Filed under: Nutrition
I get a lot of emails from people thanking me for a particular recipe – My Wife’s Chili. Well, they are thanking me, but they are mainly thanking my wife for her wonderful recipe.
The only downside to the recipe is the prep time. You do have to chop the pepper and onion, cook the beef and then cook all of that plus the other ingredients in one large pot. It takes some time, which people do not always have.
So today I propose a solution – the Crock Pot. Simply cook your beef at your leisure, and either store in the fridge or use immediately, it is up to you. Chop the pepper and onion, and place them with the tomatoes, corn, beans and chili powder in the Crock Pot.
Cook on Low for 6ish hours, and then it will kick off to the Keep Warm setting. This way by the time you get home from work, it is not only all cooked, it isn’t scorching hot, but a perfect serving temperature. Enjoy!
Filed under: General Health, Nutrition, Recipes
Q. Hey Brian,
Love your blog. I have it bookmarked and I check it every other day. I was wondering if you could do a blog post on cycling supplements. If you have already done this then I apologize. If you haven’t done a blog on this, any chance you could? If not, what’s your take on it? I know it’s a common question and a lot of folks are divided on it.
A. First off, thanks for the kind words, I am glad you like the site!
As for cycling supplements I think this is a totally personal choice. I don’t really think it makes much difference if you do or don’t. People make the argument that if you eat or supplement with a particular item on a daily basis, that you will develop an intolerance to that item. Is this a possibility? Sure. Is it definite? Absolutely not.
Many cultures consumed many of the few same foods nearly year round. Many consumed rather large amounts of potatoes, sweet potatoes or coconut for the majority of their lifetimes without developing any issues. On the flip side of that, intake often varied by season and availability so it can go either way.
I would say that I am not opposed to either option, and I leave it up to the individual. If you find that a certain protein powder bothers you after a period of consumption, then maybe it is best to rotate that. If not, then do not worry about it. I firmly believe that these decisions are best made on an individual basis and there is no “right” or “wrong” answer.
Q. I got an idea for you, could be a bit of a challenge for you too. Maybe you could write about nutrition for hiking the Appalachian Trail. The curve balls would be…
-Pack-ability
-Calorie density per 1 oz of weight
-Overall Weight
-Ease of cooking ( IE; dehydrated etc)
-Many meals are really processed, EasyMac, Ramen etc. It would be cool to see idea’s if you could come up with healthy, little to no process for meals!
A. Well this is an excellent question. To some degree it would depend on how long you are hiking, but I will answer this based on it being a multiple day journey. As an interesting aside, my wife hiked the Appalachian Trail for 5 days while in college, so she helped me out with this one a little bit.
For snacks you have lots of options, but like you mentioned we are looking for foods to be nutrient and calorie dense, as well as portable. I would highly suggest these options:
These are all highly portable and offer high-quality carbs, healthy fats and quality protein.
Meals are a little tougher but here are some options that I think travel well:
- tuna in pouches on whole-wheat wraps
- natural peanut butter (or almond butter) on whole-wheat wraps
- oatmeal with dried fruit and peanut butter
- muesli
- or you can use some of the snack foods and make a larger meal out of it
I would also recommend that you consider bringing along some herbs and spices for meals (at least some salt and pepper for the tuna for example). Aim to pack about 700g-1kg of food per person per day. It can definitely help if you pre-plan your meals and most of your snacks. While there will probably be some unplanned snacking, it can prevent you from bringing too much or too little food.
As a final note, don’t forget the most important item of all – Water! Remember to hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. I hope that helps!
Filed under: General Health, Nutrition, Recipes
I wanted to wish you all a Happy New Year, I hope everyone had a good time. To kick off the new year right, I wanted to start off 2011 with a great new recipe.
A few nights ago my wife and I made a delicious meal of pork chops and green beans, and it was absolutely delicious. Pork is a vastly underrated meat that I feel has fallen out of vogue the past ten years or so.
Pork chops were something that I remember growing up with, that seems to have largely disappeared from the American Diet, probably due to the late 80’s/early 90’s fear of fat. While pork chops do contain more fat than chicken or turkey, who cares?
