Archive for the ‘Nutrition tips’ Category

Adaptogens and their role in combating fatigue

Monday, September 19th, 2011

In recent years there has been growing interest in identifying natural medicines and plant extracts that can be used to improve athletic performance and/or body composition in humans

Adaptogens are herb products that have been derived from plants.

A recent review of the Effects of Adaptogens on the Central Nervous System found that adaptogens have exhibited neuroprotective, anti-fatigue, antidepressive, anti anxiety, improved memory and CNS stimulating activity.

In addition, a number of clinical trials demonstrated that adaptogens exert an anti-fatigue effect that also increases mental work capacity against a background of stress and fatigue, particularly in tolerance to mental exhaustion and enhanced attention. In particular Rhodiola was shown to help with physical mental and stress induced fatigue and depression.

Matt

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If you’ve hit the booze – perhaps it’s time to hit the fish-oils!

Monday, September 5th, 2011

Ok, we know that alcoholism is far from an ideal nutritional strategy… but what exactly is excess booze doing to our body? Apart from the obvious liver damage, and excessive addition of empty-calories, this study found that certain vitamins and minerals are lacking from the diet of heavy drinkers. Comparing 48 men  who included both alcoholics and healthy teetotallers with a good diet, alcoholic subjects were found to have a lower muscle-mass (but well-maintained body fa!), with deficiencies in magnesium, vitamin D and vitamin B12.

Alcoholics also showed increased levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol and and markers of inflammation and oxidative stress!

Whether drinking stops people eating appropriately, or whether the booze actively contributes to deficiency, eating to reduce inflammation and to increase micronutrient levels is a MUST if you’ve been hitting the drink excessively.

Obviously the most important thing is to cut down, clean up and improve your diet!

Matt

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Fish Oils – Reducing cholesterol

Friday, August 26th, 2011

 Fish oils give building blocks that help make up all of our cells, while these good-fats also helkp improve the way fats are transported around the body. This can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and help some of us lose body-fat.

This double-blind, placebo-controlled study involving was carried out on 229 obese patients who’d had their stomachs stapled. They had very high triglyceride levels (circulating fats in the blood), and supplementation with the omega-3 fatty acid EPA at 4 g or or 2g per day, was found to be associated with a significant reduction in triglycerides.

The authors also noted an improvement in “other lipid parameters” (although unspecified!), “without significantly increasing the LDL (bad!) cholesterol levels”.

So eating a little good fat, may help you lose fat! It may smell a little fishy, but it’s true!

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Elite Level Nutrition

Sunday, August 21st, 2011

Elite level nutrition is aimed at an individuals unique genetic and physical demands and of their position and sport

The goal is to provide optimal nutrient status across all nutrients each day

Diets are designed based on evolutionary perspective of human development

Diet are designed to allow a minimum impact from man made chemicals both your ingestion and then later through minimizing the impact these anti-nutrients have on the system through optimal nutrition

Involved re-writing the food pyramid which is responsible for the majority of obesity and related disease in this country as well as many a fat athlete

Involves education of athletes on carbohydrate consciousness, which main stream sports nutrition and the medical community are only just picking up on

This is not Atkins, but it is certainly not 8g of CHO per kg body weight – this would mean a 100kg rugby player would be eating 53 slices of bread per day!

COMMUNITY LEVEL NUTRITIONAL SUPPORT (and elite level too)

Back to basic approach; follow the 10 principles of sound sports nutrition based diets;

These are recommendations based on an active lifestyle, if you are not active then get active!

BACK TO BASICS

Golden Rules to be Practiced 80-90% of the time and never forgotten;

HYDRATION
1. Drink enough water / green tea / hydration drinks, never get thirsty!

