http://chriskresser.com/
Thinking about trying nootropics? These natural and man-made substances may enhance learning and memory, increase attention, and boost your mood. But do they really work? Read on to find out.
The post Nootropics: What Are They, and Do They Work? appeared first on Chris Kresser.
Originally Posted At: https://breakingmuscle.com/feed/rss
By the time we have reached the age of thirty, the muscles used to straighten our spines (erector spinae) and keep our shoulders from falling forward (trapezius and rhomboids), have atrophied in the majority of North Americans largely due to a culture that avoids squatting at all costs.
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Biological systems are self-maintaining. They have to be. We don’t have maintenance workers, mechanics, troubleshooters that can “take a look inside” and make sure everything’s running smoothly. Doctors perform a kind of biological maintenance, but even they are working blind from the outside.
No, for life to sustain itself, it has to perform automatic maintenance work on its cells, tissues, organs, and biological processes. One of the most important types of biological maintenance is a process called autophagy.
Autophagy: the word comes from the Greek for “self-eating,” and that’s a very accurate description: Autophagy is when a cell consumes the parts of itself that are damaged or malfunctioning. Lysosomes—members of the innate immune system that also degrade pathogens—degrade the damaged cellular material, making it available for energy and other metabolites. It’s cellular pruning, and it’s an important part of staving off the worst parts of the aging process.
In study after study, we find that impairment to or reductions of normal levels of autophagy are linked to almost every age-related degenerative disease and malady you can imagine.
Okay, so autophagy is rather important. It’s fundamental to health.
But how does autophagy happen?
The way it’s supposed to happen is this:
Humans traditionally and historically lived in a very different food environment. Traditionally and historically, humans were feasters and fasters. While I don’t think our paleolithic ancestors were miserable, wretched, perpetually starving creatures scuttling from one rare meal to the next—the fossil records show incredibly robust remains, with powerful bones and healthy teeth and little sign of nutritional deficits—they also couldn’t stroll down to the local Whole Foods for a cart full of ingredients. Going without food from time to time was a fundamental aspect of human ancestral life.
They worked for their food. I don’t mean “sat in a cubicle to get a paycheck to spend on groceries.” I mean they expended calories to obtain food. They hunted—and sometimes came back empty handed. They dug and climbed and rooted around and gathered. They walked, ran, stalked, jumped, lifted. Movement was a necessity.
In short, they experienced energy deficits on a regular basis. And energy deficits, particularly sustained energy deficits, are the primary triggers for autophagy. Without energy deficits, you remain in fed mode and never quite hit the fasted mode required for autophagy.
Now compare that ancestral food environment to the modern food environment:
Almost no one goes hungry. Food is cheap and plentiful, with the tastiest and most calorie-rich stuff tending to be the cheapest and most widely available.
Few people have to physically work for their food. We drive to the store and walk a couple hundred steps, hand over some money, and—BOOM—obtain thirty thousand calories, just like that. Or someone comes to our house and delivers the food directly.
We eat all the time. Unless you set out to do it, chances are you’ll be grazing, snacking, and nibbling throughout the day. We’re in a perpetually fed state.
The average person in a modern society eating a modern industrial diet rarely goes long enough without eating something to trigger autophagy. Nor are they expending enough energy to create an energy deficit from the other end—the output. It’s understandable. If our ancestors were thrust into our current situation, many would fall all over themselves to take advantage of the modern food environment. But that doesn’t make it desirable, or good for you. It just means that figuring out how to trigger autophagy becomes that much more vital for modern humans.
Here are 7 ways to induce autophagy with regular lifestyle choices.
There’s no better way to quickly and reliably induce a large energy deficit than not eating anything at all. There are no definitive studies identifying “optimal” fasting guidelines for autophagy in humans. Longer fasts probably allow deeper levels of autophagy, but shorter fasts are no slouch.
When you’re keto- and fat-adapted, it takes you less time to hit serious autophagy upon commencing a fast. You’re already halfway there.
With exercise-related autophagy, the biggest effects are seen with lifelong training, not acute. In mice, for example, the mice who are subjected to lifelong exercise see the most autophagy-related benefits. In people, those who have played soccer (football) for their entire lives have far more autophagy-related markers of gene activity than people of the same age who have not trained their whole lives.
In studies of acute exercise-induced autophagy, the intensity of the exercise is the biggest predictor of autophagy—even more than whether the athletes are in the fed or fasted state.
At least in mice, both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee induce autophagy in the liver, muscle tissue, and heart. This effect persists even when the coffee is given alongside ad libitum food. These mice didn’t have to fast for the coffee to induce autophagy.
Certain nutrients can trigger autophagy, too….
Curcumin, the primary phytonutrient in turmeric, is especially effective at inducing autophagy in the mitochondria (mitophagy).
The anticancer potential of its main antioxidant, oleuropein, likely occurs via autophagy.
Disclaimer: The autophagy/nutrient literature is anything but definitive. Most studies take place in test tube settings, not living humans. Eating some turmeric probably won’t flip a switch and trigger autophagy right away, but it won’t hurt.
Autophagy is a long game.