The majority of the fat is in the form of the monounsaturated oleic acid, just like in olive oil. They are a good source of 10 vitamins and minerals, and are an especially excellent source of several B vitamins, as well that brain-boosting and anti-inflammatory choline.
The problem with pork chops is that people tend to bread them with crappy carbs and cook them in crappy oils, but that is where I come in. We breaded our pork chops in quinoa flakes, cooked them in olive oil and had a delicious side of sauted green beans.
This is a delicious and easy recipe, that can be enjoyed with a nice glass of wine.
Pork Chops, Quinoa and Green Beans
Ingredients
- Two 6-8oz pork chops (preferably pasture-raised or at least “naturally-raised”)
- 1 whole pastured or omega-3 egg
- ~1/2 cup quinoa flakes
- 4 cups green beans
- 1 tbsp pasture-raised butter
- Redmond Real Salt, as desired
- extra virgin olive oil spray (I like to use the Misto with my own olive oil)
Directions
Place the whole egg in a bowl and whip until well blended. Place the quinoa flakes on a small separate plate. With one pork chop at a time, dip in the egg, covering evenly. Then place the pork chop in the plate with the quinoa, covering it evenly. Repeat with second pork chop.
In a medium frying pan, spray with extra virgin olive oil and place on medium to medium-high heat. Place the pork chops in and cook until done. Flip occasionally and spray more olive oil as needed to help the quinoa brown, but not burn. Dash of salt as desired.
In a large frying pan place in the butter and let melt on medium to medium-high heat. Then drop in the green beans and stir around until the butter is evenly coated on them. Sea salt to taste. Cook until done and stir often. Cover if desired.
It’s pretty simple and tasty, provides plenty of high quality protein, healthy fats, quality carbs, fiber, 2 cups of veggies and so much more. Enjoy!
Filed under: General Health, Nutrition, Training, Weight Loss
Now that 2010 is almost completely in our rearview, I figured this was a great time to recap what I thought were some of the best resources of 2010. People often get frustrated at their lack of results, yet are unwilling to change their approach and try something new.
They often don’t know where to look for change, or which products and resources can actually help them reach their goals. Well I make it a priority to only recommend products and resources that I think can help you reach your goals, whether they be to improve your coaching ability, athletic performance, body composition or overall health.
I also try to make it clear to whom these resources are intended for, so you only purchase ones that are a good fit for you and your needs. This whole process allows me to continue to learn and improve, pass some of that knowledge on to you, and also filter the marketing so you can make informed decisions on which products and resources you actually want to spend your hard-earned money on!
Here are my Top 5 Products/Resources of 2010 that I reviewed. I will note that their are many more great ones out there that I have not yet had the time to review, though I will hopefully get a chance in the near future.
1. Show and Go: High Performance Training to Look, Feel and Move Better. This is my favorite of the year for many reasons. It is an amazing training program that also provides info on proper soft-tissue work, warm-ups and gives you access to over 175 videos demonstrating every exercise in the entire program. Not only that, you also have the ability to purchase my Show and Go Nutrition Guide, which I must say is pretty awesome in and of itself! Eric provided a complete resource to help you maximize your potential. Here is my Review of Show and Go.
2. Body By Boyle Online. This is an unbelievable resource for just about anybody out there. This resource provides over a year of ready-made programs, with new programs being added every month, covering athletic performance, rehab, fat loss ad more! It also contains over 280 videos of every single exercise done at Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning and more educational information than you could possibly imagine. Incredible stuff. Here is my Review for Body By Boyle Online.
3. Accelerated Muscular Development 2.0. Smitty outdid himself with this kick-ass program. He has totally revamped and improved his original Accelerated Muscular Development, adding in a ton more stuff on dynamic warm-ups, exercise progressions as well now providing over 199 exercise videos. Here is my Review of Accelerated Muscular Development 2.0.
4. The Single Leg Solution. Mike Robertson created an awesome product here. Let’s be honest, how many people actually train their legs, let alone one at a time? Well here Mike shows you proper single leg exercises, their execution, and their placement within a training program. It is well-researched and well-written, which is the norm for Mike. Here is my Review of The Single Leg Solution.
