The Importance of Polyphenols in Athletic Performance
Within every cell in our body are ancient bacterial fragments called mitochondria. Essentially, the role of mitochondria is to take the food we eat and turn it into energy (a.k.a ATP). For an athlete, without adequate levels of ATP, muscles can’t contract, nor can they repair the damage done by exercise. The only way to make enough ATP is to make sure that adequate levels of oxygen are getting to the muscle cell and at the same time making sure the mitochondria in the muscle cells are working at peak efficiency to generate as much ATP as possible. Anything that increases ATP production will give the athlete a significant advantage over their competitors. Polyphenols and Performance The role of polyphenols in athletic performance is only now beginning to emerge. Polyphenols operate at several levels including gene activation which leads to increased mitochondrial efficiency and increased blood flow to deliver more oxygen to the mitochondria. In particular, replacing damaged mitochondria while simultaneously replacing them with newly synthesized mitochondria is a key function of polyphenols. Since mitochondria supply 85-95% of the energy to a muscle cell, the more efficient the mitochondria are, the greater the athletic performance. The Impact of Polyphenols on Recovery Times Polyphenols are the chemicals that give fruits and vegetables their color. They are also key components for gut health as they function as the primary guardians of the gut to defend it against pathogenic microbes. However, small levels of polyphenols can also enter into the blood. Once in the blood, they can become gene activators (1). In particular, they activate the gene transcription factors that cause the increased synthesis of specialized proteins. One of these gene transcription factors is Nrf2 known to increase the expression of anti-oxidative enzymes that are a 1000 times more powerful than standard anti-oxidants such as Vitamin C or Vitamin E in reducing excess free radical production. This is important for reducing delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). DOMS is the extended muscle pain and soreness due to injury that reduces strength until the muscle is finally healed. That takes time, and that is why you need increased recovery times the more intense you workout. The other gene transcription factor activated by polyphenols is AMP kinase. AMP kinase is the master switch for your metabolism. In particular, it is the key to replacing damaged mitochondria (mitophagy) and simultaneously replacing them with new ones (biogenesis). Since the cells in the body need ATP on a constant basis, this is equivalent to changing tires on your car while driving 60 miles an hour. It is only possible if AMP kinase is working at full efficiency. Another benefit of adequate levels of polyphenols in the blood is to increase blood flow by increasing nitric oxide (NO) production which increases oxygen transfer to the mitochondria for still greater ATP production (2). The mechanism of polyphenol-induced vasodilation appears to be via the enhanced conversion of dietary nitrates (primarily found in green leafy vegetables) into NO. The greater the number of hydroxyl groups on the polyphenol, the more efficient the conversion of dietary nitrate into NO (3). Thus the benefits of taking nitrate supplements such as beetroot juice (4) can be greatly enhanced in the presence of high levels of polyphenols. Why You Need Adequate Intake of Polyphenols for Performance This is all great news for the athlete. The bad news is that the bioavailability of polyphenols into the blood is low, and even if they enter the blood they are rapidly removed making their lifetime in the blood very short. This means to get the full benefits of polyphenols for sports performance, they have to be taken at high concentrations on a continual basis to maintain improved blood flow and optimal ATP production. Since the levels of polyphenols in fruits and vegetables is low (0.1 to 0.2% by weight), you would have to consume a minimum of 10 servings of fruits and vegetables per day to obtain the minimum levels of polyphenols required for enhanced sports performance. For many athletes, that sounds like Mission Impossible. Purification of Polyphenols Fortunately, polyphenols can be purified to high concentrations as extracts. Supplementation with polyphenol extracts may potentially achieve adequate levels of polyphenols in the blood to increase ATP production and decrease delayed muscle soreness. Not All Polyphenols Are the Same There are more than 8,000 known polyphenols, all different in structure. The most effective polyphenols fall into a general classes known as flavonoids. These polyphenols have a fused phenol ring structure that provides a unique spatial configuration to enhance their action to activate gene transcription factors. Furthermore, the number of hydroxyl groups in its structure determines the bioavailability of the polyphenol. The one group of flavonoid polyphenols that have the greatest bioavailability is delphindins, and they appear to be the only type of polyphenol that can be absorbed intact by the body (5). A rich source of delphinidins is blueberries. In particular the Maqui berry grown in the Patagonia region of Chile has the highest known concentration of delphinidins. In addition, the most studied flavonoid polyphenol for increasing blood flow are those from cocoa (6-8). Thus, combinations of Maqui and cocoa polyphenol extracts may provide the greatest potential for maximum impact in sports performance. How Many Polyphenols Do You Need For Performance? A lot. You need probably at least 1,000 mg of polyphenol extract per day. Furthermore, that total amount should also be spread evenly throughout day to maintain adequate levels of polyphenols in the blood. Frankly, no one is going to be taking capsules all day long to achieve that goal. This is why the most realistic way is the use of food products (bars) that not only supply necessary nutrients (you have to eat) to maintain stable blood sugars levels, but also supply the necessary levels of proven polyphenol extracts to constantly activate the genes needed for optimal athletic performance.{{cta('a9e96fff-3523-4d72-b761-29f9ef2a1279')}}References: Sears B. The Mediterranean Zone. Ballantine Books. New York, NY (2014) Lundberg JO et al. “Strategies to increase nitric oxide signaling in cardiovascular disease.” Nat Rev Drug Dis 14: 623-641 (2015) Rocha SA et al. “Dietary nitrate in nitric oxide biology.” Curr Drug Targets 12: 1351-1363 (2011) Wylie LJ et al. “Beetroot juice and exercise: Pharmacodynamic and dose-response relationships.” J Appl Physiol 115: 325-336 (2103) Matsumoto H et al. “Orally administered delphinidin 3-rutinoside and cyanidin 3-rutinoside are directly absorbed in rats and humans and appear in the blood as the intact forms.” J Agric Food Chem 49: 1546-1551 (2001) Schroeter H et al. “(-)-Epicatechin mediates beneficial effects of flavanol-rich cocoa on vascular function in humans.” Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 103: 1024-1029 (2006) Heiss C et al. “Endothelial function, nitric oxide and cocoa flavanols.” J Cardiovasc Pharmacol 47 Suppl 2:S128-135 (2006) Desideri G et al. “Benefits in cognitive function, blood pressure, and insulin resistance through cocoa flavanol consumption in elderly subjects with mild cognitive impairment: the Cocoa, Cognition, and Aging (CoCoA) study.” Hypertension 60:794-801 (2012)
Gut Health Explained
Atrip down your local dairy aisle and you may be surprised to find the word prebiotic beginning to appear next to probiotic on several labels. Often these words or concepts are introduced to us in the marketplace and while they may become familiar sounding over time, chances are we’re still at a loss to explain how they improve our health (unless you read our blogs of course!). Here we’ll dive into the topic of gut health, defining some of the key terms and our recommendations for a healthy gut. What is Gut Health? When we hear the word “gut” we might initially think stomach or that butterfly feeling we get when we’re nervous or anxious, but the subject is incredibly complex and evolving each day. In the simplest form, gut health encompasses our entire digestive system starting with where food enters our mouth and where it exits. You can see why this topic doesn’t come up at dinner parties! We may not think much about the process of eating, unless of course it doesn’t agree with us, but so much happens within that 25-30 hour window from when we first smell and ingest a food to its excretion from the body. The gastrointestinal (GI) tract, or tube that runs from our mouth to large intestine, is lined with mucus and trillions of microorganisms (a.k.a microbes) that thrive and metabolize the foods we eat. The majority of these reside in our large intestine or colon. We now know that a strong link exists between the microbes (bacteria being a type of microbe) that inhabit our gut and our risk for disease. This is why gut health is such a hot topic. What are Probiotics? Probiotics are live bacteria or yeast found in food products that help to promote the maintenance of the beneficial bacteria in our gut1. They aid in keeping the balance between both the good and bad bacteria. This is one reason their use is suggested after we go on antibiotics. In an effort to get rid of the bacteria causing us to be ill, antibiotics can’t discriminate and wipe out both the good and bad. Probiotics such as those found in kefir or yogurt help to provide a stimulus to the immune cells that line the gut to prevent potentially bad bacteria from trying to get into the gut while good bacteria are being re-established. Think of them as immune boosters. What’s interesting to note, is that it can take almost eight weeks after antibiotic use for the number of bacteria to rebound to baseline2,3, but weeks to months for the diversity of that bacteria (meaning the different types) to return4. This just stresses the importance of not overusing antibiotics as we are still learning about how their use disrupts the balance of bacteria in the gut5 and the long-term implications on our health. Common Probiotics Found in Foods: Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, Lactococcus, Enterococcus, Bacillus, Saccharomyces. What are Prebiotics (a.k.a Fermentable Fiber)? Prebiotics are the food that stimulates the growth of good bacteria in our gut. They come from non-digestible carbohydrates and are found naturally in foods like leeks, asparagus, artichokes or additives such as inulin or oligosaccharides. Since these aren’t fully digested they are able to reach the colon where they are fermented by good bacteria. This is why you may hear them referred to as fermentable fiber. The result of this fermentation is that it produces beneficial changes in the composition or activity of the bacteria helping to improve our overall health and well-being1,5. All prebiotics are fiber, but not all fiber is a prebiotic5. One of the primary end products of fermentable fiber is short-chain fatty acids. These have a profound impact on our health including maintaining a strong barrier between the microbes in the gut and limiting their potential entry into our blood. If you don’t have enough fermentable fiber in the diet, you will have a deficiency in short-chain fatty acids. This can lead to a leaky gut, where you get holes in the lining of the gut barrier and bacteria begin to leak into the blood, creating an assortment of health problems. How to Optimize Gut Health Gut health requires two essential agents: fermentable fiber to supply energy to the microbes in the gut (primarily in the colon) as well as adequate levels of polyphenols. Think of the polyphenols as gardeners that help to promote good bacterial growth and inhibit the bad. Without adequate levels of either in the diet, the result is increased gut inflammation and an increase in leaky gut which can cause inflammation in the body. 3 Ways to Support a Healthy Gut 1. Eat Fermentable Fiber (Prebiotics) Not all fiber is fermentable by the bacteria in the gut. In fact, only about 10-15% of the stated fiber content of a food is fermentable. Since you need about 6 grams of fermentable fiber per day, this means you should be consuming about 40 grams of total fiber per day. Most Americans are nowhere close to that level, but following the Zone helps to get you there. The best sources of fermentable fiber include non-starchy vegetables (such as onions, garlic, asparagus, and artichokes, selected fruits (berries and apples), legumes (beans and lentils), and nuts (almonds, walnuts, etc.). These are all rich in both fermentable fiber and polyphenols necessary for optimal gut health. The vegetables are harder to digest if you don't have adequate diversity in your gut bacteria. 