Over the 2008 Thanksgiving and Christmas Holidays I ran a 2-month intensive nutrition intervention for the crew at SCFD. This Summer 2009 we are repeating this intervention but in half the time (1 month). I am doing this for free in support of the men and women who risk their lives for us every day.
TNT is a nation-wide organization that raises funds for leukemia and lymphoma research while training its members for endurance events. I give free talks to Bay Area TNT teams in support of their cause.
ACADEMIC OUTREACH:
I work with academic teams at reduced rates to help young people understand the nutritional foundations of performance in contrast to gimmicks and supplements.
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Fuel your workouts with glucose. Foods containing glucose are starches, including oats, cereal, crackers and bread. Eat any of these in the hour before your workout and immediately after your workout. Include nuts with your oats or nut butter on your bread with a small piece of fruit if you want to get fancy, but the glucose is central. On the other hand, excess glucose spikes blood sugar, with the subsequent insulin response driving down blood sugar, reducing performance. For this reason, 200 kcals of starch should be your upper limit of consumption at any one time, with a typical range of 100-150 kcals of starch in any 20 minute time period. During exercise lasting longer than an hour, towards the end of the first hour start consuming 50-200 kcals/hr of glucose, dextrose (a glucose dimer) or maltodextrin (chains of about a dozen glucose molecules) diluted into 16 or more ounces of water.
How much protein do you need to support your workout recovery and adaptation or growth? The maximum capacity of protein production in the body is equivalent to about 50 kcals per hour. Since the body does not have a storage site for protein, whenever protein is not available from your last meal your muscle tissue is broken down as it is sacrificed for protein production in more important organs. This means that 3-6 hours after eating, your muscles are degrading instead of recovering. If you are a competing athlete, eat some protein every few hours when possible on the days that recovery is most important to you. But if maximum performance is not critically important to you, having some quality protein in each of your three major meals in the day is enough. Consuming more than ~100 kcals (25 g) of protein at any one sitting results in excess excretion in the urine rather than more muscle growth because excess protein cannot be stored. This is also true right after exercise: A large amount of protein consumption simply enriches your urine. Muscle growth is not at its maximum rate until the muscle damaged during exercise is being removed by your immune system, which is when you feel delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) the next day.
Studies show that the slower protein digests the longer amino acids are available, as much as doubling how much muscle growth occurs, even when the slower digesting protein is not of as high a quality [casein has an amino acid ratio not as good as whey, but casein digests slower and increased muscle in male police officers twice as fast as whey: Demling RH and DeSanti L, Ann Nutr Metab 44 (2000) 21]. The easiest way to slow down protein digestion rate is to use solid food (poultry, lean meats, low-fat dairy, low-mercury fish, egg whites, soy) as opposed to supplements when possible, and eat raw vegetables, which slows stomach emptying.
Sports hydration involves fluid and electrolyte replacement. Fluid needs are based on perspiration rates. We perspire around 1 L/hr during moderate to intense exercise, as low as 0.5 L if it is cool out or when swimming (since water removes heat faster), and up to 1.5 (or even 2) L during very intense training or when it is hot out. But these are averages; individuals vary a lot. An easy way to figure out how much you are perspiring is to get on a scale before and after a workout to see how much weight you lose during exercise. Every 2 pounds you lose corresponds to 1 L or Qt of fluid loss. If you are drinking fluids during your workout, adding the weight of the fluids you drank to the net loss on the scale will give you your total perspiration rate. Dividing the amount you drank by total perspiration tells you what percentage of your fluid losses you replaced during exercise. For every 1% dehydration (1 lb weight loss per 100 lb of body weight), exercise performance decreases 2-5%.