This can’t be underscored enough: Autophagy is a lifelong pursuit attained by regular doses of exercise and not overeating every time you sit down to a meal. Staying so ketotic your pee tests look like a Prince album cover, doing epic 7-day fasts every month, fasting every other day, making sure you end every day with fully depleted liver glycogen—while these strategies might be “effective,” obsessing over their measures to hit some “optimal” level of constant autophagy isn’t the point and is likely to activate or trigger neurotic behavior.
Besides, we don’t know what “optimal autophagy” looks like. Autophagy isn’t easy to measure in live humans. You can’t order an “autophagy test” from your doc. We don’t even know if more autophagy is necessarily better. There’s the fact that unchecked autophagy can actually increase existing cancer in some cases. There’s the fact that too much autophagy in the wrong place might be bad. We just don’t know very much. Autophagy is important. It’s good to have some happening. That’s what we have to go on.
Autophagy happens largely when you just live a healthy lifestyle. Get some exercise and daily activity. Go hard every now and then. Sleep deeply. Recover well. Don’t eat carbohydrates you don’t need and haven’t earned (and I don’t just mean “earned through glycogen depleting-exercise”). Reach ketosis sometimes. Don’t eat more food than you need. Drink coffee, even decaf.
All those caveats aside, I see the utility in doing a big “autophagy session” a few times a year. Here’s how mine looks:
I know people are often skeptical of using “Grok logic,” but it’s likely that most human ancestors experienced similar “perfect storms” of deprivation-induced autophagy on occasion throughout the year. You track an animal for a couple days and come up short, or it takes that long to make the kill. You nibble on various stimulants plucked from the land along the way. You walk a ton and sprint some, then lift heavy. And finally, maybe, you get to eat.
If you find yourself aging well, you’re on the right track. If you’re not progressing from obesity to diabetes, you’re good to go. If you’re maintaining and even building your muscle despite qualifying for the blue plate special, you’ve probably dipping into the autophagy pathway. If you’re thinking clearly, I wouldn’t worry. Obviously, we can’t really see what’s happening on the inside. But if everything you can verify is going well, keep it up.
That’s it for today, folks. If you have any more questions about autophagy, leave them down below and I’ll try to get to all of them in future posts.
Thanks for reading!
References:
Yang ZJ, Chee CE, Huang S, Sinicrope FA. The role of autophagy in cancer: therapeutic implications. Mol Cancer Ther. 2011;10(9):1533-41.
Barlow AD, Thomas DC. Autophagy in diabetes: ?-cell dysfunction, insulin resistance, and complications. DNA Cell Biol. 2015;34(4):252-60.
Sasaki Y, Ikeda Y, Iwabayashi M, Akasaki Y, Ohishi M. The Impact of Autophagy on Cardiovascular Senescence and Diseases. Int Heart J. 2017;58(5):666-673.
Florencio-silva R, Sasso GR, Simões MJ, et al. Osteoporosis and autophagy: What is the relationship?. Rev Assoc Med Bras (1992). 2017;63(2):173-179.
Li Q, Liu Y, Sun M. Autophagy and Alzheimer’s Disease. Cell Mol Neurobiol. 2017;37(3):377-388.
Jiao J, Demontis F. Skeletal muscle autophagy and its role in sarcopenia and organismal aging. Curr Opin Pharmacol. 2017;34:1-6.
Schwalm C, Jamart C, Benoit N, et al. Activation of autophagy in human skeletal muscle is dependent on exercise intensity and AMPK activation. FASEB J. 2015;29(8):3515-26.
De oliveira MR, Jardim FR, Setzer WN, Nabavi SM, Nabavi SF. Curcumin, mitochondrial biogenesis, and mitophagy: Exploring recent data and indicating future needs. Biotechnol Adv. 2016;34(5):813-826.
Przychodzen P, Wyszkowska R, Gorzynik-debicka M, Kostrzewa T, Kuban-jankowska A, Gorska-ponikowska M. Anticancer Potential of Oleuropein, the Polyphenol of Olive Oil, With 2-Methoxyestradiol, Separately or in Combination, in Human Osteosarcoma Cells. Anticancer Res. 2019;39(3):1243-1251.
The post The Definitive Guide To Autophagy (and 7 Ways To Induce It) appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.
Originally Posted At: https://breakingmuscle.com/feed/rss
Big Man Training (BMT) was the name of the program the strength and conditioning coach at my first professional rugby club put me on when they needed to add some size on my frame as fast as possible. It worked.
In fact, it was the first training program to put any significant muscle on my frame. Up until that point, the standard 3×10 and 5×5 programs I’d followed had failed miserably. To this day I still revisit BMT with clients that need a plateau busting mass gain routine.
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/
We love comfort food as much as the next Primal type, but it’s something of a relief to welcome the lighter fare of spring. With early crops of greens, berries, radishes, herbs, asparagus, and young onions (to name just a few), there’s a definite call to cooler dishes and lighter cooking. It’s a traditional time, too, for citrusy flavors and springtime classics like lamb.
We’ve got nine of our favorites today—everything from cool drinks to fresh salads to hearty but bright-tasting dinners. Grab some inspiration (and leave a comment with your spring favorites) today.