5. Optimal Shoulder Performance: From Rehabilitation to High Performance. Mike Reinold of the Boston Red Sox, and Eric Cressey of Cressey Performance joined forces to create one of the most educational resources of the year. This DVD set covers a seminar given at CP where Mike and Eric go over the anatomy of the shoulder, how and why things can go wrong, how to correct it and even more importantly, how to prevent it. There is also a bunch of exercise demonstrations at the end of the seminar to provide proper exercise technique, and yours truly was the demonstrator. If you have a shoulder issue, or work with a population prone to shoulder issues, check this one out. Here is my Review of Optimal Shoulder Performance.
Well there you have it, my Top 5 Resources of 2010. Maybe give yourself a nice little post-Christmas (or whichever holiday you celebrate) reward for being so awesome in 2010.
Filed under: General Health, Nutrition
It can be hard to know which supplements are worth it, and which ones are not. There is often a lack of data(which doesn’t necessarily mean there is a lack of benefit, it may just not have been studied yet), conflicting data, or too little data to draw strong conclusions.
Fortunately informationisbeautiful.net has come up with an elegant solution to finding whether a supplement is worth it or not. They have compiled data on supplements for their benefits on a multitude of problems, and have provided how strong or weak the evidence is for their use, as well as their popularity.
Check it out – Snake Oil? Scientific evidence for popular health supplements.
I will note that you might see a supplement in their more than once, but if you bring your cursor over the bubble you will see that it is because a supplement might have a benefit from more than one action.
While I think this website is fantastic, I will still note that some supplements may be worth trying even if they don’t meet the criteria set forth here. Sometimes, depending on the cost and the supplement and condition in question, it might be worth it to you to try it out and see what happens.
I want to thank Nate Tiplady for pointing that out to me. I also wanted to let any Cressey Performance readers that I will be making an appearance there one day next week. Once I solidify the day, I will let you all know.
Filed under: General Health, Nutrition
I am a person who is quite content getting most of his fluid intake from water. I do drink green tea, coffee and pomegranate juice on a regular basis with some occasional wine and beer, but the vast majority of what I drink is water. I think it would be absolutely ideal if this were the case for most everybody, but unfortunately it is not, and many people just need to have more “flavor” in their lives.
In light of that I am always on the lookout for tasty but healthful drinks that people can consume. I have blogged about many of these options and their health benefits- coffee (here, here), white/green/oolong/black tea (here, here), rooibos tea (here, here), pomegranate juice (here), Steaz zero calorie sparkling green tea (here), and wine (here).
I have also written about why fruit juice sucks, and how consuming only 8oz of it per day was associated with an increased risk for diabetes. However, I will note that in an otherwise healthy and active person some moderate juice consumption will probably be just fine.
On the same topic I have discussed the ridiculousness of multi-level marketing drinks such as MonaVie and the like. While acai is a fine fruit, it is not what it has been made out to be. Utilizing several different methods of calculating antioxidant capacity and potency (ORAC, TEAC, DPPH, FRAP), as well as inhibition of LDL oxidation and total polyphenol content it came in 6th out of 10 drinks tested. Number 1? Pomegranate juice. Number 2? Red wine. As an interesting aside that I don’t think I have ever mentioned on this blog, the most effective way to increase HDL-C is from moderate alcohol consumption (1-2 drinks per day).
Now having begun this blog with the longest preface in history, I wanted to touch on a some new data that I thought was rather interesting. While I have written quite a bit about the myriad health benefits of tea consumption, I came across some rather interesting data I had not heard before.
While I know that green tea (and the other members of the tea family) are beneficial to oral health, it was recently found that people who drink at least 1 cup of green tea per day had a decreased risk of tooth loss compared to people who did not drink any. It seems that the catechins in the green tea kill the mouth bacteria that are associated with gum disease and tooth decay.
What I also want to point out with this is that white tea actually contains the highest amount of catechins, while black tea contains the lowest. Now this doesn’t mean that black tea is not good for you, it most definitely is, but it probably won’t help much in the teeth department. Its fermentation process actually converts the catechins into other healthful compounds called theaflavins or thearubigins that decrease your risk of stroke. Enjoy a wide variety of teas for the greatest overall benefit to health.