1 L of body fluid contains 1 teaspoon of table salt, but perspiration contains only 1/4 tsp, leaving 3/4 tsp salt in the body that the body does not want. In other words, salt CONCENTRATES in the body as you perspire, causing muscle cramping. As a result, if you are replacing less than half of your fluid losses during exercise you should NOT consider consuming electrolytes during that time. If you are replacing between half and all of your fluid losses you can consume some salt, but only if you consume all of your losses during exercise should you replace all your electrolyte losses during that time. Under no circumstances should you EVER gain weight during exercise i.e. over drink fluids, as this can lead to hyponatremia and a trip to the emergency room. If you eat out after a workout you will be getting more than enough salt to make up for your losses, but if you are eating at home and don't add salt to your meals you may end up falling short on total body salt, forcing your body to urinate out water that it needs for normal hydration. This process of dehydration from insufficient salt intake after hard training leads to excess urination (no matter how much you drink), reduced digestion capacity, and poor sleep quality. If you are not eating out and training hard, use 6-12 salt-shaker shakes per hour of exercise with your next meal so that you can properly hold onto the water you are drinking.
Farmer's Markets supply mainly organic locally-grown produce (fruits and vegetables), which tend to be significantly healthier, tastier and no more expensive than store-purchased non-organic produce. Research has shown that organic foods tend to be higher in nutrients. One of the two most likely reasons for this are that plants not protected by synthetic herbicides and insecticides generate more of their own, which are many of the phytonutrients that are so healthy for us. The other main reason is that organic growers, particularly on small-scale farms, tend to have healthier soils, which results in healthier plants. Small-scale growers provide freshly picked and therefore more fully ripened produce at the time of picking, which gives the plant more time to produce nutrients while still on the plant stalk, as compared to produce that is shipped further and picked before ripeness (after picking the nutrient production rate is reduced because nutrients are not available from the stock any more). Besides the lower nutrients, the flavor is significantly blunted. It is often assumed that organic local produce is more expensive, but I purchase apples and oranges for $2/pound and lettuce at $1.50 a head every week at my local market, which is the same or even cheaper than non-organic mass-produced items at typical grocery stores. When considering the health and taste advantages of fresh, locally-produced organic foods (even if they are not officially certified as organic), and the fact they are not more expensive (go to the market and compare for yourself!!), it makes sense to go to the Market to improve the quality-of-life bang for your buck. Since Farmer's Markets do not have as large a selection of items as grocery stores, go to the Market first to get the things they have available, and then go to the grocery store to fill in the gaps of what you need that the market did not have. Here is my YouTube video on this from the market in Oakland, CA:
Seafood can be a double edged sword because of beneficial omega-3 fats and detrimental mercury from pollution. Large long-lived predatory fish like swordfish, shark and mackerel accumulate more mercury from the smaller fish they eat, making them ten times higher in mercury than tuna. Tuna is high enough in mercury to reduce brain function in children when consumed in the amounts deemed safe by the EPA [Oken E et al, Environ Health Perspect 113 (2005) 1376], so an upper limit of 1 serving per week (one-half can or 2.5-3 oz) should be the upper limit during the development stages of life, including while in the womb i.e. by default for women when pregnant. However, brain function increases when consuming seafood high in omega-3 fats low in mercury, such as shellfish, salmon and sardines. Farmed salmon is high in cancer causing agents because of contaminated feed [Hites R et al., Science 303 (2004) 226], which is hopefully being addressed by the industry. Canned salmon and sardines are generally caught wild, so these are convenient, healthy ways of eating on the go or with a busy schedule. You can also meet your omega-3 fat needs with 2 fish or flax oil capsules per day, 1 tsp flax oil, 1 Tbsp flax seeds, 24 walnut halves, or 300 kcalories of fats from soy.
This video shows me getting the most out of a low-cost buffet in Vegas. You can see my yellow bowl with tomato salad, a larger plate with salad and vegetables, and a second plate with samples from 3 dishes, a small amount of potatoes, and a ton of cooked cabbage (MORE VEGETABLES). When eating at a buffet, follow these simple rules. One: Eat at least as much vegetables as you do all the rest of your food combined, using minimal dressing because there is already a lot of calories and fats in the rest of the meal (avoid cheese, bacon bits, and cream-based dressings altogether). Facilitate your ability to follow through on rule one by eating your veggies (including your salad) at the same time that you eat the other foods i.e. think of salad and steamed veggies as an integral part of the main dishes (I physically combine vegetables and lettuce with nearly every bite of all food I am eating). Rule two: Take very small portions of multiple foods to sample what dishes are on offer INSTEAD of trying to fill up. You will find that the "sampling tiny portions" approach along with the high vegetable intake leads to a very full stomach on half the calories you would have otherwise eaten. Three: Keep side calories (drinks and dessert) to a minimum but still enjoy yourself. Have some ice tea instead of soda, and try a couple desserts but split each small serving with a friend so that you don't drive the calories of the meal into a blood sugar spike. That would put the calories of the meal into your body fat instead of your active tissues like muscle and brain, causing low physical and mental energy as you gain body fat. Enjoy yourself today AND have more tomorrows (live longer) with the veggies piled high, the "sampling" approach, and minimal side calories. 1, 2 and 3: veggies, sampling, and minimal extras.