BLOOD SUGAR BALANCE
2. Eat Frequently, eat every 2-3 hours no matter what, unless you are sleeping

RECOVERY AND VITALITY
3. Eat Protein every time you eat

PROTECTION FROM POLLUTION
4. Eat vegetables or fruit every time you eat but eat more veggies than fruit

ENERGY AND DIGESTION
5. Eat starchy carbs every time you eat but eat more around time of the day when you are more active (breakfast and lunch) and less or none when you are less active

RECUPERATION AND REPLENISHMENT
6. Recover aggressively and appropriately after every session

BALANCE BLOOD SUGAR AS NATURE INTENDED
7. Eat whole-foods, low GI all the time except post-training when high GI foods are better for speedy recovery
OPTIMAL CELLUALR FUNCTION AND HEALTH
8. Eat fat, but eat the right kind of fat – from oily fish, nuts and seeds, olive oil and omega eggs

AVOID THE OBESITY EPIDEMIC
9. Avoid ‘empty’ foods which contain calories but no goodness; doughnuts are a good example of these types of food

WE ALL HAVE TO LIVE A LITTLE
10. Remember to enjoy your foods and practice the 80:20 rule or 90:10; this means of 42 weekly meals and snacks, 4 can be whatever you want if you are being strict 90% of the time and 8 can be naughty if you are being strict 80% of the time

Matt

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Childrens Nutrition (Part 2)

Friday, June 24th, 2011

SALADS, SPICES, SNACKS AND SNEAKY WAYS TO INCREASE YOUR VEGETABLE CONSUMPTION

These food types are where we get our protective nutrients from, these are called polyphenols or flavanoids. They occur in pigment in mainly carbohydrate containing foods; vegetables, fruits and herbs and spices are the best places to get them from but you’ll also find them in chocolate and different types of tea.

Different ways you can sneak herbs and spices into sauces – like bolognaise are really helpful in lifting your kids nutrient intake without them really noticing. Even things like frying an egg In coconut oil and a sprinkle of garlic and paprika can make a big difference to the nutrient content.

Not all kids dig salads and veggies that’s for sure but if they do then a salad sandwich is one way to get some nutrients into them.

Small salads can be made at any time of the day as a light snack, you could even stuff them into a wholemeal pitta bread if your kids were exceptionally hungry, and here are some possibilities:

· Tuna and beans: 1 tin of tuna in water, 1/2 tin of kidney or other beans, 1 small diced orange, 1 tablespoon of dressing (low fat).
· Avocado and grapefruit: 1 avocado, 1 grapefruit, 1 teaspoon of ground ginger, balsamic vinegar.
· Red onion and cherry tomatoes.
· Carrot and beetroot.
· Broccoli and beans: 1/2 tin of kidney beans, 2 spring onions, celery, cashew nuts and dressing.
· Red cabbage and raisin salad: finely shredded red cabbage, handful of raisins, handful of hazelnuts.
· Coleslaw: cabbage, onion, carrots – 1/3 of each plus some protein. 

Other ways to increase veggy intake include;

To get extra servings of vegetables into your day try juicing fruits and vegetables to have with your breakfast, or buy some V8 or organic tomato juice and have that instead.  Quick fruit salads and yoghurt make an ideal snack, as do chopped vegetables dipped into low fat humus or guacamole.

Falafels are a good way to get some veggies and beans in there, and also you can make homemade meat balls and get some onion and garlic in that way too.

Homemade meat balls;
Lamb, pork and beef mince
Mixed herbs
Onion and shallots
Omega eggs
Ground linseeds
Garlic
Spices; paprika and turmeric

Use 250g of meat to 1 egg, 1 tablespoon of ground linseeds, 1 onion, 1 clove of garlic, 2-3 teaspoons of spices and herbs. Mix together adding a bit more egg if it’s too dry. Then either fry in coconut oil, or roast off in the oven.

Soups can either be made from the following recipes or bought; I prefer soups which will go off within a week rather than the tinned versions, these are the ones in the refrigerated area in cartons.

Whenever you are making the effort to cook, it’s worth thinking ahead and preparing a few extra pieces of chicken or things that you can freeze and use at a later date or keep in the fridge as snacks instead of other sugary items.

Matt

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Childrens Nutrition (Part 1)

Friday, June 17th, 2011

What our children eat is vital to their long term health wellbeing, behavior and even intelligence.

Despite this being the case our kids are becoming fatter and consuming poor food groups in an increasing amount.

They just like us are being lead towards poor food choices through advertising, media, availability and the addictive nature of fast, processed, snack based foods makes proper food choices even more difficult to follow.

