Filed under: General Health, Nutrition, Training, Weight Loss
I apologize for the lack of blogging this week, just been all over the place. My wife and I are currently looking for a used car as mine is on its last legs. We spent all day today shopping around to see what we could find.
With little time to write some content, and since it is currently 10:50pm and I need to be up at 5:00am, I figured I would toss out some recent blogs that I read that I thought were top-notch and deserved your attention.
1. How to Select a Weight to Use in a Resistance Training Program – Eric Cressey. I think this one is pretty self-explanatory!
2. Are Whole Eggs or Egg Whites Better for You? – Mike Geary. This is a simple and lay-person friendly breakdown on why ditching the yolks is a bad idea. Doesn’t get too technical and is an easy read.
3. The Twinkie Diet for Fat Loss – Stephan Guyenet. I recently got some emails about a nutrition professor losing weight eating a lot of junk food. Stephan breaks it all down, and some of the best info is actually in the comments section!
Filed under: General Health, Nutrition
This past weekend, actually from Saturday until Tuesday, I was at the American Dietetic Association Food and Nutrition Conference & Expo. It was at the enormous and beautiful Boston Convention and Expo Center. I am so glad I get the student discount, because it is crazy expensive otherwise!
This was certainly an interesting experience, and I got to hear some great talks on how to succeed in private practice, saturated fat, heart disease, public policy and more. To be brutally honest, I was hoping for more cutting edge information that was unfortunately lacking.
In all actuality the greatest source of information that I found at the entire conference and expo was a simple guidebook from Stonyfield Farms called The Going Greener Guidebook. This book has some absolutely fascinating, unique, and simple ways to be more eco-friendly. Admittedly I could be better about this, so that may be why I found it so interesting.
It discusses things like an Earth-Friendly Diet, how to Green Your Home on a room by room basis, America’s Farms, easy ways to Reduce and Reuse and more. I learned some really neat things from this little guidebook.
When Anna and I buy a home, one thing I really want to do is have a small organic garden. I currently know little to nothing about gardening at all, let alone organic. This guidebook recommends the book Grow Organic, which will show “everything you need, from composting to seed saving.” Other areas of the guidebook give some other simple tips about composting, like using your coffee grinds, eggshells, newspapers and veggie scraps. This will also decrease your trash.
In the Green Your Home section they discuss how turning on your dishwasher at night will avoid peak energy rates, and during the summer this will keep excess humidity out of the kitchen. In the living room they talk about lowering the thermostat, utilizing drapes (in the winter, open them during the day to maximize the sun’s warmth, and at night close them to keep in warmth), utilizing the ceiling fan and more. In the bathroom the tip I found most interesting was to use recycled toilet paper. If every family in the US replaced one roll of conventional paper with a roll of 100% recycled tp, then 423,900 trees would be saved!
This guidebook is just chock full of simple and easy ways to make your lifestyle healthier and more eco-friendly. You can actually download or read the entire guidebook for free right here.
Filed under: General Health, Nutrition
Well I had planned on writing a particular blog today, but I got an interesting email from EC last night, and I thought I would delay that planned blog until tomorrow, and provide my thoughts on his email today.
Yesterday there was a piece written on espn.com EC sent me about energy drinks, their popularity, lack of regulation, and potential health consequences of their consumption. Apparently this piece was written in conjunction with an E:60 segment on the topic. For those who don’t know, E:60 is basically ESPN’s version of 60 minutes, where they actually do some investigative journalism on a specific topic.
In the article there was also a video segment, and I highly suggest you check them both out before you read my thoughts on the topic of energy drinks, as I would rather not have my writing taken out of context.
In the piece it is mainly about a high-school football player who consumed two NOS energy drinks, and the following day suffered a seizure that his neurologist attributed to the two drinks. Those two NOS drinks contained a combined 520mg of caffeine, which is most definitely a significant amount.
The piece also mentions some other teenagers who have had reported events from energy drink consumption. These two kids though, had undiagnosed heart conditions.
So the piece basically asserts that these drinks can be dangerous and lead to seizures and potentially even death, and that no one (or at least high school kids) should consume them.
Here are my thoughts:
I am not sure I buy that 520mg caused this kid to have seizures, or is the only factor. Maybe it is, I am surely not a neurologist, but that is less than 4 cups of coffee. Nobody is pointing any fingers at Dunkin’ Donuts here.
The other kids they mentioned had undiagnosed heart conditions, so what would have happened when they went to college and drank jager bombs, or pounded coffee pulling an all-nighter?