Simple, fresh, and sweet, this salad is a perfect accompaniment to a weekend omelet breakfast or a grilled chicken dinner, but it’s also a satisfying light meal in its own right.
Combining the classic flavor of Thousand Island with the mild bite of spring radishes makes for an easy, flavorful salad dish. Serve with roast chicken or fish, or enjoy all on its own.
It’s no secret that Mark’s (current) favorite dressing is Lemon Turmeric, and there’s no end to the salad combinations he uses it with. With his go-to ingredients, chicken and avocado, this one’s become a fresher take on the Big-Ass Salad tradition.
Rich, creamy and citrusy, this recipe blends the best of succulent meat with a smooth and flavorful sauce. The addictive lemon and sage scent alone is reason enough to cook this spring dish.
Broiled salmon steaks are served over seared tomatoes and peppery arugula for a warm and bright main course.
Rich and tender, this leg of lamb (cooked with the joules sous vide method or regular oven method) is as foolproof to make as it is delicious to eat. Serve this cut with pistachio pesto and roasted potatoes or a low-carb side of your choice.
This recipe is a good reason to grab that bottle of turmeric in your spice rack and put it to work adding bright orange color and extra flavor to mild fish like cod. The slightly bitter taste of turmeric all but disappears when cooked with buttery ghee, ginger and garlic. Serve with a favorite salad or another spring favorite, asparagus.
With a bright taste and fresh bite, mint juleps are perfect for warm spring (or summer days). Usually they’re made with bourbon and syrup, but here’s a lighter, less potent version of a julep with just as much classic flavor.
Yes, it’ll be strawberry season before you know it (not that most of us with a local grocery store really need to wait…). For now—or later this spring—here’s a refreshing three-ingredient mocktail that includes a healthy dose of vitamin C and collagen.
Have a favorite here, or did a certain recipe inspire? Have other great spring eating ideas to add? Share them below, and have a great week, everyone.
The post Seasonal Eating: 9 Tasty Springtime Recipes appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.
Originally posted at: http://www.nerdfitness.com/
Reading food labels can be tricky.
Today, more than ever before, the general public is health conscious and scrutinizing the food they purchase.
Food manufacturers and marketers know this.
So you come across a snack that says “light” or “multigrain,” and you assume the product in it is healthy.
Why would they lie?
There’s nothing worse than finding out your favorite protein bar is actually just a sugar filled candy bar with deceiving packaging.
That’s why today we are dedicating an article to seeing through this deceptive marketing.
We’ll do this by showing you how to read a nutrition information panel, as well as what packaging claims you can dismiss as bogus.
We’ll also give you some tips on shifting your diet to a more healthy way of eating in general.
If you are trying to watch what you eat to lose weight, make sure you grab our healthy eating guide: 10 Levels to Change Your Life.
It’s a level up system, with each step shifting you towards improved nutrition strategies. We take it slow and work with your own pace, so the changes you make will be sustainable and permanent.
You can download our 10-Level Nutrition Guide when you sign up in the box right here:
Food manufacturers are not required to place any nutritional information on the front of the package.
Because of this lack of regulation, what’s included on the front of the package is what the manufacturers want you to see.
In other words, sales propaganda.
Let’s take a look:
“Real Fruit Bites” is the product and the company is Nothing But The Fruit.
From the looks of this, I would assume these “bites” are mostly made of strawberry? Because what else would you put in them?
The verdict: the number one ingredient in this is “apple puree concentrate.”
I’ll devote an entire section to bogus health terms marketers use to fool us shortly. I bring up the front of the package now, to tell you it’s not where the real info is.
If you want to know exactly what you are eating, you need to look at the Nutrition Label and Ingredients List.
That’s where food marketers have to tell the truth (sort of).
In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires most packaged food to include a label.
Many other countries around the world have a similar agency regulating food.
This is key for us nerds because organizations like the FDA force companies to disclose exactly what’s in the food they’re selling.
They do this with a Nutrition Label and an Ingredients List.
A Nutrition Label identifies the nutrients found in a portion of food, like calories, protein, and vitamins. It’ll look like something like this:
An Ingredients list tells you what they placed into the product to get those nutrients.
It might look like this:
Both are important to analyze.
You want to know how many calories you’re getting out of your meal, which can be found in the Nutrition Label.
You also want to know what foods they are using to make up those calories, which can be found in the Ingredients List.
Let’s look at another Nutrition Label:
This is taken from a Spiced Pumpkin Pie Cliff Bar.
Let’s analyze:
Serving Size. This is somewhat self-explanatory: serving size is the amount of food, by volume or weight, that is considered one “serving.” New FDA regulations require this size should be typically what someone would eat in a single serving. Which matches what we see here, with “1 Bar.”
However, double check this. Your serving might not match what the manufacturer has in mind. For example, a bag of Doritos has about 10 servings in it.
Do you really only eat a tenth of bag of Doritos at a time? Look at the Nutrition Label.
Calories. This is the energy you’ll get from food.[1]
This will be one of the most critical pieces of information on the food package. Which is why it’s right under the serving size on the label.
