Diet Soda Comments: Part 2

My friend Ed sent along this information regarding diet soda consumption. . .

Is it also true that aspartame was originally formulated as an  insecticide? (The answer is yes) I know from here that whenever I see someone who is seriously agitated I ask about possible diet soda consumption. “Yes” is the most common answer and I tell them to get it off the menu for 2 weeks and see if it makes a difference. It almost always does. Regardless of the sport, that shit can’t be good for you either. Several years ago, I had a private conversation with an FDA agent.

He mentioned to me that the FDA receives more complaints about artificial sweeteners than anything else by far. They regret the day it was allowed on the market.

Runner’s World Odd “Wisdom”

In the “Fridge Wisdom” of the June issue of Runner’s World, someone wrote in with the question of “Will diet soda hurt my running?” The “expert” who is listed as a Ph.D., replied in no uncertain terms that “drinking a few cans of diet soda a day will not harm your running or your health.” This “advise falls somewhere between dumbfounding and just plain dumb.

Despite the authors claims, there is a significant correlation between soda consumption and bone loss. In a study of almost 3,000 people, Dr. Katherine Tucker, a nutritional epidemiologist at Tufts University, found a significant correlation between soda consumption and bone density loss. The levels of bone loss ranged from 2.5 percent to more than 5 percent for women who drank multiple cans per day. This is just one study.

Ask a nutritionally oriented dentist and s/he will tell you that those who drink soda - diet or otherwise - are known to have weak teeth. Often the front teeth will begin to look somewhat transparent. The reason is that soda leaches valuable minerals from the system including bones and teeth.

Some experts are now exploring the possibility that artificial sweeteners confuse our taste buds and all those brain measures of satiety upon which we base what we eat. Specifically, Sharon P. Fowler, MPH, and colleagues at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio have recently completed compilations of data that provided surprising results.

Fowler and her team studied more than 1500 people between the ages of 25 and 64, looking at whether each consumed regular or diet soft drinks. It was no surprise to find a correlation between the daily consumption of multiple cans of all soft drinks and obesity — which they did. But, as Fowler noted, “What was surprising was when we looked at people only drinking diet soft drinks; their risk of obesity was even higher” [than that of those drinking regular soft drinks]. In fact, Fowler found that for each can of diet soft drink consumed per day, the risk of obesity went up by 41%.

Specific to diet soda, it may not have the sugar or calories of regular soda, but it’s loaded with other health-draining chemicals, like caffeine, artificial sweeteners and phosphoric acid.

So we  have bone loss, weight gain and intake of health reducing ingredients.

It is very odd that this type of “advise” would appear in Runner’s World. Someone missed the boat on this one.

Regrettably No Treatment

Natural Medicine has a treatment for virtually every emotion a human can experience. Ex/ For worry, one should treat the spleen. For the anger, the treatment would focus on the liver and would include something as simple as clean your room. For grief, lungs are the focus and foods such as asparagus would come to the forefront. Kidneys and fear go hand in hand and an herb such as Fo Ti would  be used. For regret, it is. . . uhh. for regret, the focus is on. . . . well. . .maybe it would be. . . For regret, there is really no treatment. Only prevention.

Regret has pronounced language patterns known to all. There are 2 “stars” of the show, so to speak:

1. I could have. . . .
2. I should have. . . .

What follows after this is an endless parade of possibilities, ones that will unfortunately, remain in the ether versus being materialized. The effect this has on the system is pronounced. The “monkey mind” kicks in with stories and rationalizations about the given topic. This weakens the spleen. Often anger is experienced due after a dozen sentences of “I really, really should have. . . ” followed by “Then it would have turned out differently. . . .” This poisons the liver.

Sadness comes to visit right around now and the lungs are then stripped of vital energy. This is most regrettable as the lungs are a vital component to the immune system. How often do you note a correlation between sadness followed by a cold or allergies.

So there is no treatment. What do I then do? The question actually provides the answer.

The only known antidote for regret is doing. Take action. Create movement for in this process of doing, the path eventually becomes clear. The individual who waits for the ideal time, the perfect sign etc., is the one who never does.

They just regret.

Maca

In its raw form, it look a little like a turnip. Ground up, it looks like oatmeal. In your system, it can provide an increase in strength, stamina, energy and even libido. I am talking about Maca or Lepidium Meyenii. It is a member of the mustard family and is native to the highlands of Peru and has been harvested for over 2000 years. It has been called “Peruvian Ginseng” though it is not in the Ginseng family at all.

Maca’s effect comes on slowly. Unlike a substance like caffeine, Maca engenders a feeling of core strength. Its effects are based on 2 substances — macamides and macaenes. Both are associated with increases in stamina, power, overall energy and as mentioned libido, thus earning it the title of “Peru’s Viagra.” Scientific studies support all of these claims.