2. Take Your Polyphenols Polyphenols represent the primary defense mechanism to prevent bad bacteria from inhabiting the gut while increasing the production of the good bacteria. They also have gene activation properties that can increase the expression of anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory, and anti-aging gene products. The more colorful the carbohydrates, the higher the levels of polyphenols. Most Americans get their polyphenols primarily from coffee. Unfortunately, the polyphenols in coffee or tea are not nearly as active as are the polyphenols found in vegetables or fruits. 3. Add Your Omega-3s The omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA are the starting point for the production of hormones that reduce inflammation in the gut and prevent the development of a "leaky gut". Gut-derived inflammation is a primary source of inflammation for the rest of the body. Ideally consuming a minimum of 2.5 grams of EPA and DHA per day can help maintain a healthy gut. The average American consumes about 5% of that suggested level. Buyer Beware Diets that strictly limit the amount of carbohydrates consumed can reduce the diversity of bacteria in the gut since they restrict fermentable fiber and polyphenols. When choosing foods it’s important to think about how the foods you eat help to nourish and support a healthy gut. By following the Zone Diet you’ll consume the right type and amount of carbohydrates to achieve the optimal levels of both fermentable fiber and polyphenols. {{cta('daffa570-1055-4766-af51-e09d66a17e47')}} References: 1. Markowiak P, Śliżewska K. Effects of Probiotics, Prebiotics, and Synbiotics on Human Health. Nutrients. 2017 Sep 15;9(9). pii: E1021. doi: 10.3390/nu9091021. Review. 2. F. Fouhy, C.M. Guinane, S. Hussey, R. Wall, C.A. Ryan, E.M. Dempsey, B. Murphy, R.P. Ross, G.F. Fitzgerald, C. Stanton, and P.D. Cotter, 2012. High-throughput sequencing reveals the incomplete, short-term recovery of infant gut microbiota following parenteral antibiotic treatment with ampicillin and gentamicin. Antim. Agents Chemother. 56:5811-5820 3. Grazul H, Kanda LL, Gondek D. Impact of probiotic supplements on microbiome diversity following antibiotic treatment of mice. Gut Microbes. 2016;7(2):101-14. 4. Langdon A, Crook N. The effects of antibiotics on the microbiome throughout development and alternative approaches for therapeutic modulation. Genome Med. 2016; 8: 39. 5. Gibson G.R., Probert H.M., van Loo J., Rastall R.A., Roberfroid M.B. Dietary modulation of the human colonic microbiota: Updating the concept of prebiotics. Nutr. Res. Rev. 2004;17:259–275.
What Is Protein? And Why Do I Need It?
Protein is no longer the nutrient geared solely for body builders and gym buffs. While it plays a role in building and preserving muscle mass, its benefits are more vast, ranging from weight loss and maintenance, to improved mood. It's quite common to see commercials touting products and how many grams of protein they contain. While it’s important to have some at every meal and snack to help control blood sugar levels and to keep you full, you don’t want to overdo it on this nutrient either. So what is the right amount to consume? Plus, not all proteins are created equal, so which proteins are right for you? Here is the lowdown on what you need to know the next time you’re shopping for your protein fix. What Is Protein, and What Does It Do for My Body? Protein is an integral component in each and every cell in our body. It’s used to make enzymes, hormones and neurotransmitters, and is found in our muscles, bone, skin and hair. The building blocks that make up protein are called amino acids. Think of amino acids like beads on a chain. Each bead represents an amino acid and when the chain is complete, the end product is considered the protein. There are 20 amino acids in all: Non-essential amino acids – These are the 11 amino acids our bodies can make on their own. Essential amino acids – These are the 9 amino acids cannot be made by the body, and must be consumed in our diet. If a food supplies all the essential amino acids we need, it’s called a complete protein. Generally, animal protein sources provide all the essential amino acids (e.g., beef, chicken, turkey, dairy, eggs, fish). If a food lacks one or more essential amino acids, it’s called an incomplete protein. It’s the incomplete proteins in essential amino acids that are most important to replenish when you grab an energy bar or a yogurt as a snack. Protein Isn’t New, So Why the Hype Now? Protein isn’t a new wonder drug, but its popularity is rising due to its ability to help keep us full longer. This occurs because of its role in controlling blood sugar, fat loss and weight maintenance. Compared to carbohydrates and fat, protein is more filling.1 Even among protein sources, data shows there is variability in perceived level of fullness between them. In a study looking at the satiety of 38 foods (i.e., whether or not they made you full), participants had their blood sugar checked at various intervals and were asked to rate their overall fullness of foods across numerous food groups. Proteins were ranked from highest satisfaction to lowest satisfaction. Fish was ranked the most satisfying.2 Yogurt was ranked the least satisfying (Sorry, Cam Newton. That Oikos Triple Zero Greek Nonfat Yogurt may not fill you up). What’s the Best Way to Consume Protein? When choosing your sources of protein, be selective, as protein sources can be high in saturated fats or high in sodium. Aim for leaner, less processed choices. The Zone Diet was created to assure an optimal protein-to-glycemic load balance for improved hormonal control. It’s important to focus on making sure each meal has adequate protein balanced with appropriate levels of carbohydrate and fat to help stabilize blood sugar. For even greater hunger control, start your meal with your protein choice first, followed by carbohydrates. This will result in even better outcomes from a post-meal blood glucose and insulin response.3 How Can I Supplement My Protein? Protein bars, shakes and powders can be used to supplement or boost your intake in meals that are lacking. Be careful not to overdo it. If you are looking for a snack, aim for around 7 to 14 grams of protein. For a meal, aim for about 25 grams of protein. The key when using bars or shakes as a replacement is to pay attention to the balance of macronutrients. For every 1 gram of fat, you generally want to consume 2 grams protein and 3 grams of carbohydrate. For a post-workout recovery, the best time to supplement is during the first 15 to 20 minutes after the workout. This will help replenish muscle glycogen. An excellent recovery drink is 2% milk because its carbs and protein are perfectly balanced. Don't got milk? Our Zone Protein Powder can easily be added to whatever beverage you have on hand to help you get the ideal balance of protein to carbs. Plus, we even have several smoothie recipes with protein powder that you can enjoy. How Can Vegetarians or Vegans Get Their Protein? If you’re vegan, you must get your protein from plant sources such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and grains. This requires a little more work because many of these foods are incomplete proteins, requiring you to group them together to ensure you get all the essential amino acids you need. However, there are a handful of plant sources that do contain all that your body needs: Amaranth Buckwheat Chia Hempseed Quinoa Soy Because the American diet is so varied, it’s usually not a problem for vegans and vegetarians to consume all their essential amino acids over the course of the day. Plant sources usually contain too much carbohydrate relative to their protein content to get the optimal hormonal response. While it is true that consumption of grains and seeds is kept to a minimum in the Zone, for individuals who are vegan (avoid meat or animal products), soy imitation meat products have become better in taste and can replace animal protein in virtually every Zone recipe. Dr. Sears' book, The Soy Zone, was written to address this. If you are lacto-ovo vegetarian (96% of vegetarians are), then it is much easier to get your protein because you can include egg and dairy products. The protein selections are even greater when you include Zone PastaRx as your protein source. How Much Protein Do I Need? The amount of protein you need truly depends on your muscle mass and level of physical activity. Use the following as a general guideline: Females – Need about 20 grams of low-fat protein per meal (3 Zone Blocks). To balance each meal you’ll want to add 3 blocks of carbohydrate and 3 blocks of fat. Males – Need about 28 grams of low-fat protein per meal (4 Zone Foods Blocks). Then balance with 4 blocks of carbohydrate and 4 blocks of fat. To find your personalized requirements based on your gender, size and weight, try our Body Fat Calculator, because it shares your protein requirements in the results. Also be sure to try our Zone Food Blocks tool to see how many blocks are in the foods you eat. Protein is important regardless of your age or lifestyle. The key is consuming moderate amounts of good quality protein and a variety of types at every meal and snack balanced with low-glycemic carbohydrates. This way you can enjoy the benefits that come from key amino acids that are important for improved blood glucose control, preservation of lean body mass with loss of excess body fat, and better mood control. {{cta('daffa570-1055-4766-af51-e09d66a17e47')}} References: Paddon-Jones D1, Westman E, Mattes RD, Wolfe RR, Astrup A, Westerterp-Plantenga M. Protein, weight management, and satiety. Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 May;87(5):1558S-1561S. Holt SH1, Miller JC, Petocz P, Farmakalidis E. Eur J Clin Nutr. 1995 Sep;49(9):675-90. A satiety index of common foods. Shukla AP, Iliescu RG, Thomas CE, Aronne LJ. Food Order Has a Significant Impact on Postprandial Glucose and Insulin Levels. Diabetes Care. 2015 Jul;38(7):e98-9.
