It’s amazing to me that her body still functioned after all this abuse!

Ironically, she didn’t even lose weight.

Neither the choice of activity, the duration, nor the intensity were appropriate for her goal, but she had a very hard time giving it up — even despite all the data and information showing would be more appropriate and why. She still could and would not give up nor change her running duration nor frequency.

In another case, a lean and underweight male client wanted to gain weight and muscle, yet he would not give up running and cardio kickboxing sessions.

He refused to change, even though he was a kinesiology student who understood various training modalities, muscle fibres and energy systems (and that his current exercise regime was not specific to his goals)!

Thus, again, despite knowledge, understanding, and evidence, cardio abusers — like addicts — persist.

What does cardio change look like?

Here is an actual Biosignature profile comparison of a client who was initially misusing cardio.

The first report shows her starting stats as a cardio misuser.

The second report shows the progress she made after 1 month of implementing a system that uses cardio optimally. In her case, that was a mere 6 to 12 minutes (!)  of postworkout cardio after each of her five weekly strength training sessions.

Here’s a graph showing the change in her skinfolds. Note that she lost 13 mm from her total skinfolds!

Not only did she lose fat, she improved all of her hormone correlations – increases in androgens, improved thyroid function, and carbohydrate tolerance.

Her face filled out. Long cardio sessions can give the face a gaunt appearance. (Ladies, pay attention. If you’re grinding out the cardio hours to look good, you may be achieving exactly the opposite!)

All in one month.

How’d she do it? Simple. She cut her cardio from one to two hours of “cardio” weekly to less than one hour total time of aerobic and anaerobic combined.

Again: Less time, better results. Sweet!

Krista’s optimal cardio use system

OK, you’re prepared to toss the hours of hamstering on the treadmill. Great! How do you go about implementing this?

1. Decide on your goal.

What are you really trying to do with this cardio?

Lose fat? Stay lean? Improve athletic performance?

If you aren’t an endurance athlete, then you probably don’t need those long-duration, low-intensity sessions.

2. Start with a schedule.

Once you have your goals, figure out a schedule to accomplish them.

Give yourself enough time to healthily accomplish the goal, but not too long that you lose motivation and peak too soon. Twelve to sixteen weeks is optimal.

Pick a target date and mark it on the calendar. Then work backwards to figure out your workout plan.

3. Eliminate ALL cardio

The first phase of your plan should involve little or NO cardio.

Oh yeah, I can hear the squeals of fear. “What?! I have been going two hours a day! If I take it all out, I will get fat!”, you say.

Then so be it. You must let your body reset. Whatever body you get from going cardio-free is reality.

The body will strive to achieve balance one way or another. By being proactive, you can have control over it rather than it controlling you.

If continue to do more and more cardio — longer sessions, more often — you will either experience a crash (hormonal, metabolic, emotional and/or situational) or you will sustain an illness or injury.

The body always gets what it needs. The sooner we understand this, the sooner we’ll be a balanced and healthy society.

Whether through hormonal collapse, injury, or your choice, the NO CARDIO rule will become reality. This way, YOU choose it and YOU manage it.

Proper cardio progressions will be more effective by first taking cardio out. You must create an environment within the body to use cardio successfully. And you don’t do that by hammering away at cardio until your body crumbles. Give it a break.

4. Weight training FIRST

The most important part of any workout plan is to create a stimulus for your muscles. Lift weights. Weight training impacts hormones and metabolism positively and also builds strength, structure and function that you can use for many years into the future.

Decide first how many days a week you are going to do resistance training.

Apply the “opposite rule” here (in other words, the opposite of what you were doing before that didn’t work). For example, if you are training every day, twice a day, then start your 12 to 16 week peaking plan with 4 or 5 days a week and increase from there. If you are only lifting weights two or three days a week, double your efforts.

5. Anaerobic work second

Now plug in your anaerobic or interval progression. Start with 1 interval training session a week starting at 12 minutes each session, working up to three sessions weekly for 20 to 30 minutes.

The duration of your interval can be anywhere from 15 to 45 seconds and your rest is relative to the intensity and duration of your interval.

Sample intervals:

• 15 seconds HIGH intensity work such as burpees or 100 m sprints at the track – 1:00 REST – Repeat until your total time is completed.
• 30 seconds MODERATE-HIGH intensity upright bike spurts – 1:30 REST – Repeat until your total time is completed.
• 45 seconds MODERATE-HIGH tire flipping or elliptical spurts – 2:00 to 3:00 REST – Repeat until your total time is completed.

The progression above is just an example using various modalities and variables. You may also pick one form of anaerobic activity and plan in progressions each week by increasing intensity, frequency and volume and/ or reducing rest between sets.

6. Now… finally… it’s time for “cardio”

Now we’ve taken care of the components that get optimal results — the strength training and anaerobic work. Only after that’s happened should you add a “cardio” component.

In fact, some people may not need any cardio, as they are metabolic furnaces — genetically gifted machines who respond very well to strength training and anaerobic work.

However, those who have had issues with their weight much of their life, and would not define themselves as genetically blessed or fortunate, will benefit from the additional cardio piece. But remember, it is progressive and part of the entire plan.

7. Assess and re-assess — follow the evidence

Throughout this period, follow the evidence. Take regular measurements of body composition, athletic performance and health to keep track of how this works for you.

• Why am I doing this?
• Am I using cardio properly?
• Is what I am doing truly helping me reach my goals (as demonstrated objectively by evidence such as body fat tests or tape measurements)?
• Was I misusing cardio simply because I did not have enough information?
• Or do I have an unhealthy attachment to cardio that I need to examine more deeply?

If you fall into the last groups — cardio misusers and abusers — there’s good news. High intensity training is a highly effective way to bust through mental barriers as well. In fact, I like to refer to them as barrier-busting workouts.

The time and effort you put into high intensity anaerobic training sessions will not only help you break through physical plateaus, but mental ones also.

Stop abusing and start using and progress your “cardio” protocols properly and you will find yourself making real progress with your physique and your overall health.

No need to thank me for the time and energy I just saved you. Just make sure to post pictures of your better body in about 16 weeks time!

Have you got a comment on or question about this article? Why not discuss it at the PN Member Zone?

If you’re looking to get lean and strong you have to fuel your body.  And that’s the point of this upbeat Canadian fitness and nutrition show, Body Fuel.

Hosted on the Men TV network, Body Fuel investigates the ways in which food and supplements can interact with our body chemistry to create powerful, athletic, and sculpted bodies.

And each week on Body Fuel, I host a short segment called Ask Dr John. In this segment I tackle a host of important, frequently asked questions about food, fitness, supplements, health, and performance.

In this week’s episode, I answer the following question:

“I’ve used quite a few protein powders over the years and I never feel good using any of them.  Do you think I could be allergic?”

For more information about dietary protein:

• Check out the Precision Nutrition System

Searching for the most efficient way to get lean, get conditioned, and get tough? Look no further than HIIT. We can’t promise it’s easy… but it sure gets results.

Get going!

Chances are that you’ve seen those yogurt commercials with the “14 day challenge” involving belly-dancing midsections, cartoony yellow bubbles that presumably represent tiny happy faces in your tummy, and Jamie Lee Curtis oversharing digestive issues with coworkers and friends.

But thanks to the new probiotic yogurt, in only 14 days your innards will be happier and you won’t need that copy of War and Peace to read when you go to the bathroom. Hooray! Now that’s something to discuss with Suzy in Accounting!

In the last five years or so there has been a boom in the marketing of the new it food or more accurately the new it supplement — probiotics.

Yes, the people on TV tell you that probiotics are fantastic, but do you really know what probiotics are and why you even need them?

There’s a party in your tummy

Before I get into probiotics you need to know a little about bacteria, the active ingredient in probiotics. (I guess calling it “probiotics” is easier to sell than “billions of tiny wiggling micro-organisms that live in your tummy”.)

This may gross you out a bit, but let’s persevere in the name of science: You have bacteria on your body. A lot. All over.

In fact, you have bacteria anywhere your body is in contact with the outside world: on your skin, in your mouth, in your respiratory tract, in your mouth, in your gut (gastrointestinal tract), your rectum and your urinogenital tract.

Why does your body keep these little animals around? They protect you and your body from other bacteria (as well as other micro-organisms like yeast and viruses).

If you want to read more about what your bacteria do in your gut, check out Say Hello to (My Trillions of) Little Friends: Gut Bacteria and Your Metabolism. In this article, I explain what your good bacteria in your gut (intestine) do for you. Also, check out Bryan Walsh’s Fix Your Gut, Fix Your Health.

Take a moment and thank all your bacteria for their hard work… I’ll wait. (You might want to give them a collective shout-out via the PA system instead of shaking all their teeny hands.)

Probiotics

Even though you have a lot of bacteria hanging out with you, not all bacteria is good bacteria. Basically, there is bacteria you want in your gut (good bacteria) and bacteria you don’t want in your gut (bad bacteria).

Good bacteria in your gut do things like:

• help you absorb nutrients (e.g. by breaking down oligosaccharides)
• regulate gas and acid balance
• produce vitamins (K & B)
• produce amino acids.

Things like infection, antibiotics, hormones, radiation, change in diet, and stress tend to bump off the good bacteria in your gut.

Because we always have bacteria in our GI tracts, and because bacteria compete for territory, a decrease in good guys can mean an increase in bad guys.

What are probiotics?

The World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations define probiotics (from the Greek “pro”, or “in favour of” and “bios”, or “life” — thus, “life-favouring”) as “live micro-organisms, which, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host.” In other words, good bacteria.

There are a bunch of different bacteria (and other micro-oorganims) that are used as probiotics, but most come from one of two bacterial families, Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria [1].

What do probiotics do?

Good luck getting through these good bacteria!

Nobody knows what exactly probiotics do but there are a few ideas [2]:

• Probiotics provide good bacteria to either push bad bacteria out of the gut or prevent them getting a foothold in the first place
• The good bacteria in the probiotics help in making an intestinal barrier (I call this the “Red Rover” idea)
• Probiotics can help the immune system

Chances are probiotics works in more than one way and that all three of these ideas turn out to be true.

In this week’s review I take a look at an article that tries to figure out how probiotics work and if they work for diseases such as Crohn’s, which cause inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract.

Pagnini C, Saeed R, Bamias G, Arseneau KO, Pizarro TT, Cominelli F. Probiotics promote gut health through stimulation of epithelial innate immunity. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2010 Jan 5;107(1):454-9.

Methods

Since it’s really really hard to find people without any bacteria in their gut already, the scientists had to use mice in this study that were born and raised without being exposed to any bacteria, viruses, etc (think Bubble Boy).

These bacteria-free mice were also genetically designed to have Crohn’s-like intestinal inflammation (these mice are called SAMP1/YitFc).

In the study, the mice got the probiotic for 6 weeks either before they started having symptoms of intestinal inflammation (3 weeks old) or after (30 weeks old).

The probiotic had a bunch of bacteria:

• Bifidobacterium breve
• Bifidobacterium longum
• Bifidobacterium infantis
• Lactobacillus acidophilus
• Lactobacillus plantarum
• Lactobacillus paracasei
• Lactobacillus bulgaricus
• Streptococcus thermophilus

And when I say “a bunch”, I mean 5×10⁹ CFUs (colony forming units – think of this as a unit of measure like a teaspoon). When you look for a probiotic supplement, check to see whether the CFUs are listed on the package.

Results

Taking a 5×10⁹ CFU dose of the probiotic prevented intestinal inflammation in mice if they got the probiotic before they started having symptoms. However, the probiotic didn’t help once the mice already had intestinal inflammation.

How did the probiotics work?

The bacteria from the probiotic work in a couple of ways:

• They restore the protective barrier of the intestinal lining, aka the epithelium (the Red Rover idea)
• They boost the immune system by getting the cells to make more tumor necrosis factor, TNF-alpha.

The researchers also wanted to know: Do the good bacteria actively change the other bacteria and microorganisms in the gut (thus crowding out other bacteria)? Or were the good bacteria anti-inflammatory?

Turns out the probiotics were only passing through. However, the good bacteria actively triggered an anti-inflammatory response in the lining of the intestine.

Do probiotics make it to our guts?

One important question that the researchers wanted to answer: Do probiotics actually get to the GI tract?

This isn’t a stupid question — our acid-bath stomachs are pretty good at terminating bacteria with extreme prejudice. Just because there are bacteria in the gut doesn’t mean that they’re the right ones.

As it turns out, the answer is yes: Genetic testing of the intestinal bacteria showed that the little guys survived their fantastic voyage through Mr. Mouse Tummy.

Summary

As the saying goes, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Taking a high dosage of probiotics prevented, but didn’t cure, genetically predisposed Crohn’s-like intestinal inflammation.

The best time to take probiotics is before you have a digestive problem, instead of after — especially in the case of inflammatory diseases like Crohn’s disease.

You can take probiotics as a supplement, or you can look for foods containing beneficial bacteria, such as yogurt, kefir, or naturally fermented foods like raw sauerkraut and kimchi.

Have you got a comment on or question about this article? Why not discuss it at the PN Member Zone?

References

1. West NP, Pyne DB, Peake JM, Cripps AW. Probiotics, immunity and exercise: a review. Exerc Immunol Rev. 2009;15:107-26. Review

2. Almeghaiseeb ES. Probiotics: an overview and their role in inflammatory bowel disease. Saudi J Gastroenterol. 2007 Jul-Sep;13(3):150-2.

Most women realize that what they eat while pregnant can have important effects on the health of their baby. However, very few women know exactly what to eat and what to avoid.

So, in this article, I’ll be sharing with you strategies for eating properly to support your own health – and the health of your baby. Also, for those of you interested in preventing excess weight gain, gestational diabetes, and more, these tips are just what the doctor ordered.

Pregnancy Means Building

To begin with, pregnancy is a period of anabolism, or building. Like weight lifters building new muscle tissue after their strength training sessions, pregnant women’s bodies are in building mode. But instead of building muscle tissue, you’re building baby tissue. To this end, it’s critical that you’re eating more calories, more macronutrition (protein, carbohydrates, fats), and more micronutrition (vitamins and minerals) then you’d normally eat.

But how much extra should you be eating? Well, research shows that an extra 300-500kcal/day will do the trick. If you exercise regularly, you’ll want to shoot for closer to 500kcal/day extra. And if you’re not exercising regularly, 300kcal/day should do.

While this represents a respectable increase in food intake, don’t go overboard. Adding 2 healthy snacks to your regular breakfast, lunch, and dinner schedule can easily help you meet your extra caloric needs. Of course, you’ll want those snacks to be full of vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients – all critical for health. So make sure you’re making the right choices. For help in that department, see the food listings below.

Pregnancy and Weight Gain

One question I’m often asked is this: how can I know if I’m eating enough? Well, that’s simple. Here are some guidelines for healthy weight gain during pregnancy:

• Underweight women should gain between 25 and 35 lb
• Overweight women should gain no more than 15 to 25 lb
• Women 5’2” or shorter should gain between 15 and 25 lb

I understand that many women gain far more weight than this. And there are a few scenarios where that’s a necessary consequence of complications during pregnancy. But for most healthy pregnancies, a combination of exercising and eating right can help eliminate excess weight gain, promoting just the right amount.

Now, here’s an important note for those fitness buffs out there. The levels of weight gain suggested above aren’t negotiable. Indeed, studies show that less weight gain than listed above can result in infants with low birth weights.

And this may mean delayed development. You see, the mother’s weight determines fetal weight. In other words, if the mother does not gain enough weight, the fetus may remain small simply to protect the mother’s own body. So again, you’ll want to gain the right amount of weight. Too little – or too much – can harm both you and the baby.

Foods To Include, Foods To Avoid

I know that nausea and food cravings both come into play when pregnant. However, it’s important to remember that you’re still in control. In other words, it’s your choice as to what you eat and what you don’t eat. So choose wisely.

Giving in to cravings for junk food, or avoiding food because of fear of nausea, can subject your growing baby to a host of birth defects. Heck, research has shown that inadequate nutritional status during development can also have consequences for the child later in life, increasing his or her risk for cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and Type II diabetes.

So let’s talk about what you should be eating and what you should be avoiding. The following table provides a list of foods that should be actively sought out during pregnancy – as well as foods that should be minimized and/or avoided.

Foods To Include

Protein-Rich Foods

• Lean meats (preferably grass-fed, organic)
• A small amount of dairy
• Get 1g of protein per lb of body weight during 2nd and 3rd trimester
• Supplement with natural, unsweetened protein powder if necessary
  

Omega-3 Rich Foods

• Flax
• Walnuts
• Chia
• Hemp
• Fish oil supplements (non-liver)
• Algae
• Seaweed

Vitamin D-Rich Foods

• 20-30 min sun exposure 2-3 days per week
• Vitamin D fortified foods
• Vitamin D supplements (1000 IU/day)

Zinc-Rich Foods

• Legumes
• Nuts
• Whole grains
• Animal foods

Folate-Rich Foods

• Dark, leafy veggies
• Legumes
• Folate-fortified foods
• Folic acid supplements (4 mg or 400ug /day)
  

Calcium-Rich Foods

• Dark green leafy veggies
• Bok choy
• Tofu
• Legumes
• Figs
• Nuts
• Seeds
• Fortified milks
• Fortified cereal grains

Vitamin B-12 Rich Foods

• Animal foods
• Vitamin B supplements (3 mcg/day)
  

Iron-Rich Foods

• Dark green leafy veggies
• Dried fruits
• Whole grains
• Nuts
• Seeds
• Animal foods
  

Foods To Avoid or Minimize

Avoid or Minimize

• Alcohol
• Tobacco
• >300mg caffeine per day
• Cured/deli meats
• Artificial sweeteners
• High sugar intake
• Using cravings to justify poor food choices

Completely Avoid

• Raw foods (eggs, seafood, meat, sushi)
• Shark (cooked or raw)
• Swordfish (cooked or raw)
• King Mackerel (cooked or raw)
• Tilefish (cooked or raw)
• Soft cheeses (mould-ripened, blue-veined, unpasteurized)

Supplements

Most medical organizations now recommend a daily multi-vitamin/multi-mineral for most people. Pregnant women are no exception. Indeed, research has shown that vitamin supplementation can improve pregnancy outcomes while even reducing nausea and “morning sickness.”

When choosing a multi-vitamin supplement, be sure it contains adequate B-vitamins (including B-12 at 3 mcg/day and folic acid at 4 mg/day). Most prenatal formulas on the market will do the trick. Further, if you’re not getting adequate sun exposure during your pregnancy, you might also include a vitamin D supplement (1000 IU/day).

In the end, the research is clear: eating right during pregnancy is a must. Step 1: choose the right foods (from above). Step 2: monitor your weight gain to ensure you’re not gaining too much (or too little).  In taking these steps you can rest easy, knowing that you’ve done everything in your power to ensure a successful pregnancy.

Need Help?

Of course, if you need some help planning your diet, we recommend getting a copy of Precision Nutrition.

Containing 10 guidebooks, the Gourmet Nutrition volume 1 cookbook, and a full membership to the PN Member Zone, Precision Nutrition is organized in an entertaining and instructive format.  It’s got everything you need to plan the best diet for you and your growing family.

If you’re into fitness and contemplating having a baby, I’m sure you’re both excited and anxious.  Excited to take the journey; anxious about the weight gain and the impact pregnancy will have on your body composition and fitness.

So, in this article, I’m going to share with you strategies for maintaining and/or improving your fitness, even while pregnant.  That’s right, you can exercise and even set fitness goals during pregnancy.  In fact, the research is pretty clear that exercise during pregnancy provides numerous health benefits to both mother and child.

Exercise Benefits During Pregnancy

There are a myriad of benefits attributed to exercise during pregnancy; here are just a few:

1. Lower risk of developing gestational diabetes
2. Weight control
3. Reduced postpartum depression
4. Less water retention
5. Larger placenta and more nutrients for your baby
6. Decreased likelihood of varicose veins
7. Less likely to require a caesarian delivery
8. More rapid return to pre-pregnancy weight
9. Leaner children up to 5 years after delivery
10. Increased fitness for delivery & for toting around your new baby stroller and diaper bag

The evidence in favor of exercise during pregnancy is so strong that the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) encourages pregnant women to do moderate exercise for 30 minutes or more every single day.  Studies have even shown that very physically active women can benefit from continuing their high volume exercise routines, as much as 9 hours per week, into pregnancy.

Exercise Dos and Don’ts

Although exercise is a great thing for both mother and child, it’s important to understand a few exercise dos and don’ts, adjusting your exercise program appropriately.

Do Adjust Your Goals
First, you’ll have to adjust your goals.  Chances are you are exercising to either gain lean mass or lose fat.  Well, when pregnant, weight gain is to be expected.  To this end, exercise intensity has to be kept in check.  So get all ideas of building muscle and losing fat out of your mind.  Your new focus should be maintaining your fitness while gaining a healthy, but not excessive, amount of weight.

Do Manage Heart Rate
Remember, your first responsibility while pregnant is to create the optimal environment for your baby. We all know that smoking and drinking are out.  However, you also need to keep your body temperature and heart rate in check.  In order to do this, you’re going to have to pay close attention to your exercise intensity. According to Dr Michelle Mottola, exercise and pregnancy researcher at the University of Western Ontario: “If you can carry on a conversation without getting out of breath, then you are doing OK.”  This usually means that your heart rate shouldn’t climb higher than 70-75% of maximum (HR maximum = 220-age) during aerobic exercise sessions.

Do Manage Body Temperature
Another strategy is to keep your body temperature under 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 Celsius), especially during the third trimester.  While human studies haven’t confirmed this, animal research shows that overheating can cause birth defects.  Just to be on the safe side, avoid exercise in extremely hot or humid conditions (including hot yoga) and always remain hydrated during exercise.  Further, avoid traditional recovery modalities like saunas, hot tubs, and steam showers during pregnancy.  In addition, it’s a great idea to ingest 500-1000ml of fluid during every workout.  This can help to maintain hydration status and manage body heat.

Do Maintain Almost Daily Exercise
Although your exercise intensity will have to be kept in check, your exercise volume doesn’t necessarily have to decrease.  In fact, it’s recommended that pregnant women exercise at least 30 minutes daily and this exercise can consist of a wide variety of exercise modalities.