Going back to our Cliff Bar example, we can see that one bar is roughly 250 calories.
I want to talk about that word “roughly.” The FDA allows a 20% leeway in either direction for food manufacturers. That means, legally, that Cliff Bar might have 200 calories…or 300 calories.
%DV. Have you ever wondered what that “%DV” stands for? It means “Daily Value” and the percent will range from 0 to 100.
%DV is an estimate of how much of a particular nutrient you are eating with one serving of food. For example, if you ate that Spice Pumpkin Pie protein bar, you would be getting around 8% of the potassium required for a healthy diet.
However, we need to explain come caveats: it’s based on a 2,000 calorie a day diet, whereas the average person needs more than this (calculate your calorie needs here).
Also, this is the FDA’s estimate of how many vitamins and minerals you need. Do you really trust Big Brother? Use %DV as a starting point only.
Here’s some rough guidelines:
–Less than 5% DV isn’t that much.
–More than 20% DV is a lot.
You’ll notice that some things, like Trans Fat, Protein, and Sugar don’t have %DV. The FDA doesn’t require this information, so most food sellers don’t include them.
Don’t overlook the Nutrition Label. Yes, they are estimates. But an estimate of the number of calories in a meal is better than no estimate, especially if your goal is weight loss.
A message I really strike home in our “Why Can’t I Lose Weight?” article is having a good estimate of calories in and calories out. While there is plenty of nuisance, weight loss really does come down to calories eaten and expended.
That’s why reading the Nutrition Label can be so critical – it helps you with the first part of this equation.
If you have no idea how many calories you need to eat in a day to reach your goals, I have a couple of resources for you.
The first is our article “How Many Calories Should I Eat Every Day?” It includes a calculator to give you an estimate of your individual calorie requirements, plus tips on what to do with this info.
And the second is for people who are looking for more specific, guided accountability, our uber-popular 1-on-1 Coaching Program. We take all the guesswork out of a weight loss plan and help you start to make better food choices.
We’ll tell you exactly what you need to do to get in shape, by changing your nutrition strategy, creating an exercise program, and offering personal accountability. Many Rebels have turned their lives around by becoming a client, and we’d be happy to talk with you to see if we could be a good fit for each other.
Click on the big image below to learn more:
Let’s chat quicky about some of the nutrients identified on the label.
We’ll first talk about dietary fat: the good, the bad, and the ugly.
The terms “saturated” or “unsaturated” refers to the bonding of hydrogen atoms to carbon atoms in a fat molecule. When every carbon molecule is bound to the maximum number of hydrogen atoms, the fat is “saturated.” If some carbon molecules are double-bonded to each other (and bonded to fewer hydrogen atoms), the fat is “unsaturated.”
Let’s chat about why this matters.
The good: unsaturated fat. This is the “healthy” type of fat. There are two types, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated (don’t worry too much about the difference, it has to do with the number of carbon double-bonds in the molecule). Unsaturated fat is typically liquid at room temperature, and you find it in plant-based products (like nuts, avocados, coconut, etc). When people talk about “healthy fats,” unsaturated is generally what they are referring to.
What about saturated fat? There’s a lot of conflicting studies out there on saturated fat, and it’s been vilified by marketing companies for years. So what’s the truth? Personally, I believe that saturated fat is an important nutrient that we need in our system. You can check out this article for an interesting debate on the subject.[2]
The bad: trans fat. There has been a good deal of hype about trans fat in recent years. So what’s the deal? Trans fat is technically an unsaturated fat, but the fat molecule has a different type of carbon double-bond that gets created when oil is “partially hydrogenated.” Hydrogenation is a process used in food production to increase shelf life, which is why it’s often found in processed food like frozen pizza and doughnuts. Why does all this matter? The “trans” type double bond causes the fat to behave differently in the body, and NOT in a good way. Trans fat can contribute to atherosclerosis, which could lead to a heart attack. Keep your intake of trans fat as low as possible.[3]
It should also be noted, that if food has less than 0.5g of trans fat per serving, the FDA allows food manufacturers to round down – meaning “0.” So even if the packaging says “Zero Trans Fat,” it might actually still have some.[4]
We’ll end this article by talking about ways to avoid this concern, by sticking to “real food.”
Cholesterol is the next big player on the list. Cholesterol is an important building block in cell membranes. We get some from food, and some is made in our liver. Cholesterol is mainly found in animal products, just like saturated fat. In my opinion, cholesterol is not the villain it’s made out to be!
Sodium, and often Potassium, are also listed in this part of the Nutrition Facts label. These are electrolytes. Should you avoid sodium, because of a possible increase in blood pressure? Eh, the findings on this are mixed.[5] A little bit of salt on your food (or in your food) should be fine.
Carbohydrates include simple carbs (sugars, like glucose, fructose, dextrose) and complex carbs (fiber and polysaccharides).
Dietary fiber is great stuff! There are two types: Soluble fiber is digestible and gets absorbed by your body. This type of fiber helps keep your blood sugar levels stable.
Insoluble fiber is not digestible, so it stays in your GI tract and helps “keep things moving.” Trust me, this is a good thing.
