Photo courtesy of Mike Warren

Athletes have been practicing carbo loading since the late 1960s. But what’s the big deal with carbo loading? What the heck is it? Why do it? What are the benefits?

The short answer is that carbo loading enhances endurance performance by increasing the amount of glycogen in the body. More glycogen (Carbohydrates) stored in the muscles and livers equates to more energy at an athlete’s disposal.

The benefit? You’ll last longer in an extended endurance event!

In practice the body normally has enough Glycogen for events up to 90 minutes in duration. But if you are doing an extended event like a Marathon, there are some obvious benefits to extra glycogen stores.

So how does one carbo load? There are various carbo loading practices, which have changed over time with new Scientific findings. These are elaborated on at great length in an article I discovered the other day titled The evolving art of carbo-loading.

A Swedish physiologist named Gunvar Ahlborg was the first to introduce some scientific basis to the fact that the muscles and liver are able to store above-normal amounts of glycogen when high levels of carbohydrate consumption are preceded by severe glycogen depletion.

The stress of severe glycogen depletion triggers an adaptive response by which the body reduces the amount of dietary carbohydrate that it converts to fat and increases the amount of carbohydrate that it stores in the liver and muscles as glycogen -a phenomenon Ahlborg referred to as glycogen supercompensation.

From his findings he developed The Ahlborg method:

Perform an exhaustive workout one week before a long race (90 minutes-plus).

Consume a very low-carb diet (10%) for the next 3-4 days while training lightly.

Consume a very high-carb diet (90%) the next 3-4 days while continuing to train lightly.

Endurance athletes around the globe began to use Ahlborg’s carbo-loading plan prior to events anticipated to last 90 minutes or longer.

While it worked, it had its share of drawbacks. Many athletes weren’t keen on performing an exhaustive workout just a week before a big race. Also maintaining a 10 percent carbohydrate diet for three or four days carried some nasty consequences including lethargy, cravings, irritability, lack of concentration and increased susceptibility to illness.

Fortunately research later offered an alternative method that increased glycogen storage without first depleting it.

The no-depletion method came onto the scene:

Perform a long workout (but not an exhaustive workout) one week before race day.

Eat normally (55-60% carbohydrate) until three days before a longer race.

Eat a high-carb diet (70%) the final three days before racing while training very lightly.

The method was more pleasant to athletes and carried fewer of the risks associated with the Ahlborg method. Athletes were no longer required to perform a long depleting workout a week before a big race!

However, in 2002, however another method was devised by scientists at the University of Western Australia. This was perhaps the easiest method of all to follow as it only involved one day of preperation:

During the pre-race week, eat normally while training lightly until the day before a longer race.

On the morning of the day before the race, perform a very brief, very high-intensity workout. (In testing this consisted of two and a half minutes at 130 percent of VO2max (about one-mile race pace) followed by a 30-second sprint).

Consume 12 g of carbs per lb. of body weight over the next 24 hours.

The result? A 90-percent increase in muscle glycogen storage!

The method works best if preceded by a proper taper - several days of reduced training with the purpose of rendering your body rested, regenerated and race-ready.

So when should you use Carbo Loading?

Carbo-loading in general has been shown to enhance race performance only when athletes consume little or no carbohydrate during the race itself. If you do use a sports drink or sports gels to fuel your race effort - as you should - prior carbo-loading probably will have no effect. But it doesn’t hurt to do it anyway, as insurance.

Article Link:

• The evolving art of carbo-loading

Technorati Tags: Carbo Loading, Diet, Performance

I see promises like these all the time… and you know what? In almost all cases it’s a complete and utter CROC!

The other day I discovered an excellent page on The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services website that debunks many of the common diet misconceptions with factual reasoning.

The advice is right on the money and I’d even go as far as to say it should be required reading for anyone who is overweight, knows nothing about weight loss and wants to get on track with their eating habits.