Then & Now: Calorie Restriction and the Impact on Disease
Reduce your risk of chronic disease by making simple changes to your diet. Starting with Hippocrates 2,500 years ago, to Luigi Carnaro 400 years ago, to Dr. Barry Sears today, data continues to prove that a calorie restricted diet can reduce your risk of chronic disease. Discover how you can benefit from history repeating itself. More than 400 years ago, Luigi Cornaro demonstrated that calorie restriction increases your health span. The story began in the year 1507, when Cornaro, a Venetian nobleman, was near death at age 40 due to a poor dietary lifestyle. At that point, he started a rigorous calorie-restriction program. Starting at age 83, Cornaro wrote three widely-read diet books. When Cornaro died at age 99, his death was due simply to old age, not from any chronic disease. Calorie Restriction is Not Malnutrition Calorie restriction is not the same as starvation. It usually consists of a 30% reduction in normal caloric intake without sacrificing any nutrition. A recent study set out to validate the impact of calorie restriction on species closest to humans.1 The researchers used rhesus monkeys which share 93% of the same genes as us and live for about 30 years. So essentially you can assume these findings from monkeys should be applicable to humans. Virtually all the earlier work on calorie restriction had been done in worms and mice which are not quite the same as humans in terms of genes or lifetime. What was impressive about this study, was that it was a 30-year experiment to determine the long-term consequences of caloric restriction versus normal intake. When the calorie restriction was started after the monkeys had reached maturity, they didn’t live that much longer than those fed a normal diet. They did however have significantly lower levels of cancer, heart disease, and insulin resistance than controls consuming a normal laboratory diet. The authors state that there are clear parallels between humans and rhesus monkeys and that it is quite probable that the healthy effects of calorie restriction seen in monkeys will also be visible in humans. The Advantages of a Calorie-Restricted Diet To understand the real advantage of a calorie-restricted diet requires an understanding of the link between diet and inflammation. A calorie-restricted diet is also an anti-inflammatory diet. This means that chronic diseases with a strong inflammatory linkage such as obesity, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, heart disease, and cancer to name just a few, can either be prevented or significantly managed following such an eating plan. One would think following an anti-inflammatory diet should be the goal of health care reform. This could be our answer to continually rising healthcare costs, especially since the majority of those costs come when we are plagued chronic disease in our last years of life? Today health care “reform” generally increases the size of your deductible before your health insurance actually kicks in. The best strategy to overcome such “reform” is simply to not to get sick in the first place. That is the promise of calorie restriction. The proof it works was demonstrated in the above mentioned 30-year rhesus monkey study. Of course, calorie restriction in free living humans is only possible if you are never hungry or fatigued. The Zone Diet was built upon this concept. That makes the Zone Diet a lifelong dietary program to treat heart disease and diabetes by reducing inflammation. The caloric ratio of the macronutrients (carbohydrates to protein to fat) is approximately 40–30–30. This balance allows for stabilization of blood sugar to prevent hunger and fatigue. The Zone is also nutritionally superior (if not greatly exceeding standard diet) if the carbohydrates consumed are primarily non-starchy vegetables. These will be exceptionally rich in essential nutrients including polyphenols and fermentable fiber (i.e., prebiotics) necessary for gut health. If you take the 30% calorie restriction in the rhesus monkey study and applied it to humans, that would mean an average adult male would consume 1,500 calories per day and an average female 1,200 calories per day. It doesn’t sound like a lot a calories, but without the correct balance of macronutrients, those decreased calorie levels would likely generate constant hunger and fatigue. Obviously, this would make it difficult to live the rest of your life regardless of the health benefits. I put forward the balance of macronutrients necessary for controlling hunger and fatigue in my first book, The Zone.2 A decade later, those same recommendations were the foundation of the new dietary guidelines of the Joslin Diabetes Center at Harvard Medical School for treating obesity and diabetes.3 This year, Joslin published their 5-year study on diabetic patients following such a dietary program.4 The results were exceptionally encouraging for all diabetics. And if they are good for diabetics, then they will be extraordinary for non-diabetics. How to Combat Hunger on a Calorie Restricted Eating Plan Your first thought might be: How can I comply with this monkey food business, I’ll surely die. I guarantee you that the monkeys didn’t die following a calorie-restricted diet and neither will you. How? First, the carbohydrate intake on the Zone Diet is limited to about 40% of total calories. This ensures that the brain gets its daily need for glucose, which is about 130 grams of glucose. The Zone Diet contains 100 to 150 grams of carbohydrates (400 to 600 calories), split over three meals and one or two snacks, which easily supplies that level of glucose for optimal brain function. However, if these carbohydrates were mostly composed of non-starchy vegetables then to consume 400 to 600 calories of carbohydrates would require you to eat approximately 4 pounds per day. Although this represents only about 50 – 67% of the total amount of carbohydrates in our typical American diet, you can see it may be difficult to consume the required amounts for the Zone Diet because of the very low glycemic index of the carbohydrates. Furthermore, you never want to consume more than 30 to 40 grams of carbohydrates at any one meal. Any greater amount is going to generate excess insulin, which makes you hungry and fatigued by driving down blood glucose levels. The result is you are constantly hungry, searching for food all the time. The secret of the Zone Diet is that the glycemic load of a meal is balanced by adequate levels of low-fat protein (25-30 grams) at each meal to help stabilize blood sugar levels and to release satiety hormones (like PYY and GLP-1) from the gut to tell the brain to stop eating. The Zone Paradox: Fewer Calories Doesn’t Equate to Hunger or Fatigue Although the Zone Diet is a calorie-restricted diet, you will not be hungry or fatigued. This is the Zone Paradox. It is untrue that the Zone Diet is a high protein diet. Yet, following the Zone Diet guidelines you still get the absolute protein intake of the typical American diet because even though the percentage of protein (30% of total calories) is higher, the total number of calories being consumed daily is restricted. Because of its calorie restriction, it is also a low fat diet in absolute terms. Finally since you always consume more carbohydrates than protein, it is difficult to refer to the Zone Diet as a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet. It’s simply not correct since you are always consuming more carbohydrates than protein at a meal. Thus, the best description of the Zone Diet it is a calorie-restricted, protein-adequate, carbohydrate-moderate, and low fat dietary plan. Who could argue with that? Obviously not the Joslin Diabetes Center at Harvard. As Hippocrates said 2,500 years ago, “Let food be your medicine and medicine your food.” Luigi Cornaro demonstrated it works 400 years ago, and today the Zone Diet makes it possible to live better with the least amount of effort if you are willing to balance your meals to live a life without hunger or fatigue.{{cta('daffa570-1055-4766-af51-e09d66a17e47')}}References: Mattison JA et al. “Caloric restriction improves health and survival of rhesus monkeys.” Nat Comm 8:1-12 (2017). Sears B. The Zone. Regan Books. New York, NY (1995). Giusti J and Pizzotto J-A. “Interpreting the Joslin Diabetes Center and Joslin Clinic clinical and nutrition guidelines for overweight and obese adults with type 2 diabetes.” Curr Dia Rep 6:405-408 (2005). Hamdy O et al. “Long-term effect of intensive lifestyle intervention on cardiovascular risk factor in patients with diabetes in real-world practice: a 5-year longitudinal study.” BMJ Open Dia Res Care 5:e000259 (2017).