Moreover conflicting advice as to what constitutes a healthy diet vs and unhealthy one makes parent choices even harder when they are deciding what to feed their children.

Make no mistake about it – what you kids consume and how they end up looking and feeling as a result of the foods they are provided with and encouraged to choose – is your responsibility.

If you can’t look after yourself then what chance have your children got to make a good healthy start in life.

Never before has this been so important – with an increasing array of sedentary activities available to children and a fear of playing outside in larger cities, combined with an increase in ‘super bugs’ the quality and composition of the foods we eat and the activities we get our kids to do are critical to building their cells, immunity, and strong bones, muscles ligaments and tendons.

Here is the first part of a series of articles based on simple principles you can adopt to get your children eating healthier.

Overall it pays not to be too anal when preparing your children’s food. The key is the ‘majority’ of what they eat comes from healthy places and sources. Sometimes it’s good to eat stuff off plan and even some of the foods listed on the foods to avoid list. Try to practice the 80/20 rule or 90/10 if your kids are fat. That means some treats – healthy ones are best – but going ‘off plan’ encourages a sensible attitude towards food rather than a forbidden fruit mentality which can lead to secret eating and other disorcers later in life.

As far as you can try to help the kids understand why it’s good to eat certain foods and not so good to eat other foods. Protein foods will help to build strong muscles and high pigment foods help to keep cells happy, small pictures of happy cells consuming nice blueberries and other fruits help them understand – we’ll include some of these ideas later on in the series. Also as children are growing they can eat more fat than the amount we eat, so things like cheese and butter (not margarine please) are good for them, as well as nuts, oily fish, olive oil and so on. The fat will provide essential building blocks as well as sustained energy to balance out any sugar they might manage to get their little hand on!
Top foods to avoid;

Crisps
Donuts
Soda pop
Diet soda pop
Pringles
Milk chocolate
Breakfast cereals
Deep crust or cheese filled crust pizza
Commercially available cakes, biscuits, pastries and pies
French fries
Fast food burgers
Chinese food (MSG)
Hot dogs, processed meats
White flour goods
Excess fruit juice consumption, juices from concentrate

Particularly harmful foods for kids are MSG, artificial sweeteners and then all the things which are harmful for us too; heated fats, excess saturated fat in relation to other fat, processed foods and a low intake of vegetables, quality proteins and fruits.

Healthy Alternatives

Oven roasted potato slices in coconut oil
Lemon infused pistachio cake*
Home made lemonade*
Fizzy water and low sugar cordial
Home made muesli or oat based muesli*
Dark chocolate
Thin based pizza with whole grain wheat flour and plenty of protein and vegetable toppings*
Homemade biscuits, using low sugar flour alternatives and natural fruits for sweetness*
Homemade fries using low fat cooker
Homemade burgers
Chinese food without MSG
Proper high meat yield sausages, some hams and other cured meats

Top Foods to include in your childrens diet;

Goat’s milk, cheese and yoghurt
Oats – jumbo
All organic meats and fish
Home breaded meats – chicken snitzles
Eggs – and omega eggs, omelettes – eggs on toast, hard boiled eggs
Spelt bread and other gluten free breads – it’s good to keep gluten within reasonable levels
Spelt pasta and wheat free pastas

ALL VEGETABLES
Sweet potato
Root vegetables
Spinach and greens
Peas
Tomatoes
Onions
Garlic
Leeks

Humus – home made and you can add different types of vegetable into the mix.

BEANS AND PULSES
Chick peas
Kidney beans
Mixed beans
 
FRUITS
Avocado
Tomato
Apples
Pears
Berry fruits
Bananas
Tropical fruits

NUTS
All nuts, almonds, brazils, walnuts, hazelnuts, pine nuts, linseeds, pumpkinseeds, peanuts (in moderation).

OILS
Olive oil
Coconut oil
Sesame oil
Walnut oil
Flaxseed oil

If you’ve got children – you’ll know that one of the hardest things to do is to get them to eat a wide variety of healthy foods and in particular enough vegetables!
 
Matt

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Surviving Summer

Thursday, May 26th, 2011

Bach To Basics Guide To Surviving Summer Without Needing To StartPre-Season As a Fat Bloke

With the season coming to an end, tiredness and fatigue are often present  There is a clear benefit in taking some full rest to allow the neuromuscular system to recover from the years games, training and diet to date. 