So here are the main diet myths and the myth-busting facts that shoot them down:

Myth 1: Fad diets work for permanent weight loss

Fact: Fad diets often promise quick weight loss. You may lose weight at first. But diets that strictly limit calories or food choices are hard to follow and may be unhealthy if they do not provide all of the nutrients your body needs. Losing weight at a very rapid rate (more than 3 pounds a week after the first couple of weeks) may increase your risk for developing gallstones. Diets that provide less than 800 calories per day also could result in heart rhythm abnormalities, which can be fatal.

Myth 2: High-protein/low-carbohydrate diets are a healthy way to lose weight

Fact: There has been little scientific study on the long-term health effects of a high-protein/low-carbohydrate diets. But getting most of your daily calories from high-protein foods like meat, eggs, and cheese is not a balanced eating plan, especially if you are eating too much fat and cholesterol, which may raise heart disease risk. If you eat too few fruits, vegetables and whole grains, it may lead to constipation due to lack of dietary fiber. Eating fewer than 130 grams of carbohydrate a day can lead to the buildup of ketones (partially broken-down fats) in your blood, which is a risk factor for gout (a painful swelling of the joints) and kidney stones. Ketosis may be especially risky for pregnant women and people with diabetes or kidney disease.

Myth 3: Starches are fattening and should be limited when trying to lose weight

Fact: Foods high in starch (also called complex carbohydrates) are an important source of energy for your body. Many foods high in starch, like bread, rice, pasta, cereals, beans, fruits, and some vegetables (like potatoes and yams) are low in fat and calories.

Myth 4: Certain foods, like grapefruit, celery, or cabbage soup, can burn fat and make you lose weight

Fact: No foods can burn fat. Some foods with caffeine may kick-start up your metabolism for a short time, but they do not cause weight loss.

Myth 5: Natural or herbal weight-loss products are safe and effective

Fact: A weight-loss product that claims to be “natural” or “herbal” is not necessarily safe. These products are not usually scientifically tested to prove that they are safe or that they work.

As an example, herbal products containing ephedra (now banned by the U.S. Government) have caused serious health problems and even death.

Myth 6: Low-fat or fat-free means no calories

Fact: A low-fat or fat-free food is often lower in calories than the same size portion of the full-fat product. But many processed low-fat or fat-free foods have just as many calories as the full-fat version of the same food—or even more calories. They may contain added sugar, flour, or starch thickeners to improve flavor and texture after fat is removed. These ingredients add calories.

Myth 7: Fast foods are always an unhealthy choice and you should not eat them when dieting

Fact: Fast foods can be part of a healthy weight-loss program with a little bit of know-how. Some tips -

Myth 8: Skipping meals is a good way to lose weight

Fact: Studies show that people who skip breakfast and eat fewer times during the day tend to be heavier than people who eat a healthy breakfast and eat four or five times a day. This may be because people who skip meals tend to feel hungrier later on, and eat more than they normally would. It may also be that eating many small meals throughout the day helps people control their appetites.

Myth 9: Eating after 8 p.m. causes weight gain

Fact: It does not matter what time of day you eat. It is what and how much you eat and how much physical activity you do during the whole day that determines whether you gain, lose, or maintain your weight.

Myth 10: Lifting weights is not good to do if you want to lose weight, because it will make you “bulk up.”

Fact: Lifting weights or doing strengthening activities like push-ups and crunches on a regular basis can actually help you maintain or lose weight. These activities can help you build muscle, and muscle burns more calories than body fat. So if you have more muscle, you burn more calories—even sitting still.

Myth 11: Nuts are fattening and you should not eat them if you want to lose weight

Fact: In small amounts, nuts can be part of a healthy weight-loss program. Nuts are high in calories and fat. However, most nuts contain healthy fats that do not clog arteries. Nuts are also good sources of protein, dietary fiber, and minerals including magnesium and copper.