8 Simple Pasta Meals
Have you ever had one of those weeks where you fly by the seat of your pants and Friday can’t come soon enough? Maybe this is your every week; no judgement here! When life gets chaotic, it doesn’t have to be an excuse for healthy eating to be back-burnered. Having a few staples in your pantry can make weekday meal planning nutritious and a breeze. PastaRx Eliminates the Need for Take Out Having a pantry stocked with Zone PastaRx, sauces, and canned vegetables (if fresh or frozen aren't available) makes for endless options! Just remember that Zone PastaRx is balanced in both protein and carbohydrates giving you the flexibility to mix and match most everything. Here we’ll show you how simple it can be. Pick and choose from each of the categories below for meals in a cinch! Zone PastaRx is a patented protein-rich pasta replacement designed to stabilize blood sugar and curb hunger for hours. It's been clinically shown to help increase lean body mass while reducing insulin resistance. Including PastaRx into your weeknights makes meal planning easy and eliminates the guilt. Want more inspiration? Check out more than 100 Zone pasta recipes and purchase Zone PastaRx here. Or share your creations with us in the comments below! {{cta('1ae23da1-1a5e-4874-b9b0-18562e13f5fe')}}
Why We Get Fat (In All the Wrong Places) As We Age
Of all the questions about aging, inquiries about putting on weight as you get older is one of the most commonly asked. A typical answer from medical experts is that "it’s complex" – shorthand for "I don’t know.” And if they don’t know, then how can they help their patients? Well, let me simplify the answer for you, because aging doesn't mean you need to put on extra weight. Fat cells are necessary: They keep you warm First, let’s start with some background on fat cells. Fat cells have one primary purpose, which is to store fat and then release it for future energy production. Most of that energy simply keeps the body warm at 98.6 degrees. Prior to birth, the mother is doing most of the work to keep the fetus warm. After delivery, the newborn child has to keep themselves warm. This is why the number of fat cells tends to triple in the first six years of life, and then stabilize until the child reaches adolescence. Once you reach adolescence, your hormones start changing the game. In females, an increase in estrogen causes the formation of new fat cells, as well as filling up existing fat cells with more fat on the hips, buttocks and breasts. This extra fat represents a potential energy reserve for lactation in case of pregnancy. Once adolescence is over for females, the formation of new fat cells and their increased filling virtually stops. This is why at age 25, females will have about twice the percent body fat and more fat cells than males. The increase in testosterone in males will not increase new fat cell formation. After adolescence, the number of fat cells in both males and females remains about the same. Although the number of fat cells remains relatively constant for the rest of your life, the amount of fat that each one contains can be highly variable. This variability is a result of either aging, resulting in the decrease of estrogen or testosterone, or increasing levels of insulin resistance caused by increased inflammation. In either case, those unfilled fat cells start filling up. It may not be the carbs, but inflammation that's the culprit The real reason for increased fat gain after age 25 is increased insulin resistance. This condition is caused by increased inflammation in your insulin-sensitive cells, making it difficult for insulin to communicate its metabolic message to the interior of its target organs in the liver, muscles, and adipose tissues. This increasing insulin resistance forces the pancreas to produce even more insulin to try to get into the target tissues to respond. As a result, insulin levels rise in the blood and stay constantly elevated. In the case of fat cells in the adipose tissue, these constantly elevated insulin levels drive circulating fat into your existing fat cells as well as block the release of stored fat. In essence, excess insulin caused by insulin resistance not only makes you fat, but also keeps you fat. Contrary to popular thinking, carbohydrates don’t per se increase insulin, because insulin levels will rise and fall naturally when you eat carbohydrates as long as you don’t have insulin resistance. However if you have insulin resistance, then the levels of insulin in the blood will remain constantly elevated. The result is you will have increased fat deposition into your existing fat cells. What causes insulin resistance is not carbohydrates, but increased inflammation. Even if you aren't gaining weight, you're still probably getting fatter Why do we gain more fat as we age? The hypothalamus in the brain controls your energy-balance system which normally keeps your weight constant. This is known as your "genetic set point." Consider the hypothalamus as a weight control thermostat. However, the same inflammation that causes insulin resistance can also disturb that weight control thermostat in your brain. If it does, then any excess calories that you eat will be accumulated as extra body fat. Typically, you gain about 1% of your body weight as additional fat each year after age 25. It only takes a 0.5% change in the weight control thermostat in the hypothalamus to cause that fat gain. That doesn’t seem like much, but if you weigh 180 pounds, that means you may be adding potentially 36 pounds of extra fat in 20 years unless you watch your calorie intake like a hawk and maintain an active exercise program. Virtually no one does after age 25 because life gets in the way. Yet, although your body fat may be increasing, your weight might not change over the years because you are also losing muscle mass. Thus, your weight on the scale remains the same. This is when you'll begin to notice a change in your body composition by the fit of your clothes. This is why measurements like BMI that are based on weight are relatively poor markers of obesity, while my Body Fat Calculator will give you a more true measurement on your muscle vs. fat composition. Once you reach 25% body fat as a male or 35% body fat, as a female you can consider yourself obese regardless of your BMI. News flash: Being obese is not necessary unhealthy You heard it right. Simply being obese is not necessary unhealthy – as long as much of the extra body fat is subcutaneous fat under the skin, as opposed to visceral fat (i.e. belly fat). While there is a significant biological benefit of subcutaneous fat for females for pregnancy, it has little adverse effect on your metabolic health. This is why about 15% of obese individuals fall into the category of “metabolically healthy obese.” In contrast, while it may taste good getting there, having a beer belly is not healthy. When you start seeing fat accumulate in your abdomen, you have visceral fat also commonly referred to as a "beer belly." Visceral fat, unlike subcutaneous fat, has nothing but adverse health effects. In particular, the higher the level of visceral fat, the more likely you will be to develop future chronic diseases such as metabolic syndrome (pre-diabetes), fatty liver, diabetes, and heart disease. So what causes you to accumulate visceral fat instead of subcutaneous fat as you age? If you guessed a combination of hormones and inflammation, you would be correct. Hey Guys: Boosting testosterone doesn't need to weigh you down We've known for more than 25 years that visceral fat in males is correlated with decreased levels of testosterone and increased insulin resistance. Reducing insulin resistance is hard because you have to reduce inflammation and that requires following an anti-inflammatory diet for a lifetime. On the other hand, increasing testosterone is easy if you are using a drug. This helps explain why prescription sales of testosterone supplements increased more than 500% from 1993 to 2000. Today, testosterone supplement sales are greater than $2 billion dollars per year in the United States, and are estimated to reach $5 billion dollars per year by 2020. There are three reasons why men take testosterone supplements: To get stronger To lose visceral fat To have more sexual vitality But do testosterone supplements actually work? Science can answer that question. In experiments where a condition of low testosterone levels (aka “low T”) was created in healthy young men with normal testosterone levels, and then their testosterone and estrogen levels were modified separately, increased testosterone levels increased muscle mass and strength. However, fat gain is actually due to deficiency in estrogen production, not lack of testosterone. As for sexual vitality, you need a combination of both testosterone and estrogen. So what's a guy to do? All of this illustrates that controlling body fat in males is a little more complicated than just supplementing with testosterone. In men older than 65 and with “low T,” in experiments where their testosterone levels were elevated to those of 30 year-old men, there were significant benefits in sexual function. However, existing erectile dysfunction drugs did a better job than testosterone supplementation. Increased testosterone did minimal benefits in mood and depression, and no benefit in leg strength (measured by distance they could walk in 6 minutes), nor on their vitality. Not very encouraging results. I am sure these relative pathetic results will not negatively affect testosterone sales. Why? This is just another case on how drug marketing hype trumps real science. Hey Ladies: Estrogen may make you look younger, but there's a price What about estrogen for women to reduce visceral fat? Visceral fat is not associated with estrogen deficiency, but with an excess of free testosterone. Most of the testosterone and estrogen in both men and women is bound by sex hormone binding globlins (SHBG) that control the levels of the free hormone that can interact with its receptors. Therefore, as levels of SHBG decrease, there is an increase in free testosterone in women. This helps explain why oral estrogen supplementation made women look younger, because the oral estrogens increased SHBG levels and that caused a decrease in free testosterone. As the free testosterone levels in women taking oral estrogens dropped, so did their levels of visceral fat. The end result, they looked younger. Of course, taking prescription oral estrogens increase your likelihood of cancer, but many consider that a small price to pay for looking thinner and younger. Forget hormone supplements and focus on reducing insulin resistance If taking prescription estrogen is not the answer to reducing visceral fat in females, then what about going back to reducing insulin resistance by the diet? That approach works. The elevated insulin coming from insulin resistance causes a decrease in SHBG levels in females. Bottom line: if you reduce your insulin levels, you lose fat. This is true for both males and females. The only way to reverse insulin resistance is to follow an anti-inflammatory diet. We hear a lot about insulin resistance, but very little on how to reverse it. Yet, you can improve your insulin resistance in just a few days of significant calorie restriction (about 1,100 calories per day). The only problem is that you have to do this for lifetime without hunger or fatigue, and reducing calories by that much forever will make you starve to death, right? The best way to reduce insulin resistance remains an anti-inflammatory diet like the Zone Diet. This means a calorie-restricted diet that is protein-adequate, moderate in carbohydrate, and low in fat especially pro-inflammatory fats such as omega-6 fatty acids and saturated fats like palmitic acid. Using Zone Pasta as your primary protein source for your Zone meals makes it easy to follow for a lifetime, and our recent clinical trials strongly supports that statement. And guess what? You'll never be hungry. Say goodbye to beer bellies and cellulite Other benefits of reducing insulin resistance include a decreased likelihood of diabetes, heart disease, and Alzheimer’s. Yet, most men remain more concerned by their beer bellies, while women remain concerned by their cellulite – because this weight can be seen in the mirror right now. Cellulite appears when fat cells in the subcutaneous area like the buttocks expand and push through the dermis giving a puckering effect to skin. You see this protrusion because the skin that surrounds the buttocks is thinner than the skin that surrounds the abdominal area. This is why males and females with a beer belly don’t have cellulite in the abdominal region, but with a little effort (like packing on more pounds), men also can develop cellulite. The solution to both cellulite and beer belly is the same: The Zone Diet.{{cta('cd305230-6e34-42f6-9e2c-c2beda556f50')}}References: Sears B and Perry M. “The role of fatty acids in insulin resistance.” Lipids Health Disease 14:121 (2015). Finkelstein JS et al. “Gonadal steroids and body composition, strength, and sexual function in men.” N Engl J Med 369: 1011-1022 (2013). Synder PJ et al. “Effects of testosterone treatment in older men.” N Engl J Med 374611-621 (2016). Sears B. The Anti-Aging Zone. Regan Books. New York, NY (1999). Janssen I et al. “Testosterone and visceral fat in midlife women.” Obesity 18:604-610 (2010). Serin IS et al. “Long-term effects of continuous oral and transdermal estrogen replacement therapy on sex hormone binding globlin and free testosterone levels.” Eur J Obstet Reprod Biol 99:222-225 (2001). Onat A et al. “Serum sex hormone-binding globulin, a determinant of cardiometabolic disorders independent of abdominal obesity and insulin resistance in elderly men and women.” Metabolism 56:1356-1362 (2007). Akin F et al. “SHBG levels correlate with insulin resistance in postmenopausal women.” Eur J Intern Med 20:162-167 (2009). Winters SJ et al. “Sex hormone-binding globulin gene expression and insulin resistance.” J Clin Endocrinol Metab 99:E2780-2788 (2014). Markovic TP et al. “The determinants of glycemic responses to diet restriction and weight loss in obesity and NIDDM.” Diabetes Care 21:687-694 (1998).