The problem is people, especially kids, abusing these drinks, and caffeine in general. Two to three of those drinks, with the caffeine and other stimulants? I think most people “know” that that is definitely not a good idea, but they do it anyway. People “know” that smoking, chewing tobacco and driving without a seat belt are dangerous, and yet they do that anyway too.
To be honest I am really not a fan of energy drinks, my energy drink of choice is coffee (one is some man-made concoction of chemicals, one is real food). It contains a good dose of caffeine, it also has tons of antioxidants.Another concern I could see would be is if you can equally compare the caffeine in coffee, with all of its associated phytochemicals and antioxidants, and isolated caffeine in drinks (along with yohimbine, guarana, and other stimulants they pack in there). Is it the same, or does the isolation or combination with other stimulants make the caffeine more potent? Who knows.
Are these drinks dangerous? Define dangerous. Are they health-promoting? No. Will consuming one cause any issues? Probably not. Will abusing them and exceeding the warning on the label (which I admit reads more like marketing than a warning, but it is a warning none-the-less) potentially cause issues? I think this is clearly the case.
So to me, it is dose-dependent just like everything else. Is aspirin ok in recommended doses? Absolutely. Is it dangerous or deadly when consumed to excess? Absolutely.
The moral of the story is, don’t abuse any stimulant (caffeine, ephedrine, yohimbine, etc). Reasonable intake should pose no threat to health, but when you place high school kids into the equation, reasonable intake goes straight out the window, and that is the problem.
Filed under: General Health, Nutrition
I am backed up with a ton of work, school work and client work right now so I don’t have time for anything too intense. But here are a few neat little tidbits that I think you guys will enjoy.
1. So far in my Master’s program there hasn’t been anything too intellectually challenging going on yet. This semester my classes are pretty vanilla, but it will really start to pick up next semester where I have Advanced Human Nutrition and Metabolism, as well as Advanced Clinical Topics among others.
The saving grace for this semester though has been Case Study Presentations by the Senior Dietetic Interns (I am currently a Junior Dietetic Intern). We had our first presentation last Friday, with another presentation this Friday. Each Senior Intern presents a case study on a patient from their Dietetic Internship. The entire treatment process, from diagnosis to outcome, with an emphasis on Medical Nutrition Therapy.
This has been by far the most fascinating thing we have been done, and I was absolutely enthralled by the whole process. I still do not believe that I in any way want to be a clinical dietitian, but it has been interesting nonetheless. This is an area where I can grow a lot, and I am really looking forward to it.
2. There has been a recent lovefest with the newest “superfood” – black rice. Black rice is black due to its extremely high anthocyanin content, higher than even blueberries, which is a powerful anti-oxidant.
It is also a good source of iron and fiber, as well as some vitamins and minerals. One of the coolest features of black rice is that it is a good source of not only water-soluble nutrients (like anthocyanins) it is also a pretty good source of fat-soluble ones as well, which is pretty rare.
With all that in mind, it definitely seems like a fine food, but does that mean it is like the only rice you should ever eat? No. While it does have some excellent nutritional value, it is merely another healthy Real Food option, nothing more, nothing less.
3. Here is a random one. I went to the health food store near my parent’s house to get some butter and a few other things, and I noticed they had some Ezekiel wraps. Usually health food stores are more expensive, and I usually just get mine at Hannaford, but here they were $1.30+ cheaper!
Strange, but definitely awesome.
4. I wanted to ask you, my readers, what else you would like to see me blog about? Any questions, or nutritional concerns you guys want answered? Anything I currently do that you want to see more of? Just let me know!
Filed under: General Health, Nutrition, Training
I only have time for a quick one today, got a bunch of school work to do and an article to finish. Plus I got wrapped up reading the absolutely fascinating A retrospective to the fructose alarmism debate and its 300 comments over on Alan Aragon’s blog.
I like to think that I had a firm grasp on the fructose literature, but that blog and its associated comments taught me a thing or two and really solidified my beliefs on the topic. Which I must say are right in line with Alan’s.
Anywho, I hadn’t been to his site in a while, but I do frequent Alan’s awesome Research Review, where he gives critical analysis on research relating to nutrition, training and supplementation. It is one of the best sources of information on those topics anywhere.
My one complaint was that it was so damn hard to find previous studies and topics you had read, because there was no way to quickly search for them. You had to check out each issue and do an individual search, which sucked.
