DrClydeWilson's NUTRITION BLOG

There is no perfect product out there

Clyde, I just generally have nailed the water/glucose thing pretty well, but it's not enough--feeling whacked out after 3 hours or so no matter how well hydrated or glucosed. 2.5-3 hours seems to be the turning point for me. The... Read more →

Hammer Bar not what it says it is

Clyde, The Almond Raisin Hammer Bar works really well for me, either on rides or recovery. It's also very easy to eat and chew and has an inoffensive flavor too. The ingredients seem to be quite healthy. I'm interested in... Read more →

Not all fats are created equal

Saturated fats are fine in moderation but should be kept to less than 10% of total caloric intake. Saturated fats in plants (cocoa, coconut, palm) is much healthier than saturated fat in animals because of the difference in length of... Read more →

Protein and fructose

Carbohydrates (including fructose) and protein hold on to four times their weight in water in order to dissolve into body fluids, so if an athlete is rapidly dehydrating during intensive training, consuming protein and fructose can cause more harm than... Read more →

Insulin response to food is complex

Clyde, A key point which I think might be glossed over in your guide (Endurance Nutrition Book) is the rate of digestion (I suppose this is glycemic index?). If I eat a piece of fruit with X grams of carbs... Read more →

Post links to supplements with their nutrition info

If you post a link to a supplement with its nutrition information I will look at it and let you know what I think. Some things to keep in mind: Whether a supplement is "good" or "bad" depends not only... Read more →

Mismatch between the rate muscle absorbs fuel and burns it

Clyde, You say in your guide (Endurance Nutrition Book) no more than 200 cal/hour. So if I'm burning 900 cal/hour and ride 8 hours, that necessarily means that 700 of those are fat (and some protein), at least on an... Read more →

Dextrose

Dextrose is a dimer of glucose (two glucose sugars attached to each other), whereas maltodextrin is a chain of a dozen or so glucose sugars. Since dextrose is a dimer it tastes sweet (taste buds that detect sweet only bind... Read more →

Protein during & right after training

Clyde, I disagree 100% on this one, page 21 of your Guide (Endurance Nutrition Book): "Research has shown that protein provides marginal benefits..." That just doesn't jive with my experience. Failure to intake protein past the 3 hour mark has... Read more →

Cortisol and weight gain even when diet is perfect

Clyde, I've made no progress on my fat-loss goal; in fact I seem to have regressed a bit. I'm struggling with eating too much some days, packing it in late at night. The salad thing seems to work for 4-5... Read more →

Calculating caloric absorption during training

Clyde, Put yourself in the athlete's shoes...which algorithm to use? If your "150 pound male athlete" (page 45 of your Endurance Nutrition Book) can do 250 calories of glucose and 50 calories of fructose, then can Lloyd at 180 pounds... Read more →

From Lloyd: The Book is Dense

Clyde, I've made one pass through your nutrition guide--nice work! It's a guide that will need considerable going over, multiple times with many checks to incorporate it into my head. That's not bad; it's just that it's a very complex... Read more →

Electrolytes

You lose 250 mg of sodium in every Liter of perspiration. See my web site www.DrClydeWilson.com downloads page for performance nutrition guidelines including detailed instructions on how to figure out how much perspiration you are losing. If you lose more... Read more →

What to do after training

Immediately after training you should follow a three-step process: First, drink fluids that contain a dilute glucose source (such as maltodextrin; see my "calories during training" thread). Then, five or ten minutes later i.e. as soon as your digestive system... Read more →

Maltodextrin ("malto")

Maltodextrin is a white powder that has no taste made from chains of glucose. It is the ideal glucose source to use diluted in water during intensive exercise. Any sports supplement to be used during training that contains malto as... Read more →

Early morning training

Many people exercise or train (exercise with the goal of competing) very soon after waking up. Blood sugar is 20% below normal and cortisol (which breaks down muscle tissue) is high when you wake up. Whether you realize it not... Read more →

Unintentional weight gain during intensive training

Hi Lloyd: Your question about unintentional (and undesired) weight gain during weeks of intensive training is a common problem with athletes. My response is below your detailed question: Asked by Lloyd: Over the holidays, I burned 15,000 calories in 8... Read more →

Team In Training Questions

www.TeamInTraining.org is an organization that trains anyone for an endurance event while raising funds for leukemia and lymphoma research. I give regular talks to Bay Area TNT teams in support of their cause. This thread is for questions from active... Read more →

Stanford Track & Field Team Questions

Thirteen athletes participated in the 1st phase of the preliminary study (Fall 2006 - Spring 2007) to see how much performance can be improved using a holistic approach to nutrition not only targeted towards performance but also injury recovery and... Read more →