Exercises You Can Do

During pregnancy, certain exercise limitations are obvious; contact sports and sprinting are out. However, other exercises are permissible as long as you consider the changes happening in your body.  For example, while pregnant, concentrations of one particular hormone, relaxin, are increased.  Relaxin, as the name suggests, is responsible for relaxing the pelvic joints in preparation for childbirth.  However, relaxin loosens all ligaments and joints, making you more susceptible to tendon and ligament (soft tissue) injury.

So, higher impact activities and other exercises that increase soft tissue risk should therefore be minimized.  For example, if you take classes, either stick with those designed specifically for pregnant women or those that don’t include high-impact work like plyometrics.  Further, choose activities that create less joint stress such as swimming, elliptical exercise, stair climbing, walking, and riding the stationary bike.

Also, contrary to popular belief, you can perform weight training while pregnant.  In fact, weight training can be one of the most beneficial activities for the pregnant woman as long as the following criteria are followed:

Support Your Spine
Choose exercises that require you to support your spine with your core/abdominal muscles.  Also choose exercises that maintain a neutral spine position.  This usually means choosing free weight or body weight exercises over machines.

Use Your Muscles
Avoid using momentum to move the weights; make sure to lift and lower with your prime mover muscles.

Stay Upright
After the first trimester, avoid exercises that cause you to lie flat on your back (i.e. bench presses). Exercising while flat on the back can diminish blood flow to both your brain and to your uterus.  Further, avoid exercises that press against the stomach (i.e. chest supported rows).

Breathe Naturally
Avoid the Valsalva maneuver, where you forcefully exhale without actually releasing air.  It can result in rapid increases in blood and intra-abdominal pressure.  This may decrease oxygen flow to the fetus.

Use Higher Reps
You can still work hard, but stick with higher repetition sets (10-15 reps) performed at 65–75% of your 1RM during weight training sessions.  This reduces Valsalva action and may help avoid stressing relaxed joints.

Work Your Core
Back and hip pain tend to increase during pregnancy.  Fortunately, exercises that brace the core (front and side bridges) can strengthen the core musculature and reduce pain.

In the end, if you’ve been regularly exercising and have just become pregnant, the research is clear: most women can maintain a regular exercise regimen during pregnancy.  However, please follow the guidelines laid out in this article to ensure you’re doing it right.

If you’re pregnant yet new to exercise, start very slow.  A good idea is to work with a fitness professional well-versed in working with pregnant women.  And always make sure you’re also taking care of your nutrition.

Of course, if you need some help planning your diet, we recommend getting a copy of Precision Nutrition.

Containing 10 guidebooks, the Gourmet Nutrition volume 1 cookbook, and a full membership to the PN Member Zone, Precision Nutrition is organized in an entertaining and instructive format.  It’s got everything you need to plan the best diet for you and your growing family.

Go to the grocery store and pick up 5 bags of groceries. Then go ahead and take one bag directly to the dumpster. Umm… what? Yep, we waste about 20-25% of all food purchased for the home. Wasting so much food has major consequences for our own and others’ health — including the health of the planet.

Obesity rates are skyrocketing. Yet there are more diet programs than ever.

For instance, FadDiet.com lists things like:

• The Chocolate Diet: This is basically a low-calorie diet, which puzzlingly includes several daily servings of popcorn, and you get up to 1 ounce of chocolate in the evening (wow!)
• The Amputation Diet: Lose unsightly weight fast: Just chop it off!
• The Lemon Cleanse: A squeeze of lemon juice, 2 oz of maple syrup, a pinch of cayenne pepper, 2 cups of water. That’s it for the day. As FadDiet.com remarks, “The diet plan is simple. You can’t eat anything! Ha ha ha! You are so bummin!”
• The Cabbage Soup Diet: You eat cabbage soup all day. On day three, you also get to eat as many as eight bananas. You’ll be sexier with your lean new bod, but you won’t get to share it, because you’ll be sitting on the toilet all day.

It’s pretty clear that many diet programs flat-out suck. But there are a few decent ones, such as the “Eat less and move more” plan, or “For heaven’s sake, have a vegetable once in a while”.

Nevertheless, good or bad, most diets are doomed to fail. Why?

The problem is that people think the goal is weight loss — it’s not.

I know you’re thinking, “Helen you’re nuts! If I lose x kg (or y pounds) then I’ll be happy. This goal is weight loss!”

Hear me out. Let’s say you go on the best diet in the world for 4 (10, 30, or 52) weeks, The weight flies off and you lose all the weight you wanted and more! Awesome!

Once you’re “done” dieting, you go back to your old eating habits. What’s going to happen? You will eventually gain all the weight back and likely more.

While everybody focuses on how fast they lose weight, the real key to success is focusing how long the weight will stay off. And the real goal is to change how you interact with food and physical activity. Forever. Thus, with lifestyle programs, weight loss is a side effect and not the primary goal.

Before	After	After after — doh!

Adherence – The key to long term weight loss

Adherence is science speak for “sticking with the program or guidelines”. So far scientists have come up with a few things that determine whether you will stick with a weight management program long-term [1-3].

1. Self-efficacy: having faith/hope/belief that you will change. If you think you will stick with a program, then there is a pretty good chance you will.
2. Intention: deciding to do what is needed to reach your goal, such as exercising regularly or changing your eating habits.
3. Planning: following through and actually developing a way of changing your eating habits or losing the weight. Without planning, all the belief (self-efficacy) and intention in the world will get you nowhere. As my high school math teacher (or your grandma) would say, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.”

Environment – Another piece of the weight loss puzzle

The first three factors are very important, but most of the time people forget another very important part of a weight loss plan – their environment.

For example, if you live right next door to a bakery, then chances are you’re going to eat a lot more bread than if you live on a boat.

I’m not suggesting you pack up and move to the middle of the Atlantic, though I’ve heard Hawaii is nice this time of year, but if you don’t have any cookies in your house it’s really hard to eat cookies.

Other things that fall under the environment umbrella that you may or may not be able to control are things like:

• the size of a package of spaghetti
• the variety of food available
• how long you have to wait in line to get different foods
• whether it’s easy for you to get outside to exercise
• even your friends!

If you’re interested in reading more about how your environment affects weight, take a look at two blog posts that I wrote a while back: one about portion sizes and another looking at whether your friends are making you fat.

A new factor for weight loss: rules

OK, so we’ve got self-efficacy, intention, planning, and controlling your environment.

This week I reviewed a brand new study that looked at a new factor in keeping weight off: how complicated are your dietary rules?

Mata J, Todd PM, Lippke S. When weight management lasts. Lower perceived rule complexity increases adherence. Appetite. 2010 Feb;54(1):37-43. (Link to full study in PDF)

Methods

In this study the researchers observed 390 dieters. Even though the researchers tried to get a random sample of participants by putting ads in a wide variety of magazines, 99% of the participants were women, so the researchers only analyzed the women’s results.

Researchers put the dieters on one of two diets (or, as they call them, “weight management regimens”), Weight Watchers and Brigitte.

Weight Watchers is one of the most well known diet programs. It uses a point system for food. Once you’ve used all your points, you’re done eating for the day. If you exercise you get to eat more points, err I mean food, or you can save up your points for one big gluttonfest.

Brigitte is a diet from Germany that is based on a list of recipes with corresponding meal shopping lists. All you do is buy food from the shopping list, make the recipes from the food you’ve bought, eat the recipes you’ve made and repeat. Little thought, little flexibility and no calculations.

The researchers were not that interested in how effective each diet was. What they really wanted to know was whether there was a relationship between diet complexity and adherence.

Were people more likely to stick with a diet, and maintain their results better, if that diet program was simpler?

Results and discussion

Not surprisingly, perceived diet complexity affects how long people stick with a program.

If the dieters thought the rules for the program were too complicated they forgot the rules, weren’t always clear as to what to eat, and ended up quitting. That was the case with the Weight Watchers program.

If the dieters thought the rules for the program were simple, if they didn’t have to remember much, and if they knew what they should be eating at what times, they stuck with the program. That was the case with Brigiette. Generally, it seems that recipe based programs like Brigitte need very little brain power to stay on track.

Complexity and its discontents

Related research shows that having very complex rules can also lead to to disordered eating.

Dieters who have a long list of specific “rules” (e.g. no eating after 7 pm, no grains, only 1200 calories a day, only 20 grams of fat, etc.) may feel as though they have failed when they break or forget a rule. This can trigger a binge or simply falling off the wagon.

In both cases, the dieter gets discouraged and probably doesn’t succeed… or gets back on track with even more rigid, complicated rules… which they break again. And so on.

Conversely, having minimal, simple rules improves success. There’s less chance that people will forget or “break” rules. For instance, “eat smaller portions” is a lot simpler to remember and do than a laundry list of “Thou shalt not…”

Calorie counting, keeping track of cards and counting points have another problem besides seeming too complex.

It turns out when people try to lose weight drastically or go on a calorie restricted diet, they can get a bit mentally fuzzy. Calculating anything becomes a lot harder. (Note to self: do not diet and do taxes.) I’m sure all of you out there who have dieted agree that you’re not as mentally sharp when dieting.

So, you end up crabby, feeling deprived, forgetful, trying to remember how much 0.8 grams per kilogram is, lost in a Kafka-esque maze of rules… and hungry.

Not exactly a recipe for success, so to speak.

Conclusion

The key for long-term weight loss is sticking to a lifestyle rather than a diet.

That lifestyle needs to be straightforward and simple to follow (though not necessarily easy to follow).

If a diet program is too complicated or if people think it’s too complicated, then it’s not going to work: they’ll forget what they should be eating, fall off the wagon and gain the weight back. And they’ll feel badly about themselves and their overall chances of success.

Bottom line

In a world where faster is always touted as better, it’s no wonder that people end up on endless diets where they lose weight fast and put it back on nearly as fast.

As the researchers remark, “The long-term success of different weight management programs should be measured not just in terms of direct weight loss, but, also in terms of how long people stick to their program.”

Repeat after me: “Faster isn’t better. Simpler is better.”

Now if somebody just came up with a few simple habits… say around seven habits… I think they’d be on to something.

Have you got a comment on or question about this article? Why not discuss it at the PN Member Zone?

References

1. Jeffery RW, Drewnowski A, Epstein LH, Stunkard AJ, Wilson GT, Wing RR, Hill DR. Long-term maintenance of weight loss: current status. Health Psychol. 2000 Jan;19(1 Suppl):5-16. Review
2. Luszczynska A, Sobczyk A, Abraham C. Planning to lose weight: randomized controlled trial of an implementation intention prompt to enhance weight reduction among overweight and obese women. Health Psychol. 2007 Jul;26(4):507-12.
3. Schwarzer R, Schuz B, Ziegelmann JP, Lippke S, Luszczynska A, Scholz U. Adoption and maintenance of four health behaviors: theory-guided longitudinal studies on dental flossing, seat belt use, dietary behavior, and physical activity. Ann Behav Med. 2007 Apr;33(2):156-66.

In 2000, Jon Hinds opened Monkey Bar Gym (MBG). This was after heading up the NASM, strength coaching in the NBA, competing in BJJ, and completely rehabbing a blown out knee with yoga.

Now you’ll find Hinds in Madison, WI running MBG and helping people get their fitness and nutrition on track.

This guy is fascinating and full of knowledge. I decided to catch up with him to ask 7 questions.

1. What are the top 3 things you see people do to mess up their exercise and nutrition?

#1: People don’t know how to restore their alignment

Most people bypass basic body alignment. This includes trainers, physical therapists, and strength coaches. Most of them are missing the body alignment thing.

One of the major problems I see with alignment is the reliance on static stretching. Static stretching doesn’t do a good job preparing the body for a workout. I’ll even say that it’s a complete waste of time for exercise prep. If an athlete has tightness, the trainer automatically goes right to static stretching. Big mistake.

#2: People neglect extension movements

Glute-ham developers like swings and deadlifts are extremely critical for alignment and strength. So much movement happens in the hips and feet.

If we continually bypass the glute, hip and hamstring area, we’ll suffer from overall weakness and back problems.

#3: People eat too many animal foods

When we focus on the diet as a whole, we realize that attaining nutrients from plant foods is extremely easy and health promoting.

2. How has your perspective on exercise and nutrition changed over the years?

My training has come full circle. I used to train MBG style when I first started. Then I got into more bodybuilding-style training with lots of isolation movements. Those workouts made me feel less athletic, so I moved back into progressive skill training.

My nutrition has changed quite a bit as well. I used to be into bodybuilding style eating with whey protein shakes, chicken 3 times a day, and 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight. Stuff like that.

But that changed back in 2001 when I was competing in BJJ, and developed severe hand pain. My doctors suspected arthritis. After catching up with an old strength coach buddy, he turned me onto plant-based eating and suggested I eliminate animal foods for one month to see if it helps the hand pain. Sure enough, it did.

I continued for 3 months with no animal foods and the pain almost completely subsided. But the further along I made it plant-based eating, the more weight I lost  (which I didn’t want) and the more strength I lost.

I contacted Mike Mahler for some advice and he helped steer me in the direction of “strong plant eating.” You know, eating the nutrient-dense plant foods. This brought my strength back up, my muscle back on, and I felt great.

But what it really comes down to with my eating is that I’m not okay with killing animals for food.

3. What is your favorite quote?

“The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials.”

4. What exercise or nutrition question annoys you the most? Why?

“Where do you get your protein?”

I hear this question ALL THE TIME.

It bothers me because getting protein from plant foods is simple.

I look at eating from a whole foods perspective. I eat whole, strong foods like kale, beans, yams, nuts, fruits, and spouts. These are very nutrient dense. I drink shakes after training with pea, hemp and rice protein.

Many people are concerned with protein when eating plant-based because they eat weak plant foods: iceberg lettuce, saggy carrots, stuff like that.

The strong plant foods will give you the energy to train hard and the protein necessary for muscle growth and recovery.

Now Jon, finish the following sentences.

5. Fast food is…

…toxic.

6. The key to my health and fitness success is…

…training whole body and eating whole plants.

7. This morning for breakfast I had…

…mixed fruit with nuts and seeds.

Bonus: Jon, do you have any favorite supplements?

Olympian Labs pea protein powder

All Pro Science 100% Vegan Protein Powder

Chlorella

For more on Jon Hinds, see here:

www.monkeybargym.com

We’re Hiring

If you’re reading this, you’re probably serious about your nutrition and health. You might even be a fan of our company, what we do and how we do it. If either is the case, we’re excited to announce the opening of a new position within our company.

We’re looking for a talented writer; someone who can do two things very well. First: create compelling, action-oriented copy for video scripts, product pages, web ads, and more. Second: create interesting, informative, and insightful stories, and share them with our Precision Nutrition readers; primarily through our newsletters, blogs, articles, and other web content.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – -
Executive Summary:

• Precision Nutrition is looking for a talented writer; we’re running a competition to find that person
• The PN Writing Competition runs from February 24th till March 19th
• Prospective writers will be asked to submit 3 writing assignments
• 3 finalists will be chosen
• 2 runners up get $1,000 each
• The grand prize winner  gets $5,000, and if we think you’re cool, a job.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – -

Join Our Web-Based Team

Right now, we have a fantastic team at Precision Nutrition. One of the best in the field, if you ask me.

And we’ve  just opened up a spot for an exceptional writer.

The type of individual we’d hire writes very well, of course — good grammar and all that. However, they’d also write in a very specific way: not a book report, not an academic paper, but a concise, compelling and clear appeal to the needs of real people.

To excel in this role requires two things:

1. a knack for INSIGHT, for making connections between ideas that most people overlook,
2. a knack for communicating that insight with the written word.

Of course, to do both, one must be an avid learner, and must be endlessly fascinated by human nature — how we think, what we feel, what we want, and why.  And in the context of this position, our ideal candidate must love fitness and nutrition and genuinely want to help others solve their problems and be their best.

Now, if you think all this describes you, enter our writing competition. Because you’re our type of person.

Should you be the winner of this position, you’ll end up working closely with myself and with other members of the PN team.  Your mission: to create health, fitness, and nutrition-related content on our web site.   But not just blog posts, articles, newsletters.  I’m talking about video scripts, product/sales pages, and more.

Now, we are a science-based nutrition and fitness company. Does that mean you need an advanced degree in exercise or nutrition?  Well, although that would be nice, it’s not necessary.

What we DO need you to have is a great writing talent. Now, when I say great talent, I mean fantastic. Like, a choir sings and children weep with joy when you submit your latest article.

On top of that, you need to have an even greater work ethic. You need to be willing to do whatever it takes to tell a great story. You’ll be telling a lot of them.

Working For Precision Nutrition

At PN, we’re 100% performance based.

About half of our team works in the Toronto area, and the other half works from remote locations – either in home offices or in private workspaces. So we don’t expect our staff to punch a clock or sit through endless boring meetings.

However, what we do expect is high performance. Excellence that can, and will, be measured. In exchange, we offer very unique work conditions. As a PN team member you will have the flexibility to:

1. Make your own work schedule.
   At PN, you’re measured by what you produce, not by the time you spend at work. Work when you want, from where you want. As long as your work gets done, and done superbly, you have the freedom to set your own schedule.
2. Work from home.
   If you’re in Toronto, our home town, great. If not, no worries. Many of our employees work exclusively from home, from all over the world.
3. Work in the fitness and nutrition industry.
   We love exercise, we love nutrition, and we love sport. That’s why we started this company. If you do too, you’ll appreciate how rare it is to do a job you really love. For active, fit people, Precision Nutrition is that opportunity.
4. Work with fun, bright and truly talented people.
   We’re a small company, and we’re picky about who we work with, because to us, this isn’t just a job — it’s our life. So as a result, we’ve put together a small group of cool, exceptional people. And in our opinion, that’s a very welcome departure from the large faceless corporations we’ve all worked for.

We’re not a conventional company. We don’t care where you are, when you work, or how you work, as long as what you produce is exceptional. We approach work the same way we approach fitness. Only one thing really matters:

Results.

And to that end . . .

The PN $5,000 Writing Competition

Here’s the deal. We hire in a unique way. We don’t care all that much about resumes and interviews; ultimately what matters most is what you can actually do.

Every single person that works for PN was given a “test run.” A chance to show their skills, and a chance to figure out — in a real working environment — whether we all like each other and can work together productively.

Hence, this competition. Your first mission, should you choose to accept it, is to complete 3 specific writing assignments. Each of them tests a specific ability we’re looking for.

1. Article of Our Choice
   We’ll define the article topic, lay out expectations, and give you direction. Here we want to see how well you can execute a story idea already in progress, because at our story meetings we brainstorm all sorts of ideas and together we choose the best among them to develop. In many cases, you’d be responsible for taking those ideas and outlines and fleshing them out into complete and compelling pieces.
2. Article of Your Choice
   You pick the topic and submit your best original piece. Here we’re looking for two things: your judgment in choosing a topic that will resonate with our audience, and your ability to learn that topic thoroughly and teach it entertainingly. Tall order.
3. Product Page
   We define a hypothetical product. You write the copy for the product page. Here we’re testing your ability to communicate our excitement for the products we create (the story behind it, what it’s purpose is, what it can do for you and ultimately why you need it) to an audience who will be asking themselves, “So what? Why should I care?” A significant part of your job will involve understanding that inborn resistance we all have to change — and overcoming it with the written word.

For the exact details of each assignment, put your name and email address in the box below. Once you do, we’ll email you assignment details and share with you more about the position.

Cash Prizes

Whenever we do these competitions, we like to sweeten the pot with some extra cash. From all the submissions, we’ll choose 3 finalists, each of whom will win a cash prize.

1. 2 Runners up = $1000 Cash
   We’ll be ranking the submissions and the top three people who submit all 3 assignments win $1,000 cash per person.
2. Winner = $5000 Cash
   The winner will receive $5,000 cash, and if we’re truly blown away, a full-time job offer at Precision Nutrition.

Notes:

1. Eligibility
   You must submit all three assignments to qualify for the cash prizes. All submissions become the property of Precision Nutrition.
2. Deadline
   The deadline for this competition is Friday, March 19th, 2010.
3. Details
   More details will be provided (via email) when you provide your name and email address above.

Contact Info and Submissions

All submissions should be sent to Amanda, by March 19th, 2010. Of course, if you have any questions or require any clarification, get in touch with her at:

applications AT precisionnutrition D O T com

We’re looking forward to your submissions!

Eat and Run is an internet program we’ve created in partnership with the endurance-oriented folks at Competitor.com. (Thus the name; Eat and Run.)

Over the next few months we’ll be bringing you dozens of new high-quality nutrition videos. Every single one supports the important ideas presented in the Precision Nutrition System.

So, make sure you’ve got your copy of PN. And then be prepared for a host of “a-ha” moments as we roll out successive episodes of Eat and Run.

Also, keep one thing in mind. The tips you’ll learn in the Eat and Run program aren’t exclusive to an endurance-oriented audience. Indeed, good nutrition is univerally important whether your primary activity is lifting weights or whether it’s lifting your bike pedals.

For now, check out episode 14: Are Organic Foods Better?

For more information about Organic Food:

• Check out our Precision Nutrition System

Testosterone: it’s like Austin Powers’ mojo. It keeps both men and women lean, strong, and frisky.

With a show of hands, how many of you have become obsessed with the Vancouver Winter Olympics?

I see. You’ve watched every heat in speed skating, every trick in snowboarding and every run in downhill skiing! You’ve even watched curling… but that was on The Simpsons.

You’ve watched so much Olympics that when you sleep, you have Tetris-like dreams of frolicking in snow and ice; your body is so confused that it shivers to keep you warm and you wake up in a pool of sweat — damn thermogenesis!

Thermogenesis

Thermo-what?

Thermogenesis literally means the making (genesis) of heat (therm).

However, we don’t usually call the furnace repair service and say our heater has impaired thermogenesis (although this might impress or at least confuse them); “thermogenesis” is pretty much only used when talking about the making of heat by a body.

Energy for thermogenesis is only for heat and nothing else – not for maintaining your organs such as your liver and brain (basal metabolic rate) or moving you from point A to point B (physical activity). It’s just for warming you up [1].