Prioritize fiber in the foods you eat.
Sugar is a simple carbohydrate. It can be absorbed by your gut very quickly because it doesn’t need to be broken down by enzymes first. Sugar is not necessarily bad for you, but consuming large amounts of sugar can cause your blood sugar levels to become unstable.
Other Carbohydrates generally refers to complex (large) carbohydrates in food, such as starch. These large molecules are broken down by enzymes into sugar, but the process takes a while. Complex carbohydrates keep your blood sugar levels more stable than do simple carbohydrates.
Protein is one of the main building blocks for muscle and other body tissues. There is normally not a %DV for protein because the amount of protein that each person needs is quite variable. You can check out this article for an idea of how much protein you should be eating.
At the bottom of the Nutrition Label, you’ll also see a breakdown of micronutrients.
Let’s go over some of these key players:
Calcium: needed to build bones. This is especially important for women, because bone mass decreases after menopause, so build your bones strong while you are young!
Vitamin D: needed to aid the absorption of calcium. Some of this comes from food, and some is made by your body when you are exposed to sunlight.
Iron: needed to make hemoglobin, the oxygen-carrying substance in blood cells. Women are more at-risk for being iron deficient, while men are more at-risk for being iron overloaded.
You may notice that some labels list more micronutrients than others. If a micronutrient is missing from a label, that means there is not any of it in the food product.
Let’s look at the Nutrition Facts for a can of soda.
See any micronutrients on there? That’s why soda is referred to as “empty calories.”
Let’s take another look at our Cliff Bar, but this time, looking at the Ingredients List:
All the ingredients are listed in order of quantity by weight, so the first few ingredients make up most of the product.
For example, the Spice Pumpkin Pie Cliff Bar is mostly brown rice syrup (sugar), oats, and cane syrup (more sugar), in that order. The 4th ingredient, “soy protein isolate” is where this protein bar starts to get some of its protein.
I know. Perhaps “Carbohydrate Bar” would be more appropriate than “Protein Bar.”
The first few ingredients will give you an idea of what you’re actually eating. So this Cliff Bar is sugar, oats, and protein from soy.
Pay attention to the ingredients list. This tells you exactly what you’re eating.
Because again, the front of the package can’t be trusted.
Marketers love the front of food packages.
It’s where they get to use all their fun terms that sound healthy.
Let’s go over some:
“Light.” When you see “light” or “lite” on a package, it means it’s been processed to reduce calories or fat. However, when fat is reduced sugar is often increased to compensate. Check the ingredients list to find out for sure.
“Made with whole grains.” What does “made” mean? It means it contains “some.” Check the ingredients list to see just how much. Is a whole grain in the top three? If not, it’s mostly not whole grains.
“Natural.” This has to be good right? Natural, i.e nature, means good for you?
Eh, it just means that at some point, the ingredients came from a natural source like apples. Going back to our example above, you could argue that the protein bar contained “natural” ingredients because brown rice syrup is derived from rice.
However, a protein bar doesn’t resemble anything grown from a plant. And brown rice syrup really doesn’t have much in common with actual brown rice.
For the most part, the more ingredients on a list, the less natural it is.
“No added sugar.” This sounds good, until you realize that some foods like dried fruit are just naturally high in sugar. Double check the ingredients to find out.
Want some other clever food labels to be on the lookout for? We have a whole article right here diving into the subject.
Want to know how to avoid worrying about Nutrition Labels and Ingredients Lists?
Stick to the outer rim of your grocery store.
You’ll find a lot of the following there:
Do you know what most of this doesn’t have? Food labels.
A banana won’t have manufacturer disclosed information, because no one manufactured it.
It’s a banana.
It’s what we here at Nerd Fitness call “real food.”
We discuss this in great detail in our Healthy Eating Guide.
Food that grew in the ground, on a tree, ran on the land, swam in the sea or flew through the air, would fall into this category. Meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, fruits, nuts are all great examples of REAL food.
Most of this food is found on the outer rim of the grocery store. And there aren’t too many food labels here, besides a barcode.
If you want to start eating better, buy whole foods that don’t have food labels on them. They’ll generally have more nutrients and fewer calories, which is an ideal recipe for weight loss.
Then you don’t have to worry about food manufacturers deceiving or trying to hide ingredients.
The banana is a banana.
However, while eating “real food” is a key component of a successful weight loss strategy, it can still be useful to have an idea on the amount of calories in foods such as bananas.
Calories in and calories out is the central component of weight loss (thermodynamics for ya), so having a rough idea of calories you’re consuming is key. Even in “real food.”
Maybe one day we’ll get robot vision to analyze the calories in everything we look at.
For now, you can Google ‘[food] + calories” or check MyFitnessPal to educate yourself!
Alright, I think that about does it for today’s article on reading a Nutrition Label.
Did I miss anything?
Do you have any tips or tricks on deciphering a Nutrition Label or Ingredients List?
Do you have any other examples of foods that claim to be one thing, but whose ingredient list proves it’s another?
Let me know in the comments!
-Steve
PS: If you’re reading a Nutrition Label to try and lose weight, you’re on the right track! As we state in our Rules of the Rebellion, “You can’t outrun your fork!” Keep at it and keep asking questions!