SC Fire Dept Questions

This thread is for members of the Santa Clara Fire Department to let me know what they want to hear about in the upcoming 4-hour intensive nutrition training session in June or July of 2007 in Santa Clara. My current... Read more →

Asked by Nick 11:22 AM PDT, 03/12/2007

Hi Dr. Wilson, I have found your nutrition book for endurance athletes to be the number one resource for my triathlon nutrition. Thank you so much for all your efforts in this realm. There are a couple of topics that... Read more →

Thank you for your feedback

Post your feedback on my seminars here. Thank you Read more →

Thank you for your feedback

Post your feedback on this BLOG, my web site and what you want to see in my future books. LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU WANT TO SEE. There are seperate threads for comments on my seminars, consultation and my Endurance... Read more →

Thank you for your feedback

Post your comments on consultation here; I appreciate your feedback. Read more →

If I had to say there was ONE thing in nutrition that is the most important...

NATURAL (not supplemented) fiber, meaning vegetable intake, is in my opinion the single most important thing in the diet. I do not subscribe to eating only vegetables, or even half of one's calories as vegetables. What I have seen in... Read more →

Choosing your protein sources

Most of the foods that we think of as protein sources are, in fact, excellent protein sources. This is because the bioavailability (usefulness) of protein in diary, meats, fish, eggs, tofu and products made from these things are all very... Read more →

The confusion over hydration

Many people think that if they drink enough water they are hydrated. This is not always the case. If you exercise a lot and do not replace your salt losses, your body will not be able to retain the fluids... Read more →

Trans fats

Trans fats do not provide any known benefit, are worse for health than saturated fats, and are not made in significant amounts in natural systems i.e. they are the result of processing by the food industry. Avoid trans fats altogether.... Read more →

Types of carbohydrates and what they do

Starches sources contain primarily glucose. These are potatoes, yams, cereal, oats, rice, pasta, etc. In moderate amounts they fuel all of the active tissues in your body (muscle and every other tissue that does work i.e. everything other than fat... Read more →

Sending more calories to muscle, less to body fat

Active tissues in the body (everything other than body fat) can absorb about 10 Calories per minute. Eating pure sugar, such as in a candy bar or ice cream, results in calories entering the bloodsteam faster than the maximum rate... Read more →

Performance comes down to endurance and recovery

Performance requires stamina during, and rapid recovery after, exercise or training (exercise with specific performance goals). Stamina, or endurance, applies to the runner on the track as well as the strength athlete trying to get through a long weight-lifting session.... Read more →

Neurological function

The key things for neurological function are stable blood sugar, polyunsaturated fats and the two components to hydration: Proper water and electrolyte balance. The brain is the pickiest organ in the body: It wants primarily glucose (blood sugar) and not... Read more →

Digestion and hydration

Digestion without proper hydration is a painful process: I have had two clients with medically-diagnosed Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), one of whom did not have IBS at all and the other who did not have it nearly as badly as... Read more →

Nutrition for Women

Nutrition questions unique to women generally center around issues of amenorrhea, bone density and eating disorders (the female athlete triad) as well as hematocrit (red blood cell count), the reproductive cycle, pregnancy, and nutrition that addresses cancers of the breast,... Read more →

Nutrition for Men

"Nutrition for men" means nutrition that impacts things associated with the male reproductive system (testicular or prostate cancer) and male hormonal balances (testosterone) as well as nutrition questions that are generally asked by men and not by women (such as... Read more →

Healthy Aging Means Optimum Longevity and Physiological Function

As we age our DNA get shorter, which changes the rate at which proteins in the body are produced and the rate at which cells regenerate. In addition, any poor health habits practiced throughout life start to show their negative... Read more →

Metabolic and other diseases

2004 top causes of mortality, number of deaths in 2004, (years taken from each victim) and total life years lost in the US each year: CDC data 1. Heart disease 652,486 deaths (11.6 years/person) 8,000,000 US life years lost per... Read more →

Circulatory System Disease

Circulatory system disease, primarily caused by atherosclerosis, is the primarly cause of the #1, 3, and 13 killers in the United States: Heart disease, stroke and hypertension. Circulatory disease is also directly correlated to the incidence of the #6, 9... Read more →

Nutrition for Cancer Prevention

Cancer is caused by many things not related to nutrition, including viral infection, environmental toxins (carcinogens) and genetics. However, the rates of diagnosis (mortality once diagnosed) of most cancers are significantly reduced when we take care of ourselves properly. Taking... Read more →