For most people thermogenesis makes up about 15% of the daily calories they burn, but in some cases thermogenesis could be less.

Figure 1 shows how a 5% decrease in energy used for thermogenesis by a person could led to weight gain and possibly obesity. Imagine if you always stored 5% of your daily calories… that means out of a 2000 calorie/day diet, you’d store 100 calories as fat, or about 10 lb a year.

Figure 1 –A breakdown of a lean and an obese person’s daily energy expenditure (as a percent of total)

Many moons ago I wrote a blog post about brown adipose tissue (BAT) and how adults actually have some that may help keep them skinny. BAT may be one reason for differences between people’s thermogenic rates, but there is another potential factor – muscle thermogenesis.

Muscle thermogenesis

Most of you are familiar with the teeth-chattering, uncontrollable shivering, muscle thermogenesis – appropriately, called shivering thermogenesis – but there is another type of muscle thermogenesis, called non-shivering thermogenesis [2].

And you thought scientists weren’t creative.

Yup, your muscle can just sit there without any spastic contractions and keep you warm, all with the help of an energy source called ATP (basically the battery for all cells in your body) and a protein called ATPase.

There are three types of ATPase in muscle [3] that use energy and produce heat:

1. Na⁺/K⁺ (sodium potassium) ATPase is the starter of the muscle cell. This allows electrical signals along the muscle cells without it only the part of the muscle near neurons would contract.
   • In physiologese:- Na⁺/K⁺ ATPase makes a K⁺ gradient by moving Na⁺ out of the cell and K⁺ into the cell. The cell membrane is permeable to K⁺, so it leaks out of the cell making a voltage gradient.
2. Ca²⁺ (calcium) ATPase is the cleaner of the muscle cell. It removes the calcium in the muscle cell that is released into the muscle during a contraction. Without it, your muscles would stay contracted forever after you contracted them once.
   • In physiologese: Ca²⁺ ATPase pumps all the calcium that is released by the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) during contraction back into the SR.
3. Myosin-ATPase is the motor of the muscle cell and uses the most energy. This is what uses the energy during the actual mechanical contraction of the muscle. Without myosin-ATPase, you wouldn’t get any contraction. And by the way, it comes in different varieties: slow, fast or fastest. These correspond to slow (type I), fast oxidative (type IIA) or fast glycolytic (type IIB) muscle fibres.
   • In physiologese: Myosin ATPase allows the muscle to shorten by releasing the myosin head from the actin filament.

Myosin-ATPase: keeping busy

Myosin-ATPase (or just myosin from now on) is one of the major proteins that contracts your muscle and keeps you warm. Unlike the other ATPases, myosin can make a lot of heat without actually doing anything else. Without contracting it just sits there using ATP and making heat. It’s quite a busy little bee.

This week I review a study that was looking for one thing (how fast myosin can use ATP) and found something much more interesting (myosin may be the key to weight loss).

Stewart MA, Franks-Skiba K, Chen S, Cooke R. Myosin ATP turnover rate is a mechanism involved in thermogenesis in resting skeletal muscle fibers. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2010 Jan 5;107(1):430-5.

Methods

To figure out how fast mysosin (ATPase) uses ATP, you need to be able to somehow see ATP being used in a live muscle (or at least muscle cell).

Luckily you can make (or buy) a fluorescent ATP that is not only useful and possibly groovy when the lights go out, but it lets you see the ATP in muscle cells. Even better, you can watch it disappear. The faster the fluorescence vanishes, the faster the myosin is using ATP.

Warning! Biochemistry ahead!

For the fluorescent ATP (2’(3’)-O(N-methylanthraniloyl-ATP)) labelling to work, researchers need to use a technique that sounds like a drinking game — a pulse chase.

First, the pulse: add a bunch of fluorescent ATP to the muscle cell. Sort of like the way that dish soap cuts grease, the lipid-based cell membrane is made permeable with detergent (no, not Palmolive, but close).

Second, the chase: add regular ATP, so that as the fluorescent ATP is used, the fluorescence fades. The rate at which the fluorescence fades shows how fast the ATP is being used by myosin.

Just like a shot of tequila goes better with a little lime chaser, if you don’t chase fluorescent ATP with regular ATP, then the fluorescent part of the ATP will just hang out at the myosin head and the fluorescence won’t fade.

There are a couple things to note:

• Researchers used fast-twitch muscle fibres: a rabbit psoas muscle. That may matter, since myosin comes in different flavours that use ATP at different rates.
• The muscle fibres were relaxed.

A microscopic image of a muscle fibre with fluorescent ATP. The dark and light (fluorescent) strips or bands of the fibre show fluorescent ATP attaching to the myosin proteins. For anybody interested, the fibre width is 35 μm; the distance between the bands (sarcomere length) is 2.2 μm.

Results

In relaxed muscle fibres, myosin takes about 15 seconds to use ATP, which is pretty close to purified myosin; but in what the researchers are calling a super relaxed state, it takes myosin 230 seconds (almost 4 minutes) to use a molecule of ATP.

Let’s talk for a sec about the different myosin types, and how this might be relevant.

Myosin types

Purified myosin doesn’t have anything else. It only has myosin (hence the “purified” label). Thus, the researchers figure there is nothing to inhibit how fast myosin uses the ATP. Think of a four-year-old child in a candy store with no supervision — how fast could that kid polish off a bag of jelly beans? Pretty damn fast – 0.15 seconds per jelly bean (ATP).

Myosin in living muscle is a slightly different story. Living muscle regulates myosin because your body wants to save ATP. Thus the body inhibits the amount of ATP myosin is allowed to consume. We don’t yet know how. (The researchers are still working on that question.)

But basically, imagine that instead of a four-year-old running amok, myosin is supervised by their older teenage brother. The toddler eats the jelly beans (ATP) more slowly (0.20 seconds per jelly bean). The slow jellybean eater is the relaxed myosin.

In the super-relaxed state there is even more inhibition. Now the mother’s watching the four-year-old. So super-relaxed myosin eats the jelly beans (ATP) very slowly – 230 seconds per jelly bean.

Summary

Basically what the researchers figured out is why myosin (ATPase) can consume ATP at different rates.

You see, for a long time nobody could figure out why purified myosin used ATP way faster than myosin in living muscle, and why myosin of living muscle seemed to use ATP at different rates.

In this study the researchers think they found the answer: “relaxed myosin” and “super relaxed myosin.”

To be clear, these scientists haven’t figured out how or why there is a difference in how fast ATP is being used. All they know is that there is a difference. And they think this difference could be the Next Big Thing in understanding (and maybe even changing) metabolism.

Bottom line

How fast your myosin uses ATP while relaxed makes a huge difference to how much heat your muscle makes (thermogenesis). That, in turn, changes your metabolism.

• If your myosin is relaxed most of the time it’ll use a certain amount of energy (ATP) to make some heat.
• If your myosin is super-relaxed most of the time, it’ll use a lot less energy (ATP), make less heat and slow down your metabolism.

Now the question is: can you do anything to change how fast your myosin uses ATP? For now, nobody knows. (But it’s a good bet that sitting on the couch with a slanket probably doesn’t help, even if you are watching the Olympics.)

References

1. Brooks George A, Fahey Thomas D and White Timothy P. Exercise Physiology: Human Bioenergetics and Its Applications 2^nd edition. Pages 517-518. Toronto, Canada: Mayfield Publishing Company.1996.
2. Block BA. Thermogenesis in muscle. Annu Rev Physiol. 1994;56:535-77. Review.
3. McComas AJ. Skeletal Muscle: Form and Function. Chapter 11 Muscle contraction. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. 1996.

Remember finishing junior high?

You were on top of the school – the senior student, the big dog. The little kids looked up to you.

Remember starting high school?

Suddenly, you were getting mashed into your locker by the new big dogs. And you were the little kid.

Life’s transitions bring new challenges. As our identities and roles shift, we confront new expectations and new demands.

From 2003 to 2007, Jody Burrows tore up the basketball court at Northeastern University in Boston.

She was a three-time captain on a full athletic scholarship. She was Northeastern’s fourth all-time scorer in assists and holds the single season assist record with 143, set during the 2005-06 season.

By all accounts, hers was a stellar college basketball career.

Though she tried to play professionally after college, she found herself battling injuries, and never managed to get The Big Chance to go abroad.

It was time to start a new chapter in her life.

Luckily, in this case, opportunity came knocking. The former court star now works the sidelines and the strategy sessions as the assistant coach of Northeastern women’s team.

“I have been blessed to receive this opportunity to start my coaching career at not only my alma mater,” says Burrows, “but also at a Division 1 school, in a respected and competitive conference.”

The challenge of change

However, opportunities and new life stages also bring challenges.

“I think the biggest challenge for me,” says Burrows, “and probably more so mentally than physically, was transitioning from a college athlete to professional in the ‘real world.’”

For one thing, her schedule is now very busy.

• She screens days worth of game film, scouting and reviewing plays.
• She’s always on the lookout for new recruits, and hunts them down all over the country.
• She travels to games.
• She’s involved with both on- and off-court team training.
• And she has to watch her athletes like a mother hen to ensure that the young women’s academic work doesn’t suffer.

Coach Jody (right) dispenses advice from the sidelines

But the physical challenge of this new role is, in some ways, more challenging than the change to her workload or identity.

Collegiate athletes are in shape for most of the year, pounding the hardwood court or the running track with “hours upon hours of practicing and working out, being constantly active.”

When Burrows was in college, she was a fairly healthy eater, “as healthy as an 18-22 year old college student can be,” she quips.

But when her season ended in her senior year, all that ceased completely.

“I didn’t have to be at post season individuals on the court, I didn’t have to go to workouts, and when there are no consequences for not working out, it was much easier to take days off.

“It was always convenient to find excuses to not get up early before class to work out, when I had no other choice before.

“Even though I went through this phase, it terrified me. It is hard to simulate a three hour practice. It was hard for me to motivate myself to run sprints on my own.

“This fear also made me have an epiphany, that I had to make some life changes, and the biggest change was my diet and nutrition.

“I felt like I had to give myself another opportunity to maintain my athletic lifestyle even though I was no longer an ‘athlete.’”

Nutrition: the missing piece in athletic success

While playing college basketball, says Burrows, “I was always one of the strongest, if not the strongest, every year on my team, in terms of pushing heavy weight in the weight room.”

Though supervised by coaches, Burrows felt something was missing.

“When I trained,” recalls Burrows, “it felt more like a ‘bodybuilding mentality’: always looking to push up heavy weight, whether it was squatting, cleaning, benching and running long distances.”

Conversely, time spent on “sport-specific training, conditioning and injury prevention was non-existent and never really a strong priority.”

She realized that her performance was suffering. Luckily, Burrows found a mentor and PN.

“As I began preparing for what I hoped would be a professional career,” she remembers, “I began training with the men’s team and strength coach Art Horne, and developed an appreciation for all aspects of training; specifically nutrition and recovery and how they are intricately linked to injury prevention, strength development and most importantly my on-court performance.”

Horne introduced Burrows to the PN model and, says Burrows, “I have never looked back!”

Once she started to develop a passion for nutrition, she says, the more engrossed she found herself with PN and the website.

“I read article after article, learning about misconceptions about carbohydrates, healthy fats, sodium and sugar. I have always enjoyed cooking, so purchased Gourmet Nutrition 1 and 2, which I’ve fallen in love with.

“PN made nutrition intriguing to me. My ‘workouts’ turned into actual training and my so-called ‘healthy’ eating habits have turned into a ‘healthy lifestyle.’”

Nutrient timing

PN turned Burrows on to nutrient timing – the notion that bodies respond to certain nutrients and foods at different times throughout the day and with different training regimens. (PN members can read more at All About Nutrient Timing.)

“I was always under the impression that carbs gave you energy and I could eay them at any time,” says Burrows. “Thank goodness PN clarified this for me!”

Now, she follows PN’s take on carbohydrates — “eat them when you deserve them” – and understands the difference between “good” and “bad” carbs.

“As a college athlete, and working out like I did, I always felt like I deserved carbs. But to be honest, I didn’t back then, and certainly do not always deserve them now. If I do eat carbs, it will be within the 3 hour post workout window.”

(PN members can learn more about carbs at All About Carbohydrates.)

Burrows is also careful to eat every 2-3 hours.

Protein and veggie intake

Now Jody's seeing some serious results in the weight room

After learning from PN that proteins are thermogenic and promote leanness, Burrows now eats “a very protein heavy diet, incorporating protein in every meal that I eat. I’ve seen results firsthand, gaining lean muscle and lowering my body fat %.”

(PN members can check out All About Protein for more.)

She also eats veggies constantly throughout the day.

For breakfast, she’ll have a protein shake, eggs with turkey or oatmeal with protein powder and blueberries.

For lunch, grilled chicken with veggies is standard, but she sometimes opts for sushi. “I always get the rice paper, filled with veggies, avocado, and shrimp.”

Dinner will be either broiled fish or grilled/baked chicken with a vegetable and usually a type of legume, either black or garbanzo beans.

For her evening snack, she likes to satisfy her sweet tooth with the chocolate peanut butter bar from Gourmet Nutrition.

She’s added a fish oil supplement to her daily diet as well: “I never knew the advantages that this supplement could provide for me and the value fish oil provides to my metabolism and overall health.” Now, she’s a believer.

The 10% rule

Burrows has adopted the 10% rule that’s outlined in PN V3.

“I think John Berardi couldn’t be more correct about failing to eat absolutely perfectly 100% of the time; it is certainly more than possible to eat well 90% of the time and still see and feel optimal results.”

Her diet stays generally the same without a lot of variation, but, she says, “I genuinely enjoy what I eat and feel great after doing so.”

Sharing the knowledge

Now as assistant coach, Burrows has another opportunity: to share good nutrition with her athletes. She’s got a big job on her hands.

All 14 athletes on her team are full scholarship athletes. They are expected to “train” year around, using a periodized schedule organized around the competition season.

In the fall and winter, the athletes’ weight room training focuses on injury prevention and maintenance in terms of both strength development and conditioning.

“We’re not looking for building muscle mass or getting stronger right now with our athletes because we are in season,” Burrows explains. “We’ll use the off-season to gain and develop muscle mass and work on pure strength.”

She feels that she missed this sport-specific conditioning and injury prevention focus in her competitive career, so she’s making sure that her athletes don’t experience the same problems.

She hasn’t stopped with her team, either. She’s spread the good word to her family as well.

“My family is from the middle of nowhere in Pennsylvania,” she says. “We’re basically a meat and potato type family. There’s really no emphasis on healthy eating and or exercising.”

However, in August 2009, her stepfather had to have an open heart bypass at the age of 54, six years after his first heart attack at 48.

“I was instantly angry,” she remembers, “angry at the thought of losing someone I loved over diet, over a lax attitude on how important nutrition is for each and every one of us.”

She had a new mission, and went home to help out her mother and stepfather immediately following the surgery.

“I began to show my mother ways that she can cook that will turn her country style meals into meals that will benefit not only my stepfather, but also my mom. I raided her cabinets, pantry, freezer and refrigerator with garbage bags.” (For more on this, see All About Kitchen Makeovers.)

Perhaps fearing the nutritional wrath of a tough, strong woman in her kitchen, Burrows’ mother “was hesitant throughout the 1 hour rampage,” she knew it was best for her and her husband.

“She was scared, and that emotion has led to both of them changing their lifestyles.”

Now her stepfather is 35 lb lighter, and her mother is 22 lb lighter. Burrows is pretty pleased with her “family coaching” too.

“I would say that the two of them have definitely made nutrition and exercise a priority in their lives.

“My mother will call me for motivation, will call me to tell me that she dropped another pant size, and is more successful doing so this time around, with the help and advice through me (with my PN model advice) than she has ever been.

“Unfortunately it took a near-tragedy for my family to realize the importance of nutrition and the foods that we put in our bodies, but we are blessed we have a second chance, and I can say confidently, that we will have many more years together to make great memories, healthy memories!”

Lessons learned, and looking ahead

Burrows is philosophical about her experiences, and excited by the future.

“There are certainly misconceptions out there about nutrition and misconceptions that I believed for years, because I felt my sources were fairly credible.” Now, she sees things a lot differently.

“I have experienced immense benefits in making the lifestyle change to prioritize my nutrition in my life. I see the results in my energy level and my body, simply from making nutrition a priority.

“I was always considered a good athlete. I was always in decent shape. But I was missing the most important factor to be an elite athlete and to be great at what I did — not just good.

“I can’t go back to my collegiate career, but if I could, I certainly would do things differently. My work ethic has always been there, but I didn’t put myself in the position to be great. I left out a major piece in my success at Northeastern and my personal success: nutrition!”

Athletic success, says Burrows, is “not simply pushing numbers in the weight room.” One needs a holistic approach to the game that includes training, recovery, and good nutrition.

Now, she has some wonderful opportunities beyond starting an exciting new career: Armed with her own insight and the lessons from PN, she has the potential to change the experiences of many young athletes for the better.

As she concludes, “I am very fortunate to be where I am right now.”

Have you got a comment on or question about this article? Why not discuss it at the PN Member Zone?

Imagine seven people all lined up next to each other.

Each one of them reports that they have the exact same symptoms: fatigue, difficulty losing weight, constipation, the “blues”, cold hands and feet, and feeling puffy all the time.

These are all classic symptoms of hypothyroidism, or a low functioning thyroid gland, but what I’m about to show you is that each of these seven people can have a different defect in thyroid physiology.

Worse yet, there is a strong likelihood that none of them will be diagnosed correctly.

The Thyroid: Your Fat Burning Gland

The thyroid gland is the main metabolism gland in your body. As said previously, if your thyroid is not working correctly, you will have a difficult time losing weight.  However, the thyroid does so much more than that.

• Every cell in the body has receptors for thyroid hormone
• Low thyroid hormone leads to elevated cholesterol, triglycerides and gall stones
• There’s a higher chance of mental retardation in children whose mothers had low thyroid function during pregnancy
• Low thyroid hormone leads to poor digestive function, including low digestive enzymes and constipation
• There are intimate connections between the thyroid and other hormones
  • For example, thyroid hormone makes progesterone receptors more sensitive, meaning a woman with hormonal symptoms every month, may actually have a thyroid issue driving it
• Low thyroid hormone can impact neurotransmitters
  • For example, low thyroid hormone can cause low dopamine levels, leading to loss of motivation and will-power

In the end, as you can see, the thyroid is an important gland.  It is also a very sensitive gland. The thyroid gland is negatively impacted by a number of external chemical influences such as chlorine, fluoride, some heavy metals and other synthetic chemicals. This is one of the explanations why there are so many thyroid issues today.

But here is the reality. There are millions of people with a thyroid problem that do not know it because of flaws in understanding of basic thyroid physiology and in the way the thyroid is tested today.

Symptoms

Symptoms of low thyroid hormones are vast.  This indicates just how far reaching the effects of thyroid hormone are.
Some low thyroid symptoms include:

• fatigue
• weakness
• weight gain
• difficulty losing weight
• coarse, dry hair,
• dry skin
• hair loss
• cold intolerance (you can’t tolerate cold temperatures like those around you)
• muscle cramps and frequent muscle aches
• constipation
• depression
• irritability
• memory loss
• abnormal menstrual cycles
• decreased libido.

If you have several (or all of these symptoms), you should probably get some physiological testing done.

Problems with Testing

Before you get tested, understand there are three major problems with laboratory testing.

1. Broad reference ranges – Ranges are created using people who go to the doctor, not healthy ones. Therefore the reference ranges are far too broad to catch minor fluctuations in thyroid physiology.
2. Non-standardized reference range – Not only is the reference range too broad, but it varies from lab to lab, and state to state. Therefore you can have a thyroid issue in one state, but not another. That’s not health.
3. Insurance company influence – Doctors only run tests that are considered “medically necessary” by insurance companies. Therefore, doctors won’t often run a good thyroid panel because most insurance companies won’t pay for them.

Fortunately testing is available for some people in select areas. More on that in a bit.

Thyroid Physiology

Here’s a promise. If you understand this section, you will have a better working knowledge of thyroid physiology than most doctors.

Thyroid physiology is more complicated than this, but here is a basic working foundation of it that works very well in identifying the majority of thyroid issues.

There is a section in your brain called the hypothalamus that releases thyrotropin releasing hormone (TRH). It tells the pituitary gland to produce thyroid stimulating hormones (TSH), which then tells the thyroid how much hormone to produce.

The thyroid gland itself puts out a number of thyroid hormones, most of it being thyroxine, otherwise known as T4. Over ninety percent of thyroid hormone produced by the thyroid gland is T4, which is considered to be a prohormone because it has minimal metabolic effects on the body. Triiodothyronine (T3) is the active thyroid hormone, but only seven percent is produced by the thyroid gland. The rest has to be converted from T4.

The majority of thyroid hormones produced by the thyroid are bound to a protein (thyroid binding globulin) to transport them around the rest of the body. At some point in their travels, T4 is converted to T3 in many tissues of the body, primarily the kidney and liver, and free T3 then gets into the cells to exert its metabolic effect.

It should also be noted that twenty percent of thyroid hormone, T3 sulfate and T3 acetic acid, must be converted to active T3 by gut bacteria.

What Can Go Wrong

Getting back to the line of seven people, all experiencing the exact same symptoms, here is how they can all have a thyroid issue, but have a defect in a different area of thyroid physiology and therefore all requiring different treatment.

Defect #1 – Pituitary
If the pituitary is not functioning correctly, it cannot produce adequate amounts of TSH to stimulate their thyroid. This is most often due to suppression of the pituitary by cortisol.

Defect #2 – Thyroid
This defect is medically referred to as primary hypothyroidism, which is the one dysfunction doctors actually look for. However, the reference range for TSH is so wide, many people with this defect will be missed. Also, many people with this defect have an autoimmune thyroid condition (see Bonus Defect below).

Defect #3 – Thyroid Binding Globulin (TBG)
If there is too much thyroid binding globulin, thyroid hormone would be bound and unable to get into the cell. Thyroid function may be perfect, but if it’s all bound, it can’t get into the cells. This is most commonly caused by elevated estrogen in both men and women.