Runners: To Carb Load or Not to Carb Load
Eating a giant bowl of spaghetti, three bagels and a couple of baked potatoes right before a big event is actually hurting your athletic performance. According to Dr. Sears, the idea that you should load up on carbohydrates the night before a race is a myth. Eating a giant bowl of spaghetti, three bagels and a couple of baked potatoes right before a big event is actually hurting your athletic performance. According to Dr. Sears, the idea that you should load up on carbohydrates the night before a race is a myth. Mary Perry talks about what inspired her to train for three marathons and conveys training nutrition best practices, while sharing Dr. Sears' expertise on the concept of carb loading for athletes. My first job in Boston was located at about the 24-mile mark on the Boston Marathon route, not far from the Citgo sign at Fenway. In April, during the big race, my coworkers and I would take some time to go and stand on the sidelines looking for names on t-shirts, or something to identify individuals, so we could cheer them on as they went on to complete the last 2.2 miles. Watching all of these runners with various levels of athleticism, spanning the ages of 20-70+, running either for charity or because they had qualifying times was absolutely inspiring. I saw that with the appropriate training, fueling, and determination that they didn’t have to be born runners to do this. This became my motivation to train and complete three marathons myself. What I learned about performance nutrition during my training It can be an individual journey involving a lot of trial and error to figure out what your body needs, when it needs it, and how to stay adequately hydrated, especially when Mother Nature is involved. I remember during my first marathon I was shocked to see that my weight was creeping up during my training instead of going down despite my activity level. Looking back, it was a combination of not being as active on the days I trained due to soreness and fatigue, relying heavily on carbohydrates, and thinking I needed more calories than I actually did for all this activity. I began training for my second marathon shortly after starting my job at Zone Labs. Although at that point, I didn’t know what I know today, that even simple changes like decreasing carbohydrates and bumping up protein helped me to train smarter. Despite having an injury and having to spend the last two months doing non-running activities, I was able to get through my second marathon without gaining weight and optimizing how I fueled. Although I’ll never see a qualifying time for the Boston Marathon, I was able to shave 27 minutes off my first marathon, which was my personal best. With more and more individuals taking part in endurance events, whether they participate in marathons, triathlons, or the Ironman, there is a lot of advice out there from coaches, the internet, and apps on how people should train and fuel their bodies in order to successfully complete these races. Yet, an internet search may not be the best way to learn about good training nutrition. Carbs are good, but must be balanced According to Dr. Barry Sears, carbohydrates play an important role in athletic performance, but their over-consumption limits our body’s ability to use fat as an energy source. Fat should be considered “high-octane” fuel as you can generate far more energy (i.e. ATP production) from a gram of fat compared to a gram of carbohydrate. To maximize energy production, you want the enzymes in the mitochondria (the site in the cell that produces ATP) to have the maximum ability to burn both fat and carbohydrates. Being able to switch between carbohydrates and fats as an energy source is called “metabolic flexibility.” You can increase or decrease your metabolic flexibility with the composition of your diet. Depending on the balance of carbohydrates and fat in the diet, the mitochondria will adapt their enzyme composition to maximize energy production based on which fuel it is able to access. If you are eating a high-carbohydrate diet, the mitochondria adapt by making more of the carbohydrate-metabolizing enzymes and less of the fat-metabolizing enzymes. The end result is that you are stuck using glucose, which is, for an athlete, the equivalent of putting low octane fuel into a Maserati. The results are much better using fat or high-octane fuel. So if you want the greatest metabolic flexibility your diet should consist of relatively equal intakes of both carbohydrates and fat. Balancing your hormones play a role in sports nutrition Dr. Sears further believes the balance of the hormones insulin and glucagon play a role in good sports nutrition. If you are eating a high-carbohydrate, low-protein diet, your blood sugar levels will constantly rise and fall. Carbohydrates stimulate insulin secretion which drives down blood sugar levels, whereas protein stimulates glucagon secretion which increases your blood sugar levels. You need a balance of the two so that blood sugar levels remain stable. This is why as an endurance athlete you have to work to balance your blood sugar levels at each and every meal as well as maintain metabolic flexibility. It may sound difficult, but it’s pretty easy. How to get into the performance Zone To maximize performance, a good diet leading up to race day is one that contains about equal levels of carbohydrate, protein, and fat on a caloric basis. The ideal diet is the Zone Diet™ because it is based upon your protein requirements, and from that knowledge you can automatically generate the amount of carbohydrate and fat you need for metabolic flexibility as well as maintain stable blood glucose levels. Your diet should be comprised of colorful vegetables and fruits, adequate amounts of lean protein to maintain muscle mass, and enough good fats like those found in olive oil, nuts and seeds to displace omega-6 and saturated fats known to cause inflammation. Eating like this will give your body the metabolic flexibility it needs to convert whatever fuel you use on race day into the energy you need to compete at your highest level. By following The Zone Diet, and including Zone PastaRx in your diet instead of your old carb loading, you will develop a powerful advantage over your competitors.{{cta('daffa570-1055-4766-af51-e09d66a17e47')}}
Olive Oil: The Good, the Bad & the Ugly
Olive oil can be considered the first nutrition supplement since its first use more than 6,000 years ago. We now know the reason: the polyphenols. The Good – Olives Contain Unique Anti-Inflammatory Properties Olives are a fruit, not a seed. As a result, it contains unique types of polyphenols not found in other fruits and vegetables. Tyrosol, hydroxytryrosol, oleocanthal and oleuropein each provide unique anti-inflammatory properties. This is why olive oil was so prized in the ancient world and remains an integral component of the Mediterranean diet. That’s the good. The Bad – The Impact of Pesticides Polyphenols are the reason that olive oil has health benefits for humans, but they have even greater health benefits to the olive fruit itself. It is polyphenols that protect plants from microbial attack. Once you start using pesticides to increase production, the plants generally decrease the product of polyphenols since it requires a lot of energy to produce them. This effect is more profound in fruits than vegetables. However, not all conventionally grown fruits and vegetables have high levels of chemical residues. It really depends on how they are farmed. The following table outlines these varying levels of chemical residues in conventional fruits and vegetables. Most Commonly Contaminated Moderate Commonly Contamination Least Commonly Contaminated Apples Celery Strawberries Peaches Spinach Nectarines Grapes-Foreign Sweet Bell Peppers Potatoes Blueberries Lettuce Kale/Collard Greens Green Beans Summer Squash Peppers Cucumbers Raspberries Grapes - Domestic Plums Oranges Cauliflower Tangerines Bananas Winter Squash Cranberries Onions Sweet Corn Pineapples Avocado Asparagus Sweet Peas Eggplant Cantaloupe Kiwi Cabbage Sweet Potato Grapefruit Mushrooms What about olives? Although many olive growers don’t use herbicides or pesticides, you never really know those who do. Finding certified organic extra-virgin olive oil is always your best bet for maximum polyphenol content. More importantly, the taste of organic olive oil is always significantly better than conventional olive oils. The Really Ugly – Your Olive Oil May Be Faking It Since olive oil is valuable, it is likely to be adulterated by adding other inferior substances. This was a problem in even ancient Roman times where containers were stamped with official seals to make it difficult to adulterate the oil. Today, the problem is far more widespread with nearly 70% of extra-virgin oil olive being sold in the U.S. having been adulterated. Harvesting Perfect Olives What's a consumer to do in a world of pesticides and adulterated olive oil? It has to taste great (which it does) and be rich in polyphenols (that we analyze in every lot, because like Fox Mulder of the X-Files says: “we trust no one”). I searched out the few organic cooperatives in Italy making high quality extra-virgin olive oil. Then, we harvested in late fall, followed by processing over the winter. Then the various processed lots were tested for polyphenol content. Those lots that met our polyphenol requirements were bottled and brought to the U.S. under the Zone brand. We purchased the entire year’s production that met our quality standards. It wasn’t much, but those olives made about 190 cases worth of Dr. Sears’ Zone Extra Virgin Olive Oil. And we have it all. Branding is crucial. With my Zone Extra-Virgin Olive Oil, you can have the ideal anti-inflammatory condiment for every meal – at least while it lasts. As of today, we have less than 100 cases of Dr. Sears’ Zone Extra Virgin Olive Oil remaining in stock. Order yours today.{{cta('daffa570-1055-4766-af51-e09d66a17e47')}} References: Faller ALK and Fialho E. “Polyphenol content and anti-oxidant capacity in organic and conventional plant foods.” J Food Composition and Analysis 23: 561-568 (2010). Muller T. Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil. W.W. Norton. New York, NY (2013). Blechman N. “Extra virgin suicide: The adulteration of Italian Olive Oil.”
