Gluten Warrior

It has been a busy while, back to it now. Sometimes it is elementary, simple. For example: Vitamin D status affects neuromuscular function in both older and younger individuals. Vit D may have a direct relationship with maintenance of fast twitch (Type II) muscle fibers. In teenagers Vit D deficiency lowered muscle power and force. Vitamin D levels are also related to muscle pain, fatigue, and decreased motivation to exercise. In older adults the level of Vit D is correlated with propensity to fall. Take Vit D, a good one. Right now is our highest level, due to exposure to the high angle of the sun in summer. However, not if you use sun block. It is a great time to test so you can compute what you will have to do after October when we do not make any from the sun, until the next April. This span is ultra important for our immune system. Ignore it at your peril, and others if you are contagious, and I don’t mean your personality. If you want to know about a good Vit D product, ask me, I know the difference and the brand.

Here we are again. To continue…”If sleep, nutrition, and exercise are not appropriate then they should be addressed first, before beginning any ergogenic, supplement, technique, or training regimen.” Supplements should be considered in light of nutrient sufficiency and then performance and recovery. Athletes can be more susceptible to vitamin and mineral inadequacies than the general population. As with the general population a high quality (not necessarily a high potency) MVI/MIN is recommended. Look for one that has genuine peer reviewed articles on the finished product, not the components. More to come. Strategic Hydration and Recovery/Repletion are two techniques I emphasize and teach. To find out how and what I suggest ask me. I don’t bite, and I chew 40 times before I swallow…

I played hooky for a day or so. It felt so good…Here is the skinny on recovery and repletion-rocket science from the world of sports medicine and nutrition. Post exercise positive outcome requires optimum timing and food choice. These are absolutely critical to beat the three to eight day recovery time if you miss the opportunity or choose the wrong times and product. The first 30 minutes post exercise is the most important time to ingest food. This is not to be confused with replacing sweat loss with sport drink. To be consistent and successful have the right stuff available for immediate use immediately after finishing. Don’t socialize, don’t have it under your clothes you left at the start, or in a gym bag someplace. Hide and drink. Then have another. The Pro’s may have five drinks before they talk to anyone. After two hours they may seek a meal. Ideally this meal will be low fat.
If today’s workout was hard, you are trying to build muscle mass, or tomorrow’s workout will be hard, have another recovery drink 30 minutes before going to bed. Remember, your body heals while you are sleeping–feed it well. You want your genes to work for you, not against you. (enhanced notes from Townsend Letter December 2013, issue #365. Enhancing the performance of the athlete, part 1. Jade Teta, ND, CSCS and Keoni Teta, ND, LAc, CSCS).
Tomorrow info on products, then part 2 the next day. It is all good.

OK, the deets–It takes carbohydrate approximately four to six hours to be eaten, absorbed, and stored in the liver and muscle as glycogen. The percentage of macronutrients (carbohydrate [CHO], protein [PRO], fat [FAT], in a pre race meal and the timing of that meal can be critical for energy optimization and “bonk” prevention. This is why you want to start drinking your appropriate beverage drink 15 minutes in and drink every 15-20 minutes, depending on the activity, duration, weather (hot, cold, humid, dry, season), time of day. For activity less than 75 minutes water is probably adequate, especially if you are optimally hydrated beforehand. Longer duration requires a high quality sport drink. The CHO/’lyte drink spares stored glycogen from prior meals. A long duration event may require some solid food as well. Tomorrow, a bit on recovery and repletion. I did my Master’s thesis with the U.S. Biathlon Team in a hydration study in a 20k race, with shooting. Those are athletes with a resting heart rate of 47. The outcomes were interesting. I can also suggest top products for your pleasure and performance.

When do I eat, and how much?
Depends on the sport, temperature, duration, how much time you have to chow down, and other variables. Some eat four to six times a day, others eight. One meal a day suffices for a few. In my case it is, as I eat all day long. I am a slow eater so breakfast can slide into lunch, and so on. This changes if I am training or active. Intermittent fasting? There could be benefits and drawbacks. This pattern of eating has to follow the rules, not some individually made up thing of your own.
It is difficult to have enough time to eat more than 3000 Calories of optimum quality foods. This is where concentrated foods and sport drinks can be utilized smartly. Depending on what you are doing and the other variables you may require 2400 Calories, where others need 12,000. in some cases you will have to eat and hydrate by the clock to be sure to get enough. Plan consumption, before, during, and post training or competition. Be consistent with timing and intake. Practice with different foods and ergogenic aids during training, not competition. With a properly formulated sport drink you can actually hydrate effectively and more quickly utilizing less volume than if using plain water or a poor choice in beverage. There is a lot more coming in this discussion, be patient and stay tuned. I would suggest that sports medicine has brought many changes to the table that are sound and way late. This is important for optimal functioning whether in the office, taking care of kids, teaching, fire fighting/policing/saving lives and mitigating suffering, prenatal thru the first 1000 days of baby, then ongoing-why stop? In other words, lifestyle stuff. Comments? Ideas?