Defect #4 – Thyroid Binding Globulin (TBG)
If there is not enough thyroid binding globulin, there can be too much free thyroid hormone available for cells. While this doesn’t sound like a problem, elevated free thyroid hormone shuts down receptor sites and can therefore cause hypothyroid symptoms, despite high free thyroid hormone levels. The most common cause of this is elevated testosterone in both men and women.

Defect #5 – Conversion
If inactive T4 cannot be converted to T3, there will not be enough active thyroid hormone for cells. This can be due to a number of issues including certain mineral deficiencies (i.e. selenium), elevated cortisol or excessive oxidative stress.

Defect #6 – Dysbiosis
It is difficult to know the degree that dysbiosis can cause thyroid physiology issues. Because twenty percent of thyroid hormone is converted to active T3, if there is significant gut issues, or lack of healthy gut bacteria, there may be low thyroid symptoms.

Defect #7 – Thyroid Receptor
If thyroid hormone cannot get into the cell there will be low thyroid symptoms despite thyroid hormone levels in the body. Receptor site defects can be caused by elevations in cortisol, homocysteine or vitamin A deficiency.

Bonus Defect – Autoimmune Thyroid
In industrialized countries, the vast majority of primary hypothyroidism issues (Defect #2) are due to an autoimmune condition called Hashimoto’s syndrome. If this is the case, it is no longer a thyroid issue, but rather an immune system issue and must be managed as such.

Seven different people. Seven different issues. All resulting in the exact same symptoms. And most of the issues probably missed in the conventional medical system.

What To Do

To be honest, I’d love to tell you what to do for each of these. I really would. But it is not as easy as that. Without proper testing and a complete assessment, it’s hard to pin down the one or two things you’ll need to do to resolve a thyroid issue.

However, when traveling down the road to being healthy, you must start with the first few steps. Here they are:

1. Take a good look at the hypothyroid symptoms listed earlier in the article. If you have many of those symptoms, you may want to look deeper into your own physiology with testing.
2. Next, get a good blood work thyroid panel done. A good panel includes TSH, total T4, free T4, total T3, free T3, T3 uptake and thyroid antibodies (TPO and anti-thyroglobulin).
3. Get it interpreted by someone who uses a functional/optimal reference range and actually understands thyroid physiology.

In the end, the thyroid is a very different gland when it comes to health, as well as our ability to lose weight. When functioning well, you’re laughing.  However, when your thyroid system isn’t functioning well, there are a lot of links in the chain that need to be examined.

Editor’s note: Later this year, in conjunction with Dr Walsh, PN will be offering a suite of physiological testing services that’ll help you get a better grasp on all aspects of your physiology including: thyroid hormone status, oxygen processing, glucose utilization, reproductive/sex hormone status (for men and women), adrenal function, and more.  Stay tuned!

Insulin is an important anabolic hormone. However, it’s possible to have too much of a good thing.

People talk about calories all the time.

“I’m on a low-calorie diet.”

“Holy cow, that has a lot of calories!”

And my personal favourite: “These are double-stuffed, chocolate-dipped, extra-gooey cookies, but they’re a low-calorie version so I can eat the whole bag without feeling guilty.”

What is a calorie?

What the heck is a calorie anyway?

A calorie is a way to measure energy. It’s a unit of measurement, just like a centimetre is a unit of measurement.

Now, it’s easy to understand what a centimetre is, since I can draw a line 1 cm long and show it to you, but a calorie is a little harder to grasp.

A food calorie (technically, a kilocalorie, or kcal) is simply how much energy you need to increase the temperature of 1 kilogram (about 1 L*) of water by 1˚C.

(*Note: depending on temperature and pressure 1 kg of water can be a little more or less than 1 litre.)

There are other ways of measuring energy, just like there are other ways of measuring length (inches, centimetres, furlongs). The official scientific (SI) unit for energy is kilojoules (kJ). 4.2 kJ = 1 kCal = 1 food calorie. But because I’m talking about food, any time I refer to a calorie, it’s a food calorie.

Since I can’t draw you a picture of what a calorie looks like, I’m going to give you an example of what you can do with calories.

Fun with calories

Let’s say you want to have a nice warm bath, but your hot water heater is broken, so the water in your tub is cold (only 21˚C – room temperature).

A completely full bathtub holds about 140 litres, so 100 litres of water should be more than enough for you to have a nice satisfying bath. A warm bath is about 35˚C. To heat your tub of water (100 L) by 14˚C (from 21 to 35˚C), you would need 1400 calories.

What to do? Luckily you just came back from McDonald’s, where you bought a large Coke (310 cals), an Angus bacon & cheese burger (790 cal) and a large container of fries (500 cal) for a grand total of 1600 calories. You could warm your tub water by burning your McDonald’s meal!

That would take a bit of work, but it’s possible, and then you and your rubber ducky could have a nice warm bath with 200 calories to spare.

Put that Supersize meal to work

Calorie counting

For years the experts said a calorie is a calorie is a calorie, and as long as you eat fewer calories than you expend (through your basal metabolism and activity), then you will lose weight.

Yet despite this, people got fatter. Why?

Because of one big flaw: there is no consideration for the calories’ source or quality. The calories could be from a pound of broccoli, a Pop Tart, or a ¼ teaspoon of bacon grease. They were all treated the same.

Calorie counting distorted what people thought they could eat. They ended up (over)eating low-calorie cookies, low-fat ice cream, and diet cola, and avoiding high calorie healthy food, like avocados and nuts.

If they were rigid and careful with their intake, they might end up with a calorie deficit, thus reducing the quantity of calories, but the quality of what they ate was pretty bad.

For example, you could be on a diet that allows for 1600 calories a day. You could go to the drive thru, get the bathtub-warming special at McDonald’s, actually eat it instead of heating up your bathwater, and have consumed the day’s allotment of energy.

That’s a whopping quantity of trans fat, sugar, sodium, food additives, and other garbage. A slice of tomato, some lettuce, a pickle and fries are your fruits and vegetables for the day. Can you say scurvy?

Another problem with calorie counting is that you have to rely on the companies making the food to tell you how many calories are in their food. For years you couldn’t get the calorie counts for most restaurants. Eventually, companies provided them (often rather grudgingly).

Now, as it turns out, those calorie counts may not even be correct.

This weeks’ review looks at the accuracy of calorie information presented on food labels and restaurant websites.

Urban LE, Dallal GE, Robinson, LM, Ausman, LM, Saltzman E, Roberts SB. The accuracy of stated energy contents of reduced-energy, commercially prepared foods. J Am Diet Assoc. 2010. 110(1):116-123.

Methods

If you live in the Boston area and saw somebody in a lab coat wondering around your local grocery store sometime last year, chances are it was a researcher from this study. In this week’s study researchers went out and bought meals that you or I would get from a grocery store or restaurant.

Frozen foods were from:

• Lean Cuisine
• Weight Watchers
• Healthy Choice
• South Beach Living
• Bell & Evans

Restaurants surveyed were:

• Denny’s
• Ruby Tuesday
• Taco Bell
• PF Chang
• The Olive Garden
• McDonald’s
• Applebee’s
• Domino’s
• Dunkin Donuts
• Wendy’s

There were 39 meals in total, all with nutritional information available (either on the package or on the web) and labelled as low calorie (<500 kcal).

The researchers picked the lowest calorie meals on the menu at the restaurants and matched those meals when picking the frozen dinners at the grocery store.

This is an important point: The researchers deliberately set out to find the low-calorie options. They didn’t look for obvious offenders, such as the Domino’s Mac ‘n’ Cheese Breadbowl or the Ruby Tuesday Double Chocolate Cake. They purposely sought foods that calorie-conscious eaters might select.

Calorie recipe

We’ve all picked up a package of food of the shelf and looked at how many calories it contained. Have you ever wondered how they came up with the calorie count?

Do they feed people the food and see how much weight they gain in a week? Nope. Do they use mice? Nope.

You don’t need any people or animals to figure out how many calories are in food. You just need a scale, a blender, a dryer and a way to measure heat.

Calorie recipe – how to figure out how many calories in your favourite food in five easy steps!

• Weigh the food or meal
• Blend the food or meal until smooth with an even consistency and very unappetizing.
• Freeze dry the pureed mush.
• Grind the dried pureed mush into a fine powder.
• Cook the powder until it bursts into flames and all that’s left is a pile of ash.

Sounds tasty, no?

As the flaming, pureed, freeze-dried powder burns, it produces heat that you can measure.

Scientists call this direct calorimetry, because you directly measure how many calories come from a food. To do this, they usually use a special type of equipment called a bomb calorimeter.

Bomb calorimeter

Results

On average the 10 frozen meals had 8% more calories than the amount given on the labels. This doesn’t seem too bad, unless you eat these meals regularly.

If you thought you were eating 2000 calories/day, but were actually eating 8% more (160 calories) because all your meals were frozen or prepared foods, then by the end of the week you would have an extra 1120 calories.

Hmmm…now you have a problem, because by the end of the year you will have an extra 58,240 calories, or over 7.55kg (16 pounds) of fat!

Okay, chances are you aren’t eating that much frozen food, but what about restaurants? You eat at restaurants, right? Well, that’s even worse.

In this study restaurants underestimated the calories of their meals by an average of 18%!

The worst estimates were from Denny’s for their toast and grits. Dry white toast was 283 calories per slice instead of the 97 calories listed. Grits served with butter were also much higher in calories than reported by Denny’s (258 calories instead of the reported 86 calories).

Thus, if we do the same calculation as for the frozen food — i.e. if you think you’re eating 2000 calories a day, but are eating all your meals at these kinds of restaurants — you’ll be taking in 18% more than you realize, or 360 calories a day — 2520 a week, or 131,040 a year, for 37.44 additional pounds of fat.

That’s over a pound every two weeks. Ouch.

Conclusion

Restaurant and frozen food meals marketed as low calorie listed fewer calories on the package than the food actually contained.

On average the frozen foods had 8% more calories than the package listed, and the restaurants had 18% more calories.

This is the typical good news, bad news scenario. The good news is that there is some regulation by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The bad news is that it only applies to packaged food. And there’s more bad news: for the FDA, an “acceptable underestimation” of calories is 20%.

Restaurants don’t have to follow any regulations, but frozen food manufacturers have to be within 20%. Really, 20%! That 250 calorie meal could be 300 calories and still be within regulations.

Bottom line

Besides driving yourself crazy, calorie counting is not the best way to lose weight and you’re likely setting yourself up for failure.

Yes, it’s good to have an idea of how many calories you’re eating, but if you’re consistently calculating how many calories left for today, then your mathematical ability isn’t the only thing that may mislead you.

Eat unprocessed, whole foods — for many reasons.

They’re better for you in general. They have more of the good stuff (vitamins, minerals, fibre, phytonutrients, etc.) and less of the bad stuff (additives, sugar, etc.). They fill you up better. They nourish you better.

And you know exactly what you’re eating.

Today I’m really excited to announce my new TV show.

It’s called Body Fuel and it kicks off next week on the Canadian network – Men TV.

Obviously, if you’re looking to get lean and strong you have to fuel your body.  And that’s the point of this upbeat fitness and nutrition show.

Body Fuel investigates the ways in which food and supplements can interact with our body chemistry to create powerful, athletic, and sculpted bodies.

It’s all about the food, recipes, supplements, and nutritional strategies – what to do, and how to do it.

Now for my segment.

It’s called “Ask Dr John.” And in it, I tackle some of the most commonly asked questions about health, nutrition, fitness, supplements, and more.

Check out this trailer to hear more about the program:

If you’re in Canada and have access to Men TV, here’s the schedule:

• Mondays: airing at 3:30pm and 9:30pm
• Tuesdays: airing at 5:30am

The show kicks off next week, Monday February 15th.  Come check it out.  (And if you’re not in Canada, hopefully the program will be picked up in your part of the world sometime soon.)

No, it’s not a new superhero: G-Flux is a new way to think about how your body uses energy — and how to harness that power to get lean while eating abundantly.

Efficiency is on everyone’s minds these days.

People are trading in their gas guzzling Hummers for energy efficient hybrids.

They’re buying energy efficient fridges, stoves and toasters.

They’re replacing their regular light bulbs with energy efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs.

Why? Because energy efficient is good all around, right? It’s good for you because it costs less, and good for the environment because you use less energy.

People are also trying to be more efficient in their personal and professional lives.

“Getting things done” is a mantra of the busy worker, and entire stores simply sell boxes and closet organizers so that we can be more efficient in alphabetizing our shoes and trying to store the Xmas lights in something other than a gnarly tangled ball.

In general everybody is gung ho for any type of efficiency. You never hear, “I’m trying to be as inefficient as possible this year.” Nope. It’s all about efficiency… until you start talking about losing weight.

Is your body too efficient?

When people say that they have a “slow metabolism”, what does that mean?

Assuming that these people actually have a slow metabolism — instead of “slow metabolism” being a convenient euphemism for “overeating and under-exercising” — it means their bodies are too efficient. Compared to the average person, their bodies are either better at getting energy from the food they eat, or they’re really stingy in using energy.

All you out there with “slow metabolisms”, think of yourselves as the energy efficient model, while those people who can eat whatever they want are the gas guzzling model.

Building an inefficient muscle

In the study I’m reviewing this week, the researchers make a genetically modified mouse that has a mutated muscle “gas gauge”, if you will, that makes the mouse’s muscle inefficient.

Normally, a muscle is very good at knowing how much energy it has left. When stores are low, it’ll limit how much energy it uses. From an evolutionary perspective, especially when food was scarce, this type of efficiency was really important for survival.

Your muscle’s batteries

Before I tell you about the exact mutation in the mouse, I need to tell you about the muscle’s batteries.

When I talk about muscle energy, most of you probably think about carbohydrates (glycogen), sugars (glucose), fats, and even proteins, but that’s not the energy a muscle cell or any cell is most interested in. They’re interested in ATP [1].

ATP (or adenosine triphosphate) is a molecule that cells use to store energy, kinda like batteries. In muscle the three main users of all energy are called ATPases (proteins that breakdown and use ATP)*[2]:

Na⁺/K⁺ (sodium potassium) ATPase
Ca²⁺ (calcium) ATPase
Myosin-ATPase

*Note: ATPase is pronounced A-T-P-aze not A-T-passé

In an upcoming review I’ll go into more detail about what these ATPases do, and how they affect your muscle.

The energy controlling protein

Since ATP is so important to muscle (in fact any cell) your body has a few ways of detecting how much is left. Today, we’re going to look at the ATP-sensitive K⁺ channel,  or K_ATP channel for short[3-4].

I’m sure you’re asking, “What the heck is a channel? Is this like the English Channel? Or a TeeVee channel?”

A channel is a protein passageway for a specific molecule; in this case the passage is for potassium (K⁺).

Imagine a strainer that has holes (obviously). It lets water pass with no problem, but not the broccoli you were soaking. In the cell, the potassium is the water, and everything else is the broccoli. The broccoli can’t pass through the channels, so it stays in the cell.

Less ATP means the channel opens more, letting more potassium out, which shortens the activation of the muscle (by shortening the action potential). Basically, this channel detects that there is less energy (ATP) in the cell and then prevents the muscle cell from contracting fully.

What does this have to do with you (or with mice)? Well, without further ado I give you this week’s article.

Alekseev AE, et al. Sarcolemmal ATP-sensitive K(+) channels control energy expenditure determining body weight. Cell Metab. 2010 Jan;11(1):58-69.

Methods

The researchers actually made two types of mutant mice, both with the gene that makes the K_ATP channels (KCNJ11) mutated so that the K_ATP channels won’t work.

The first mutant mouse had the KCNJ11 gene mutated in every cell of the body, so that no K_ATP channels throughout the mouse’s entire body worked. I’ll call these mice “mutant mice” from now on.

The second mutant only had the KCNJ11 gene mutated in the skeletal muscle cells. Thus, only muscle cells had nonworking K_ATP channels. The rest of the body worked normally. I’ll call this mutant “muscle mutant.”

By the way, I say “skeletal muscle” specifically because there are other muscles like cardiac muscle (heart) or smooth muscle (i.e. intestine, arteries).

Warning: Molecular Biology Ahead

For those interested in making a skeletal muscle-specific mutant, the researchers used a muscle-specific promoter (MyoD promoter).

A promoter is DNA that is next to a specific gene, which in the right environment triggers the making of the protein from the gene[5]. In muscle, muscle-specific promoters are only active in muscle, so that you can have liver cells and muscle with the same DNA making different proteins and doing different things.

Comparing the mice

Once the mice were made (yes I realize that probably sounds a wee bit strange) the researchers compared normal mice and mutant mice. They compared mice by:

Interestingly, the researchers also compared how big the fat cells were in the normal mice compared to the muscle mutants. Umkay, the mutation was in the muscle… but the researchers were comparing fat cells? Read on to find out why.

Results

As the mice aged, the mutation-related differences became obvious. By 5 months old the mutant mice had less body weight and by 12 months old the mutant mice had way less body fat (30% less fat under the skin or subcutaneous fat).

Now where it gets really interesting is that the mutant mice were just as active as the normal mice. They also ate more, but used more energy. By getting rid of the K_ATP channel, the mouse used more energy for the same amount of activity.

Then the researchers wanted to know what happened on a high fat diet. The mutant mice didn’t gain as much weight as the normal mice on a high fat diet.

Sounds great! The mutant mice were less energy efficient, they had less body fat, could eat more, and not gain as much weight compared to the normal mice. You’d think there has to be a downside to all this… and you’d be right.

Energy inefficiency and exercise

Reduced energy efficiency might have worked all right when the mice were just lounging around, but when they exercised, the mutant mice couldn’t really keep up to the normal mice.

Exercise involved running on a treadmill (starting at 2 mW and going to 30 mW for max oxygen capacity VO_2max ) or on a running wheel in their cage, but sorry, no weight training. During treadmill running, the mutant mice had more blood lactate build-up and in their cage they didn’t run as often, as long, or as far on their running wheel. All in all, the mutant mice weren’t too keen on exercise.

Muscle mutant fat cells

Fat cells in the muscle mutant were smaller than the normal mouse. Why? How can a mutation in muscle change fat cells?

The answer is that the mutant muscle is inefficient. It uses more energy. That energy comes from fat, and that fat would be found in fat cells, making them smaller. Hmm… sounds a bit like what happens with people with a fast metabolism.

Results

Mutant (for the KCNJ11 gene) mice without energy sensing protein (ATP-sensitive K⁺ channel) have less body weight and less body fat compared to normal lab mice.

Mutant mice gained less weight on a high fat diet compared to normal lab mice.

Mutant mice weren’t as active and didn’t do as well in endurance testing compared to normal mice.

Less body fat in mutant mice is from inefficiency by skeletal muscle that makes a greater energy demand.

Bottom Line

Getting rid of or reducing energy level sensing protein (ATP-sensitive K⁺ channel) may be a new anti-obesity treatment, though at the expense of any sort of aerobic capacity (endurance). Your muscle becomes less efficient so they use more energy all the time, making you warmer and thinner.

References

1. Lodish, Harvey; Berk, Arnold; Zipursky, S. Lawrence; Matsudaira, Paul; Baltimore, David; Darnell, James E. Molecular Cell Biology Section 2.4 New York: W. H. Freeman & Co.; 1999.
2. McComas AJ. Skeletal Muscle: Form and Function. page 215. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. 1996.
3. Matar W, Nosek TM, Wong D, Renaud J. Pinacidil suppresses contractility and preserves energy but glibenclamide has no effect during muscle fatigue. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol. 2000 Feb;278(2):C404-16
4. Bushman JD, Gay JW, Tewson P, Stanley CA, Shyng SL. Characterization and functional restoration of a potassium channel Kir6.2 pore mutation identified in congenital hyperinsulinism. J Biol Chem. 2009 Dec 23. [Epub ahead of print]
5. Alberts, Bruce; Johnson, Alexander; Lewis, Julian; Raff, Martin; Roberts, Keith; Walter, Peter. Molecular Biology of the Cell Chapter 7. New York and London: Garland Science; 2002.

Back in December of 2009 we wrapped up our June ‘09 Lean Eating coaching group.

And at that time we posted our Lean Eating for Men Finalists and Lean Eating for Women Finalists , each one in contention for the $10,000 grand prize for men and $10,000 grand prize for women.

The transformations we staggering.   Thousands of PN voters weighed in on who they thought was the best male and best female transformation in each group. And now it’s time we announced the winners.  However, before doing so, I’ve gotta say this.  Man, it was though.

The last round of Lean Eating produced some of the most outstanding transformations – physical and lifestyle transformations – I’ve seen in my entire life.  We spent weeks painstakingly going through all of our finalists’ data, listening to the PN community, and scheduling long meetings with the PN Team.  (Our criterion for choosing the winner was based on measurement data, participation data, client attitude, coach feedback, community voting, and in-house voting as well.)

At the end, although we had dozens of potential winners, we had to choose.  There could only be two.

WINNER – MEN – YLR

Forum name – “YLR”
Location – San Francisco, California
Age - 38
Starting weight – 255; Waist size – 45 inches
Ending weight – 205; Waist size – 38 inches

His experience -
“My life has changed in so many ways after the Lean Eating program, I wish my tranformative experience on anyone that truly wants to change their life.”

WINNER – WOMEN – CYNERGY

Forum name – “Cynergy”
Location – Wimberly, TX
Age – 41
Starting weight – 195
Ending weight – 155
Inches lost – 34 inches

Her experience -
“I’m so grateful to PN, from the bottom of my heart, for everything you are doing.  So much is possible for me now that I have the knowledge and practice to sustain a healthy body.   I’m so happy, I can hardly find the words.”

As you can see from the finalists above, the Lean Eating program is about helping real people make real transformations.  As we’ve said many times before, to participate in Lean Eating you don’t have to start out looking like a fitness model.  Heck, you don’t even have to end up looking like a fitness model.  Rather, the idea here is to become the best you possible.

Of course, as mentioned above, there were a lot of folks achieving their best selves in this last round.  Here are a few of them, highlighted below.  If you’d like to see our entire list of finalists, check out our Lean Eating for Men Finalists and Lean Eating for Women Finalists.