PPS: If you want more 1-on-1 help to lose weight or shift your nutrition strategy, I’ll again remind you of our Online Coaching Program! We work with busy people just like you to develop and execute plans to level up their lives! Click right here to learn if we are a good fit for each other.
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All photo sources can be read right here.[6]
http://www.thealternativedaily.com/
Taking a moment to stop and actually think about what you’re putting into your body may trigger your gag reflex as you discover some of the dark secrets behind your favorite foods. It is important to realize that you have no idea where your food is coming from, and unless you buy whole foods straight […]
Originally Posted At: https://breakingmuscle.com/feed/rss
One of the most complex biological processes that human biology is privy to is inflammation. Given how important muscle is for our health, wellbeing, longevity, and quality of life, it’s impressive that inflammation was initially a background concern for people in the health, nutrition, and bodybuilding industry.
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/
For today’s edition of Dear Mark, I’m answering three questions from readers. First, what’s the deal with exercise-induced asthma? Is there anything we can do to lessen its impact and incidence? Second, is CBD oil helpful for diabetics? And finally, do bodyweight exercises always require warm-ups? What about workouts in general—do you need to warm-up before every single session?
Let’s find out:
The first question comes from Caue Cavallaro:
since you are the go-to person when it’s about health, for me, do you have any material related to exercise induced asthma? I had it every now and then but since I started training for triathlon it’s happening more often. Thank you!
This is a classic response. When I was doing triathlon (and training others in the sport), exercise-induced asthma was incredibly common. These were some of the fittest people on the planet, and yet they were wheezing and coughing like they were completely out of shape.
The common denominator was inflammation and oxidative stress. Back then, most of us didn’t know anything about either—and we were loading our bodies with tons of both. Anything you can do to reduce excess inflammation and oxidative stress in a healthy, sustainable manner will help.
First and foremost, how are you training? I’d really consider getting your hands on Primal Endurance or reading this post. The quick and dirty version is that to train the aerobic pathway, you have to go easier and slower than you think. Take 180 and subtract your age. That’s your target heart rate. Stay under it to remain aerobic. You’ll go so slow and so easy that it won’t even feel like you’re training. This will increase how fast you can go while remaining in the aerobic fat-burning zone, and it will limit your tendency to overtrain. Overtraining is the primary reason for exercise-induced asthma because when you overtrain, you’re heaping excessive inflammation and oxidative stress on your system. And you’re doing it every single time you train.
This “easier” style of endurance training is totally applicable to triathlon. Spend a good month or so (longer for most, but you’re probably reasonably fit and ahead of the game) focusing on that for the bulk of your training, building that aerobic base. Pepper in some more intense stuff, some “race pace” running/swimming/biking, some strength training and sprints.
How are you eating? Too many seed oils high in omega-6 fats and too many refined carbohydrates (to support the overtraining, of course) will tilt the balance toward inflammation and oxidative stress. Switch over to more saturated and monounsaturated fat sources, like butter, coconut oil, avocado oil, and olive oil. Be sure to eat fatty fish or take fish oil to balance out your omega-3:omega-6 ratio. Eat fewer carbs, and even consider going keto to enhance your fat-adaptation. The low carb approach goes hand in hand with training easier in the aerobic zone, as it demands less carbohydrate.
You’ll want to support your glutathione production with whey protein, raw dairy, and NAC supplements. Glutathione is the body’s premier in-house antioxidant. We most famously use it to detoxify harmful substances like alcohol and reduce oxidative stress, but glutathione also combines with nitric oxide to become a potent bronchodilator called nitrosoglutathione. Bronchodilators open up the airways and facilitate air flow. Having inadequate glutathione can impair your production of nitrosoglutathione and make your asthma worse—or trigger it.
Choline can help. Studies have shown that getting some extra choline reduces the airway inflammation and oxidative stress in people with asthma. You can take a choline supplement or eat a few egg yolks each day.
Good luck!
Regarding CBD/hemp oil, Carmen asked:
Is there oil for diabetics??
They’ve actually looked at CBD for diabetics. In animal studies, it reduces the incidence of diabetes and shows promise against diabetic complications like high glucose-induced endothelial dysfunction.
But the only human study was a bit of a dud. It compared CBD alone, CBD with THC, and THC alone in people with type 2 diabetes. Only the THC alone improved blood sugar, pancreatic beta cell function, and lipid numbers. CBD was ineffective, if harmless.
When you say, as soon as you wake up, do a quick superset of pushups – doesn’t it require a warm-up session beforehand? Can you really do them right away, as soon as you get out of bed? Is a warm-up not always essential?
I mean, you don’t have to do them right away. I can definitely see an argument for brushing the teeth and having some coffee first. For waking up a bit to get the most out of your workout. But if you work out on a regular basis and have a good base level of strength—which our commenter seems to have—you should be able to do basic bodyweight exercises without much of a warm-up.
If pushups are a major effort for a particular person, then a warm-up is a good idea.