Fortunately Alan has graciously created a Research Review Index which he will continually update with each monthly issue. This index will allow for much easier searching of topics, and location of desired study/analysis. This will be a lifesaver when trying to find a reference!
For those of you who already subscribe, this is sweet. For those of you don’t, and who go past the desire for casual knowledge and want to delve deep into actual science, do yourself a favor and check it out.
Filed under: General Health, Nutrition
Ok, so I don’t really think America is stupid. That title comes from a Huffington Post article that Tony Gentilcore linked to yesterday. That article, for lack of a better word, was awesome.
In this article author Justin Stoneman points out how America has been fooled to eat crap and think it is good for us. He points out how a fat and unhealthy America is good for the food and pharmaceutical industry, and makes them billions.
I highly recommend you check this article out, as he has some excellent things to say. Here are some of my favorite quotes:
“Latest figures confirm the ridiculous: three out of four of you will be ‘overweight or obese’ by 2020. To gauge perspective: there are now more ‘fat’ people than ‘white’ people in America. Perhaps our bigots of the future will swing their hatred away from ‘race’ to the slim and healthy.
The shrinking minority are, indeed, the shrinking minority.”
This is a long one, but he just has so many excellent point.
“Americans (still) rule the world. They can stroll on the moon, influence global diplomacy, finance unstable countries around the world…yet they cannot keep their own people relatively healthy? Of course they could, if it were actually desired. Unfortunately, for the world’s most powerful companies, an unhealthy America is, perversely, a very profitable America.
If I own a sock company, I need people with feet to maintain my business. Similarly, if I own a diet company (total combined U.S. industry value: est. $45-$100 billion), I need fat people. Luckily for the diet industry, the even more powerful food industry (estimated value: astronomical — U.S. food-based retailing alone >$1,200 billion) make their main profits from cheap processed foods. Foods which make people fat.
The medical industry is similarly grateful — the unhealthy obese are as vital for their profit margins as oil is to the oil business. And we’ve seen what happens when the oil industry has their supply stream compromised.
So, if industries (with a combined net worth and power exceeding many actual countries), need a vital supply chain to survive, we can safely say that they will probably work out how to get it.
They need fat people. So what do they do?”
I should probably be careful with this next one since I am a member, but it is unfortunately true.
“The ADA (American Dietetic Association) has complete monopoly on dietary advice. To keep the bubble airtight, the full might of the law has even been implemented. Kim Jong-il would be proud of the attention to detail.
With that in mind, who precisely is ‘sponsoring’ the ADA and the nutritional advice you receive?
My friends, it is a beautiful army. Partners (recent and current — and their latest annual revenue figures):
Coca Cola (revenue $31.4 billion), GlaxoSmithKline (revenue $42.5 billion), Hershey’s (revenue $5.3 billion), Unilever (revenue $55.8 billion), Aramark (revenue: $12.3 billion). There are even some ‘premier sponsors’: Mars (revenue: $30 billion), PepsiCo (revenue $44.3 billion), Truvia sweetener (revenue of parent company Cargill: $116.6 billion), Kellogg’s ($12.7 billion).
ADA ‘sponsors’ have combined revenues of over $400 billion.”
Another simple piece of common sense.
“Your grandparents were raised in a generation aware that God’s supermarket was better than man’s. Saturated fat was a vital part of their diet. For them, obesity was not a common health problem. They were not suffering malnutrition in the fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E and K). Remarkably, you, dear Western reader, probably are.”
And finally…
“Your commercially sponsored weight loss advice is making you gain weight. It would be laughable, a comic irony, if the consequences were not so tragic. From diabetes to obesity to cancer to heart disease, the price being paid for corporate profit is in lives.”
I highly recommend you check out the entire piece, it is absolutely fantastic. He also provides an excellent graph showing exactly when the US obesity rates began to climb, and his reasons why. Fascinating stuff.
Filed under: General Health, Nutrition
Recently a reader sent a me a link to an article and interview done by Wolf Blitzer with Dr. Dean Ornish and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn about Bill Clinton. It was all about how Dr. Ornish and Dr. Esselstyn have inspired Bill Clinton to go on a plant-based diet where he has lost 24lbs and begun to reverse his heart disease. You can find out more about it right here.
This is Clinton’s back story, so clearly he needed to make some changes -
“In 2004 Clinton underwent quadruple bypass surgery, taking four veins from elsewhere in his body and using them to circumvent the four blocked arteries to his heart. In 2005, Clinton underwent more surgery, for scar tissue damage and fluid which had accumulated as a result of the 2004 surgery.