TOP 3 FINALIST – MEN

Forum name – “ddociam”
Location – Worthington, MN
Age - 54
Starting weight – 220; Waist size – 44 inches
Ending weight – 198; Waist size – 36 inches

His experience -
“I enthusiastically support PN.  And the LE experience has been fantastic. I accomplished much more than I thought possible.  If you get a thrill out of helping people with important life changes, you should be fulfilled, and (thrilled x 100).  Reading how guys have overcome difficult life circumstances and thrived in the LEP while reversing years of poor eating choices has made the program so much more than a nutrition experience.  Thank you for putting the LE program together.

TOP 3 FINALIST – WOMEN

Forum name – “Lisa79″
Location – Port Elgin, ON
Age – 29
Starting weight – 146
Ending weight – 126
Inches lost – 35 inches

Her experience -
“I’m thrilled to be one of the top three finalists.  But not as thrilled as I am with the results of this program! This has been one of the best things I’ve ever done for myself.  Thanks for putting together such a great program and giving me the tools I need to start living a healthy lifestyle.”

TOP 3 FINALIST – MEN

Forum name – “Impaler”
Location – Helsinki, Finland
Age – 27
Starting weight - 240; Waist size – 46 inches
Ending weight – 190; Waist size – 36 inches

His experience -
“I aimed to win the grand prize.  But even though I didn’t win, just 6 months in this program initiated a change in me that I’m still amazed at.  Wow.  When I started, I was going through many devastating hardships in my life.  And I was having a tough time dealing with it all.  But just sticking with the program got me through it.  And by the end of the program, I weathered the storm.  Now I feel like I’m worth more than I have ever been in my life.”

TOP 3 FINALIST – WOMEN

Forum name – “TransformationHereNow”
Location – Tuscon, AZ
Age - 42
Starting weight – 241
Ending weight - 195
Inches lost – 25 inches

Her experience -
“Drop by drop the cup fills.   When my son first told me about LE and I first looked at the site, the stories of people’s transformations did impact me.  Hearing the change in what people thought was possible for them and what they discovered they were capable of was inspiring.  As I went through the process myself, though, it was nitty gritty.  Every day I did what I could.  I didn’t feel inspired every day.  But I learned that’s OK.  And by the end, just following the instructions, doing what I could, drop by drop I saw some profound changes.  I feel so much gratitude for this important lesson!”

Lean Eating 2010 – An Update – Results So Far

At this point we’re about 1 month into the current Lean Eating group and, although I hate to continue to use words like awesome and mind-blowing, I just have to.  I’m so impressed with our current Lean Eaters that I’ve got to give them some praise.  And to share their numbers.

After just one month of Lean Eating, our clients are absolutely crushing it in terms of weight and inches lost (two of our important outcome measures).

Total Weight Loss Men: 822.1 lbs
Total Weight Loss Women: 585.1 lbs

Total Inches Lost Men: 422.5 inches
Total inches Lost Women: 833.9 inches

*So, in the end, over 1400lbs and 1250 inches were lost in the first month alone. If things keep up at this rate, our clients will have lost over 8400 lbs and 7500 inches at the end of this program. Holy cow!

Further, in terms of the more important behavior measures (you know, the things that clients can actually control, like showing up and completing their workouts, doing their assignments, and complying with the nutrition habits), our clients are doing even better than I expected at this stage of the game.  Here are their averages:

Women’s % Assigment Completion: 80.3%
Men’s % Assigment Completion: 70.4%

Women’s % Workout Completion: 70.8%
Men’s % Workout Completion: 64.5%

Women’s % Nutrition Habit Compliance: 80.6%
Men’s % Nutrition Habit Compliance: 77.6%

*Remember, consistency is ALWAYS the key to health, body composition, and performance changes.  So we make sure to emphasize, encourage, and track consistency – about all else.  Based on previous experience, group averages over 70% on these measures mean big-time results. Of course, the higher the better.

Are You Ready For June 2010?

Overall, as you can see from the photos and information above,the Lean Eating program is so much more than a weight loss initiative.  Sure, weight is lost.  A lot of it.  But, in the process, healthy habits are adopted, lives are changed, and our clients begin to realize their best selves.

If you’re one of the folks who has yet to participate in the LE program, we’ve got another round coming up in June of this year.  And, truthfully, I’d like to see you involved.

Since the Lean Eating program typically sells out within hours of opening up, you can be one of the first to get a chance at registration by putting your name on the pre-sale list below.

For you strength and nutrition coaches working with hockey or basketball athletes, there’s a symposium coming up in May that I think you’ll really benefit from.  Some of the absolute top coaches in North American will be there.  And if you’re not, you’ll be missing out.

2nd Annual Boston Hockey Summit & Basketball Symposium

The Boston Sports Medicine and Performance Group presents the second annual Boston Hockey Summit and Basketball Symposium on Saturday May 22nd and Sunday May 23rd, 2010.

Come join us for a bowl of Boston Clam Chowda and a weekend with North America’s top Strength and Conditioning professionals.  Choose the home town hockey track or follow this year’s newly added basketball focus and learn how the very best colleges and professionals are preparing each year for success.

Not sure which track to follow? No problem!  Our format allows strength professionals, athletic trainers and other sport professionals to design their own course and follow the speakers which suit their interests best while bringing all attendees together for three incredible keynote speakers over the course of the weekend.

Lunch will be provided Saturday to give attendees a chance to network and follow up with speakers from both sections.  To close the day, a brief reception will be held at historic Matthew’s Arena, original home to both the Boston Bruins and Boston Celtics.  But don’t get too caught up in Boston’s history and night life, as Sunday’s speaker set kicks off at 8:30 am sharp.”

For More Information

For more information on the event and how to register, click here.

If you remember elementary school, you probably remember some kind of experiment involving sprouting seeds. Perhaps you stuck a few bean kernels in a jar, kept them moist, and were rewarded in a few days with green shoots. Well, the same process works for making grains, nuts, and beans/legumes more digestible now that you’re a grownup. Hey — science works!

“Welcome to Sydney, Mr. Stallone. Anything to declare?”

“Nope.”

“Hmmm… what about these 48 vials of growth hormone?”

Awkward!

Yes, in 2007, Customs officials seized 48 vials of the banned human growth hormone from Mr Stallone while he was visiting Australia to promote his latest Rocky movie. He was later convicted of importing a banned growth hormone into Australia and ordered to pay more than £5,000 in fines.

Makes a good news story, but do you know what growth hormone is or what it does?

Growth hormone is part of a group of hormones known as anabolic (building-up) hormones. This group also includes insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and testosterone. These hormones are important for muscle growth; and they all increase when you weight train.

Growth hormone

Growth hormone, as the name suggests, is a hormone that triggers growth, especially in children.

If you have too little GH when you’re growing up you’ll be shorter (this is what happens in dwarfism). If you have too much in childhood (gigantism) you’ll end up tall – like over 7 feet (2.13 metres) tall! If you have too much as an adult, you’ll end up with acromegaly.

Your pituitary gland makes and secretes growth hormone, which then goes on to do many different things to a bunch of different cells (bone, immune cells, skeletal muscle skeletal, fat cells and liver cells).

Growth hormone particularly affects metabolic functions involved in materials use and storage, such as glucose use and glycogen production; amino acid metabolism and protein synthesis; and fatty acid use/fat breakdown. It helps us use available fuel more effectively.

It also enhances the construction of structural elements such as collagen production (which helps build cartilage) and bone growth.

Growth hormone does one more thing that is really important for those of us who work out: it activates insulin-like growth factors (IGFs). I’ll explain more about IGFs in the next section.

Now, you probably look at the list of all the things growth hormone does and think hey, this sounds great! How do I get more?

Well, there are two ways you can get your body to make more: sleep and exercise (I’ll talk about exercise a bit later on).

If you didn’t have enough reasons to get more sleep, here is another one: about an hour after you fall asleep at night, you get one big burst of growth hormone and then about every four hours you get smaller bursts of growth hormone.

Thus, the more you sleep the more growth hormone you get. Hooray for sleep!

Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1)

There are a few different insulin-like growth factors (IGFs), but the most famous and best understood is IGF-1 (the number 1 is just because it was first discovered).

IGF-1 comes out to play when growth hormone knocks on the door of the liver, but its takes about 8-29 hours for IGF-1 to get ready.

When you exercise, the amount of IGF-1 in your blood goes up right away, so it must be coming from other places too — two of those places are fat and muscle. IGF-1 triggers a chain of events that makes your muscle make more protein.

Testosterone

Finally a hormone you remember from high school (and you thought sex ed was a waste of time). To refresh your memory, testosterone is the main hormone that makes men manly. Women do have testosterone, they just have a lot less.

Testosterone can stimulate growth hormone secretion and increase the presence of neurotransmitters at the fibre site, which can help to activate tissue growth. As a steroid hormone, testosterone can interact with nuclear receptors on the DNA, resulting in protein synthesis.

Exercise and anabolic hormones

Resistance exercise (weight lifting) that uses a large amount of muscle mass, moderate-high intensity weights, high volume and short rests between sets gives pretty big increases in growth hormone, IGF-1 and testosterone — at least for about a half an hour after exercise.

So… does this mean that exercise turns us into walking anabolic hormonal soup? Read on.

The study

This week’s review is a bit controversial, because it goes against what is considered common knowledge and some well respected studies by some big cheeses.

This week’s study tries to figure out whether resistance exercise-induced increases in growth hormone, IGF-1 and testosterone enhance muscle strength and hypertrophy with training. As usual, ignore the title if you want to be surprised at the end.

West DW, Burd NA, Tang JE, Moore DR, Staples AW, Holwerda AM, Baker SK, Phillips SM. Elevations in ostensibly anabolic hormones with resistance exercise enhance neither training-induced muscle hypertrophy nor strength of the elbow flexors. J Appl Physiol. 2010 Jan;108(1):60-7.

Methods

Participants

For this study the participants:

• were 12 healthy males
• had an average age of 21 years old
• had an average BMI of 23.1 (normal)
• weighed, on average, 74.1 kg (163.4 lb) and were 1.78 m (5’ 10”) tall

Workouts

In order to get what they were after, the researchers designed a very specific workout program that is going to sound a bit wacky to you.

The workouts were split into two days; day 1 arm (not arms), day 2 arm + legs. Yes, two separate days with one day for each arm.

Why? The researchers wanted to know if increasing blood levels of growth hormone, IGF-1 and testosterone would make the arm being trained that day even bigger than just training.

The arm that was worked out right before legs were trained would have the added benefit of getting exposed to more growth hormone, IGF-1 and testosterone than the arm that was trained without legs.

If you take the hormone levels into account the two workout days can be summarized this way:

Day 1. Arm training: low blood growth hormone, IGF-1 & testosterone levels (low hormone day or LH)

Day 2. Arm + leg training curl: high blood growth hormone, IGF-1 & testosterone levels (high hormone day or HH)

The study had 15 weeks of training with some changes to how often the participants trained.

Weeks 1-6 : the participants worked out three times a week — Monday^HH, Tuesday^LH, Friday^HH, Monday^LH, Thursday^HH, Friday^LH.

I’d like to point out something here: in the first 6 weeks, two of the three low hormone days were right after the high hormone day with no day in between. Since growth hormone takes up to a day to stimulate IGF-1, this could be a problem.

Weeks 7-15: the participants worked out four times a weeks (each arm twice) — Monday^HH, Tuesday^LH, Thurday^HH, Friday^LH.

Same problem here: the low hormone sessions are the following day after a high hormone session.

Workouts for the arm were isolated arm curls with 3 to 4 sets of 8-12 reps with a weight that was 95% of what they could lift 10 times (95% of 10 RM – rep max).

Leg training was 5 sets of 10 reps of leg press and 3 sets of 12 of leg extensions and leg curl supersets (no rest between exercises) at 90% of 10RM.

Rest between sets: 2 minutes between arm sets and 1 minute between leg sets.

Pre & post workout nutrition

In this study, researchers had the participants drink 18 grams of whey protein right before exercise and another 18 grams of whey 90 minutes after the last set of the arm exercises.

Results

Figure 1 (below) charts changes in growth hormone, IGF-1 and testosterone after the workouts. High hormone workouts are black circles and squares; low hormone workouts are white circles and squares.

Figure 1 - Blood growth hormone (GH), IGF-1 and testosterone levels before exercise and after exercise.

All hormones show a peak in the high hormone group (the black circles & squares), but the low hormone group (the white circles & squares) don’t have a peak — all the hormones stay about the same.

Oh, the circles and squares are before and after the 15 weeks of training, and as you can see, there was no difference because of training.

This means that the researchers got what they wanted, which was one workout with high hormones and one with low hormones, so the problems I brought up earlier regarding growth hormone “spilling over” to the next day didn’t happen.

Does more growth hormone, IGF-1 & testosterone mean more strength & hypertrophy?

There was no difference in arm strength or hypertrophy between the arm trained with legs (exposed to high hormone levels) and the arm trained all by itself (exposed to low hormone levels).

There were improvements in both strength and hypertrophy after the 15 weeks, but no difference between arms.

Conclusion

Squatting right before doing your arm curls will increase how much growth hormone, IGF-1 and testosterone you have floating around in your body, but it’s not going to help make your guns stronger or bigger than if you did the squats and arm curls on different days.

Here are a few points that may help you understand how more anabolic hormones didn’t seem to mean more muscle mass or strength.

1. It’s the short term (30 minutes) whole body increases in growth hormone, IGF-1 and testosterone that made no difference in muscle mass & strength gains.
2. The researchers figure (and I agree) that there are still anabolic hormones around when you work out just your arms, but they stay in the arm. The comparison is anabolic hormones locally versus in the whole body. Local anabolic hormones are more than enough to trigger hypertrophy and strength.
3. The researchers aren’t delusional; they fully recognize that chronic (long term) increases in these hormones do increase muscle mass and hypertrophy. Chronic exposure to anabolic hormones does increase muscle mass and strength.

This is actually the second article these researchers published looking at anabolic hormones. The first one had pretty much the same set up but they looked at whether there was a difference in how much muscle protein was synthesized (made) by the muscle. Again, just like in this study, they found no difference when there were more anabolic hormones in the blood (whole body) for a short time.

Bottom line

Nobody is arguing the importance of anabolic hormones for increasing muscle mass and strength. (Least of all Sly.)

However, it doesn’t look like temporary (up to 30 minutes post exercise) whole body increases in anabolic hormones provide more muscle growth or strength.

References

Hansen S, Kvorning T, Kjaer M, Sjogaard G. The effect of short-term strength training on human skeletal muscle: the importance of physiologically elevated hormone levels. Scand J Med Sci Sports 11: 347–354, 2001

Hakkinen K, Pakarinen A. Acute hormonal responses to two different fatiguing heavy-resistance protocols in male athletes. J Appl Physiol 74: 882–887, 1993

Kraemer WJ, Marchitelli L, Gordon SE, Harman E, Dziados JE, Mello R, Frykman P, McCurry D, Fleck SJ. Hormonal and growth factor responses to heavy resistance exercise protocols. J Appl Physiol 69: 1442–1450, 1990

Kraemer WJ, Ratamess NA. Hormonal responses and adaptations to resistance exercise and training. Sports Med. 2005;35(4):339-61. Review.

Kraemer WJ, Vingren JL, Spiering, BA. Endocrine responses to resistance exercise. In: Essentials of Strength and Conditioning 3^rd edition, edited by Baechle TR, Earle RW. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2008, p. 41–64.

Rodney Rhoades and Richard Pflanzer. Human Physiology. 3^rd Eds. Chapter 13 The Pituitary Hormones. Page 309 1996. Saunders College Publishing New York.

West DW, Kujbida GW, Moore D, Atherton PJ, Burd NA, Padzik JP, Delisio M, Tang JE, Parise G, Rennie MJ, Baker SK, Phillips SM. Resistance exercise-induced increases in putative anabolic hormones do not enhance muscle protein synthesis or intracellular signalling in young men. J Physiol 587: 5239–5247, 2009

Zatsiorsky VM, Kraemer WJ. Science and practice of strength training 2^nd edition. p 57-59, 183-184,

Throughout its long history, coffee has endured both accolades and opposition. Over the ages, some of the world’s greatest composers, thinkers and statesmen have extolled coffee’s virtues, while others have denounced it as a poisonous, mind-corrupting drug. Coffee has been praised by certain religions and prohibited by others.

Some governments have subsidized coffee crops; others have imposed steep taxes and duties on them. Doctors vali­date coffee’s health benefits yet worry about its contribution to cardiovascu­lar disease, diabetes, and even cancer.

Coffee is more popular than ever, which contributes to its contradictory status. In moderation, coffee poses minimal health risks for most people. In some cases, coffee even appears to be protective. But many North Ameri­cans now consume coffee in large quantities, which can significantly damage our neuroendocrineimmune system over the long term.

Neuro-What?

The neuroendocrineimmune system consists of the processes and structures that form our central nervous systems, our hormonal systems, and our immune systems, all of which are linked in complex relationships.

For example, many of us know that when we are stressed, we get sick more easily. Emotional and mental demands, especially if prolonged, cause our stress hormones to increase, which means our immune systems don’t work as well.

The complicated interplay of our neuroendocrineimmune systems suggests that there is no clear division between mind and body. What we think and experience is as much “us” as what our body does.

How Do We Know What We Know?

It’s hard to get a clear picture of coffee’s health effects. Epidemiological studies, which try to find relationships between multiple lifestyle factors, can be hard to interpret.

For one thing, coffee drinking is correlated with other dietary and lifestyle behaviours such as alcohol and nicotine consumption and a sedentary lifestyle. In other words, people who drink a lot of coffee also tend to drink and smoke, and be out of shape. On the other hand, people who avoid coffee often do so for health-related reasons. They’re also more likely to be health-conscious in other ways, making health-promoting lifestyle choices such as exercise. Comparing coffee drinkers with non-coffee drinkers thus misses a number of important variables.

Second, there are vast differences in coffee’s pharmacological constituents depending on the type of bean used in the study, the methods of roasting, and the varying ways of preparing coffee, not to mention the differences between commercially available instant coffee versus freshly roasted organic coffee.

There are also differences in individual sensitivity to caffeine, likely due to the genetic traits related to caffeine metabolism (see “Coded for Caffeine”, in the Spezzatino Coffee issue), as well as lifestyle influences. For example, the half-life of caffeine is shorter in smokers than non-smokers, while the half-life of caffeine is doubled in women taking oral contraceptives.

Finally, most research studies observe and measure the effects of a single dose of caffeine rather than the effects of chronic ingestion. Yet most coffee drinkers drink coffee daily.

As a number of studies have shown, single-dose experiments don’t necessarily reflect the effects of our regular routines. For example, researchers have shown that we can build tolerance to the cardiovascular effects of caffeine within two to three days. Therefore, research studies that show a given effect on the body from an acute single dose bear little relevance to the chronic ingestion of caffeine.

In my naturopathic practice, I use evidence from epidemiological and experimental studies. But I also draw on experience and a systematic understanding of how our nervous, endocrine, and immune systems interact in order to make educated guesses about coffee’s potential effects on my patients.

Caffeine and Your Brain

Caffeine is one of coffee’s primary constituents with psychoactive activities. It’s part of a group of substances collectively referred to as methylxanthines. These alkaloids are well known for their ability to increase cognitive abilities, improve energy, enhance well-being, and increase arousal and alertness.

As mentioned elsewhere in the Spezzatino Coffee issue (see “Lab to Lunch”), these effects occur largely because of caffeine’s ability to block adenosine receptor sites throughout the body. However, there are other neurochemical effects that are worth noting.

Once again, studies demonstrating the effects of caffeine on neurotransmitters (chemicals that allow the cells of our nervous system to communicate) don’t always give us a realistic picture.

First, the dose used in neurochemical studies generally exceeds quantities ingested during normal everyday life. When animals are used, they are non-coffee drinkers. (It’s hard to make mugs that small, and without opposable thumbs… well, let’s just say there’ve been some unfortunate spills of hot liquid. Luckily, no legal cases against McDonalds are pending.) Therefore, researchers use a single dose of caffeine, which may not reflect the neurochemical effects of chronic consumption of caffeine.

Second, neurotransmitters are produced in different amounts in different areas of the brain simultaneously, and have very different effects on mood and personality depending on where in the brain they’re used. Quick overview: serotonin is involved in mood and appetite regulation; gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) typically inhibits neuronal activity to cause relaxation and sleep; and acetylcholine is involved in muscle contraction.

Chronic caffeine intake has been shown to increase the receptors of serotonin (26-30% increase), GABA (65% increase), and acetylcholine (40-50%). This may contribute to the elevated mood and perceived increase in energy we feel after a coffee (which makes espresso a handy pre-workout drink). Despite increasing receptors, caffeine also inhibits the release of GABA, which contributes to our feeling of alertness.

Chronic caffeine intake also increases the sensitivity of serotonin receptors. In other words, receptors specific to serotonin are more responsive to serotonin present in the synaptic cleft — it’s sort of like installing a bigger satellite dish to catch more of an existing signal. One study showed a decrease in serotonin release, but an increase in serotonin reuptake, leading to an overall increase in serotonin levels. (Think of it as the brain’s natural recycling.)

In the human body, when neurotransmitter receptors increase in number, or if they increase their sensitivity, it generally suggests a reduction in functional capacity and activity of neurons associated with those receptors. Either the brain needs more chemicals to do the job, or the neurons involved aren’t working as hard. This might mean that a certain neurotransmitter is in short supply, or that its activity needs to increase. In the case of caffeine and serotonin, this can partly explain the mood-enhancing effects of drinking coffee.

Caffeine has also been shown to increase serotonin levels in the limbic system, a relatively primitive part of our brain involved in regulating basic functions such as hormonal secretions, emotional responses, mood regulation and pain/pleasure sensations. This has a similar mode of action as some antidepressant medications.

The increase in serotonin levels, combined with the increase in serotonin receptors, cause the characteristic withdrawal symptoms (such as agitation and irritability) when coffee intake is stopped. The brain has come to expect more action in its serotonin receptors, and when its abundant supply of happy chemicals is abruptly cut off, it gets crabby.