Omega-3 Fatty Acids Improve Athletic Performance
We often think of omega-3 fatty acids in terms of treating chronic disease. However, there are a great number of reasons why the increased intake of omega-3 fatty acids can also increase athletic performance (1). That’s why the athletes I have personally worked with have won 25 Gold Medals in the past five Olympics, starting with the Stanford University swimmers who won seven Gold Medals in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics (2). For all of them, the use of high-dose omega-3 fatty acids was a key dietary factor. There are several mechanisms as to why omega-3 fatty acids exert their actions. So let me describe in detail what happens at the molecular level to improve athletic performance. Increased deformability of red blood cells to improve oxygen transfer to muscle cells increasing ATP production Red blood cells can only transfer oxygen to the muscle tissue as they squeeze through the capillary beds that surround the muscle tissue. The diameter of the capillary is actually less than the diameter of the red blood cell, thus the greater the deformability of the red blood cell, the more rapidly it can transfer oxygen to the muscle cell. With higher intakes of oxygen, the muscle can make more ATP to fuel contractions. Blood doping and taking EPO to increase the number of red blood cells is rather crude and dangerous technology. This is because the viscosity of the blood increases giving rising to increased clotting and a general slowing of the blood flow through the capillary bed. It is like one step forward and one step back. The dangerous part comes from increased blood clotting that led to the deaths of several professional cyclists in the 1990s. Increasing the deformability of the red blood cell with increased omega-3 intake is a much more sophisticated and healthy approach for improving oxygen transfer at every level of athletic performance (3). Reduction of inflammation due to muscle damage induced by intense exercise To train intensely means creating muscle damage. This damage causes inflammation. The most extreme cause is delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), which can take several days (if not longer) for the inflammation to be resolved. Increasing the intake of omega-3 fatty acids will not only decrease the impact of DOMS, but also increase the resolution of any existing damage so that recovery times are significantly decreased. High-dose omega-3 fatty acids can reduce this type of exercise-induced muscle damage (4-9). Increase in anti-oxidant status Surprisingly, omega-3 fatty acids can also act as gene transcription factors to increase the levels of anti-oxidative enzymes in the blood and the muscles (10). These anti-oxidant enzymes are exceptionally powerful in quenching excess free- radical formation caused during intense exercise. Increase in fatty acid transport molecules to get more fatty acids into the mitochondria for ATP production You can make far greater amounts of ATP from a molecule of fatty acid than from a molecule of glucose. The only problem is having to transport the fatty acid across the muscle membrane so it can be oxidized by the mitochondria. This process is sped by the presence of fatty-acid transport proteins that are specifically designed to do exactly that. The higher intake of omega-3 fatty acids activates those genes that cause the expression of higher levels of these fatty-acid transport proteins to lead to greater ATP production (11). Increased gene expression of fat-burning enzymes by activation of PPAR alpha Even if you get the fatty acids into the cells, you still have to have the enzymes that burn them for energy. These fatty-acid oxidation enzymes are increased if the PPAR alpha gene transcription factor is activated. Omega-3 fatty acids are specific activators of this gene transcription factor (12-14). Improved metabolic fuel flexibility The key to athletic performance is metabolic flexibility (15). This means being able to use both fatty acids and glucose with equal efficiency to generate ATP. The omega-3 fatty acids activate the gene transcription factor that ensures that the athlete will have maximum metabolic flexibility to allow the greatest generation of ATP with the least amount of calories. This is especially important in endurance racing when the anaerobic threshold is rarely exceeded for any extended period of time (like in a sprint). Below the anaerobic threshold, the muscles can switch to fat for ATP generation thus preserving glucose for those times the athlete exceeds the anaerobic threshold. Increased production of muscle protein synthesis Any type of intense athletic training will cause muscle protein damage. Your recovery time is based on the time to repair the damage and synthesize new muscle protein. It has been shown that omega-3 fatty acids can increase this rate of muscle protein synthesis and thus reduce recovery times (16). Increase in vasodilation of the capillary bed One of the major factors in determining VO2 max (the maximum oxygen transfer rate) is the size of the capillary bed. Omega-3 fatty acids can also increased the vasodilation of the capillary bed to increase blood flow and thus increased oxygen transfer (17-21). Improvement of mood and emotional states Athletic performance is as much mental as physical especially the control of mood and emotions. Omega-3 fatty acids have been constantly demonstrated to improve both the psychological state as well as changing brain-wave patterns to ones associated with less agitation and greater calm (22). Faster reaction times in complex reaction time situations Omega-3 fatty acids are integral components of nerve fibers, especially at the synapse where they are found in high concentrations. Increases in the intake of omega-3 fatty acids have been demonstrated to dramatically improve reaction times, especially in complex testing environments (23,24). Birds do it Long-distance migratory birds do natural “omega-3 doping” by consuming large of amounts of small crustaceans rich in omega-3 fatty acids in Canadian waters prior to embarking on 4500 km of non-stop flying over the ocean without rest or water. Their primary fuel is fat. This is only possible since they have higher levels of fatty acid transport proteins in their muscle cells, which allows for greater use of fat as a fuel source. Their high intake of omega-3 fatty acids increases the production of these fatty-acid transport proteins (25-28). Buyer Beware: Fish oil potency, purity, and stability This sounds great except you have to be aware of the following two caveats: (a) You have to take enough omega-3 fatty acids to make a difference, and (b) the omega-3 fatty acids that you do take had better be pure and free from rancidity. Refined fish-oil products can have significant benefits in athletic performance, ranging from improved blood flow through the capillary bed to deliver more oxygen, to reducing inflammation induced by intense training, to decreasing recovery times, and finally to improving mood. This is true only if adequate levels of omega-3 fatty acids are consumed. The elite athlete will need about 5 to 7.5 grams of EPA and DHA per day to get these performance benefits. Unfortunately at those EPA and DHA levels, one has to be very concerned about the potency, purity and stability of the fish oil. Potency: Adequate levels of omega-3 fatty acids are needed to make a difference So how can you tell if you are taking enough? The answer is by checking the ratio of arachidonic acid (AA) to eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) in the blood. This AA/EPA ratio should be between 1.5 and 3 to maximize already discussed performance benefits. This is why titrating your blood to this desired AA/EPA range of the AA/EPA ratio may be far more important than using heart-rate monitoring as a training device. This is where potency comes in. You could potentially get that level of omega-3 fatty acids by taking 2 to 3 tablespoons of cod liver oil every day. Since cod liver oil is one of the worst-tasting food products known to man (as well as one of the richest in toxins such as PCBs as discussed below), this would be a short-lived habit. Encapsulated fish oil can range from low-quality fish oil containing 300 mg of EPA and DHA per capsule to a much more highly refined fish oil (i.e. higher purity) containing 600 mg of EPA and DHA per capsule like OmegaRx®. To get a meaningful dose of fish oil to improve athletic performance, you would have to consume 16-25 capsules of low-quality fish oil or 8-12 capsules of OmegaRx®. The best choice may be liquid OmegaRx® that requires only 2-3 teaspoons per day. The good news is that liquid OmegaRx® doesn’t taste all that bad and doesn’t repeat on you like the cheaper, low-purity versions. Purity An unfortunate fact is that all fish oils are