In February of 2010, Clinton’s bypass failed, with one of the four veins installed in the bypass having become 100% blocked. Surgeons installed two stents inside the clogged vein, in order to prop open the cholesterol-filled passage.”
I think there are a lot of great things said in the interview. They talk about how we need to focus on treating the disease, not treating the symptoms. Changing lifestyle factors and not focusing on drugs are two things they discuss and I agree with wholeheartedly.
Unfortunately there is a lot of false crap as well. Stating that foods like olive oil and meat and dairy (regardless of production methods) damage the body and cause heart disease is most definitely not shown in the literature. How is it that so many cultures and societies consumed large amounts of meat, or dairy or saturated fat and had little to no incidence of heart disease? How did these “damaging foods” not damage these people?
Here are my thoughts. Is it actually the fact that the former President is not eating meat that has reversed his heart disease, or is it that he is eating a ton more produce, has dropped down to a healthy bodyweight (a huge plus), is not consuming any man-made food products or edible food-like substances, and has changed many other lifestyle factors? I know where I stand.
Here is also what we know. There has never been a single documented hunter gatherer society that was vegetarian/vegan. Not one. Even if they ate mostly plants, they would still eat some animal products, because they were recognized as essential. How else would they get iron, zinc, and b-12?
To me the difference they made for Clinton is the removal of crappy man-made industrial food products. When making a drastic overhaul in diets it can be easy to point the finger at one thing for being the savior, but in reality many things have changed, and who really knows what actually produced the benefits. Is it the removal of meat and animal products (doubtful), the increase in produce (possibly) or the removal of edible food-like substances that we as a society consume in vast amounts (likely).
Now I am not saying that what they are doing isn’t working, what I am saying is that they, and the media, are oversimplifying (or purposely misinterpreting) what is actually providing the benefit.
When you improve someone’s diet, help them lose weight, decrease stress, quit smoking and increase exercise, how can you give all of the credit to the improved diet? That is what Dr. Esseltyn and Dr. Ornish do. While their system works, it is most definitely not only because they have put their patients on low-fat plant-based diets, it is because they have drastically improved many of the lifestyle factors that contribute to heart disease, as well as removing the industrial food products that actually are damaging.
I will lastly mention that this interview was posted on vegsource.com, a website solely dedicated to everything vegetarian. I perused it a bit and I am just blown away by the absolutely propaganda and false information on that site. Why is it so hard for people to believe that consuming a diet rich in nutrient-dense plant and animal foods is the ideal diet composition. If you are vegetarian or vegan, it is simply because you choose to do so, not because it is inherently healthier.
Filed under: General Health, Training, Weight Loss
Mike Boyle, one of the most renowned strength and conditioning coaches in the world, has made some interesting changes with how he conditions his athletes and clients at Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning. It will be fascinating to see what result Mike’s athletes and clients reap from the modification.
This form of conditioning can also be implemented in a fat loss program, so if that is your goal (or that of your clients) give it a shot, it will provide a nice spark to your stale routine.
You can check out the video of Mike explaining the changes Right Here.
If you do consider yourself a serious athlete, lifter, strength coach, or trainer, you owe it to yourself to hear what the owner of the #1 Gym in America (By Men’s Health) has to say when it comes to performing better and getting your clients and athletes real results that will improve their conditioning, body composition, and performance.
Also keep an eye out this week as Mike is literally giving everyone the keys to Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning with BodyByBoyle Online.
I got a chance to preview this service (thanks to Kevin Larrabee), and I was absolutely blown away. From the training programs, to the exercise videos, to the educational content, it is simply the ultimate resource for strength and conditioning.
Stay tuned as BodyByBoyle Online is launching on October 6th at 7:00 am EST. There is a limited number of spots available so don’t miss out!
Again you can check the video for free Right Here.
Filed under: General Health, Nutrition, Recipes
Well today is the day of EC’s wedding, for which I will be suiting up and heading out in just a few short hours. It will be a blast to see a lot of old friends, watch Tony dance, check that, watch Eric dance (the man has about as many moves as me), and just have a good time.
As much as I love Anna and EC, I am not writing my 250th blog post solely on their wedding. Sorry Eric.
I figured I would make today a mixed bag of all kinds of things that I blog about often. The awesomeness of a food, a smoothie recipe, neat links from readers showcasing how great and how awful our food production is, you know, fun stuff.