Indirectly, chronic caffeine intake may impact neurochemistry by reducing cofactors – chemical partners – necessary for neurotransmitter synthesis. For example, coffee inhibits the absorption of iron, a key mineral involved with the synthesis of serotonin and dopamine. Additionally, we need the activated form of vitamin B6, pyridoxal-5-phosphate, to synthesize serotonin, dopamine and GABA. Coffee consumption can decrease amounts of circulating B-vitamins, which could affect neurotransmitter synthesis in another way.

Thus, caffeine impacts whether certain chemicals are available; how receptive our brains are to them; and whether we’re even making those chemicals in the first place.

- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - -

Roast Your Own Coffee

Free Stuff – Roast Your Own Coffee Beans

Brought to you by the creators of Precision Nutrition, Spezzatino Magazine is an encyclopedia of food, with each issue focusing on a single food such as: basil, grapes, wild game, tomatoes, fish, coffee, chocolate, and more.

In volume 8, our biggest and best issue yet, we focus on coffee.  (And this article comes directly from the magazine.

Because you’re a PN reader, we’d like to share with you some additional goodies, including another article on how to roast your own coffee at home, which may be healthier than drinking the commercial varieties.   So click the link above, check out volume 8,  and get your free stuff.

– - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - -

Caffeine and Your Hormones

Both scientists and lay people know the effects of caffeine consumption on hormones relatively well. For example, quickly perusing the internet brings up numerous sites claiming that caffeine “wears out the adrenal glands”. But not surprisingly, this may not be entirely accurate. While we know many things about the impact caffeine has on human’s stress physiology, certain mechanisms of how it occurs are still relatively mysterious.

Caffeine strongly affects the activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis: the linked system of hypothalamus and pituitary glands in the brain, and the adrenal glands that sit atop the kidneys. The HPA axis influences the body’s ability to manage and deal with stress, both at rest and during activity.

The adrenal glands secrete two key hormones: epinephrine and cortisol. Epinephrine, or adrenaline, increases respiration rate, heart rate and blood pressure; while cortisol frees up stored glucose, which we need in greater amounts during times of perceived stress.

As you can imagine, for our early hominid ancestors, the ability to quickly access and use stored energy was a helpful feature. However, while this is an excellent acute response to an immediate stress (such as being chased by a bear), it’s a damaging response when the stress is chronic (such as the cumulative demands of our daily modern lives).

Studies in humans have shown that caffeine increases cortisol and epinephrine at rest, and that levels of cortisol after caffeine consumption are similar to those experienced during an acute stress. Drinking coffee, in other words, re-creates stress conditions for the body. While scientists have some ideas about how caffeine increases HPA hormones, the exact mechanism still remains unclear.

Compounding the problem, people tend to consume more caffeine during stressful periods (as nearly every student during exam season knows well). They add stress to stress, potentially making things even worse. Rat studies have shown that caffeine consumption during chronic stress increased cortisol, blood pressure, and other negative hormonal events. Chronically stressed rats who consumed caffeine ended up sicker, and died sooner, than rats experiencing chronic stress without caffeine consumption.

However, again, chronic caffeine consumption leads to a degree of physiological tolerance and thus among people who drink coffee regularly, blood pressure, heart rate, excessive urination, epinephrine production, and even anxiety and stimulation may not be as strongly affected.

Other hormonal effects of caffeine appear to be related to competitive actions for metabolism in the liver. Like a gridlocked city, the liver only has so many “roads”, or metabolic pathways, available. More “cars” (i.e. chemicals) on the “roads” slow things down.

For instance, the liver detoxifies caffeine using the CYP1A2 enzyme system, which is also responsible for initial metabolism of estrogen during Phase I clearance by the liver. This is one reason caffeine is likely metabolized more slowly in women taking oral contraceptives or postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy.

While research showing the effects of chronic caffeine consumption on circulating levels of estrogen isn’t yet available, researchers have suggested that caffeine consumption may lower the risk of breast cancer by upregulating the CYP1A2 isoenzyme and thus improving estrogen metabolism.

Caffeine and Your Immune System

The immune system is a vast and complex system that communicates extensively with itself and connects to every other system of the body.

For simplicity’s sake, we’ll separate the immune system into two sections: the Th1 side (T-cell mediated system) and the Th2 side (B-cell mediated antibody system). The Th1 side is our innate immune system – the system that develops early in life – and is our first line of defense against pathogens such as viruses and bacteria.

On the other hand, the Th2 system is acquired: as we are exposed to pathogens throughout our lives, we produce antibodies to them. Antibodies recognize foreign invaders if exposed to them repeatedly, and will launch a stronger and swifter attack if a second invasion takes place. Because of this system, someone will experience a reaction to poison ivy only after their second exposure.

The two sides of this system act as a teeter totter: when one side is dominant, the other side is suppressed. Research suggests that chronic caffeine exposure shifts the immune system to a Th2 dominance. This may help the treatment of Th1 dominant autoimmune conditions, but in the average person, it may elevate the Th2 system excessively, creating an overzealous Th2 immune response. A dominant Th2 system predisposes individuals to hypersensitivity reactions such as asthma and allergies. To date, there have not been any correlations between chronic caffeine consumption and increased prevalence of Th2 associated conditions, but based on existing knowledge of caffeine and the immune system, the link seems plausible.

In my clinical naturopathic practice, we have seen certain autoimmune conditions improve with caffeine consumption, while others get worse. If someone with rheumatoid arthritis (an autoimmune condition that causes joint pain and inflammation) says they get significantly more joint pain when they drink coffee, one could hypothesize that their Th2 system is dominant, and the caffeine is promoting destruction of their joints by further stimulating this already overzealous Th2 system.

Putting It All Together

No known studies demonstrate statistically significant correlations between coffee over-consumption and the unwinding of the neuroendocrineimmune system. We just don’t know for sure yet how all the puzzle pieces fit together.

However, certain theoretical pathways can be created, and have been observed clinically. We can also make some informed speculation based on what we already know of the neuroendocrineimmune system’s interrelationships.

Effects on the Metabolism

Chronic coffee consumption increases insulin resistance, a situation in which the body cannot effectively deliver glucose into the cells of the body. In this situation, insulin, which helps transport glucose into the cells, cannot do its job well because the body’s cells are less receptive. This typically occurs with a diet high in refined sugars and starches. Thus, the body must release ever-larger amounts of insulin to do the job. Like parents tuning out their screaming toddler, the body becomes less and less sensitive to insulin’s effects, which means more circulating glucose, which means more insulin release… and so on.

It’s a vicious cycle. And, unfortunately, it’s a cycle that currently occurs in the majority of North Americans. Combine the standard Western diet high in refined carbohydrates with stress and a high caffeine intake, and you have a potential recipe for metabolic disaster.

Insulin stimulates the release of interleukin-6 (IL-6), which is a Th2 cytokine (a cell signaling molecule). If IL-6 is chronically elevated (in this case, from high insulin levels), it may lead to a Th2 dominance and potential hypersensitivity from an overzealous antibody response. This can result in acquired sensitivities to foods and chemicals.

Interleukin-6 also stimulates the release of cortisol, which, as a glucocorticoid hormone, increases the body’s glucose level. This leads to an increased demand for insulin, which is problematic because of the insulin resistance that started the cascade in the first place.

Let’s recap: a diet high in refined sugars and starches leads to more circulating glucose. More glucose means more insulin needed to dispose of it. More insulin means cells tune out, which means even more insulin dumped into the bloodstream (especially if people continue to eat this high-carbohydrate diet). More insulin means insulin resistance — possibly aggravated by high caffeine consumption. More insulin means more IL-6 and more inflammation and hypersensitivity. More IL-6 means more cortisol, which means more glucose… and here we are, back at the beginning of a very nasty cycle.

Consider this as you cradle your extra-large coffee and glazed donut this morning during your white-knuckle commute to work.

Effects on Brain Function and Mood

The elevated blood sugar and insulin don’t just stop at inflammation. They can create imbalances in the neurotransmitters serotonin, dopamine and GABA, which can lead to sub-clinical mood problems such as mild depression (aka “the blues”), low motivation, irritability, and impaired cognition. People with chronically high glucose, insulin resistance, systemic inflammation, and stress typically have “fuzzy brain”, memory loss, lethargy, and/or a short fuse.

Coupled with the potential iron and B-vitamin deficiencies created by coffee, which, again, cause impaired synthesis of key neurotransmitters, this may result in mood states where people feel the need for coffee to keep themselves functioning properly. Have you ever felt that you desperately needed coffee for a pick-me-up? Do you tell people, “I’m a grouch until I get my coffee?” If so, you may be experiencing this situation.

Caffeine in moderation is likely not an issue for most people. Indeed, it may actually have health benefits. (See the article on traditional Chinese medicine and coffee, in the Spezzatino Coffee issue) Problems occur when we drink coffee all day long and combine it with sedentary lifestyles, poor diets, and chronically elevated stress.

We drink much more caffeine than our great-grandparents did. Not only has our coffee consumption increased, but the market is saturated (pardon the pun) with other sources of caffeine. There is much more refined sugar available to us, and our lives move at a much faster pace. The industry standard size for a cup of coffee is six ounces. If you’re North American and under 40, I bet you don’t even own a six-ounce glass of anything – never mind finding a cup that size at the local coffee shop!

It’s the perfect storm: caffeine, stress, sugar, and sedentary living. This combination and its complex relationships with your neuroendocrineimmune system may be affecting you more than you realize.

Systems in our body are closely interconnected. Stimulation of one area can have far-reaching effects, especially if the stimulation is dramatic and/or prolonged. Large amounts of caffeine likely have numerous negative impacts on the body that research has not yet elucidated, but if we piece the available studies together, such impacts appear to be very real possibilities.

Follow the evidence that your body offers you. Pay attention to how you feel when you drink coffee. Do you feel good for a short period, then shaky and irritable? Do you notice more pain or other kinds of physical distress? If you’re experiencing any of the symptoms I’ve mentioned above, ranging from anxiety to inflammation, consider bringing a little decaf into your life.

- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - -

Spezzatino Volume 8

Subscribe to Spezzatino

If you like this article – and the free goodies above – please subscribe.  Not only is Spezzatino a a beautifully produced and uniquely organized magazine, written by food lovers for food lovers, it’s also driven by a social conscience.

In other words, Spezzatino is a social enterprise: a magazine of the highest standards, run like the very best businesses, but donating all profit to charity.  In essence, it’s a food magazine that actually feeds people.  And you can help us do it.

Spezzatino costs just $5.99 per volume, and all profit goes to charity! How’s that for a great deal?  And if you prepay for 12 volumes, we’ll even toss in two volumes for free, for an average price of about $4.99 per volume.

Eat and Run is an internet program we’ve created in partnership with the endurance-oriented folks at Competitor.com. (Thus the name; Eat and Run.)

Over the next few months we’ll be bringing you dozens of new high-quality nutrition videos. Every single one supports the important ideas presented in the Precision Nutrition System.

So, make sure you’ve got your copy of PN. And then be prepared for a host of “a-ha” moments as we roll out successive episodes of Eat and Run.

Also, keep one thing in mind. The tips you’ll learn in the Eat and Run program aren’t exclusive to an endurance-oriented audience. Indeed, good nutrition is univerally important whether your primary activity is lifting weights or whether it’s lifting your bike pedals.

For now, check out episode 13: Preventing Dehydration in Exercisers

For more information about Hydration and Dehydration:

• Check out our Precision Nutrition System

We all know that vitamins and minerals are important, but why? Here’s what you need to know about what’s in your food… or your Flintstones chewables.

A new year means hordes of people resolve to get in shape and begin working out for the first time in 11 months. And many of you regular gym goes probably took a couple weeks off with the holidays.

What happens?

You go to the gym filled with enthusiasm and you start working out. You feel pretty keen, so you keep adding more weight, doing more sets, and more exercises. You leave the gym feeling good — maybe even great — but the next day you wake up a wee bit sore.

Two days after your first workout of 2010 you feel worse, you can’t lift your arms over your head, and you decide washing your hair isn’t that important anyway.

You’ve just met every weight lifter’s friend and enemy — delayed onset muscle soreness.

Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS)

Oh nooo... I have to walk down the stairs...

Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) is that muscle soreness and stiffness you get one to two days after you’ve worked out.

It isn’t a sharp pain, but it is painful enough that you to figure out a new way to walk up and down stairs without bending your knees — yes it’s possible, but you look a bit like Frankenstein.

Getting some DOMS lets you know you’re overloading the muscle; too much and you have problems with everyday things like squatting to use the toilet.

What causes DOMS?

After years of scientists studying DOMS you’d think they’d have figured it out, but nope. Sure there are a few theories out there, but nobody is quite sure what causes DOMS.

Some of the more popular theories are [1]:

1. Lactic acid build-up. Every once and a while I still hear this theory of muscle soreness, but it makes no sense since you can get DOMS without lactic acid build-up.
2. Muscle spasm. This is a cyclical problem where exercise blocks blood to the muscle (ischemia), then metabolic waste products accumulate in the muscle. This causes the muscle to spasm, then you get even less blood to the muscle.
3. Tissue damage. Basically tissue damage causes a series of physiological events that make you sore.

The winner: Tissue damage causes DOMS

Today, scientists think that tissue damage from too much force on muscle and connective tissue causes DOMS.

You’d figure if this was the reason you’d feel the pain right away, but the pain isn’t from the damage itself. Instead it’s from the muscle’s reaction to the damage.

The process from “energized and feeling good post-workout you” to “I can’t bend my knees you” is a series of six events [2-3]:

1. You overload the muscle. When you lift weight that challenges the muscle you overload the muscle and connective tissue in and around the muscle.
2. Muscle cells are damaged at three regions from the overload:
   1. The muscle cell membrane (or sarcolemma) is damaged during lifting.
   2. Contractile proteins (actin and myosin) fail. Contractile proteins are the proteins that make your muscle contract or shorten.
   3. The internal muscle communication membrane (sarcoplasmic reticulum – a larger more extensive endoplasmic reticulum) fails.
3. The muscle cell is overloaded with calcium because of the cellular damage. When muscle cells are damaged, calcium ends up everywhere, like in the mitochondria (the power plant of the cell).
4. Muscle cells are degraded because calcium tells enzymes to eat the cell. With all this calcium floating around, the muscle cell clean-up team is activated (proteolytic & phospholipytic enzymes). The clean-up team breaks down proteins (troponin & tropomyosin) and membranes (sarcolemma & sarcoplasmic reticulum).
5. The muscle becomes inflamed because of all the cellular degradation. All this cell destruction triggers your body to activate a couple of very specific immune system cells (macrophages & mast cells).
6. The muscle becomes swollen because of the inflammation. Inflammation causes warming and swelling in and around the muscle. Finally, it’s at this stage when you start feeling pain because the swelling and heat activate your pain nerve endings.

These steps take time, which is why you don’t feel the pain right away.

Anybody who’s worked out with any consistency knows that after a while you stop getting sore from your workouts.

Part of the reason is that your body makes stress proteins to protect your muscle cells from more damage. But if you stop working out, your body stops making these stress proteins because you don’t need the protection anymore.

How to reduce muscle soreness?

You can stop muscle soreness one way — never work out or do anything remotely physically strenuous. Lie in bed and breathe deeply.

Okay, I’m just kidding.

The truth is, you can’t completely stop muscle soreness. But there are a few things you can try to help reduce DOMS [1], though why they work is unclear in most cases:

1. Vitamin C – 100 mg/day (double the RDA) is suggested though that’s probably on the low side, but it should help with the inflammation [3].
2. Ice – icing your sore muscle (or cold water immersion) will also help with the inflammation.
3. Drink lots of water – drinking water seems to help by flushing the calcium and debris so there is less of an immune response from the body.
4. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatories – medications like aspirin and Advil are anti-inflammatories and can help with both pain and inflammation. However, because these can cause liver damage and gastrointestinal damage, they’re not recommended as an everyday method.
5. Take α-hydroxy-iscaproic acid? This is a new supplement that may protect the muscle cell from damage.

A case of the HICA-ps

α-hydroxy-isocaproic acid, or HICA for short, is a new supplement (and the end metabolite of leucine degradation in muscle) that is being promoted to reduce muscle soreness, increase lean muscle, decrease body fat and help muscle performance – sounds great!

There is one problem. There are only two studies looking at this supplement, and they both were done by the same lab. As I’ve said before, never believe something that comes only comes from one lab.

This first study was actually an unpublished pilot study done on wrestlers without a control group, so you can’t say with any certainty that HICA was the reason for any changes in the wrestlers [4].

Since this is such a new supplement I’ve decided it would be interesting to review one of the initial studies and see where HICA ends up in 5 or 10 years. This week’s review looks at the latest research on HICA and DOMS:

Mero AA, Ojala T, Hulmi JJ, Puurtinen R, Karila TA, Seppala T. Effects of alfa-hydroxy-isocaproic acid on body composition, DOMS and performance in athletes. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2010 Jan 5;7(1):1.

Methods

The participants were 15 male soccer players (footballers for everybody outside of North America) put into either:

• a placebo group (7 players) that got 650 mg of maltodextrin three times/day
• a HICA group (8 players) that got 500 mg of HICA three times/day

The study lasted four weeks, with everybody taking part in 5-7 training sessions (3-4 soccer practices, 1-2 resistance training session and 1 soccer game).

Resistance training days were either:

• maximal strength (low repetitions, between 3-8); or
• speed strength (lighter weight, 50% of 1 repetition maximum).

Using dual energy X-ray absorption (DXA) the scientists figure out how much lean body mass and fat mass the players had. The players kept a diary recording how much muscle soreness they experienced, on a scale from 1 to 5.

Results

Compared to the placebo group, the HICA group:

• gained more total weight;
• gained more lean body mass;
• had more of an increase in lower body lean body mass (nothing earth shattering, though: just 400 grams in the HICA group & 150 grams in the placebo group);
• had less DOMS after 4 weeks; and
• had no difference in body fat.

Conclusion

After only 4 weeks and with a small group of participants, finding any sort of difference between the placebo group and the HICA group is remarkable.

Researchers found HICA works to decrease DOMS with only 4 strength training sessions over a short four weeks and with only 15 participants – that’s very impressive.

A longer study focusing more on strength training with more participants should give even greater differences in lean body mass and muscle soreness with HICA.

Bottom line

HICA seems to be a promising supplement for both increasing muscle and decreasing muscle soreness, but I’d wait for a few more studies before I’d give it a try.

Keep your eyes open and if in a few years you see a flood of HICA supplements, they may be worth a try. Till then, keep on Frankenstein waddling.

References

1. Zatsiorsky Vladimir M and Kraemer Williiam J. Science and Practice of Strength Training 2^nd Edition. Champaign IL: Human Kinetics; 2006: 125-126.
2. Brooks George A, Fahey Thomas D and White Timothy P. Exercise Physiology: Human Bioenergetics and Its Applications 2^nd edition. Toronto, Canada: Mayfield Publishing Company; 1996: 400-401.
3. McComas AJ. “Skeletal Muscle: Form and Function: Chapter 21: Injury and Repair.” Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics; 1996.
4. Hietala, P. Karila, T. Seppälä T. and Tähtivuori K. Nutrient supplement and use of the same.  Oy Extract Ltd. 2005. Patent Number PCT/FI2005/050365

Back in 2008, in conjunction with the release of Gourmet Nutrition V2 – The Cookbook For The Fit Food Lover, we ran an article called “When Gourmet Meets Nutrition.”

In it, I discussed the fact that sometimes, “health food” is just plain awful.  And how I often feel sorry for those poor folks who keep eating miserable tasting food, thinking it’ll help them lose weight or accomplish some other health or physique-type goal.

Then, I went on to share the principles of what I call “gourmet nutrition.”  In essence, a “gourmet nutrition” meal must conform to the following:

• it must taste great
• it must contain lean, complete protein
• it must be low in sugar and processed carbohydrates
• it must prioritize healthy fats over bad fats
• it must control calorie intake and density
• it must include, fresh, natural, additive free ingredients
• it must offer carbs only if you “deserve” them
• it must distinguish between “post-workout” and “anytime”

Well, it’s been 2 years since that article ran.  And, just the other day, I realized that it’s high time I shared a few more examples of “gourmet nutrition” in action.  So, without further ado, check out these 5 awesome recipes, straight outta the pages of the Gourmet Nutrition V2 cookbook.

Almond Olive Tapenade

Almond Olive Tapenade

Servings: 8 large or 16 small

Prep time: 5-8 minutes

Prelude: Olives really polarize the dinner table.  Some folks absolutely love them while others can’t stand the taste.  If you’re an olive lover, you mouth is probably watering already thinking about this tapenade.  And if you’re a health lover, you’ll likely be pleased with the healthy fat content of the olive.  Either way, this awesome dish can be served as a side dish, dip, salad dressing, or sauce.  It adds an amazing flavor burst to any meal.

Ingredients:
½ cup kalamata olives (pitted, whole or sliced)
2 tablespoons almonds (crushed)
2 tablespoons shallots (peeled and rough chopped)
1 clove fresh garlic (peeled)
1 teaspoon capers
1 teaspoon Dijon
1 tablespoon fresh parsley (rough chopped)
pinch of pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil

Instructions: Combine all the ingredients in a blender or mini food processor and puree until combined.  Mixture should still have a course texture.

Beef and Veggie Fettucini

Beef and Veggie Fettucini

Servings: 1 large or 2 small

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes

Prelude: Once again, if you love pasta but don’t eat it often due to its high carb content, you can simulate your favorite fettuccini dishwith vegetable fettuccini.  In this recipe, we use veggies to do so and cover it with a delicious meat sauce.

Ingredients:
“Fettuccini”
½ cup carrot
¾ cup zucchini
¾ cup broccoli stalk (imperfections trimmed)

Meat
Olive oil cooking spray
6 oz (170g) sliced sirloin or stirfry beef

Sauce
Olive oil cooking spray
¼ cup onion (finely diced)
¼ cup coconut milk
¼ cup yogurt
1 tablespoon miso paste
1 pinch of nutmeg
1 pinch of pepper
2 tbsp water or vegetable stock

Instructions: Peel the outside layer of the carrots and discard.  Now use the peeler and peel the carrots, zucchini and broccoli into strips and then set aside.  This is the “fettuccini.”  With the zucchini peel down until you reach the seeded soft center and then either mash up and add to the sauce or discard.