contaminated with toxins such as mercury, PCBs, and others. This is because all fish are contaminated with the same toxins. However, when you extract the fish oil, these toxins become concentrated in the crude fish oil. To make it suitable for human consumption, you have to significantly refine the crude oil. This is why cod liver oil is the most contaminated of all fish oils. It comes directly from the cod liver where those toxins tend to concentrate and it is not refined to remove those toxins. The extent of refining determines not only the potency but also the purity. The best measure of fish oil purity is the levels of PCBs in the fish oil. PCBs are neurotoxins and carcinogens and cause acceleration of heart disease at relatively low levels. All fish in the world today contain PCBs. This is why refined fish oil is superior to eating most fish to get adequate levels of EPA and DHA. The PCB standard used in the fish oil industry is 90 parts per billion (ppb). This calculates out to be 90 ng of PCBs in a one-gram fish-oil capsule. For comparison, 90 ng is equivalent to adding one drop of water to five Olympic size swimming pools. That doesn’t seem like a lot, but in the state of California any product that provides more than 90 ng of PCB per daily serving requires a warning label to be put on that product. This means taking more than 1 or 2 capsules of the low-quality fish oil is actually potentially dangerous to your health, as it would contain more than 90 ng of PCB on a daily basis. Therefore it is impossible get a performance improvement using a low-quality fish oil because to get any performance benefits, you would have to consume levels that would exceed the upper PCB standard set by the state of California. To get the levels of EPA and DHA required for significant performance benefits, the fish oil must have PCB levels of less than 5 ppb (5 ng per gram of oil) and ideally less than 1 ppb. There are very few fish oils in the world that meet that rigid standard. OmegaRx® is the only one to consistently meet such a rigorous standard. For the consumer there are no requirements for any fish oil product to put the levels of PCBs on the label. So a good rule of thumb is to assume that every fish oil product contains 90 ppb unless the levels of PCBs in that particular lot are posted on the website of the company. Zone Labs is the only company in the industry to actually do this. Others (including drug companies that sell prescription products) do not routinely test since it is expensive, and their results would be embarrassing when compared to those of Zone Labs. Hopefully, we are beyond the old days when the phrase “trust me” was enough. Rancidity Then there is the problem of rancidity. Fish oils, especially those rich in EPA and DHA, can oxidize rapidly. When they oxidize, they smell. So a lot of companies add flavors to cover the rancidity. Your nose might miss it, but your cells will not when they are exposed to the rancid oil. Rancid oils contain aldehydes (think of formaldehyde) that can damage your DNA. The standard way to determine rancidity of any edible is called TOTOX (total oxidation), which formula that calculates the combination of peroxides, aldehydes, and ketones in the oil. If the TOTOX if is above a certain level, then the oil is considered unsuitable for human consumption. Again, never trust a manufacturer unless they can tell you exactly what the TOTOX level is in the finished oil that you are purchasing. Zone Labs is again the only company that posts such information on its website for every lot produced. If this information not available to you, then it’s buyer beware. Summary High quality fish oils like OmegaRx can be a powerful dietary tool to bring your athletic performance to a much higher level, but only if the product is potent, pure, and free of rancidity. If you are not taking the correct levels of omega-3 fatty acids, then it is unlikely that you will see the potential performance benefits just as athletes would not see in performance benefits by training a very low intensity instead of training near their anaerobic threshold. But if you do take high enough levels of OmegaRx®, then you have the same dietary tool used by those 25 Olympic Gold Medal winners who have followed my advice for years.{{cta('cd305230-6e34-42f6-9e2c-c2beda556f50')}} References: Mickelborough. “Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in physical performance optimization.” Int J Sport Nutr Exec Metab 23: 83-96 (2013). Whitten. “Stanford’s Secret Weapon.” Swimming World. March/April (1993). Brucker et al. “Fish oil increase peripheral capillary blood cell velocity in humans.” Atherosclerosis 66: 237-245 (1987). Ernst et al. “n-3 fatty acids and acute-phase proteins.” Eur J Clin Invest 21: 77-82 (1991). Phillips et al. “A dietary supplement attenuates IL-6 and CRP after eccentric exercise in untrained males.” Med Sci Sports Exerc 35:2032-2037 (2003). Bloomer et al. “Effect of eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acid on resting and exercise-induced inflammatory and oxidative stress biomarkers.” Lipids Health Dis. 8:36 (2009). Tartibian et al. “The effects of ingestion of omega-3 fatty acids on perceived pain and external symptoms of delayed onset muscle soreness in untrained men.” Clin J Sport Med 19: 115-119 (2009). Jouris et al. “The effect of omega-3 fatty acid supplementation on the inflammatory response to eccentric strength exercise.” J Sports Sci Med 10:432-438 (2011). Lembke et al. “Influence of omega-3 index on performance and wellbeing in young adults after heavy eccentric exercise.” J Sports Sci Med 13:1510156 (2014). Poprzecki et al. “Modification of blood antioxidant status and lipid profile in response to high-intensity endurance exercise after low doses of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation in healthy volunteers. Int J Food Sci Nutr 60:67-79 (2009). Clavel et al. “Effect of endurance training and/or fish oil supplemented diet on cytoplasmic fatty acid binding protein in rat skeletal muscles and heart.” Eur J Appl Physiol 87: 193-201 (2002). Su and Jones. “Dietary fatty acid composition influences energy accretion in rats.” J Nutr 123:2109-2114 (1993). Clark and Jump. “Polyunsaturated fatty acids regulate lipogenic and peroxisomal gene expression by independent mechanisms.” Prostaglandins, Leukotrienes, and Essential Fatty Acids 57: 65-69 (1997). Hostetler et al. “Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha interacts with high affinity and is conformationally responsive to endogenous ligands.” J Biol Chem 280: 18667-18682 (2005). Weber. “Metabolic fuels: regulating fluxes to select mix.” J Exp Biol 214: 286-294 (2011). Rodacki et al. “Fish oil supplementation enhances the effects of strength training in elderly women.” Am J Clin Nutr 95: 428-436 (2012). Huffman et al. “Effect of n-3 fatty acids on free tryptophan and exercise fatigue.” Eur J Appl Physiol 92:584-591 (2004). Tartibian et al. “The effects of omega-3 supplementation on pulmonary function of young wrestlers during intensive training: J Sci Med Sport 13:281-286 (2013). Kawabata et al. “Supplementation with eicosapentaenoic acid-rich fish oil improves exercise economy and reduces perceived exertion during submaximal steady-stat exercise in normal healthy untrained men.” Biosci Biotechnology Biochem 78: 2081-2088 (2014). Lewis et al. “21 days of mammalian omega-3 fatty acid supplementation improves aspects of neuromuscular function and performance in male athletes compare to olive oil placebo.” J Int Soc Sports Nutr 12:28 (2015). Zebrowska et al. “Omega-3 fatty acids supplementation improves endothelial function and maximal oxygen uptake in endurance-trained athletes.” Eur J Sport Sci 15: 305-314 (2015). Fontani et al. “Blood profiles, body fat and mood state in healthy subjects on different diets supplemented by omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids.” Eur J Clin Invest 35:499-507-699 (2005). Fontani et al. “Cognitive and physiological effects of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation in healthy subjects.” Eur J Clin Invest 35:691-699 (2005). Guzman et al. “DHA-rich fish oil improves complex reaction time in female elite soccer players.” J Sports Sci Med 10:301-305 (2011). Guglielmo et al. “Seasonal dynamics of flight muscle fatty acid binding proteins and catabolic enzymes in a migratory shorebird.” Amer J Physiol 282: R1405-R1413 (2002). Guglielmo et al. “Move that fatty acid: fuel selection and transport in migratory birds and bats.” Integr Comp Biol 50:336-345 (2010). Maillet and Weber. “Performance enhancing role of dietary fatty acids in a long-distance migrant shorebird.” J Exp Bio 209: 2686-2695 (2006). Maillet and Weber. “Relationship between n-3 PUFA content and energy metabolism in the flight muscles of a migrating shorebird.” J Exp Biol 210: 413-420 (2007).