As for the essentiality of warm-ups in general? Warm-ups become necessary when we stop moving for most of the day and do a big workout a few times a week. Warm-ups are necessary when we sit for 10 hours a day, using terrible posture the entire time. Warm-ups are important if you’re going really hard, really intense, and really heavy (think a big CrossFit WOD, a set of heavy deadlifts, or something similar). Warm-ups aren’t as essential if you make your entire lifestyle a movement session.
Thanks for reading, everyone. If you have any comments, input, or questions, leave it down below!
Take care.
References:
Mehta AK, Singh BP, Arora N, Gaur SN. Choline attenuates immune inflammation and suppresses oxidative stress in patients with asthma. Immunobiology. 2010;215(7):527-34.
Weiss L, Zeira M, Reich S, et al. Cannabidiol arrests onset of autoimmune diabetes in NOD mice. Neuropharmacology. 2008;54(1):244-9.
Rajesh M, Mukhopadhyay P, Bátkai S, et al. Cannabidiol attenuates high glucose-induced endothelial cell inflammatory response and barrier disruption. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2007;293(1):H610-9.
Jadoon KA, Ratcliffe SH, Barrett DA, et al. Efficacy and Safety of Cannabidiol and Tetrahydrocannabivarin on Glycemic and Lipid Parameters in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Parallel Group Pilot Study. Diabetes Care. 2016;39(10):1777-86.
The post Dear Mark: Exercise-Induced Asthma, CBD for Diabetes, Warm-ups In the Morning appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.
Originally posted at: http://www.nerdfitness.com/
I bet you weighed yourself this morning.
Did you like the number you saw, or were you expecting something lower?
Did you get overly excited if it was low or unreasonably depressed if it was too high?
We’ve all been there, so don’t beat yourself up too much.
Seriously, quit hitting yourself!
Whenever somebody tells me that he or she is going to get in shape, it’s always something like: “I’m going to lose 50 pounds,” or “If I can just get down to 200, I’ll be good.”
I’m here to tell you that you should reconsider stepping on that scale anytime soon.
Why?
Because although picking an arbitrary number for weight loss is a decent starting point (and it’s definitely good to set goals), your scale certainly doesn’t tell the whole story and can send you on an unnecessary roller coaster of emotions.
Yes I do realize most roller coasters are amazing – the emotional ones kind of suck though.
Today we explain why the scale is only one piece of the puzzle.
A quick note before we jump in: I bet you’re reading this because you’re struggling to get the scale to move in the direction you want. Believe it or not, 90% of the equation is your diet!
I know how tough it can be to stick with a nutritional plan, and that most people abandon a diet after a few weeks! Plus, dieting stinks. We took this into account and created a 10-Level system that allows you to slowly change your diet to get in shape the right way, and change your physique permanently. Pick a level, follow the instructions, level up when you’re ready. Done!
Grab our free NF Diet strategy guide when you sign up in the box below, and then keep reading this article about why scales suck!
The human body is one incredibly complex piece of machinery. There are things going in, coming out, transforming, and dissolving all of the time. As a result, your weight can fluctuate wildly over the course of a 24-48 hour period, by up to five to six pounds.[1]
Let’s chat about some variables that can change by the hour:
What did you eat or drink today? All food and water have weight to them. An eight-ounce glass of water will add weight to you, because it itself has some weight (half a pound). Even eating a salad will affect your weight, since vegetables are heavier than air.
How much sodium did you have today? Consuming salt will make you retain water.[2] The more water you are holding, the more you will weigh.
Did you eat any carbs today? Speaking of water weight, eating carbohydrates can make you hold onto water.[3] Refined carbohydrates in particular, like bread and pasta, cause a high insulin response. When insulin is high, you hold onto more sodium, meaning more water.[4] Which is why people often lose a lot of water weight when following a low-carb or ketogenic diet.
Additionally, carbohydrates are stored in your muscles as glycogen. What’s attached with the glycogen? More water.
What time of the month is it? Following along on our trend of water weight, a menstrual cycle will also cause water retention, meaning more overall weight.
Have you, ah, been hitting up the bathroom today? I’ll just say it: urine and feces weigh something. You do the math.
When did you work out last? Exercising will cause you to sweat, which means less water. But you’ll also likely drink more water in response, which will have an impact on the scale too.
If you’re trying to lose weight the healthy way (a pound a week is a good goal to shoot for), your successful weight loss could be hidden by any number of circumstances that falsify your statistics.
That means you could be down three pounds since last week, but because you ate Chinese food last night (oh hey sodium), drank water this morning, and didn’t get to weigh yourself til the afternoon (while wearing jeans), the scale could show a GAIN of one pound. After working so hard, this “weight gain” can instantly demoralize you, sending you to the kitchen for some pity rocky-road ice cream and then over to the couch for a Game of Thrones marathon.
It’s just a number, and it can vary widely over a short period of time.
The scale alone often won’t demonstrate fitness progress.
I have two pictures from my past to as an example, taken about four years apart.
Want to know something crazy? I weighed the EXACT SAME AMOUNT in both pictures.
While my body weight in the two photos may be identical, it’s clear to see I packed on more muscle for the photo on the right.
What’s going on?