Myth 12: Eating red meat is bad for your health and makes it harder to lose weight

Fact: Eating lean meat in small amounts can be part of a healthy weight-loss plan. Red meat, pork, chicken, and fish contain some cholesterol and saturated fat (the least healthy kind of fat). They also contain healthy nutrients like protein, iron, and zinc.

Tip: Choose cuts of meat that are lower in fat and trim all visible fat. Lower fat meats include pork tenderloin and beef round steak, tenderloin, sirloin tip, flank steak, and extra lean ground beef.

Myth 13: Dairy products are fattening and unhealthy

Fact: Low-fat and fat-free milk, yogurt and cheese are just as nutritious as whole milk dairy products, but they are lower in fat and calories. Dairy products have many nutrients your body needs. They offer protein to build muscles and help organs work properly, and calcium to strengthen bones. Most milks and some yogurts are fortified with vitamin D to help your body use calcium. Tip: The 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends consuming 3 cups per day of fat-free/low-fat milk or equivalent milk products.

For more information on these guidelines, visit www.healthierus.gov/dietaryguidelines

Myth 14: “Going vegetarian” means you are sure to lose weight and be healthier

Fact: Research shows that people who follow a vegetarian eating plan, on average, eat fewer calories and less fat than non vegetarians. They also tend to have lower body weights relative to their heights than non vegetarians. Choosing a vegetarian eating plan with a low fat content may be helpful for weight loss. But vegetarians—like non vegetarians—can make food choices that contribute to weight gain, like eating large amounts of high-fat, high-calorie foods or foods with little or no nutritional value.

Vegetarian diets should be as carefully planned as nonvegetarian diets to make sure they are balanced. Nutrients that nonvegetarians normally get from animal products, but that are not always found in a vegetarian eating plan, are iron, calcium, vitamin D, vitamin B12, zinc, and protein.

One Final Tip: The best way to lose weight is to cut back on the number of calories you eat and be more physically active. Forget hyped up marketing promises. If you want to shed pounds just focus on these two things.

Follow the link to view the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service’s page on Weight-loss and Nutrition Myths.

Technorati Tags: Diet, Health, Nutrition, Weight-Loss

By Mike Warren

Science has discovered a vicious cycle, where overeating triggers a metabolic response normally dormant in the hypothalamus, a structure in the middle part of the brain which functions to regulate appetite feeding behavior, energy and therefore body-weight balance and metabolic process.

Excessive amounts of calories can trigger this response which when induced can promote overeating leading to increased levels of over-consumption.

The study was conducted in mice, but the authors of a paper published in the Oct. 3 issue of Cell believe that the finding apply to humans as well.

Finding a way to suppress this response may prove a potent weapon in the fight against the current obesity epidemic that has hit the U.S.
Obesity leads to inherent problems such as heart disease and even cancer.

Senior author of the paper Dr. Dongsheng Cai speaks of the shortcomings of normal strategies for fighting obesity, namely diet and exercise:

“Exercise and diet may correct abnormal brain regulation [but] long-term food control is very difficult,” said Cai, an assistant professor of physiology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “We don’t understand why. . . The first important thing to understand is how the dysregulation of the brain is processed. The study we just did provides a new pathway. It’s the opening of a new direction.”

To read more about this interesting study, follow the link.

My Thoughts: In my opinion, the oversupply of food in Western countries, the wrong types of foods in particular (high-sugar, high-fat junk food with low nutritional value) has done much to degrade health in the West.

When we lived in caves we hunted and did not always eat until we felt full every day. Sure, some days we would catch something and have a feast, but this did not happen every day and sometimes we would endure days without food.

Yet we got by and survived to modern times, which would indicate that from an evolutionary point of view we are designed to live from day to day a little under-fed. I also think we are biologically wired to over-indulge whenever food becomes available - heck, as a cavemen we would not know when our next meal was going to be, so it would be in our best interest to top up our fat supplies at every available opportunity!

In modern times, with abundant food available, we no longer need to feel hungry, but biologically we have not changed much (if at all), so we remain inclined to stuff our mouths whenever we see food.