However, too much absolute rest will generate muscle loss and poor diet over the summer period will lead to fat gain.

So you need to be careful though not to neglect nutritional elements of your programme as now is the time they will help with these end of the year lows.  Below are 8 reminders to ensure proper recovery continues so you can enter the next phase of competition refreshed.

Make way for summer excess
 
1. Be sure of your own goals and be sure these are the same as your partner and family. Going out for a run on holiday in the morning won’t seem so neglectful if you’ve cleared it with the powers that be beforehand. An hours run will make room for an extra piece of cheese and cake. Plus you’ll sweat out the toxins from the night before.

Booze tactics

2. Alcohol in excess is an anti-performance, anti-nutrient.  The longer it’s in the body and the higher its concentration in the body the more damage it will do.  So if you are going to cane it drinks lots of water before and after the session.  If you can drink water during then do so.  Light aerobic activity will sweat some of the booze out the following day but this only works if you’ve drunk enough water before hand.  Best drinks are spirits with lots of diet mixers and white wine spritzers.
Support you liver if you really love caining it – milk thistle and dandelion if a good start or get a liver formula from you local nutritionist store.

Keep to a routine

3. Keep eating little and often (this shouldn’t be a problem) Try to eat something every 2-3 hours to keep nutrient supply in a steady flow to the muscles. Sometimes meal patterns can go to pot and infrequent larger meals become the order of the day – don’t let this happen, graze, then gorge – its better than starving and then gorging. Starving leads to high levels of insulin sensitivity and active fat storage enzymes and a huge appetite – curb your hunger and make merry.

Fatigue can make food choices more difficult

4. When you get tired it’s natural to crave for carbohydrates.  Try to keep your carbohydrate choices varied and not too wheat based.  Avoid overloading the carbs at night as this will contribute to early morning fatigue and excess body fat. If you’ve succumbs then go back to point 1 – get up and run, run, run!

The source of all life;

5. Keep drinking enough water.  Three litres is a good base. Water will prevent fatigue and improve performance.

Keep training – with weights.

6. If you didn’t ask for weights for a birthday present then you can always get to a local park and do some chins.
You’ll have heaps of additional stored carbohydrates – use them! Get Strong and powerful as part of your new season plan….
Focus on recovery around your training sessions.  Sip a carbohydrate drink during your sessions and make sure adequate carbs and liquid protein are taken in immediately afterwards.

Biggest problem is dropping lean mass in the holiday season – remember regular protein feeds are crucial for muscle maintenance;

7. Don’t forget about protein!  Getting tired of taking shakes all the time is not uncommon.  Get you protein from other sources if you’ve cut back on protein shakes.  Other wise you’ll end up under recovered and you may lose strength and power.  Aim for at least 2 palms at each main meal, and 1 palm for your snacks.

Keep up with supplementation;

8. Keep taking your micronutrients!  Micros are the nuts and bolts which hold the performance machine together.  Keep them in a place where you remember to take them and make sure you order in advance so supplies don’t run too low.

Matt

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Match Day

Thursday, May 19th, 2011

The majority of your recovery and glycogen reserves should already have been made up before match day.  Getting your nutrition right on match day alone will not make up for poor nutrition leading up to the match.

The art of entering an event fully prepared means enough energy has been consumed and is available for use.  Glycogen loading should have taken place over the preceding 72 hours (3 days). The athlete should not feel either hungry or full and be ready to take their pre-match drinks and supplements where appropriate.  This usually means the last solid foods will have been consumed 2 hours earlier with a substantial meal eaten 4-5 hours earlier. Any other nutrients taken pre-match should be in liquid form or be small enough to digest and absorb quickly.

CONCEPTS

• Multiple feedings: 5-8
• Adequate hydration

All original individual nutritional guidelines to apply plus the main pre-match meal should ideally contain 2 servings of starchy low GI carbohydrates, 1 serving of fibrous carbohydrate, 1 serving of protein and 1/2 to 1 serving of essential fats with an optional serving of fruit from bananas, grapes, melon or kiwi. This should be consumed 4-5 hours before the match. Normally this meal would be breakfast.