Let’s discuss a couple changes the scale might not be capturing:
Yes, it’s true that muscle weighs more than fat. Although if you want to be technical about it, a pound of muscle weighs the same as a pound of fat. That’s what “pounds” mean. However, a pound of fat takes up about twice the space as a pound of muscle, since muscle is about twice as dense as fat. That’s why people typically lean out as they drop their body fat percentage.
Strength training will increase bone density. On average, bones make up about 15% of body weight. And strength training will increase bone density, meaning they’ll weigh more.[5] After some time strength training, your bones might literally drive the scale up.
That’s why – although I weighed the same – I likely had more muscle, denser bones, and less body fat over the four year period.
All good things in my book.[6]
If you set out to lose 100 pounds in a year – an incredibly ambitious goal – and you only manage to lose 85, you might consider yourself a failure. After all, you set a goal and failed to achieve it, right?
YOU STILL LOST 85 freaking pounds, something you might have been struggling to do for years. I bet you’ve had to buy a whole new wardrobe and get all kinds of “holy crap you’ve lost a lot of weight!” comments.
Not bad for a failure, huh?
Don’t get caught up in the numbers game, and instead be proud of what you have accomplished instead.
I had a friend who wanted to get down to 199 pounds badly. He went from 235 pounds down to 202 pounds, and got stuck there for weeks. I remember trying to get him out of his funk: he saw himself as a failure for not losing those three pounds, when in reality he had lost 30+ pounds, completely redesigned his body and his diet, and was in better shape than he had been in years.
You’re not a statistic.
You’re not a number.
If you’re reading this, it means you’re part of the Rebellion.
I want you to know that if you’re like my friend, frustrated by missing your goal, you’re not alone.
We constantly receive emails from Rebels, letting us know they are struggling to hit their fitness goals. It’s actually the reason we decided to create our 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program, so we could offer specific guidance tailored to their individual needs.
Here’s how it works: we get to learn your goals, lifestyle, challenges, and situation: Kids? An old injury? A job that requires travel? All the above? We got you covered.
We’ll then pair you with a coach from Team Nerd Fitness that fits your personality and situation. They’ll work with you to build custom workouts and nutrition guidance to meet any goal you might have. Unless that goal is ruthless world domination. Use your powers for good, okay?
Want to see if we are a good fit for each other? Click on the button below to schedule a free call. We’d love to talk to you, no matter what!
I will admit that the scale can have its uses. If you’re just getting started, a few big changes in the first few weeks can really help you see progress and build momentum.
Also, over long periods of time, it’s a good way to tell if you’re headed in the right direction or not.
However, a scale can also cause all kinds of mental issues that bring you down quickly, and becomes less and less important as you get closer to your goals.
Here’s how you can stay strong and motivated without stepping on a scale regularly:
Remember that your journey to a healthier life is a marathon, not a sprint. Changes from day to day are practically meaningless and incredibly difficult to quantify, so go with changes over a longer period of time. Weigh yourself once a month or every other week to make sure you’re trending in the right direction. If it’s weekly, make sure you weigh yourself at the same time of the day, wearing the same type of clothing. Remove as many of the variables as possible to make your reading accurate. And even then, don’t put too much stock into it.
Look at your body composition rather than your weight. I try to take a picture of myself every month or so, giving me the chance to compare how I look. You can also buy a body fat caliper (I use this one) or tape measure to keep track how your body is adjusting. Just make sure you’re taking your measurements in the same places on your body at the same time of day. If you’re taking photos, take a straight-on photo and a profile photo.
Set goals that are not weight-oriented. Say you want to do 15 push-ups, run a half marathon, and/or do a pull-up. With your mind focused on a strength building or endurance goal, you won’t have to worry so much about a dumb scale. If you can only do 5 push ups now but next month you can do 15, you definitely got stronger, but you probably also lost some fat.
Keep a journal. I know plenty of 170-pound people who are out of shape and 250-pound folks who are incredibly healthy. How do you FEEL this month compared to last month? Maybe you can now run around the track without stopping, you don’t get winded going up and down stairs, and you can give your kids a piggy back ride without being out of commission for days afterward. Keep track of your energy levels, your conditioning, and your overall well-being. Screw the scale.
If you’re interested in other ways to track your fitness progress, I’d encourage you to check out our post “How to Properly Track Your Progress.” We cover the tips above, plus much more.
As the saying goes, “You have to track the problem to crack the problem.” Make sure you look into ways of tracking besides a single scale.
Are you a scale junkie?
I’m a recovering one. However, over the years I’ve learned my overall health, strength, and happiness are far better indicators of how I’m doing.
Moral of the story – if the scale is working for you and you’re seeing results, stick with it. If that number on the scale constantly screws with your mind, maybe it’s time to take a break.
So how about you?
Have you had success with stepping a scale daily? Had some rough weeks because of what the scale said? How about skipping the scale entirely and seeing great results?
Let’s hear some scale-related stories from the Rebellion!
-Steve
PS: Ready to change your physique the right way? Want to have an actual plan to follow? Grab our NF Diet Strategy Guide and our Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know free when you join the Rebellion and sign up in the box below:
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All photo sources can be found right here.[7]
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