Sauté beef until brown. Remove from pan and set aside.

Preheat a small pot on medium heat and lightly coat with spray. Add the onion and sauté. Mix in coconut milk, yogurt, miso, nutmeg and pepper, bring to a simmer and stir until miso is completely dissolved. Remove from heat..

Clean pan if necessary, pre-heat and re-spray.  Add the carrot and broccoli “fettuccini” to the pan and sauté for 3 minutes.  Add 2 tablespoons of stock or water and then add the zucchini and sauté for 2 minutes more.

Add the sauce and toss until warm.

Transfer to the fettuccini to the centre of a plate, top with the sautéed beef.

Texas Thin Crust Pizza

Texas Thin Crust Pizza

Servings: 1 large or 2 small

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes

Prelude: Many folks have an almost instinctive love of pizza.  However, on a rational level, they know it’s loaded with processed carbs and saturated fats.  So, when you’d rather go with your head, choose this healthy thin crust pizza.

Ingredients:
Olive oil cooking spray
6 oz (170g) ground sirloin or extra lean ground beef
¼ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
¼ cup yellow onions (small diced)
¼ cup red pepper (small diced)
2 teaspoons garlic (minced)
¼ cup tomato (small diced)
2 tablespoons BBQ sauce
1 whole-wheat tortilla
¼ cup pineapple (tidbits, or chopped)
½ cup aged white cheddar (grated)

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F with.

Preheat a non-stick frying pan on medium heat. Lightly coat with spray and add the ground meat and season with salt and pepper.  Sauté the beef until lightly browned and cooked all the way through.  Add the onions, peppers and garlic and sauté for 1 minute more.

Add the tomato and BBQ sauce, stir until combined and remove from heat.

Lightly coat a baking sheet with spray and place the tortilla shell on the tray.  Spread the beef and vegetable mixture evenly on the shell leaving the outside ½ inch for the crust.

Top with the pineapple and cheese and then place in the oven.  Bake until cheese is melted and shell is nicely toasted (about 10 minutes).

Tropical Smoothie

Tropical Smoothie

Servings: 1 large or 2 small

Prelude: Enjoy the tastes of the tropics with a thick, rich and healthy smoothie.  It’s packed with fruits so make sure to pick seasonal varieties – they’re higher in vital nutrients and they taste so much better.   However, if it’s the dead of winter, frozen fruits will get the job done too.

Ingredients:
½ cup pineapple (chilled or frozen)
½ cup mango (chilled or frozen)
½ cup peaches (chilled or frozen)
1 cup low-fat cottage cheese
1 cup low-fat milk
1 teaspoon vanilla or orange flavored fish oil

Instructions: Combine all ingredients in a countertop blender.  Blend on high until mixture is a smooth consistency.

Roasted Squash and Turkey Soup

Roasted Squash and Turkey Soup

Servings: 4 large or 8 small

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes

Prelude: Squash has recently become known as one of the healthiest veggies and its benefits include high fiber and a good profile of antioxidants.  In this soup we pair the butternut variety with a host of spices and turkey to create an awesome flavor blend that you’re sure to enjoy.

Ingredients:
Soup Base
1 tablespoon coconut oil or butter
5 cups butternut squash (peeled and rough chopped)
1 cup onion (rough chopped)
1 tablespoon ginger root (grated or chopped)
1 tablespoon fresh garlic (minced)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon nutmeg
5 cups vegetable stock
1 cup water

Soup Garnish
1 lb 10 oz (740 g) ground turkey
2 teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon pepper
Olive oil cooking spray
¼ cup cilantro (chopped)

Instructions:
Soup Base
Preheat a large pot on medium-high heat.  Add 1 tablespoon of oil and then the squash and sauté until lightly browned.

Add onion, ginger, garlic, cinnamon, cumin, nutmeg and 2 tablespoons of stock, and sauté for 2 minutes more, stirring constantly.

Add the remaining vegetable stock and water to the pot and bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce the heat and simmer until squash is soft (approximately 30 minutes). **Tip: You can prep the garnish while the base is cooking.

Let mixture cool for a few minutes. Puree with a blender or food processor until smooth and then pour back into the pot.  Remove from heat.

Soup Garnish
Season the turkey with salt and pepper.

Preheat a large nonstick frying pan on medium heat.  Lightly coat with spray and sauté turkey until lightly browned and completely cooked. Remove from the pan and set aside.  ** Tip: Sauté in smaller batches and re-spray the pan if needed.

Add the cooked turkey and chopped cilantro to the soup base. Reheat and serve immediately or portion the soup into storage containers. **Tip: To maintain the tenderness of the meat avoid bringing the soup to a boil after the meat has been added.

Is GN V2 Any Good?

Gourmet Nutrition V2 - The Cookbook For The Fit Food Lover

Interestingly, the motivation for this article came from a conversation I had with Amanda and Lindsay – our awesome customer experience agents.

Basically, as I walked into their offices the other day, the girls we’re discussing an email they got from a PN customer.  In essence, the customer asked if GN V2 was “any good.”

And, at that moment, it occurred to me that many of you might be wondering the same thing.

Now, although I could try to convince you that Gourmet Nutrition V2 is probably the best cookbook on the planet for the fitness-minded person – and I’d likely do a pretty good job of it – today, I’d rather let our Gourmet Nutrition V2 customers do the talking.

To begin with, check out this surprising statistic – one Amanda and Lindsay just shared with me today.

To date, over 10,000 customers have purchased Gourmet Nutrition V2 through our web site.  And, in this time, we’ve had LESS THAN 10 copies returned!

This means that the book has a 99.9% rate of customer satisfaction.  This is unheard of in the book publishing world, especially in the fitness publishing niche.

Couple that with the rave reviews of the book, including those below, and I guess the answer would be: yea, the Gourmet Nutrition V2 book is pretty darned good.

“Got my copy in the mail yesterday, and I am blown away how good it is. I served the BBQ pizza to my family and they loved it- which is a testament as my wife hates hates anything that tastes “healthy”. This AM I made the Greek omelet and my visiting in-laws loved it.”

“As with all previous PN pubs, the pics are gorgeous and the recipes we’ve tried thus far have been very good.  I’ve been into PN and GN for years and my wife has become a total convert. Honestly, it would be tough to make meals this interesting without the help. Thanks for the great work.”

“The layout and format are extremely user friendly, and the explanations are clear and informative.  Purchasing the new GN is definetly a smart choice for any aspiring or accomplished cook.”

“I have the original GN book, so when this one came out it was a no brainer.  I purchased four copies, one for me  and three more as a part of a prize package for a body transformation contest I run.  My clients are all over them, I had to hide them until the contest was over. Beautiful book, great recipes and too many helpful extras to list. Everyone should have a copy of this book. It doesn’t matter what your current goals are – fat loss, lean muscle gain, or both – this book will help you get there.”

“I wanted to write and say how much I love my Gourmet Nutrition cookbook! It’s got the blueberry and beet stains, and cinnamon, coriander and protein powder residue all over it to prove it! I’m serious. This cookbook was a gift from my trainer who knew I was struggling with combining all the things I love to do – train hard, get results, cook and eat. What a great gift! I don’t ever put it away. It’s always out ready to be used and consulted. I’ve been following the book now for a couple of months while also training hard and I’ve realized much improved body composition. I’ve dropped body fat and added muscle and I feel great.“

“Just the other week I was staying with my brother and his girlfriend over the holidays. I made the chicken pesto pizza for them and their housemate who is vegetarian (I replaced the chicken with tofu on his) and it actually WOWED them.  They were amazed not only because the meal was healthy and tasted great but MUCH more so, that I could cook!  Now while I was tempted to take all of the credit when my brother asked “Did you make this up or get it from a recipe?”, a copy of Gourmet Nutrition waited for them under the Christmas tree…”

“Just to share a little success story. I’ve always been interested in nutrition, but I always had problems convincing my friends and family to improve their health and nutrition habits. My cooking skills and meal creativity didn’t really help convince them either…Enter Gourmet Nutrition! Suddenly everyone says I can cook!! And then even rave about it.”

“First of all let me start by saying I love this book!! So much so that it remains on my counter at all times.”

To pick up your copy of GN V2 today, click here.

Eat and Run is an internet program we’ve created in partnership with the endurance-oriented folks at Competitor.com. (Thus the name; Eat and Run.)

Over the next few months we’ll be bringing you dozens of new high-quality nutrition videos. Every single one supports the important ideas presented in the Precision Nutrition System.

So, make sure you’ve got your copy of PN. And then be prepared for a host of “a-ha” moments as we roll out successive episodes of Eat and Run.

Also, keep one thing in mind. The tips you’ll learn in the Eat and Run program aren’t exclusive to an endurance-oriented audience. Indeed, good nutrition is univerally important whether your primary activity is lifting weights or whether it’s lifting your bike pedals.

For now, check out episode 11: Is Caffeine Good For Athletes?

For more information about Caffeine and Athletes:

• Check out our Precision Nutrition System

Some speculate that if it weren’t for seafood, we wouldn’t even be human, since our brains began to increase in size when we incorporated seafood and other meats into our diet. Without fish we might still be apes swinging around in trees. Find out why fish is good for us… and why we should be concerned about it.

A few days ago I re-watched Food Inc, a documentary on the food industry. About halfway through, we meet a family of four ordering from the dollar menu at the fast food drive-thru.

During the interview we learn that the father has type 2 diabetes, takes about $200 in medication and may lose his job if his eyesight worsens from the diabetes. Meanwhile, the mother explains how the dollar menu is a better deal than a head of broccoli for 99 cents.

3 burgers a day for a month — $90.

Diabetes medication for a month — $200.

Your health – priceless.

Actually, even keeping good health out of the calculation, a $1 burger costs a lot more than $1!

Let’s say this gentleman ate burgers for breakfast, lunch and supper for a month – 90 meals that cost $90. Now let’s add in the medication, for a grand total of $290 a month or $3.22 a burger.

The cost of poor diet and little exercise

People with type 2 diabetes like the gentleman in Food Inc, usually also have metabolic syndrome — a bunch of metabolic problems that increases the risk for having cardiovascular disease.

About a quarter (20-25%) of the world’s adult population (!!) has metabolic syndrome. This makes them twice as likely to die from a heart attack or stroke compared to adults without the syndrome.

Hmm… that dollar burger is looking even more expensive [1].

What is metabolic syndrome?

Metabolic syndrome is a bit like the combo meal at your local fast food restaurant, because you can mix and match factors for metabolic syndrome.

Generally metabolic syndrome is a cluster of things.

• High BMI (often, but not always)
• Central deposition adiposity — a fancy way of saying fat around your middle, and deep in your abdominal cavity around your internal organs
• High circulating triglycerides — i.e. fat globs wandering around in your blood looking for a fight
• Too much “bad” LDL cholesterol; not enough “good” HDL cholesterol
• High blood glucose
• Poor sensitivity to insulin
• High blood pressure
• Hepatic steatosis, aka fatty liver — since the liver is the central warehouse of nutrient processing, it’s affected much earlier than the heart by a poor diet

If you have a BMI over 30 then you can go on to the next set of risk factors, but if your BMI is under 30 then you need to figure out if you have central obesity by measuring your waist girth (see Figure 1 on how to measure)[2-3].

Researchers measure waist girth a little differently than we do it at PN — instead of measuring at the belly button like the Precision Nutrition measurement guide (see PN V3) they measure half way between the bottom of the ribs (inferior margin of the ribs) and the top of the hip bone (superior border of the iliac crest) or about 2 cm above your belly button. (See Fig. 1 below)

Figure 1 – Measuring waist circumference (girth)

Depending on where you’re from you’ll have different cut-off girths:

If you have central obesity or a BMI greater than 30 then having two of any of the following four risks classifies you as having metabolic syndrome:

1. High blood triglycerides (or being treated for this risk):
   • ≥1.7 mmol/L or 150 mg/dL (Note: this isn’t very high as Canadian guidelines have >2.0 mmol/L considered optimal)
2. Not enough good (HDL) cholesterol (or being treated for this risk)
   • For men <1.03 mmol/L or 40mg/dL
   • For women <1.29 mmol/L or 50 mg/dL
3. Too much blood glucose (being pre-diabetic or having type 2 diabetes)
   • A fasting blood (plasma) glucose level ≥5.6mmol/L or 100 mg/dL
4. High blood pressure (or treatment for this risk)
   • Systolic blood pressure ≥130 mm Hg OR
   • Diastolic blood pressure ≥85 mm Hg

Treating metabolic syndrome

That list of symptoms above is pretty daunting.

To date, many medical professionals have opted to treat metabolic syndrome with an expensive, and possibly risky, pharmaceutical cocktail that includes drugs like beta blockers, diuretics, vasodilators, calcium antagonists, ACE inhibitors, and statins.

$1 burger indeed!

This week’s review is on how to treat metabolic syndrome without drugs! Gee, what a novel idea.

Instead, the study looked at diet, exercise, and diet and exercise together to treat metabolic syndrome.

Camhi SM, Stefanick ML, Katzmarzyk PT, Young DR. “Metabolic Syndrome and Changes in Body Fat From a Low-fat Diet and/or Exercise Randomized Controlled Trial.” Obesity  2009 Oct 1. doi:10.1038/oby.2009.304

Methods

Scientists found 179 men and 149 postmenopausal women between the ages of 30-64 years that had low levels of good cholesterol (high density lipoprotein cholesterol; HDL-C), high levels of bad cholesterol (low density lipoprotein cholesterol; LDL-C) and a BMI of less than 34 (morbidly obese were exclude) to take part in the yearlong study.

These men and women were randomly put into one of four groups:

• control
• exercise only
• diet only
• diet and exercise

I’m not too fond of the exercise prescription — 1 hour of aerobics classes for 3 days a week at 60-85% of maximum heart rate — but the original study was done in 1992 and this study further analyzes the original data.

The diet is also a throwback to the 90s since the total fat was <30% of total calories, saturated fat was <7% of total calories and reduced cholesterol to <200 mg/day.

The scientists measured body fat, waist girth, triglycerides, HDL-C, LDL-C, blood pressure and fasting blood glucose.

Metabolic syndrome score is a calculation that combines these measures along with age to figure out the severity of the syndrome.

Results

Men

For men, diet + exercise was the most beneficial treatment. This combo improved body fat, waist girth, HDL and blood pressure.

Next most beneficial was diet, which improved waist girth and blood pressure.

Exercise on its own didn’t improve any measure.

Women

Women didn’t get as much of a benefit as men from any intervention.

This suggests that there are important sex-linked differences in metabolic syndrome, which require further research.

However, the women’s diet + exercise group had the most improvement in waist girth and body fat followed by the diet-only.

Overall

Interesting part of the whole study was that all three intervention groups (diet, exercise and diet plus exercise) had improved metabolic syndrome scores, and it all seemed to be linked to losing body fat.

The more body fat these folks lost, the more improvement on their metabolic syndrome scores — regardless of the group.

This tells us that that the metabolic syndrome is probably linked to lifestyle but also the metabolic effects of body fat itself.

Conclusion

This is another example of how diet and exercise is more beneficial than either one alone.

While I think there are more effective diet and exercise plans than the low fat diet and low intensity cardio, in this study it is impressive that they still worked.

As a society we prefer “easy yet complicated”, like discovering new drugs for disease.

But “difficult yet simple”, like diet and exercise, is probably the most valuable both in terms of money and well being.

Bottom line

Combining diet and exercise is more effective for losing body fat and improving your health than diet or exercise alone.

And this solution is a lot cheaper than drugs.

"I'll take the value meal with a side order of ridiculously expensive drugs, please. And supersize those pills."

References

1. The metabolic syndrome booklet. International diabetes federation
2. ATPIII Guidelines At-A-Glance Quick Desk Reference. National Cholesterol Education Program.
3. Alberti KG, Zimmet P, Shaw J. Metabolic syndrome–a new world-wide definition. A Consensus Statement from the International Diabetes Federation. Diabet Med. 2006 May;23(5):469-80. Review

Have you got a comment on or question about this article? Why not discuss it at the PN Member Zone?

Take a moment and think about an elderly person you know.

• How well do they taste or smell their food?
• How good is their memory?
• How well can they balance or walk?
• How healthy is their digestion?

If they haven’t aged gracefully, chances are they can’t do any of those things very well.  And you can thank their brain function for these symptoms of degeneration.

Anti-Aging Gone Wrong

The degree to which the elderly can perform normal daily activities is directly related to the amount of brain degeneration they’re experiencing in their twilight years.  In fact, the anti-aging movement has it completely wrong.  It’s not about hormones.  It is about brain function.

When your brain stops functioning, your body stops functioning.  And conversely, the healthier your brain, the healthier your digestion, your response to stress, your hormones and your response to exercise.

In this article, we’ll provide a broad overview of a very complex system in the body, the brain.  Plus, we’ll share some ways of nutritionally improving your brain function today.

Your Brain – The Basics

Your brain is a vital organ that helps run every other system in our body.  For example, 90% of the brain stem’s output goes into something called the pontomedulary reticular formation, which stimulates the vagus nerve.

Uh, what?

Well, that’s just a fancy way of saying that 90% of your brain’s output directly impacts activities such as digestion, gastrointestinal motility, enzyme production and salivation, and other parasympathetic activities.

Of course, there are a vast array of anatomical structures in your brain.  And covering them all is well beyond the scope of this article.  Just know that there are at least 30 distinct parts to the brain with a dizzying number of connections between them all.  It’s this communication that’s critical for health, performance, and body composition.

The Brain’s Chemical Messaging System
One important communication method worth noting is chemical messaging.  Through this method, certain chemicals,  called neurotransmitters, travel around and relay messages between the neuronal receptors of different parts of the brain.  Their signals impact mood, behavior, memory, coordination, and more.  Some examples of powerful neurotransmitters include dopamine, serotonin, GABA, norepinepherine, and acetylcholine.

The Brain’s Immune System
In addition to an elaborate communication system, your brain also has its own independently operating immune system!  These cells, called microglia cells, are found throughout the brain and serve the purpose of searching the brain for unwanted invaders and then destroying them.

Unfortunately, the microglia cells can be hypervigilant at times.  And this means they can end up destroying healthy brain tissue in the process.  The other problem with microglia cells is, once they turn on, they don’t easily turn off.  Unlike other immune cells in the body that receive a signal when it is time to end the attack, microglia cells turn on and attack virtually everything in their path, including neurons.  This makes sense from an evolutionary perspective because, if something were to attack your brain, your quality of life would quickly disappear.  Therefore, microglia cells are there to protect one of your body’s most critical organs.  And they do so with a vengeance.

The Brain’s Hormonal System
In addition to having its own immune system, the brain also manufactures its own hormones.  Hormones have a critical impact on brain function.  For example, many people are familiar with the personality changes that occur during a woman’s monthly cycle.  This is largely due to hormonal impacts on the brain.  Hormones play a very important role to the brain, which is why it’s not surprising to learn that the brain can independently produces its own hormones, including testosterone, estrogen and progesterone.

The Brain’s Protective Barrier
Lastly, the brain is protected by a semi-permeable membrane called the blood brain barrier.  This barrier is designed to protect the brain from unwanted substances and invaders.  Again, knowing that the function of the brain directly impacts the health and function of the rest of the body, learning that it has a structure designed to protect it is not surprising.

Hundreds of thousands of pages have been dedicated to describing the intricate structures, mechanisms and functions of the brain.  So, obviously, this article doesn’t do it justice.  What must be known, however, is that the brain is an incredibly sensitive organ, governing multiple functions in the body.  It has the ability to synthesize, secrete and utilize a number of different substances including hormones and neurotransmitters, has an independent immune system, and it has a barrier to protect it.

Those are the basics.  Now let’s look at what can go wrong.

Causes of Neurodegeneration

One point that must be understood is this.  When a neuron dies, its dead.  Permanently.  There’s nothing you can do to get it back.  In fact, you will have probably lost quite a few neurons by the time you’re done reading this article.  It happens.  It’s normal.  But there are things you can do to speed up the process of neurodegeneration, and there are things you can do to slow it down.  It’s all up to you.

Again, ask yourself, do you want to age gracefully?  If so, don’t worry about anti-wrinkle cream or hormone balancing, you should worry about your brain.

The brain only needs three things for proper function:  Oxygen, Glucose, Stimulation.    Let’s look at how each of these can impact neurodegeneration.

Lack of Oxygen and Glucose
If the brain does not receive adequate amounts, or stable levels of, oxygen or glucose, brain function will diminish.  One way to know if you have poor circulation in your brain is to see if you have poor circulation to the other extremities.  If you have cold hands and feet you may have poor blood flow, which means you probably have poor circulation to the brain.  Also blood sugar issues, either chronically elevated or low, will impact neurotransmitter synthesis and ATP production, which impacts neuronal firing.

Lack of Antioxidants
Another issue is oxidation.  As much as we need oxygen in the brain, we also need anti-oxidants to combat free radical damage that occurs to neurons.  Unfortunately neuronal tissue is highly sensitive to oxidative damage and therefore must receive adequate amounts of antioxidants to reduce this damage.  The caveat is that these antioxidants must be able to cross the blood brain barrier to effectively protect the brain.  Inadequate levels of antioxidants, or excessive amounts of free radical damage greatly contributes to neuronal death, or neurodegeneration.

Overactive Microglia Cells
As previously discussed, activation of the brain’s immune system is important for reasons of protection.  But over-activation of microglia cells is a major promoter of neurodegeneration.  Activated microglia cells serve an important function, but can lead to neuronal death if left unchecked.  There are a number of natural compounds that have been shown to reduce microglia cell activity, which can be important in anyone with a history of head trauma, blood brain barrier permeability, or immune activation elsewhere in their body due to the impact these have on microglia cell activation.