On top of that, even though I wrote the above piece on why fruit juice sucks, if you insist on consuming a glass of OJ every morning (and who could blame you, it is delicious, but beware companies with poor production methods), here is some new data on the best options. While it seems intuitive that orange juice with pulp would be more nutritious since it does actually contain pieces of whole fruit, some researchers actually put this question to the test.
They found that if your OJ has pulp, it contains 30% more anti-inflammatory flavonoids and cancer-fighting limonoids than OJ without it. While this certainly isn’t earth-shattering stuff, it is nice to know that if you enjoy a small glass of OJ (maybe mixed with a small amount of pomegranate? – its delicious) at breakfast, getting it from a company that only uses oranges from the US and makes it fresh with pulp, you are maximizing its benefits and minimizing its negatives.
All in all, while I still recommend you consume plenty of plain water, there are clearly many ways to get in some flavorful drinks that provide tons of health benefits, minimal calories, and lots of flavor, so drink up!
Filed under: General Health, Nutrition, Training
My good friend Cassandra Forsythe has started a Fit Pregnancy Interview Series over on her blog. This is especially pertinent to me with my wife being 20 weeks pregnant herself.
Cass has interviewed nine women and counting who stayed extremely active during their pregnancies. She wanted to shed some light on this topic because so many women are hesitant to exercise hard while pregnant, and so many people will criticize the ones who do.
Cass said she gets about an email every week asking her about this very topic, and she wanted to provide not only quality information on the topic, but real-life examples of women who have been active while pregnant and the impact it had on their pregnancy, labor and child.
I highly suggest you check these stories out, whether you are pregnant or not. These interviews are rather enlightening, though my opinion may be a little biased!
Filed under: General Health, Nutrition, Training
First off I just wanted to thank everyone for the well wishes and congratulations, they are much appreciated!
Today I wanted to direct your attention to some really quality content that I have come across lately that I think you might want check out for yourself.
Don’t Have Time to Train? – Tony Gentilcore. Tony pretty much lays down the law as to why there is always time to train. Not “having time” really means you are not making time. I even fell victim to this for a while, often only training 2x/week, but no more. I am back on 4x/week and kicking ass. Hell my best friend was able to train consistently (and very creatively) while being on the top of a mountain on the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan. If he can do it, why can’t you?
Low FODMAP diet has been great for my gut – Cassandra Forsythe. Cass discusses a very interesting concept on food and its effect on your GI tract. She is someone who has had GI problems for years, as she discusses, and this new strategy has done wonders for her. If you are someone who has struggled yourself, check it out.
Dr. Mellanby’s Tooth Decay Reversal Diet – Stephan Guyenet. I think when I post one of these blogs I always include a post from Stephan, his stuff is just that good. Considering that my wife is a dentist, this post was even more poignant to me. While the post does disparage grains a bit due to their phytic acid content, I will point out that sprouted grains have minimal phytic acid due to the sprouting process.
Filed under: General Health, Nutrition, Training
I wanted to give you all a friendly reminder that today is the last day you can get Accelerated Muscular Development 2.0 for 20% off the retail price! The sale ends at midnight tonight.
If you are interested in a fantastic program sure to help you build slabs of muscle and shed pounds of fat, just follow the link below for more info:
===> Accelerated Muscular Development 2.0 <===
Today is going to be done a little differently. I actually have a multi-part series that I was thinking of starting today, but then I thought it would probably just be best to start that fresh come Monday.
Instead of that series, I am going to recap any fascinating information presented by some of my classmates just like I did last week with Coffee May Decrease Risk of Alzheimer’s. So I will actually return later this afternoon to fill you all in on whatever cool information I come across!
I also want to let you all know that I am going to be writing some articles for several publications this month, so be on the lookout for those in the near future!
Lastly for all of you Red Sox fans out there, could these past 7 days been any more awesome in an off-season? Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez?!? The Yankees are crying themselves to sleep right now. It might only be December, but It. Is. Awesome!
So I have returned to fill in this blog today, and let you know about some cool stuff I learned about from my classmates today.
