Here’s the second installment from our guest blogger, Max Shippee of CrossFit HAX. Check out his first post here. Today he’s kindly providing you with some information on post-workout meals: the timing of it and what exactly to put in your mouth. Enjoy!

“Food. You mean post-workout food.”

“I thought shakes were best.”

“The Native Americans didn’t make a smoothie out of the buffalo; they ate it.”

You’ve got your nutrition dialed in, you prepare your meals ahead of time to stay on track, but you think there could be a bit more to your metabolism than “pick it or kick it.”

Eating After a Big Workout

In addition to what we eat, when to eat can also make a difference. Post-workout meals (sometimes shakes) can be an important part of your nutritional plan for better health and wellness. I’ve found that the harder your workout, the more important your post-workout nutrition is. If your workout is watching an episode of Dancing with the Stars while walking on the treadmill, just be sure you’re re-hydrated after your miles are finished. If you’re fortunate enough to be a regular at a local CrossFit gym, or if you regularly finish your workout on your back from exhaustion, then getting something more substantial into your system will make a big difference in how your body recovers from that workout and prepares for the next.

The good news is that you can crank up the carbs (sweet potatoes, etc.) a bit for this meal, since your glucose levels will most likely be depleted. The bad news is that you have to get it in quick. The key is timing. You have about 30 minutes, or on the very outside edge, 45 minutes to get something into your belly. During this time, your body is primed to take in quality calories. For example, your cells are more sensitive to insulin, enabling the movement of what you eat, good or bad, into the muscles & other cells for refueling and rebuilding. Upping your carbs is fine for this meal, only if you get enough protein. Eating a huge bowl of fruit isn’t going to refuel and rebuild you nearly as much as adding in a good dose of grass fed.

I find that if I get in something at around the twenty-minute mark, not only do I not feel hungry later, but I feel amazing and energized for hours afterward. From a Paleo perspective, this makes logical sense: The only time we would have worked ourselves into an exhausted pool of hard pounding sweat as  hunter-gatherers would have been just after we chased down something big to eat (raw bison liver anyone?).

For those post-workout calories, real food is always a superior choice over a protein shake. Planning ahead will make it easier to have real food available. On Sundays, I like to make a batch of Paleo Chicken Fajita Salad to last all week. I pack it in a lunch bag to bring to the gym. Yeah, I’m that guy.

Protein powders aren’t the best, but…

Of course, for some people, getting in those calories in the best time frame can be really tricky. You might need that option of a protein, or meal replacement shake. Finding a ready-made mix that is truly still Paleo can be damn near impossible, since whey (dairy) is the most common form of powdered protein. Even if you make that one dairy exception for your beloved protein shake, it’s likely that whey came from a factory farmed cow… And it’s extremely hard to track down where other potentially Paleo friendly sources, like egg, originated (most of those eggs are factory farmed in China…)

If we now know that companies were putting melamine in baby formula, we need to ask and find out what they may be putting in that “pure” protein. I’ve seen some products that I thought looked very promising only to turn them over and see something like aspartame on the ingredients list. (Don’t know why you shouldn’t be eating aspartame? Watch this.

What to Look for in A Protein Powder

If you have to have a meal replacement, try to buy the protein with the least amount of ingredients, sticking to those which have just protein, i.e. just powdered egg whites—no flavorings, no additives. If you’re feeling hardcore, you can even make your own mayonnaise with egg yolks, and save the whites for your shakes (so much for convenience). There’s a couple good recipes out there involving sweet potatoes, coconut milk, egg whites and a few other ingredients that are pretty darn tasty. If you are using egg whites, it may be smart to pop a digestive enzyme beforehand, due to the active anti-nutrients (trypsin inhibitors and avidin) in the egg white that are present to protect anything evil from getting to the yolk (these are otherwise neutralized by cooking). It’s also not the smartest thing to eat conventionally raised eggs raw, since they can have really high levels of harmful bacteria on the shells and in the eggs themselves. Opt for pasture raised eggs from a small farm if you can.