Add to this our lovely capitalist system that rewards food companies for giving people what they want rather than what is actually best for them - food companies are just not rewarded for serving healthy food, so it amplifies the problem quite nicely.

Fortunately there is a bright side… While long-term food control is very difficult to achieve, just ask anyone who’s tried and failed at several diets… There are a couple of important factors in our favor… namely willpower and determination and a third is knowledge.

The good news is, as humans we have proven ourselves time and time again to possess willpower and determination to achieve scores of truly remarkable things - when we set our minds to it. We have landed a man on the moon, cured scores of diseases, built skyscrapers, split atoms, sailed vast oceans and discovered new lands.

As humans, unlike any other creatures, we are capable of change in the face of incredible odds and no matter how many unfortunate things happen, as humans we can achieve great things.

So if we want to lose a little weight, we’re lucky, because we’ve got willpower and determination working for us. The willpower to head to the local grocery store to stock up on fruit and vegetables, instead of a Big Mac. The determination to set diet goals and stick to them!

As for knowledge, we are in the information age and unlike any other time in history, we got the internet and an incredible wealth of information at our fingertips!

So on the net or drop into your local library and you have all the information you need to get yourself on a healthy and balanced diet.

Technorati Tags: Diet, Health, Nutrition

A Vegan Diet may reduce cardiovascular disease in diabetics more than the diet recommended by the American Diabetes Association (ADA), a new study has uncovered.

For 22 weeks, both men and women participants all with type 2 diabetes followed either a low-fat, low-glycemic vegan diet or the ADA guidelines.

Researches measured the participants Alternate Healthy Eating Index (AHEI) score at the beginning and end of the 22 week trial. The AHEI is a nine-component dietary index used to rate foods and macro-nutrients related to chronic disease risk. The higher the AHEI score, the lower the risk of cardiovascular disease.

At the end of the trial the vegan diet group significantly improved their AHEI score and in every AHEI category, whereas the ADA group did not, however neither diet resulted in adequate intake of vitamins D and E, or in calcium.

Past research has shown a correlation between AHEI and cardiovascular disease.

The vegan diet involves increased intake of vegetables, fruits, nut and soy protein and cereal fiber and a decrease in trans fat intake.

Read the full story here.

Technorati Tags: Diabetes, Diet, Vegan

We have a Startling Revelation to make: YOU CAN CHEAT DEATH!

How?

In fact there are five simple ways of cheating death…

1. Quit the Fags
2. Lose Weight
3. Get Fit
4. Drink Less Booze
5. Eat Right

If you can manage all five of these you will reduce your risk of death by a factor of 8 !!!

If you’re thinking “um…. der” you’re not alone.

For this is nothing here that hasn’t been common knowledge for years! Despite this, someone at Harvard University found need to fork out some cash to do a proper study. Robert van Dam, PhD, of Harvard University’s School of Public Health, looked at death risk and five lifestyle factors: cigarette smoking, being overweight, low physical activity, light or moderate alcohol use and low-quality diet.

The study beginning in 1980 and followed 77,782 female nurses ranging in age from 34-59 years old.

Of the 8882 deaths over 24 years:

• 1,790 were from cardiovascular disease
• 4,527 were from cancer
• 55% of those deaths were estimated to have been due to smoking, lack of physical activity, being overweight, and low-quality diet
• 28% of the deaths were tied to smoking

They also concluded

• Having five of the five risk factors increased the risk of death from cardiovascular disease by a factor of eight compared with having none of the risk factors.
• The risk of dying from cancer was three times higher; and
• The risk of dying from any cause was four times greater.

However those with a light to moderate alcohol intake (1 drink or less daily) were less likely to die from cardiovascular disease than those who do not drink any alcohol.

Read the full report here.

Technorati Tags: Alcohol, Diet, Exercise, Smoking, Weight-Loss

Are you overweight and don’t know what to do about it?