Match day
The best nutrition to follow is the one you’ve been performing on up till now and you should not make drastic changes to your existing pre match strategy without practicing during training first. However, if you feel your performance could be improved on these days then the following guidelines may be of some use.

Breakfast: Cooked beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, eggs, a small amount of lean bacon or sausage followed by a low glycemic, non-wheat based cereal with non-dairy milk. 1-2 slices of whole meal bread or rye bread with a small amount of fruit spread or marmite may also be required.

Brunch: should be a light meal once again from low glycemic carbohydrate with possibly some liquid protein from whey or otherwise. Leading up to the match all other pre-match nutritional strategies should be followed. An example might be a smoothie (see recipes below). Or a chicken sandwich with 1/2 a meal replacement.

Many individuals find it difficult to eat at all on match days and may just have room for breakfast. It is likely in this situation that performance may be limited due to inadequate carbohydrate being available. Often a liquid meal is a good idea in this scenario with the ingredients being able to quickly exit the stomach. One formula we’ve used with success before is: Blend 25g oats with 500ml rice or skimmed milk and a serving of your favourite MRP or protein powder, add 1/2 a banana and maybe a small amount of nuts and seeds with a teaspoon of honey. Ideally this should be taken around 75-90 minutes before the game (you could also try this before a workout). As with all these types of nutritional strategy, practice in training first, gradually assessing tolerance and effectiveness of a particular recipe.

Pre match – Boosters and half time replenishment should be discussed individually with your doctor or nutritionist.

Post match  – Replacing lost carbohydrates and fluids is essential at this stage to ensure training can be resumed at an adequate level during the week. Ensure that you drink 500ml of water for every 1/2 kg of body weight lost during play. Try not to drink this all at once but stager it over the next few hours. Make sure that in addition to the post workout recovery drink you have some ‘real food’ ideally no longer than an hour after the match. For the next 24 hours you should aim to consume approximately 75-100% of your body weight in kg, in grams of carbohydrates each 2-3 hours. This should help fully replenish your carbohydrate reserves. All other nutritional considerations apply during this time.

Smoothie Recipes

1.
2-3 scoops of Chocolate MRP or 1 sachet
20 oz (2 1/2 cups) of skim milk
1/2 cup of low fat or fat-free cottage cheese
2 tablespoons of natural peanut butter
1 tablespoon of linseeds  ½ table spoon of lecithin  granules

2.
2 -3 scoops vanilla MRP or 1 sachet
1 container (3.9 oz) natural unsweetened apple sauce
Cinnamon as desired
Cold water (Add more or less based on the consistency you want.)
1 tablespoon of linseeds  ½ table spoon of lecithin  granules

3.
2 scoops MRP or 1 sachet
2-3 Tbsp. of sugar-free instant pudding (rice pudding)
Five ice cubes
Cold water
1 tablespoon of linseeds  ½ table spoon of lecithin  granules

 Matt

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Water

Sunday, May 15th, 2011

WATERRugby - Water

Hydration is a crucial part of life itself, and water loses of a mere one or two percent of your body weight can impair function both mentally and physically. [1] Losses of seven percent or more may bring you down for the count, disrupting your delicate balance and resulting in total body collapse. (ibid) Dehydrate a muscle by just 3% and you will cause a loss of about 10% loss of contractile strength, and an 8% loss in speed. [2] [3] The average sedentary adult male requires at least 12 cups of fluids per day, the average woman, nine cups. [4]

The most important nutrient in your body is plain water and it is vitally important that we consume clean water. This does not unfortunately mean tap water, which on average contains around 550 part per million of contaminants. If you ingest this sort of level of pollution your brain, muscles and internal organs will all become contaminated and contribute massively to your toxic load, ability to detoxify and may complicate or directly cause a myriad of unwelcome symptoms.

When we consider the feminisation of nature concept (expand) and the fact that scientists have found that drugs and xenoestrogens are making their way into our water supply one must wonder what the consequences of this type of exposure are on our health.  As 90% of excreted drugs can remain biologically active and recently Thomas A. Ternes, a German chemist found traces of 30 out of 60 commonly used pharmaceutical drugs to be present in treated water, sewage and rivers there seems to be a definite case for  obtaining pure water for your consumption.