10 Tips for Back-to-School Eating
The circulars are out, and the commercials have begun. Sad to say, but back-to-school time is near. For those just beginning their college career, I’m sure the dreaded term “Freshman 15” has already been uttered. While this number is inflated, the reality is that over the course of one’s college career, weight gain is likely to occur, just more to the tune of 5 to 10 pounds. Rather than starting the school year thinking the odds are stacked against you, a few simple tips make this one course you can Ace while keeping your energy high and weight in check! Start Your Day With Breakfast: It’s easy to skip breakfast, especially with those early morning classes, but you’ve just come off potentially 6-8 hours with no food, and your body needs this nourishment to get through the day. Try an omelet, cottage cheese, or plain yogurt with fruit to boost protein intake and have sustainable energy throughout the day. Eat Small, Frequent Meals Throughout the Day: By eating regular meals throughout the day, perhaps 3 meals and 2 snacks, you’ll keep your blood sugar constant, eliminating the urge to run to the University café for a coffee and pastry mid-afternoon. Avoid the Simple Carbs: When the majority of our diet is made up of simple carbohydrates in the form of candy, pastries, desserts, breads and pastas; it can wreak havoc on our bodies between making us fatigued and hungry and causing our blood sugar to rise and fall rapidly. It’s the hormonal imbalances from eating these foods that packs the pounds on and keeps them on. Moderate Your Alcohol Intake: While avoiding alcohol is unlikely for most, limiting intake or the number of drinks at a time may be. Stick with light beers as opposed to sugar laden-beverages that pack on a big calorie punch. (Long Island Iced Tea, 8oz. 275 calories!) Try to couple your alcohol intake with some type of protein (boneless chicken wings) to stabilize blood sugar and prevent alcohol-induced hunger. One of the big culprits in the weight-gain department is the late-night food order after a night of drinking. Not only do you have all the calories from the alcohol, but you might add on another 500-1,000 in food. Typically, it takes so long for the food to arrive that you’ve either fallen asleep or aren’t even hungry when it gets there! Opt to have a few lighter snacks on hand so you can have a small bite and go to bed instead. Drink Water: If you ignore the previous instruction to avoid alcohol, at least counter dehydration with water. Studies show that drinking at least 16 ounces of water before a meal can curb your caloric intake at that meal. It’s tempting to have soda or energy drinks for those late nights, but all these do is make you jittery and add on pounds. If you’re eating consistently throughout the day and making sure you have protein at each meal, you’ll be able to breeze through those late nights and retain more. Know How to Navigate the School Menu: When selecting an entrée, choose one that isn’t drenched in dressings, cream based sauces or cheese. Look for these key words when ordering as most likely it means they are healthier choices: Baked, Broiled, Boiled, Poached, Steamed, Roasted, Grilled, Stir-fried. Choose an entrée with lean protein like chicken or fish and ask for extra vegetables in place of starches or bread. For salads, add chicken, fish or even steak on top for protein and get the dressing on the side. Off-campus dining or eating-in: It seems like the cafeteria loses steam part way through the year making off campus dining enticing or resorting to peanut butter and jelly or cereal instead. Don’t fall into this trap. Many colleges offer grab-and-go choices, which are healthy. Some universities have sushi to go or will serve hot entrees to go. If are bringing it back to your room, grab a broth-based soup, a grilled chicken Caesar salad (be mindful of the dressing), or a turkey, tuna, or chicken sandwich (watch the condiments and go for a wheat wrap or eat it open faced). Grab a yogurt, cheese sticks and fruit as snacks to fuel you through the late-night studying that awaits you. Stay active: Pending how big your campus is, it’s easy to get in the habit of taking the bus, especially when the winter months kick in, and the campus feels like a wind tunnel. Fight the urge to become sedentary by walking to your classes, parking your car far away, and maintaining your gym routine. Avoid the Mindless Eating: Avoid having food around when you are prone to not be aware of how much you are actually consuming. Try not to have huge bags of chips or snacks around when studying as you’ll finish the bag without even knowing it. If you feel the need to have a bite, portion it out so that you know how much you’re getting or take a break and step away from the books so you are at least mindful of what you’re eating. Get on the scale: You might have to pop into the gym to do this, but hopping on the scale at the same time each week is helpful to monitor trends. Establish a red zone. Once the scale hits the 5lb mark, you know you need to start cutting back or changing habits. Knowing your number keeps you in check and keeps you being completely flabbergasted when you go home for break only to learn that you’ve gained 5-10lbs! {{cta('daffa570-1055-4766-af51-e09d66a17e47')}}
How Sleep Affects Our Health
If you were asked to list some of the consequences of sleep deprivation, you may think decreased productivity, irritability, nodding off while driving, even on the job errors, but what about chronic disease? Many of us are familiar with how lack of sleep can influence our daily routines, but when it comes to our overall health, that’s a different story. Sleep deprivation increases our risk for hypertension, diabetes, obesity, depression, heart attacks, and stroke.1 With a third of the U.S. population being obese, researchers are continually investigating what drives our food intake and ways to prevent overconsumption. Sleep deprivation is emerging as a contributor to increased consumption, and a recent study in the Journal of Health Psychology set out to investigate the mechanisms that underlie this relationship (2). Below is a breakdown of the four mechanisms and how they relate to greater food intake. Homeostasis: The drive to eat increases after sleep deprivation to compensate for the additional hours the body has been awake. This can equate to a 20% increase in calories without the individual perceiving any change in the pleasantness of food or drive to eat.2 Cognition: With lack of sleep comes a decrease in cognitive function (e.g., executive control, goal-oriented behaviors, impulses, and emotion). This has been linked to less mindfulness around eating and increased intake of high-fat foods and limited intake of fruits and vegetables. Emotion: Emotional stress and negativity are more prominent with lack of sleep leading individuals to consume foods that are more pleasing and rewarding and associated positive feelings. In addition, the brain’s response to reward is heightened during this time, making high-carbohydrate and high-fat foods more appealing. Behavioral: Individuals are shown to be more impulsive and show less restraint with lack of sleep. This translates into not being able to curb thoughts and behaviors around food and the “throwing-in-the towel” type approach to eating. Sleep is something many of us wish we could get more of but how many zzzz’s do you need? The answer varies with age. School-age children need about 10 hours of sleep daily, teens 9-10 hours, and adults 7-8 hours. Unfortunately, most adults are probably clocking in at less than 6 hours per night, which over the long-term can wreak havoc on our waistlines and overall health. A few things that can help on the sleep front are to avoid large meals prior to bed, stick with a consistent rise-and-shine time/bedtime, avoid caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine and minimize screen time.3 If it just doesn’t seem feasible to get more sleep, make sure to rein in your diet. Following an anti-inflammatory eating plan like the Zone Diet will help keep hunger at bay giving you more willpower to avoid high-fat, high-carbohydrate foods. {{cta('87c8c0a6-ef37-4bb1-aa9c-424b0d5ed28c')}} References Institute of Medicine. Sleep Disorders and Sleep Deprivation: An Unmet Public Health Problem. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press; 2006. Lundahl A, Nelson TD. Sleep and food intake: A multisystem review of mechanisms in children and adults. J Health Psychol. 2015 Jun;20(6):794-805. Insufficient Sleep is a Public Health Epidemic. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/features/dssleep/ Accessed: June 12, 2015.
What Are the Colors of the Zone?
Fruits and vegetables pack a nutrient punch, but the key to their nutrition is not only vitamins and minerals but also the polyphenols they contain. Polyphenols are naturally occurring compounds in plants that are produced for their self-protection against the sun and disease. They have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties so the greater our consumption, the more health benefits we stand to gain. Here I’ll break down what each color has to offer, but the main thing to remember is to aim for a rainbow of colors in your diet so you can reap all their benefits. Red: Examples: Tomatoes, strawberries, raspberries, red peppers, apples The pigments lycopene and anthocyanins give this group its bright red color. Lycopene is an antioxidant that has been linked to reducing certain cancers. Unlike other fruits and vegetables, cooking foods rich in lycopene, like tomatoes, actually enhances its activity. Anthocyanins are known for the powerful antioxidants they produce and can help protect our cells from damage. Yellow/Orange: Examples: Carrots, apricots, oranges, yellow peppers Carotenoids are responsible for the yellow/orange color in this group. The carotenoid beta-carotene can be converted into vitamin A ,which helps promote eye health. Other benefits to consuming this group is that it’s been linked to a reduced risk of certain cancers, heart disease, and improved immune function. This group is also rich in vitamin C, vitamin A, and folate. Green: Examples: Brussel sprouts, broccoli, cabbage, asparagus, spinach Chlorophyll is responsible for the deep-green color in this group. The primary polyphenols include isothiocyanates and indoles, which are found primarily in cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and cabbage and are known for their anti-cancer properties. Leafy green vegetables are rich in lutein, which is known for its role in eye health and helping to protect against age-related macular degeneration. This group is also rich in vitamin K, folic acid, potassium, and carotenoids. Blue/Purple: Examples: Blueberries, maqui berries, blackberries, eggplant Just like the red group, anthocyanins are responsible for this group’s color too. The darker the color, the higher the concentration of polyphenols. The most potent of the anthocyanins are called delphinidins. Currently, the maqui berry is the richest known natural source of delphinidins to date. Anthocyanins are powerful antioxidants that may reduce the risk for cancer, stroke, and heart disease. Increased consumption of berries, especially blueberries, has been associated with improved memory and healthy aging. White: Examples: Garlic, onions, cauliflower, mushrooms This may be one exception to where eating white foods can actually be beneficial to your health. Anthoxanthins are the pigments that result in this group’s white color. They contain a chemical named allicin, which may lower cholesterol and blood pressure and may help reduce stomach cancer and heart disease. This group also contains some potassium rich foods and did you know that mushrooms exposed to sunlight can be a good source of Vitamin D2 too? {{cta('87c8c0a6-ef37-4bb1-aa9c-424b0d5ed28c')}} References: Fruits and Veggies Matter More. Available at: http://www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org/taste-a-rainbow-of-fruits-and-veggies. Accessed: 6/2/15. What Color is in Your Food. Available at: http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/yf/foods/fn595.pdf. Accessed: 6/3/15. Schaeffer J. Color Me Healthy- Eating for a Rainbox of Benefits. Today’s Dietitian. Vol 10 No. 11 P. 34. Vitamin D in Mushrooms. Available at: http://www.ars.usda.gov/SP2UserFiles/Place/80400525/Articles/AICR09_Mushroom_VitD.pdf. Accessed: 6/3/15.
-
Ketogenic Diets and Aging
Oct 03, 24
-
Tofu: Tips and Recipes Ideas
Oct 03, 24
-
Dr. Sears Q&A: Weight Loss
Oct 03, 24