If you are like many, you may have wondered what you can do about it?

Maybe at certain times you have asked one of the following: Should I just diet? Should I give the exercise thing a go? Is just dieting or exercising by themselves good enough or do I need to do both?

According to a study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology as referred to in this interesting article, when overweight older people start exercising, they are able to improve their exercise efficiency.

Exercise efficiency in this case refers to using fewer calories to perform a physical activity. The conclusion: Exercisers burn more fat and lose less muscle than older people who simply diet for weight loss.

The four month study was conducted as follows:

64 sedentary, overweight or obese participants, between the ages of 60 and 75 were divided into three groups:

• The first group was put on a diet only that reduced their caloric intake enough to achieve a 10% weight loss by the end of the study
• The second group was set an exercise regime where they could choose to walk, bike or row 3-5 times a week (most chose to walk)
• The third group were both placed on a diet and set an exercise routine combining the other methods

The outcome:

• The exercise-only group increased efficiency compared to the diet-only group
• The diet and exercise group also increased efficiency compared to the diet-only group
• All three groups lost weight
• the diet-only and diet-and-exercise group lost more weight than the exercise-only group
• The diet-only group lost more lean muscle and fat
• The exercise-only and diet-and-exercise groups drew more on fat stores as an energy source

So diet alone won’t get you maximum health. Exercise alone is better than diet alone, but dieting loses more weight than just exercising.

My advice? If you are overweight and want to do something about it.

Don’t mess around, do both!

Get that body of yours to the gym or out for a walk and put those potato chips and cakes in the rubbish bin.

Do what I say and you will thank me..

At least your body will

Technorati Tags: Diet, Exercise, Health

Many athletes love to fuel up on protein bars or drinks and other supplements at every opportunity whenever in training or races. Some athletes even swear by a diet that is high in protein and try and all but eliminate carbohydrates as much as possible. But is this really necessary?

In this Excellent article by Jennifer Hutchison, a certified specialist in Sports Dietics and a USA Triathlon Certified Level 3 Elite Coach, she explains the basics of protein in our diets at a grass-roots level.

Among the most significant points Jennifer makes is:

• Dietary protein’s primary role in the body is to support growth, maintenance and repair muscle and other body tissues
• Protein is also the backbone for many hormones and enzymes and a healthy immune system.
  As dietary protein’s main purpose is to repair and recover damaged muscle and cells caused by training and racing, an athlete must ensure that they are already meeting both their calorie and carbohydrate needs
• Protein is synthesized from amino acids (the building blocks of protein) of which there are two major categories: Essential and Nonessential
• Essential AA’s cannot be made in the body and therefore must be supplied in what you eat.
  Nonessential amino acids are important, but CAN be made by the body so do not need to come from your diet

So is a protein containing sports drink really necessary during endurance training? Nope! In spite of popular belief, endurance athletes can meet their protein needs without tons of dietary supplements. While it is a common practice for some athletes to consume protein believing this in turn will help boost lean body mass, the truth is that the body does not store excess dietary protein as muscle. Once dietary protein has fulfilled its role, the excess is broken down and used as fuel, stored as body fat or excreted by the body via urine.

Adequate daily protein is, however crucial for athletes to maintain a strong, healthy and powerful body, but in truth, meeting these requirements is really not that difficult. In Jennifer’s oppinion, the average athlete may only need 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight per day.

For a 70kg male this works out to only about 56 grams per day.

Athletes training at a higher level will require more and she provides the following guidelines for those on heavy training loads:

To be honest, as long as you eat a well balanced diet you should more than cover your protein requirements, but Jennifer presents some meal suggestions in her article regardless.

If you’re concerned, there are many good online resources and lists that identify the quantity of protein contained in various foods or a qualified sports nutrition professional can help you take the guess work out of your eating plan calculations.

Here is the link again to the full article.

Technorati Tags: Diet, Health, Nutrition, Protein