Possible results of drinking these types of contaminated water include:

  • Increased hormonal imbalances
  • Decreasing sperm counts as a nation levels of sperm have decreased from x in 1900 to y today
  • Possible carcinogenic substances
  • Antibiotic resistant virulent strains of bacteria [5]
  • How do you obtain clean water?

Because the bottled water industry is largely self-regulating and may often contain similar pollutants found in tap water it is better to filter your own water. To prevent these toxic contaminants building up in your body the two best ways to purify your water include distilling and reverse osmosis. Distilling your water with a home distiller will result in your water being around 10-12 ppm. The next best and often most practical method is installing a reverse osmosis unit under the sink. These types of unit result in your water being taken from 550 ppm to 20-40 ppm which when you consider the impact water has on your health is a massive and easily obtainable reduction in your toxic load.

Concepts:         Clear urine indicates proper hydration

Thirst: poor indicator reliance on this mechanism results in 50-75% hydration. 4

If you exercise remember to weigh yourself both before and after the workout.

Drink before you exercise and often during exercise. 1-2 cups one hour before and half a

cup or more each 15-20 mins during your event. [6]

[1] L.E. Armstrong and Y. Epstein, “Fluid-Electrolyte Balance During Labour and Exercise: Concepts and Misconceptions,” Intern. J. of Sports Nutr. 1. (1999): 1-12

[2] Sawka MN, et al. Influence of hydration level and body fluids on exercise performance in the heat. Journal of the American Medical Association 1984; 252:1165-1169

[3] Armstrong, LE, Costill DL, Fink WJ. Influence on diuretic-induced dehydration on competitive running performance. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. 1985; 17:456-461

[4] S.M. Kleiner, “Water: An Essential but Overlooked Nutrient,” J. Am. Diet. Assoc. 99.2(1999): 200-206

[5] Information obtained from Science News vol 153, March 21, 1998.”Drugged Waters: Does it matter that pharmaceuticals are turning up in water supplies?”

[6] W.A. Latzka and S.J. Montain,”Water and Electrolyte Requirements for Exercise,” Clin. Sports. Med. 18.3 (1999): 513-524

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Food Friends

Sunday, May 1st, 2011

Carbs and protein

This may seem like going over old ground somewhat, but the most widely held view amongst large numbers of fitness-enthusiasts is that protein is the be-all and end-all of muscle gain. While important, protein needs help from its food friend carbohydrate to have optimum effects. Carbs cause the release of insulin; the most anabolic hormone, while supporting quality training.

Resistance Exercise (RE) causes protein synthesis, and this is increased by amino acids (AAs). However, the most pronounced effect  is obtained by combining protein, pain and carbohydrate, causing insulin release! Taken From Rasmussen et al., (2000).

This fact is made obvious by a study done on American Footballers eating protein near training or only in their morning and evening meals. Whereas most studies show eating protein is most effective close to training, these American “Jocks” showed no difference between interventions, their muscle gain being impaired by the fact their carb intake was too low!  Although protein-feeding immediately after exercise can improve muscle gain compared to carbs alone, studies done on protein-guzzling body-builders have repeatedly shown that intakes of about 1.8g per kilo (125g for a 70Kg man) give the maximum results, as long as carb intake is sufficient. To put this in context, this amount of protein would be surpassed if this 70Kg man was to eat 3000Kcal per day, even if his food consisted solely of bread (grains are actually reasonably rich in protein)!

Combining fat into the mix (for example when comparing full fat milk to skimmed) is even better for muscle gain, as it gives extra calories. However, the relative amounts of carb protein and fat may need to be shifted if bulking up with minimal fat gain is your aim…

Initial protein synthesis can be stimulated with free amino acids, while carbohydrate has a slower, but sustained effect after around 90min. In addition, a delay in carbohydrate ingestion of 2hrs may still allow adequate glycogen resynthesis, meaning if  you’re willing to compromise on performance in the following exercise session, or amino supplementation followed by a delayed carb feeding may offer a lean, mean recovery strategy to bulk up, and yet burn fat!

Matt

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