To start things off though, I want to talk about my favorite subject, ME!
All kidding aside, for those of you who don’t read t-nation religiously I had a new article go up on Friday, called 10 Forgotten Muscle Building Foods, so check it out.
I have also gotten some tremendous feedback from people who bought the Show and Go Nutrition Guide, and I can’t thank you guys enough for letting me know your thoughts on my first product!
Awesomeness of Pears
To continue down this most random of days, today I wanted to talk about the glory of a seemingly forgotten fruit – pears! Pears are absolutely delicious, sweet and juicy. They are related to apples and have several thousand different colors and varieties, the most common in the US being the Bosc, Bartlett, Anjou, and Comice. They are all a good source of fiber, vitamin C, vitamin K, and copper.
Copper is actually a vitally important substance as it is for the formation of superoxide dismutase, a powerful enzyme that eliminates superoxide radicals, which if not eliminated quickly can damage cell membranes. It has also been shown that a diet low in copper is associated with risk factors for colon cancer.
While you won’t find much support for this in the literature, health care practitioners often recommend pears as one of the first fruits for infants to consume, as it is hypoallergenic and less likely to produce an adverse response.
Reader Smoothie Recipe
A reader of the blog emailed me a recipe he created after reading my most recent t-nation article. He described it as thick and creamy with a slightly nutty edge and almost velvety mouthfeel.
- 1/2 – 3/4 cup water
- 1/2 cup coconut milk (sugar free)
- 1 large banana
- 1 scoop vanilla whey
- 3-4 ice cubes
Blend on high for 30-45 seconds and enjoy! I haven’t actually tried it yet myself, but it sure sounds delicious. Give it a try and let me know what you think.
Our Terrible Food Production
A reader sent me this link to Gizmodo, about how disgusting the production of chicken nuggets is. Now according to the author chicken is turned into this picture below to make nuggets, which is just nasty.
What worse is he claims that “because it is crawling with bacteria, it will be washed in ammonia, soaked in it, actually. Then, because it tastes gross, it will be reflavored artificially. Then, because it is weirdly pink, it will be dyed with artificial color.”
Nasty. Now some of this is disputed by people in the comments section, and I can’t say I have ever witnessed chicken nuggets being made like this, butI have seen them be made from a pink liquid in the cafeteria in college so I truly do not doubt that this is wholly possible. Either way, does that look like something that you want to eat?
Our Excellent Food Production
Another reader sent me a link about 12 of America’s Best Local Farmer’s Markets. This was really neat, and one of the farmer’s markets it showcased was in Portland, Maine. That farmer’s market has been around since 1917, which just showcases how forward-thinking us Mainers (including EC) are.
There are so many people who tell me that they don’t have access to high-quality food, but examples like this show that it is out there, it just takes a little searching and some effort, as most of it is not going to be sold at your local Stop n’ Shop.
So that will do it for what I believe is the first ever post on a Sunday. It is now time to quickly mow the lawn and then get all done up for the wedding!
Filed under: General Health, Nutrition, Training
I was able to catch up on some blog reading this morning, and I came across some stuff that I thought you guys might like, so check them out.
I also wanted to quickly mention that Mike Boyle’s Functional Strength Coach 3.0 is currently on sale for 25% off (a savings of $50!), which is a tremendous deal for those of you who didn’t pick one up the first time. Mike is a brilliant guy, and this is an awesome DVD set that encompasses everything Mike has learned in nearly 30 years of “in the trenches” experience at every level of sport and fitness.
1. Miscellaneous Miscellany Monday: Should I Get a Mac, Food Myths, and My New Favorite Stretch – Tony Gentilcore. Tony is famous for having some of the longest blog titles ever, but this one came out yesterday and already has 25 comments. I found it quite interesting to hear so many people advise him on whether or not to get a Mac, as I myself might be in the market for a new laptop in the not too distant future.
2. A Health Guru Dies of Cancer – Jonny Bowden. Jonny discusses a very important question; if even some of the smartest and healthiest people on earth die far too early from diseases like cancer, is all this effort to be healthy worth it? I like his answer.
3. Potatoes and Human Health, Part 1 and Part 2 – Stephan Guyenet. Stephan delves into the cultivation of potatoes (quickly), their nutritional content, health benefits and traditional use in diets. He also discuss glycoalkoloid content. Hmmm my description doesn’t sound nearly as interesting as it really is, but definitely check them out.
Posted on November 11th, 2010 by Brian St. Pierre
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