For a simple 400-kcalorie energy shake, put 1 cup low or nonfat milk or full-fat plain unsweetened soy milk into a blender with 1 Tbsp nut butter (almond or PB), 1/2 cup uncooked oats (or other cereal grain), and 1/2-1 cup berries or 1 piece fruit. To make the shake healthier add the following (increases total kcalories to 600, so if you need to keep it to 400, reduce some of the previous ingredients): 1/2 cup plain unsweetened low or nonfat yogurt, 1 Tbsp ground flax, the contents of 1 green tea bag, raw wheat grass (1/4 basket of raw grass), 1/2-1 tsp each of cinnamon, cocoa nibs or carob and even fennel if you like that taste. I often use both a small piece of fruit as well as berries, and when in season raw pomegranate (the seeds and white interior). Instead of just oats I usually use a mix of grains, including rye, barley, amaranth, etc. You can go up to 3/4 cup total grains if you are physically active, but I recommend not going higher than that. Consume 200 kcals servings at a time, with at least 30 min between servings. This shake is ideal for one serving 30-60 min before and immediately after exercise with water. Here is the YouTube video of me making these shakes (see my YouTube.com/DrClydeWilson channel):
The majority of many phytonutrients are on the outer surface of plants because one of their roles is to act as natural herbicides and insecticides, protecting the plant from its environment. By eating the skin of fruits and vegetables whenever reasonable, you will be dramatically increase both only your fiber and phyto intake simultaneously. A prime example of how the outer plant can be extremely high in fiber and phytos is cinnamon, which is part of the cinnamon tree's bark. See my channel at YouTube.com/DrClydeWilson
I am asked all the time how to most effectively lose body fat. High-protein diets drop our carb consumption, but they come with a slew of potential negative health effects described by the American Heart Association, and after 6 months on such a diet people re-gain more weight compared to any other diet (not good). Low-fat diets requires us to eat more of something other than fats, which would be either protein (not good) or carbohydrate (increases body fat) or both. Low-calorie diets keep us hungry and starve all our tissues, not just our body fat. A high-vegetable diet, on the other hand, drops our body fat while ensuring that the protein and carbohydrates we are eating enter the bloodstream slowly (because vegetables slow digestion). If half the volume of your food is vegetables, which equates to 10-20% of your calories, you will not only lose weight like the other diets, but you will build healthy tissues, increase health, and increase your potential life span. "Dieting" any other way misses the point, and is, ultimately, a dead end. I discuss this below. See my channel at YouTube.com/DrClydeWilson
This is me at a steak house last night with Dana, Tiffany (Happy Birthday!), George, Leah, and Harley. In the photo you can see our artichoke appetizers: SO GOOD! I ordered the salmon, which came on a coarsely-grated yam pancake: YUM (see photo). Things to keep in mind when at a steak house: Ask for the fish or meat NOT to be charred. Have the vegetables steamed. Order baked potato instead of mashed, make sure to eat the skin, and use JUST enough toppings for taste, NOT more, or order wild rice instead of white rice. Ask to make sure that none of your appetizer, meal or dessert have any deep fried components. Have a salad at the start of the meal. If you are trying to lose weight, keep the bread intake to a minimum and eat it only after starting the salad. Drink at least as much water (such as with lemon) as you do any other fluid. Avoid evening caffeine since it will reduce sleep quality. Enjoy!
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