If you’re surfing this blog, and taking advantage of this incredible resource, you’re already on your way to greater health and longevity. Add to that a goal of three intense workouts a week (more on that in a future post) with proper post-workout nutrition, and your co-workers will start to ask, “No really, what are you doing?” You might even catch your spouse straining his neck to get a little look before you step in the shower. 

August 17th, 2011

freetheanimal.com

Liquid Fat Bomb Smoothie: The Ultimate “Energy Drink” That Will Blow Your Mind

You have to laugh. In today’s world of industrially engineered food and drink, the term “energy drink” is merely euphemism for sugar drink. Yea, some are laced with caffein, for added “energy.” And naturally, engineering being what it is, you don’t even have to look to know that cans of that crap probably contain upwards of 8 teaspoons and more of sugar in a single can. There are 4 grams in a tsp of sugar, all carbohydrate, so an “energy drink” sporting 30 grams of rapidly assimilating carbohydrate in liquid form is about 7-8 teaspoons.

Now, let me ask a dumb question. How many of you would put 8 teaspoons of sugar into any 10 or 12 oz. unsweetened drink? Anyway, enough of that nonsense.

As anyone with an ounce of true nutritional sense knows, fat is the ultimate source of energy, both dietary and body fat. It’s simple. A gram of carbohydrate like sugar or HFCS has 4 kilocalories of energy, while a gram of fat has 9 — more than twice as much, gram for gram.

But there’s one kind of fat that’s a bit special, medium chain triglyceride (MCT). What’s special about it?

MCTs passively diffuse from the GI tract to the portal system (longer fatty acids are absorbed into the lymphatic system) without requirement for modification like long-chain fatty acids or very-long-chain fatty acids. In addition, MCTs do not require bile salts for digestion. Patients that have malnutrition or malabsorption syndromes are treated with MCTs because they do not require energy for absorption, utilization, or storage. Coconut oil is composed of approximately 66% medium-chain triglycerides. Other rich sources of MCTs include palm kernel oils and camphor tree drupes. The fatty acids found in MCTs are called medium-chain fatty acids.

You usually have to dig a bit if you don’t already know, to discover that these MCTs areSATURATED FATS! Or, should I say, arterycloggingsaturatedfat?

Another thing to note is that they digest rapidly, like sugar in a drink and so are truly in the category of supplying rapid energy, the whole point of an “energy drink” or glucose gel, such as endurance athletes use. But guess what? Little to no glycemic load. They don’t spike your blood sugar to significant degree, and thus, don’t spike your insulin significantly…leaving you to later need another “energy drink,” and another, and another. Peak, valley, peak valley; wash, rinse, repeat.

There’s more. Turns out that MCTs have other huge benefits in terms of blood sugar control in diabetics as well as actual fat loss. Yea, a fat that makes you lose body fat. Let’s take a look at what the scientistas have to say.

Pubmed: Greater rise in fat oxidation with medium-chain triglyceride consumption relative to long-chain triglyceride is associated with lower initial body weight and greater loss of subcutaneous adipose tissue.

CONCLUSION: These data suggest that shunting of dietary fat towards oxidation results in diminished fat storage, as reflected by the loss of BW and subcutaneous adipose tissue. Furthermore, MCT consumption may stimulate EE and fat oxidation to a lower extent in men of greater BW compared to men of lower BW, indicative of the lower responsiveness to a rapidly oxidized fat by overweight men.

This was a randomized, crossover, controlled feeding trail. Subjects got either high amounts of MCT or LCT (olive oil). Crossover means that each group was subjected to both diets, which is gold standard. Those on MCT lost almost twice as much fat as those on LCT.