Maca can be found in caps, powder or concentrated forms. A tablespoon mixed with juice is the standard dosage. Be sure the Maca is standardized to 0.6% macamides and macaenes. Daily dosage is typically 2-4 grams. It can be found in most health stores and herb shops.

I would guess that in the next year, this substance will be found in many endurance (athlete) based formulas. It has that type of favorable potential for increasing performance.

Heart Disease

When you think of heart disease, a number of images may come to mind. Bet you a nickel not one of them was the image of a kid with heart disease. A remarkable trends has crept into America in which children and teen are being diagnosed with life threatening diseases such as cardiomyopathy.  Cardiomyopathy is a serious disease in which the heart muscle becomes inflamed and doesn’t work as well as it should. According to the medical experts, viruses and bacterial infections in the heart itself are considered the major causes.

This is a rough situation. The heart itself becomes inflamed and begins to weaken or deteriorate. It swells and continues to gather water, all the while neglecting to pump adequate amounts of blood. This is life threatening. Mind you, we are talking about kids and teens here.

One of the overlooked causes and the likely source of the problem is beriberi of the heart. Beriberi is caused by deficiency of the B vitamins and contributes to paralyzing weakness of muscles including the heart.

Treatment is straightforward:

• Cardio Plus
• Cataplex B or a high quality B complex
• Cod Liver Oil

Noticeable improvements should be noted within 2 months. If such is not the case, an antibiotic may be needed to clear infections.

Bottom line - current diets for kids in particular are devoid of B vitamins. This is the ultimate source of both the problem and the solution.

Stubborn Fat Training

OK, you are down to those last 10 pounds. Alright, it is probably 12 but 10 sounds a lot better. The diet adjustments are working and working but now there is a plateau. And only twelve. . .ten to go. HELP! (For some reason, I am feeling the need to jump into a phone booth and emerge with a big “N” on my chest — Nutrition Man. Able to jump high cholesterol levels in a single bound. Run through bacteria and fight the good fight against cellulite. We’ll work on the script later. Now, back to the show.)

Once again, I had the pleasure of communicating with one of the best in the area of physiology, a gentleman named L. McDonald. He is also a trainer to some of the top bodybuilders as well as a top author. We had a lively discussion regarding the ideal training for burning stubborn fat. Here is the end result:

Background: This can be done either on an empty stomach or after breakfast but mornings are definitely the ideal. Taking Yohimbe (remember the prior blog on supplements) is recommended along with caffeine. Dosage for Yohimbe is0.2mg/kg of body weight and caffeine. . . a good strong cup of java will do the trick.

For the training. . . .

• 5-10 minutes of an easy warm up, ensuring the insulin levels drop if you have eaten prior.
• 5 minutes of hard, short intervals. Five repeats of 10-15 seconds at near maximum capacity followed by 45-50 seconds of recovery. You can use a machine for this if you like. I like running hills for this. OVER TIME, you can build up to 10 minutes max but please do this very slowly. On a scale of 1 (easy) to 19 (max), these should should be at at a 9.
• Rest for 5 minutes.
• 20-40 minutes of steady cardio done at moderate intensity. Typical heart rate would be 130-140. Again, machines are fine. I bike the trail. The time to take the bike out, switch socks etc., ends up being around 5 minutes so it works out well.
• 5-10 minutes of long intervals. This should look like 5 sets of 30 seconds on/30 seconds recovery. On a scale of 1 (easy) to 19 (max), these should should be at at a 7 or 8.  Again, slowly work up to a 1 minute on/1 minute off max.
• 3-5 minute cool down.

The explanation as to why the aforementioned works so well would take about 50 pages. Suffice it to say, this training is targeting (especially hormonally) stubborn fat.

It is extremely challenging and should be done only once, maybe twice per week. Any more is asking for injury or burnout.

—-

Tuesday’s at 8am at the Oakland Post Office. Anyone wants to join me for the above training, please let me know.

Salt + Hypertension

“Stop using salt. It will raise blood pressure.” Ever hear this before?

One of salt’s major purposes is to regulate the volume of blood and its pressure as well as  the flexibility of the blood vessels.   The human heart is a big pump. When it contracts, it forces blood through the arteries of the circulatory system; that pressure is “systolic,” the “top” number. Between heartbeats, the heart relaxes. Pressure measured between heartbeats is “diastolic,” the “bottom” number. When blood volume increases or the blood vessel walls don’t expand enough, blood pressure increases. Normal blood pressure is less than 130/85 according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.  In a population,  blood pressures are a good indicator of the incidence of cardiovascular events like heart attacks and strokes. The standard, accepted approach is that public policy should demand reduced sodium intakes to lower population blood pressure and, with it, the risk of heart attacks and strokes. But how accurate is this statement?