There is more to the story…Poor planning, no planning, even over training may have a role in your success or failure. Obviously there are sport specific differences in quantities needed, timing of food/beverage intake, etc.
If you are traveling, any distance, bring what you need for hydration and meals. Have more than you think you need. Do not depend on food/beverage availability at your destination or in between. You may arrive at odd hours, breakdown on the way, share with others and have none left, have special dietary needs and an impossible barrier to get those items. I never let my food, water, supplement bag out of sight. At an event you should not be eating/drinking strange stuff that is different than used while training. If you suck on orange wedges during a long run, then have some. If you don’t, then don’t!. If you do when you don’t you will have some–diarrhea, that is. What do you do with that while running around Boston in the Marathon? (true story).
Someone else’s Booster Club food at an event, at an away meet–Forget About It! Train your own Booster Club to provide nourishing and appropriate foods at your home and away meets. This becomes especially important if this is a weekend of AM/PM heats and eliminations or multiple events.
You can only go as far as your Nutrition takes you…Does yours need some adjustment? What did you feed your organs and tissues today? Yesterday? Do you even remember? I am interested.

To continue the story…The greatest dietary need would be total calories. Calories taken in must be greater than calories used for training or event. Some reserve has to remain and within a balance so we do not inappropriately gain or lose weight. For optimum performance and health these calories should be nourishing ones, not from junk or highly processed foods. The body wants to be a well tuned machine. The athlete’s body should be a finely tuned machine, in need of all the nutrients. There is little margin for excursions into the wasteland of bad food choices, alcohol, skipped meals, et al. One suggestion when temptation is in the air is to ask your self “is this my new standard”, i.e., that is to compromise. There is always an unforeseen consequence, usually negative, maybe not immediate. What do you do when the the little urchins in your head are arguing about the need to go off target for this “treat”, “reward”, “fun thing”, et cetera?

page 2, the rest of the story…The influence of proper sleep is now being extensively researched and talked about. Most of us do not get enough sleep or quality sleep. Americans are the most sleep deprived people in the world. Even college students need nine to ten hours of sleep every night. Check your phones, tablets, computers, t.v.’s, at the door or your bedroom–outside. No electronics in the bedroom. The bed room must be dark, quiet and cool-in temperature. The body heals while sleeping, muscles repair, the brain scrubs itself, the liver rejuvenates, and so on.
All the ergogenic aids in the world are not going to improve your efforts if you are sleep deprived. Adequate sleep will benefit your recovery efforts, reduce stress, improve cognitive ability, and increase productivity. If you are traveling across time zones to get to a practice venue or event there are special considerations, especially West to East, East to West.
Preventing dehydration during exercise is one of the most effective ways to maintain exercise capacity. More events have been lost because of poor hydration than any other factor. There is no acclimatization to dehydration, other than slowing down or falling. Your brain goes down too.
“Nuff” said. pg 3 tomorrow. I am relating most of this to sports needs and outcomes. Athletes are expensive and a lot of research is done on and with them. These advances take many years to filter down to the non athletes. Same as NASA research or critical care, or warfare survival and research. The outcome is that the findings relate to critical thinking in the business world, learning and education, prenatal and the first 1000 days of baby, and forever in our life and health span. Do you think there may be an association with the Female Triad and menarche, prenatal and fertility nutrition, etc? There are many crossovers if we are paying attention. I hope you have questions to ask, and ask them…

What you put into your body is what you get out. The ultimate goal of training, optimum nutrition, maximizing our genetic inheritance, is to improve performance-physical and mental.
Banned, illegal, or unethical substances and methods frequently come in to play, even at high school age and younger. Many opportunities to obtain these quick fixes are on the internet, no questions asked. There can be dangerous side effects and long term consequences and this information and reality are largely ignored by the user.
Almost anything can be an ergogenic aid, including water. If something helps with recovery, enhanced performance, and injury avoidance, it is considered ergogenic. The ergogenic possibilities are vast, both good and bad.
Nutrition provides the fuel for the engine, the oil, and the cooling fluid. Nutrition also makes the difference for the final .001 second to the finish line.
Our training gives us the strength, stamina, and practice to get to the finish line.
These three–genetics, nutrition, training–form a triangle, a very strong geometric shape. These three are the very strong base for our lives and outcome. Let’s form a sub triangle, superimposed over the first, with Hydration, Dietary Needs, and Sleep being the three sides. Page2, The rest of the Story is for tomorrow.
The caveat is to be very mindful, strategic, and taking action to stay optimally hydrated with the right mix of electrolytes, carbs and water to distribute them. Sweating in high humidity is very inefficient, making the hydration very important. Output loses efficiency also. Talk to me about Strategic Hydration and Recovery/Repletion so you will have a better tomorrow.

Often, I do this not. The evidence is in this 26 minute chat. If 1000 people each hour come to your website because of the info available, would others take notice? They did and still do. Why? Because a serious issue was outlined and solutions presented. If options were presented that showed you how to avoid tens of thousands of toxic exposures each year, for each of you, your kids, extended family, your pets…would that produce some great interest and benefits? Here is a link for this chat between Ken Cook, one of the founders of Environmental Working Group, and Roger Barnett, CEO of Shaklee Corp, my branding partner since 1972. Why? B/c of trust and knowledge from the path I have been on in Wellness all this time, as a career path and personal health. Let me know your thoughts. Bruce https://www.facebook.com/ShakleeHQ/videos/469391089027469