ScienceDirect: Medium-chain triglycerides

Abstract: …chemical and physical properties of MCFAs show substantial metabolic differences. MCFAs do not require binding to proteins such as fatty-acid binding protein, fatty acid transport protein, and/or fatty acid translocase (FAT, homolog to human platelet CD36). MCFAs are a preferred source of energy (β-oxidation). MCFAs are also incorporated into adipose tissue triglycerides, and may influence adipose tissue and other systemic functions more substantially than previously assumed. MCTs reduce fat mass, through down-regulation of adipogenic genes as well as peroxisome proliferator activated receptor-γ. Recent studies confirmed the potential of MCFAs to reduce body weight and particularly body fat. This effect was not transient. MCFAs reduce lipoprotein secretion and attenuate postprandial triglyceride response. It was, however, frequently observed that MCTs increase fasting cholesterol and triglyceride levels. But, given in moderate amounts, in diets with moderate fat supply, MCFAs may actually reduce fasting lipid levels more than oils rich in mono- or polyunsaturated fatty acids. The same is true for glucose levels. MCTs improved several features contributing to enhanced insulin sensitivity. Under certain in vitro conditions, MCTs exert proinflammatory effects, but in vivo MCTs may reduce intestinal injury and protect from hepatotoxicity.

This is just a review article looking at studies demonstrating a lot of the benefits of MCTs that we’re talking about. Do note the warning siren about elevated fasting cholesterol and triglycerides. Of course, this is just the abstract, such that some news media regurgitator in the “Health” section can write a dumbshit headline like “Coconut Milk Raises Cholesterol Levels, Study Finds.” Then you tear into the full text and find it wasn’t significant, it was one poorly controlled study out of many, or some other BS. Andwho cares about cholesterol numbers anyway? Cool that it may also may aid intestinal repair and protect your liver from drug or alcohol induced toxicity, important for those on medications or who drink regularly.

More? Hell, I don’t do science that often anymore, so let’s go all out. But in consideration of the environment, let’s save some space and you can click over to the abstracts you want to read.

PubMed: Physiological effects of medium-chain triglycerides: potential agents in the prevention of obesity.

PubMed: Medium chain fatty acid metabolism and energy expenditure: obesity treatment implications.

PubMed: Medium-chain fatty acids as metabolic therapy in cardiac disease. [the heart muscle loves ketone bodies, I've heard. -Ed]

PubMed: Medium-chain fatty acids: functional lipids for the prevention and treatment of the metabolic syndrome.

Well here’s one from 1986 that bears quoting the entire abstract, especially in view of the recipe for my secret energy drink, below.

PubMed: Medium chain triglycerides (MCT) in aging and arteriosclerosis.

Abstract: Some of the nutritional work with triglycerides consisting mainly of C8 and C10 fatty acids (MCT) lends itself to speculations about their influence on arteriosclerosis. Arteriosclerosis is thought to be part of the normal aging process which is due to age associated molecular biological changes. The lipid theory of arteriosclerosis is rejected. Pertinent studies with MCT include these observations. Feeding of MCT to rats resulted in animals of low body weight, small fat deposits and excellent survival rate. This deserves emphasis because of the beneficial influence of low body weight on aging and arteriosclerosis. MCT feeding was associated with low linoleate and low tocopherol requirements in rats. This may lead to reduced formation of those linoleate derived prostaglandins which favor thrombosis formation. Lower linoleate requirements may also lead to the presence of fewer uncontrolled free radicals in the cells. MCT feeding is associated with low levels of serum and liver cholesterol involving speculations that tissue conditions are such that an adaptive increase of cholesterol is unnecessary. The Demographic Yearbook of the United Nations (1978) reported that Sri Lanka has the lowest death rate from ischemic heart disease. Sri Lanka is the only of the countries giving reliable data where coconut oil (containing over 50% medium chain fatty acids) is the main dietary fat. [emphasis added]

So, while it doesn’t say how much saturated fat the lowest death rate from heart disease-Sri Lankans ate, we do have an idea for another population, the Tokelauans, who eat about 50% of energy from saturated fat and have no evidence of heart disease. I blogged about it way back here.

There was one other issue I wanted to cover, and that’s the potential insulin stimulating effects of MCTs (if any), and whether coconut milk — with 1 gram of carbohydrate per ounce — could present any problem to diabetics. I dug all over the place, got lots of help from Twitter peeps (thanks much, all of you) but in the end could not really come to firm conclusions, so I’ll leave that to comments. Other than that, there’s this interesting conversation between Marty Gallagher and Dr. Chris Hardy at PrecisionNutrition on MCTs, coconut oil, and coconut milk in both a health and training context. Good stuff.