According to the medical studies done in Cornell Medical School’s Hypertensive Institute, particularly the famous “Intersalt study” with over 10,000 participants around the world, it was clearly shown that salt intake has nothing to do with an increase in blood pressure.

The major cause?

Obesity.

‘Testosterone Link’ To Depression

Older men with lower levels of the male sex hormone testosterone in their blood may be more prone to depression, a study suggests. A study of about 4,000 men aged over 70 found those with lowest testosterone were three times more likely to be depressed than those with the most.

Researchers suspect the hormone may affect levels of key brain chemicals. The study, by the University of Western Australia, features in Archives of General Psychiatry. Research has found that women are more likely to be depressed than men until the age of 65, when the difference between the genders almost disappears.

Powerful Simplicity

We often read about taking this supplement for that issue or avoiding XYZ foods etc., and often neglect the most important, powerful tools at our disposal - Our minds, that which we use to create our life.

Here is a deceptively simple exercise to assist in building and achieving your dream life.

Part 1. Ask your inner self or Inner Spirit what you want to be, do and have. Take as much time to connect and to write down the answers. Stop here and do this prior to reading Part 2.

Part 2. Now write down what would be even better than what you have already selected.

It is very awakening to see the difference between the two. The only questions remain are . . .which of the 2 do you want and are you willing to take action.

If there were dreams to sell, what would you buy?

Odds, Ends and a Mind Twister

Here are some additional pieces of info. Might as well just glue your seatbelt on and make it a permanent thing. In no particular order, we are off. . . .

• It used to be that endurance athletes and strength athletes were on 2 different dietary paths, with the former carb-based and the latter protein based. Now it seems that endurance athletes are taking a cue from strength athletes and are focusing more on protein. The main purpose is not to pack on the muscle but new clinical studies (released this week) have shown that protein enhances endurance. Researchers from James Madison University in VA found that a small amount of protein added to a sports drink can have a dramatic effect on endurance. How ironic it would be that this information would come out this week!
• Researchers had 10 competitive male duathletes complete an *k run at 85% of their max heart rate, then cycing 50K at 80% mHR and then run at 85% mHR to exhaustion. At 5K intervals during the cycling, subjects drank a total of 1.5 liters (50oz.) of either a plain carbo drink or a carb drink with about 17g of protein or a carb sports drink wiht 35g of protein hydrolysate. All beverages contained 90g of carbs. Scientists found taht regardless of the amount of protein, having it added to their sports drinks allowed subjects to drive themselves harder and run about 3 minutes longer on the final run.
• Whey was the choice of protein as it is the easiest and quickest to be adsorbed.

• Dr. Stephen Thacker, director of the epidemiology program at the Center for Disease and Prevention recently published a study about stretching. Here is main conclusion.: “We could not find a benefit from stretching before exercise — gymnasts and dancers prior to performances excluded.” Other studies have shown that static stretching CAUSES more injuries than are prevented.

Now for the grand finale. . . .

• The major solids in sweat are electrolytes (minerals). Considerable research has already been performed in calculating how much electrolyte is lost during exercise with sodium and potassium being, by far, the 2 most important. They are involved in nerve conductivity and cardiovascular health among other important functions. Dr. M.H. Williams in Nutrition for Fitness and Sport states. . .

“Because sweat is hypotonic to the blood fluids, the concentration of the electrolytes in the blood and other body fluids actually increases during exercise and makes the body fluids hypertonic. Thus electrolyte replacement during exercise is not necessary. Several studies have reported that even during strenuous prolonged exercise like marathon running with high levels of sweat loss, water alone is the recommended fluid replacement to help maintain electrolyte balance. The lone exceptions are playing on and off all day long, performing an Ironman or Ultra marathon.

Excessive salt intake for example may actually aggravate electrolyte balance and impair performance capacity.” 

I read this and had 2 reactions. Relating to the salt, I thought this was correct. When I added “Salt Stix” supplements during long runs, it was a disaster. Relating to the electrolyte replacement, I thought this was completely wrong. . . initially. Upon further review, this is probably a correct statement. When we drink Clif or even Gatorade and feel a “pick me up,” what is the source? Electrolytes? No. It is the sugar that provides rapid (as in less than 15 minutes) energy. Unless you are doing a 10 hour ultra, the body really does not have enough time to replace what is lost to any meaningful degree.

This information has been a head twisting experience. Now, to work the info into the current program will be an adventure.