Lack of Stimulation
Another issue is lack of stimulation.  Sure, failing to engage in varied activities such as exercise, stretching, music, art, math, learning and reading can cause this lack of stimulation.  But you also need neurotransmitter stimulation too.  As discussed, neurotransmitters are necessary for neuronal signaling and communication, which are required for healthy brain function.  Therefore if any given neurotransmitter is deficient or out of relative balance with other neurotransmitters, brain function will decline.

Lack of Brain Protection
As a somewhat separate issue to the brain itself, a damaged blood brain barrier can lead to neurodegeneration simply because it allows substances into the brain that otherwise should not be there, including compounds that can lead to microglia cell activation or that are damaging to brain tissue.  Things like alcohol, the stress hormone cortisol, homocysteine, oxidative stress and blood sugar dysregulation have all been shown to break down the blood brain barrier.

There are more, but these are some of the most common triggers for neurodegeneration.  Next, what to do about them.

How To Prevent Neurodegeneration

Optimal brain health and function is far more complex than can be described in this article.  But here are a few key things you can do to protect your most vital organ.

1. Improve oxygen flow to the brain – Firstly, rule out any subclinical anemic tendencies you may have using blood work.  Secondly, there are things you can take that can help increase blood flow to the brain.  Compounds like ginkgo biloba, capsicum, and feverfew have all been shown to increase oxygen to the brain.

2. Improve blood sugar management – Using blood work, identify any tendencies towards either hypoglycemia or insulin resistance.  Either will decrease glucose flow to your brain and negatively impact its function.

3. Decrease oxidative stress – Oxidative damage to mitochondira in our brain promotes massive neurodegeneration.  Therefore it is important to take nutrients shown by research to stop free radical damage in the brain.  Such nutrients include N-acetyl-cysteine, alpha lipoic acid, milk thistle, N-acetyl carnitine and creatine monohydrate.

4. Decrease inflammation – There are strong connections between the gut and the brain.  Therefore, following an anti-inflammatory diet and improving gut function can have profound impacts on brain function.  Also compounds such as curcumin, rutin, resveratrol, apigenin and luteolin have all been shown to have a positive impact on reducing neuroinflammation.

5. Improve fatty acid status – One of the most important fatty acids for the brain is Docosahexaenoic Acid, or DHA.  There is ample research showing DHA to be helpful in brain function, including with cell signaling and neurotransmitter function.

6. Balance neurotransmitters – There are no valid laboratory tests to evaluate neurotransmitters.  Some labs do exist, but the neurophysiology and scientific literature do not validate their use.    Therefore the only clinically valid way is to use subjective questionnaires, which can be found online, but are best evaluated by a medical professional.

7. Evaluate Blood Brain Barrier Function – Take 500mg – 1000mg of GABA on an empty stomach during a time when you’ll be able to evaluate symptoms.  If you have any response from taking the GABA, such as getting sleepy, lethargic or even anxious or giddy, that may be a strong indication you have a breach in your blood brain barrier.  While it is beyond the scope of this article to go into what to do about this, the first step is to know whether or not your BBB is intact.

The health of your brain directly impacts your entire life including your ability to taste and digest food, your ability to lift weights, your ability to recover from exercise, and your long term success in life.  The more you do to protect your brain today, the better off you will be throughout the rest of your life.

So if you do most of your time thinking about your muscle mass and body fat, it’s time to start thinking more about that organ between your ears.  And if you’ve been thinking about your brain, it’s probably time to do something about it.

A great first step is to contact a medical professional who can help you evaluate your brain function with questionnaires and physiological assessments.  Then, armed with data, an appropriate nutrition, supplement, and lifestyle plan can be put into place.

If you need more evidence that the brain can and does degenerate massively, check out this short video.  It’ll serve as a nice wake-up call.

Eat and Run is an internet program we’ve created in partnership with the endurance-oriented folks at Competitor.com. (Thus the name; Eat and Run.)

Over the next few months we’ll be bringing you dozens of new high-quality nutrition videos. Every single one supports the important ideas presented in the Precision Nutrition System.

So, make sure you’ve got your copy of PN. And then be prepared for a host of “a-ha” moments as we roll out successive episodes of Eat and Run.

Also, keep one thing in mind. The tips you’ll learn in the Eat and Run program aren’t exclusive to an endurance-oriented audience. Indeed, good nutrition is univerally important whether your primary activity is lifting weights or whether it’s lifting your bike pedals.

For now, check out episode 10: Are Eggs Good or Bad?

For more information about Eggs:

• Check out our Precision Nutrition System

What you eat is important. However, when you eat it can be just as critical.

Well, everyone.  On Wednesday evening, registration for Lean Eating 2010 came to a close.  And by all accounts, we’re off to a fantastic start with this year’s cohort.

To date, over 10,000 pounds of fat have been lost in the Lean Eating program.  And we’re expecting a few thousand more in the coming months.

However – for those of you that didn’t get into the program, or for those of you who aren’t yet ready to take the Lean Eating challenge – we’re still here to help.  Indeed, you don’t have to be a Lean Eating client to get into the best shape of your life in 2010.

In fact, here are 6 important tips, complete with video lessons, that you can use to live your healthiest and happiest in 2010.

1. Do less.

In this video, I discuss the Lean Eating Method, including a rule that doesn’t make sense to a lot of people at first: to acheive more, you have to do less.

People make change hard on themselves by attempting to change too many things at once. They try to overhaul their diet, their exercise habits, their finances, their relationships, etc., all at once — and each of those changes is probably made up of 10-20 smaller behaviors that have to change. That’s a big mistake.

My own experience as a coach (and plenty of emerging research) shows that people can typically change only one behavior at a time. Read that again: One. Behavior. At. A. Time.

Human beings are impatient. We want instant gratification. We want everything now — or better yet, yesterday. In fact, one particular client from last summer’s Lean Eating program wrote a critique of the plan, essentially saying that he would have preferred had we taught him all the habits and behaviors at once, instead of doling them out over the course of the program.

That sounds reasonable, doesn’t it? I mean, if there are things he could have done from the very beginning, why did we wait 4 or 5 months to have him do them? Couldn’t he have done more?

NO!!!!!

You see, doing more is the problem! It’s what everyone tries to do. They go in guns blazing, making massive changes across the board, only to collapse in a heap of exhaustion and self-loathing when the first promise to themselves is broken. Of course, you COULD change more than one thing at once, but not for long, and never for long enough to see lasting, sustainable improvement — which is what you really want, isn’t it?

Oh, and that guy who complained that we should have taught him everything at once? He happened to lose 50 lbs doing it our way — and won the $10,000 prize for the best body transformation!

Accept the fact that you can only change one behavior at a time, and you will succeed. Try to change more than one thing at a time, and you will fail. It’s really that simple.

2. Focus on your nutrition — exercise doesn’t work.

In this video, I discuss the exercise myth.  You know, the one perpetuated by fitness clubs across the globe telling us that as long as we exercise a few times a week and eat a “sensible diet”, whatever that means, we’ll have a sizzling sex life and cover model abs.

Well, I’ve got 20 years experience and a whole binder full of studies that suggest otherwise.  In fact, two recent studies have shown that exercise alone, isn’t all that effective for helping people lose fat, gain lean, and improve their body composition. I know it’s hard to believe.  But it’s totally true.

One, done at the University of Texas, showed that with 6 hours of strength + cardio exercise per week for 3 straight months, participants only lost 1lb of fat vs. their completely sedentary counterparts.

Another, done at the University of Oklahoma, showed that with 5 hours of strength + cardio exercise per week for 2.5 months, participants only lose 1.5lbs of fat vs. their sedentary counterparts.

Of course, I’m not telling you this to convince you that exercise is no good.  Rather, I’m trying to make a much more important point.  And that point is this.  Exercise ALONE isn’t very effective at promoting weight loss. However, when you combine a proper exercise program PLUS the right nutrition habits, the sky’s the limit.

Let’s contrast the results of the studies above with the results of our last few groups of Lean Eating clients.  Over the course of each 6 month Lean Eating coaching period, our Lean Eaters lost, on average, 15lbs of body fat, while gaining 5lbs of lean.  But that’s just the average!  Check out the video above for some jaw-dropping transformations.

So, if you’re hoping to change your body significantly in 2010, whether you like it or not, you’re gonna have to nail down your diet.  Research has proven it.  Years of experience have validated the research.  And the sooner you realize it, the sooner you’ll be on track to awesome results.

3. Find a social support network.

In this video, I discuss how weight gain can spread like a virus.  Indeed, a few months ago, we reviewed a provocative study here on the site. The study looked into patterns of weight gain and obesity in communities, and the conclusion was this: Weight gain is contagious.

Now, of course they didn’t mean that someone could cough on you and a few days later you’d wake up with a fever and fifty extra pounds around your waist. Body fat doesn’t spread like a germ, but it does spread. The study concluded that it spreads through the behaviors we pick up, most of the time subconsciously, from those around us.

Fortunately, leanness also can also be contagious.  If you hang out with people who INSPIRE you, who LIFT YOU UP, inevitably you’ll find yourself inspiring others, and lifting up those around you.

Decide today to go out and add some more fitness-minded people to your life. Start small. If you don’t have anyone, find someone. If you’ve got one person, find a second. If you’ve got two people, find a third. Find a training partner.  Join a group class. Find a friend of a friend who’s done what you want to do and just ask them for help.

Really, if you don’t have a strong social support circle, people who can help you, people who inspire you, people you can lean on, then that’s one of the first things that needs to improve in 2010.

4. Give yourself an incentive or reward.

In this video, I discuss the two main motivational factors for inspiring change – reward and punishment.  Otherwise known as the carrot and the stick.

Truly, over the last 20 years I’ve coached people in all different types of environments.  And the most inspiring results, accomplished by the most motivated people, always seem to come when there’s a big reward in place.  That’s why, in the Lean Eating program, we offer $40,000 in prize money.  $10,000 to the best male body transformation, $10,000 to the best female body transformation. And four runners up, two male, two female, get 5 thousand each.

It’s a reward big enough to help folks overcome the inertia that keeps most people from getting fit.

In 2010, if you’re committing to getting in better shape than ever before, what’s your incentive going to be?  Are you going to have a body transformation contest with your friends?  With your work colleagues?  Is money going to be on the line?  A vacation somewhere special?

It doesn’t matter what the incentive is.  But there has to be one.  And it has to be big enough to keep you focused when your motivation wanes.  Which it always does, even if for just a little while.

5. Take a risk.

On the other side of reward, we’ve got punishment.  The stick.  It’s the yin to reward’s yang.  And it’s equally important when you’re trying to change your habits and your body.  In fact, I’ve called it “the best kept secret in weight loss.”

I learned a lot about this principle in a book called “The Blackmail Diet.”  It this book, Dr John Bear mentions that experts can tell you what to do to lose weight.  But all of this advice doesn’t amount to a hill of beans if you’re not forced to stay on the plan when the motivation wanes, when things get hard, when life gets in the way.  Even famous fiction author Steven King writes about this principle in the context of quitting smoking.

So, you’ve got your reward down.  Now let’s pick your punishment.  What uncomfortable thing are you gonna use to keep yourself motivated, to create pressure to succeed?

One of our 2009 Lean Eaters choose a can of dog food.  That’s right, he made a public declaration that he’d stick to the Lean Eating program for 6 months and lost at leas 25lbs.  And if he didn’t?  He’d eat a nasty can of dog food at work, in front of everyone.

Guess what?  He ended up a men’s finalist.

6. Do something — anything — right now.

In fitness and in life.  If you don’t do it now, it’s not likely you’ll ever do it.

I know, I know, you like to “do your research”, read, learn, reason, and decide. But, the chinese have a great saying that tells you exactly where that gets you:  one who deliberates fully before taking their first step will spend their entire life on one leg. And the Americans have a simpler one: just do it.

I’ve found that those who just do it, need 3 things.  First, they need a sense of importance.  At some deep level, you need to genuinely feel that changing your habits and your body is really important.

Second, you need confidence.  Not necessarily in yourself (although that helps).  After all, almost everyone starting something new lacks confidence.  No, you need confidence in your plan.  You need to really believe that the plan you’re about to follow, will work.

Third, you need a willingness to act.  You see motivation comes and goes.  And the trick is to strike when the iron is hot.  To act decisively when the motivation is there.  And in the video below, I’ll tell you the story of how one client made the decision to lose weight and to quit smoking.  It’s pretty cool.

The key is to do something positive, anything, right now. To be decisive, and act in a way that brings you even an inch closer to your dream.  If you can do it on your own, go for it. If you need help, get it. It doesn’t matter what it is.  As long as it’s positive and you can do it in the next 5 minutes.

Wrap Up

So there you have it, 6 tips for a healthy, lean, and strong 2010.

Now, keep in mind, although the January 2010 cohort of the Lean Eating Coaching program sold out quickly, and registration for the next group begins in June 2010, you can get the jump on registering right now.

To have access to the early registration period, just enter your name and email address below and you’re all set; we’ll send you a confirmation email right away, and a special link closer to the date so you can register early.

Program Summary:

• Group coaching program for people looking to get lean and strong the Precision Nutrition way
• Two dedicated programs: one for men — and after MANY requests, one exclusively for women!
• 100 students per coach, max
• All resources online and downloadable, 24/7
• Detailed nutrition instruction
• Complete training program
• Private support forum with guaranteed responses
• $99 down, $99 per month
• Results guaranteed: you get in shape or the course is free.

Last year we started the Lean Eating Coaching Program, where we coach small groups of men and women for 6 months using the Precision Nutrition System and help them achieve the best fat loss results of their lives. And the results, to date, have been nothing short of remarkable. Over 10,000 pounds of fat loss. And lives changed in the process.

This time around, we’re doing something extraordinary. We’re offering $40,000 in prize money – $10K for the best male body transformation, $10K for the best female body transformation, and $5K for each of four runners, up, two men and two women.

And while this prize money will go a long way toward getting you motivated to change your body, there are THREE THINGS that must come first: the 3 keys to a successful body transformation.

Check out this video to find out what they are:

Here are the links to register for the Jan 2010 program:

Register for the Lean Eating Coaching Program For Men

An intensive group coaching program for guys looking to get leaner and stronger than ever before.

Work directly with the best nutrition coaches in the world for six months to completely transform your body. We give you the training program, we teach you how and what to eat — and we’re there to answer any questions, concerns and curiosities you may have along the way.

If you’re a man between 18 and 65, have got some fat to lose, and want to get lean, healthy, and strong, this is the program for you.

Since you’re probably in the middle of figuring out your New Year resolutions, what would you do if you found out your favourite junk food was even worse for you than you thought?

Yes, it’s hard to believe, but fries and chips (or chips and crisps for our friends in the UK) are worse for you than we thought.

Before I tell you why they’re worse for you, what are you going to do now?

Will you add “stop eating fries and chips” to your resolutions?

Or will you look for a loophole — you know, try to add something that would make them less bad and eat away?

Sounds strange to try to make something less bad for you instead of just… not eating it!

Well, a couple weeks ago I heard on the radio that Health Canada (the Canadian equivalent to the Food and Drug Administration [FDA] in the US) was proposing to allow food manufacturers to add an anti-cancer drug to chips and fries to make them safer [1].

Don’t misunderstand — they’d still have little nutritional value, nearly no protein, lots of saturated fat, and lots of carbohydrates, but they’d be acrylamide free!

Acrylamide & cancer

Many of you probably know this, but back in 2002, the Swedish National Food Administration reported that a chemical called “acrylamide” was in fried foods and baked food [2 & 3].

Foods with the highest amounts of acrylamide were French fries and potato chips, but other foods like breads, cakes, cookies, cereals, coffee and cocoa have some acrylamide in them too.

Finding acrylamide in food was big, because it’s a probable carcinogen, which means that it likely causes cancer in people. However, 6 years later we still don’t know for sure.

What researchers do know for sure is that acrylamide causes cancer in rats [4].

What is acrylamide?

Acrylamide is a chemical that is made when starchy low-protein food (like potatoes) are cooked at a high temperature (over 120⁰C or 248⁰F).

Foods don’t have any acrylamide in them until after they are cooked; it’s the process of cooking that makes the acrylamide.

Acrylamide is not all bad: it’s made and used for other things, like to separate proteins in molecular biology and for wastewater treatment.

Asparaginase — the acrylamide blocker

Asparaginase is the anti-cancer drug Health Canada is thinking of allowing as a food additive in order to reduce how much acrylamide is made during the cooking of fries, chips and other foods.

By the way, I want to clear up this idea of asparaginase as an anti-cancer drug.

Asparaginase is used in cancer treatment, but I wouldn’t call it a drug. It’s actually an enzyme that is in bacteria, plant and even animals (guinea pigs, for example).

All asparaginase does is convert asparagine (the amino acid) into aspartic acid (another amino acid) [5].

Asparagine is important for cells to survive and grow. With no asparagine, cells die [6].

Certain cancerous tumour cells can’t make much asparagine, but normal cells can. Thus, asparaginase gets rid of any asparagine so cancer cells die. Normal healthy cell have no problem, because they just make more of their own and stay healthy.

Thus, in theory, adding a cancer-preventing agent to a cancer-causing food should, I guess, cancel things out.

After hearing that the food industry wants to add asparaginase to food I wanted to know two things:

1. how could they do it; and
2. would it work?

For this week’s review I take a look at a study that figures out how to add asparaginase to French fries, and what happens when you do.

F Pedreschi, K Kaack, K Granby. The effect of asparaginase on acrylamide formation in French fries. Food Chemistry, 2008. 109:386-392.

Methods

This paper is basically cooking meets science.

Half the paper describes how the researchers cooked fries in scientific detail, and the other half figures out much acrylamide was in the different fry recipes.

Just so you get an idea of the descriptions, here is one of my favourites: “Strips of the cross sections of 0.8 cm X 0.8 cm² were cut from the pith of the… potato tubers.” (In other words, they cut potatoes into French fries.)

The researchers had five different recipes for the fries:

1. Control fries – basically how most people make fries
2. Blanched fries – the fries were quickly boiled at 75⁰C for 10 minutes
3. Blanched and then asparaginase treated fries – blanched fries soaked in asparaginase for either:
   1. 20 minutes (at 40⁰C)
   2. 10 minutes (at 50⁰C)
   3. 10 minutes (at 60⁰C)

All five fry groups were then deep fried and analysed for asparagine, glucose and acrylamide.

In theory, the fries treated with asparaginase will have less asparagine (since asparaginase breaks down asparagine) and these fries would also have less acrylamide.

Results

The results came out how you’d expect:

1. Fries soaked in asparaginase had less asparagine and acrylamide than the control fries.
2. Fries soaked in asparaginase the same amount of glucose as the control fries.

Remember that frying the potatoes is what makes the acrylamide, so before the potatoes were fried they had no acrylamide.

Interestingly, blanching fries before you soak them in asparaginase gives you even less acrylamide and even fluffier fries than not blanching them; and soaking the fries for 20 minutes at 40⁰C was the best treatment for reducing acrylamide by 60% compared to the controls.

Conclusion

If a food manufacturer wants to add asparaginase to French fries all they have to do is blanch the fries, soak them in asparaginase for 20 minutes at 40⁰C, freeze them and then send them off to a restaurant or grocery store for the consumer to deep fry them – that’s it.

Thus adding asparaginase seems to be relatively easy for food manufacturers.

Not only is adding asparaginase to fries easy, asparaginase actually works to lower the amounts of asparagine and acrylamide in fries. Then manufacturers could add “now with 60% less acrylamide” to the label that already has “trans fat and cholesterol free”.

Again, from the food manufacturers’ point of view to have acrylamide-reduced fries is financially a good idea, and since it’s easy to do, why not?

Bottom-line

But doesn’t this idea of adding something to make something bad safer remind you of something?

Doesn’t it remind you of adding filters to cigarettes or having light cigarettes? And we all know how that turned out.

Personally, I don’t think that Health Canada or any other government association should be okaying additives to any food, especially junk food. Next there will be beer with vitamin C and soda pop with insulin.

This is just another example of making a simple solution — stop eating chips and fries — into something much more complicated: We’ll add a genetically modified enzyme to the fries and make everything better. Keep chowing down those fries, folks!

Here’s a resolution for you — stay away from new and improved trans fat-free, acrylamide free chips, fries and cookies; and stick with old and unchanged blueberries, broccoli and kale.

Joan Crawford and her mild Camels endorse new smooth-smokin', acrylamide-busting Doritos!

References

1. Health Canada Asparaginase additive consultation  http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/consultation/init/_2009-asparaginase/prop-asparaginase-eng.php
2. Swedish National Food Administration. Acrylamide in Food. Uppsala, Sweden: Swedish National Food Administration; 2002.
3. World Health Organization (WHO) Frequently Asked Questions – Acrylamide in Food.
4. Shipp A, et al. Acrylamide: review of toxicity data and dose-response analyses for cancer and noncancer effects. C. Crit Rev Toxicol. 2006 Jul-Aug;36(6-7):481-608. Review.
5. Berg, Jeremy M.; Tymoczko, John L.; and Stryer, Lubert. Biochemistry Chapter 23 Section 5.  New York: W. H. Freeman and Co.; 2002
6. Cancer Medicine. Chapter 55. Kufe, Donald W.; Pollock, Raphael E.; Weichselbaum, Ralph R.; Bast, Robert C., Jr.; Gansler, Ted S.; Holland, James F.; Frei III, Emil, editors. Hamilton (Canada): BC Decker Inc.; 2003.

Eat and Run is an internet program we’ve created in partnership with the endurance-oriented folks at Competitor.com. (Thus the name; Eat and Run.)

Over the next few months we’ll be bringing you dozens of new high-quality nutrition videos. Every single one supports the important ideas presented in the Precision Nutrition System.

So, make sure you’ve got your copy of PN. And then be prepared for a host of “a-ha” moments as we roll out successive episodes of Eat and Run.

Also, keep one thing in mind. The tips you’ll learn in the Eat and Run program aren’t exclusive to an endurance-oriented audience. Indeed, good nutrition is univerally important whether your primary activity is lifting weights or whether it’s lifting your bike pedals.

For now, check out episode 9: Watching Your Sugar Intake

For more information about Sugar Intake:

• Check out our Precision Nutrition System