Alright, now while I certainly didn’t need to do all this sciency researchin’ to know that a natural product like coconut milk would be like most wholesome food: good for me…I want to make sure you have confidence, dear reader, that indeed it is safe to go back in the water. The sharks are all over at Jamba Juice getting their faux ”health” smoothies(count how many of those sugar drinks have over 100g of sugar).

Nope, what you’ll get here is a smoothie, an energy drink that will blow the lid off all that crap in a cup in terms of sustained, level energy and satiation; and well, you’ve seen the potential numerous health and weight loss and control benefits. Incidentally, coconut fat is about 90% saturated. Of the saturated fat, 66% is comprised of MCTs.

And by the way, I’ve used both coconut oil and coconut milk in cooking for years, particularly for Thai curries. Also, last year at NovNat over a week, we probably each had near or more than a can of coconut milk every morning (see the top pic) and I for one was rarely ever hungry much for lunch, in spite of the activity (though I ate big every meal). And I lost 3 pounds over the week and felt great.

Alright, the recipe:

• 1 cup full fat coconut milk (I like Native Forrest)
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 raw egg yolks (don’t eat whites raw; cook them to destroy avidin, an anti nutrient)
• 1 scoop whey protein (I use vanilla Primal Fuel)
• 2/3 cup frozen berries (I like the medleys)

Blend it and consume. I save the whites, scramble them in a pat of butter and add a bit of grated parmesan for flavor, no salt.

Macronutrient breakdown:

• Total Fat: 70 grams
• Saturated Fat: 50 grams (71.4% of total fat)
• Carbohydrate: 27 grams
• Protein: 27 grams
• Total Calories: 840
• Percent Total Energy: 75% (TF), 54% (SFA), 13% (C), 13% (P)

An alternative which I’ll try is to do one raw egg yolk in the smoothie and mix the white with the other whole egg for cooking. And, of course, there’s tons of variations you can do with this. The egg yolks make it smooth. The frozen berries make it cool without making it watery with ice.

And so on, and so on.

by Dr. William Davis

Heartscanblog.com

Conventional thinking is that high LDL cholesterol causes heart disease. In this line of thinking, reducing cholesterol by cutting fat and taking statin drugs thereby reduces or eliminates risk for heart disease.

Here’s an (extreme) example of just how far wrong this simpleminded way of thinking can take you. At age 63, Michael had been told for the last 20 years that he was in great health, including “perfect” cholesterol values of LDL 73 mg/dl, HDL 61 mg/dl, triglycerides 102 mg/dl, total cholesterol 144 mg/dl. “Your [total] cholesterol is way below 200. You’re in great shape!” his doctor told him.

Being skeptical because of the heart disease in his family, had a CT heart scan. His coronary calcium score: 4390. Needless to say, this is high . . . extremely high.

Extremely high coronary calcium scores like this carry high likelihood of death and heart attack, as high as 15-20% per year. So Michael was on borrowed time. It was damn lucky he hadn’t yet experienced any cardiovascular events.

That’s when Michael found our Track Your Plaque program that showed him how to 1) identify the causes of the extensive coronary atherosclerosis signified by his high calcium score, then 2) correct the causes.

The solutions, Michael learned, are relatively simple:

–Omega-3 fatty acid supplementation at a dose sufficient to yield substantial reductions in heart attack.
–”Normalization” of vitamin D blood levels (We aim for a 25-hydroxy vitamin D level of 60-70 ng/ml)
–Iodine supplementation and thyroid normalization
–A diet in which all wheat products are eliminated–whole wheat, white, it makes no difference–followed by carbohydrate restriction.
–Identification and correction of all hidden causes of coronary plaque such as small LDL particles and lipoprotein(a)

Yes, indeed: The information and online tools for health can handily exceed the limited “wisdom” dispensed by John Q. Primary Care doctor.