The first presenter discussed how green tea and black tea consumption can decrease your risk for the metabolic syndrome. More research is needed on the topic, but green tea is able to modulate to a degree some of the factors of metabolic disease.
The second presenter discussed the role of restaurants implementing menu nutritionally labeling, and its impact on customer choices and restaurant financials. It seems that providing the nutrition facts for meals does improve people’s food choices to a degree, however the meal must still be appealing. It is also clear that the profitability of restaurants who have implemented these protocols already have not been negatively affected.
The third presenter discussed buckwheat. She discussed how it is really a seed like quinoa and amaranth, not a true cereal grass like wheat, rye and barley. She discussed its high antioxidant content, and how the sprouting of it (and other seeds and grasses) increased the antioxidant content. It was certainly interesting to find out another benefiting of sprouting grains.
The final presenter discussed some new methods in meat preservation. A huge amount of beef is lost every year to spoilage, costing the beef and supermarkets a lot of money. In her presentation she showed how customer-perceived spoilage (mainly from color change, even though the meat may be fine) or actual spoilage occured from the fats in the beef oxidizing. She presented data showing that feeding cows vitamin E a few months prior to slaughter, and packaging the beef with a small amount of rosemary extract almost completely prevented lipid oxidation (for at least 12 days). This could save a lot of cows!
On a side note, it has also been shown the seasoning your beef with rosemary can prevent many of the harmful heterocyclic amines caused by cooking meat at high temperatures, so this could help improve beef in more than one facet.
On another good note, today was the last day I had to commute to Orono for exactly a month. I sure won’t miss that 165 mile round trip commute! For a little while at least.
Filed under: General Health, Nutrition
I have mentioned this point many times before, but I don’t think I have ever written a formal piece on the topic. The fact of the matter is that no matter how many incredible health benefits fish oil provides, there comes a point where its supplementation can actually be more detrimental than beneficial.
This often comes as news to a lot of health-conscious individuals, but it is true all the same.
The two major fatty acids in fish oil, EPA and DHA, have an unfortunate track record of suppressing our immune system. There is also the matter of oxidation. EPA and DHA are polyunsaturated fats, and polyunsaturated fats are the least stable and most likely to be oxidized.
When we consume an excessive amount of polyunsaturated fats this can become a problem. The body incorporates the fatty acids you consume into cell membranes and phospholipid bi-layers, so when polyunsaturates are consumed in high amounts, more of them are incorporated into the cells, leading to the increased risk of oxidation. Of note saturates are the least likely to oxidize and are the most stable.
Now, back to the suppressed immunity from excessive fish oil consumption. This downside has a substantial and consistent amount of data behind it (though the beneficial aspects of fish oil have a mountainous and consistent amount of data as well, and growing).
I want to focus on a few studies that have found this effect. The first was a 12 week study on several different fatty acids. They compared the consumption of ALA (flax, walnuts), GLA (borage oil, evening primrose oil), AA (animal foods), DHA, or EPA and DHA. The total amount of EPA and DHA was only 1 gram. The only treatment where immune function was compromised was the EPA and DHA supplementation. This combination led to a decrease in natural killer cell activity by 48%. Interestingly the just DHA group (720mg) did not have this effect, so it appears that EPA has this effect.
The second was also a 12 week study where men young and old consumed only EPA on immune function. As expected the EPA was incorporated into the phospholipids of cells. At doses of 1.35, 2.7 and 4.05g/day the EPA supplementation caused a dose-dependent decrease in neutrophil respiratory burst. I had no idea what that meant, but it indicates the suppression of a cellular defense against immunity threats.
I will again state that though there are some downsides to fish oil supplementation, the amount of benefits from its supplementation are through the roof. The point today isn’t to scare you away from supplementing, the point is to make your supplementation reasonable. I suggest aiming for 1-2 grams of combined EPA and DHA per day. I personally find 1 tsp of Carlson’s The Very Finest Fish Oil to be the perfect amount, supplying 1.3g of combined EPA and DHA from one the highest quality and well-priced fish oils available.
Posted on January 6th, 2011 by Brian St. Pierre
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