Caveman Eats: The Paleo Diet

At some point along the line of human evolution, we must've done something wrong when it came to nutrition.  Or maybe, we did a whole BUNCH of things wrong.  I'm not exactly sure when wild meats and raw vegetables were replaced with processed, starchy foods, but I can promise you it was a dark day for health and fitness.  Sure, it's pretty obvious to see that we didn't mean to stray away from nature and all its goodness, and that new age processed food was seen as an advancement and modern convinience instead of a silent killer.  But wouldn't it be nice to get back to how things were, when all food was natural, and natural was good?

That ideal is exactly what the Paleolithic Diet tries to cater toward.  The "paleo diet," or "caveman diet" is basically a diet consisting of only foods that were available to the earliest of humans (alive in the paleolithic era, surprise surprise).  It's an interesting diet, and one that has quite a bit of potential in terms of health.  It also has quite the following in the health and fitness community, especially with crossfit athletes.  Some swear by it, saying that our bodies were never meant to consume more than what the paleo diet has to offer, and therefore filling your belly with paleo food is like filling your car with high octane gas.  Our body knows it, loves it, and runs with peak efficiency off of it.  But is it true?  And what foods exactly are in this caveman's buffet?

Meat:  Caveman say "ugh ugh me like meat!"  Seriously, this diet definitely encourages the consumption of lean meats from almost any source, such as beef, pork, chicken, buffalo, alligator, rabbit, and pretty much anything else you can think of.  Personally, I don't really know about paleolithic humans and if they had cows or not, but I do really like this aspect of the diet.  Lean meat is completely essential for the body as far as nutrients go, and the strong suggestion of lean meat consumption really helps to place this diet as a more favorable one for avid gym-goers.

Fish:  The paleo diet is packed with fish and shellfish too, which I LOVE.  Salmon, shrimp, crab, tuna, lobster, mackeral, you name it, you can probably eat it on the paleo diet.  These fish are not only an incredibly dense protein source, they're also very low calorie and packed with heart healthy omega-3 fatty acids.  Awesome!

Vegetables:  The paleo diet says you can eat pretty much any vegetable, as long as it's not starchy (like potatoes, yams, etc).  The diet pushes more for the raw consumption of these veggies, though obviously with modern commodities like ovens, microwaves, stovetops, etc, it's easy to make some pretty awesome recipes from the veggies and meats allowed on the diet.  Again, I'm very supportive of this part of the diet.  VEGETABLES RULE!

Fruits:  Any fruit you can think of is allowed on the caveman diet.  Early humans were supposedly able to easily pick off of trees and bushes, and therefore wouldn't be limited in what they could eat in terms of fruits.  Sounds great to me, I love fruit!  It's an incredible energy source and tastes absolutely delicious.  Who doesn't love a little natural sugar?

Nuts and Seeds:  According to the paleo diet, early humans were large consumers of many different nuts and seeds, and therefore foods like chestnuts, cashews, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, walnuts, macadamia nuts, pine nuts, and sesame seeds are all encouraged on the paleo diet.  However, make sure to note that peanuts are NOT a nut, but actually a legume, which aren't allowed on the paleo diet.

Foods that AREN'T allowed on the paleo diet include:

Dairy foods: Again, according to the paleo diet (I'm not going off any sort of history source here other than what the diet claims), early humans wouldn't have been able to harvest or produce any sort of dairy products such as milk, cheese, or cream.  Because of widespread lactose intolerance, it's easy for paleo dieters to claim that our bodies haven't fully adapted to dairy products as an energy source.  I personally don't like this aspect of the diet, as I do believe that dairy has very large health benefits in the average individual.

Grains:  That's right, you heard me clearly, NO GRAINS on the paleo diet.  This means no oats, no amaranth, no quinoa, no rye, no rice, and no WHEAT.  That may sound strange to any sort of health nut, but paleo dieters claim early humans wouldn't have been able to create processed grains through any sort of method, and therefore we shouldn't consume them for an energy source.  I strongly disagree with this part of the diet. Oats and grains have extreme health benefits, and are an absolutely excellent source of long lasting, slow burning, complex carbohydrates.


Legumes:  This means beans.  No beans.  No peanuts, no chicpeas, no black beans, no green beans, no red beans, and no peas of any sort.  I don't like this part of the diet either, beans are an excellent source of plant protein and other important macro nutrients.

Starchy vegetables:  This means no potatoes or yams, or sweet potatoes, or tubers.  This basically kicks all bodybuilders out of the equation, because sweet potatoes are probably the main muscle building carb of choice, along with brown rice (which also isn't allowed).

Fatty meats: Bacon, fatty beef, fatty pork, etc.  Get the picture?

Also not allowed on the paleo diet are any sort of sweets or soft drinks, as they contain TONS of refined sugars and chemicals that cavemen certainly would NOT have had access to.  This aspect of the diet is quite useful in my honest opinion, as is any excuse to eliminate sweets from a diet.  Your body will perform much more efficiently with lower amounts of refined sugar, not to mention you'll be a MUCH more healthy person as a whole.

Here is a complete list of foods that are and aren't allowed in the paleo diet:  http://altmed.creighton.edu/Paleodiet/Foodlist.html

So here's the question, is the paleo diet a good choice, or a bad choice?  Personally, I give it a split decision.  There are aspects I REALLY like, and aspects I REALLY don't like.  It's great to focus on lean meats, vegetables, and seeds, but not so great to kick out dairy and grains.  Now let me be the first to say that their reasoning for doing so is deep and study-riddled, and wasn't just for the hell of it, so I'm not going to say they have no idea what they're doing.  Clearly they do, at least to a certain degree.  But I believe keeping grains and dairy in a diet is a much better choice for the average individual.  But hey, I guess don't knock it till you try it, right?  Many people have claimed PHENOMENAL body performance off of the paleo diet, and therefore for some people, it works.  Everybody's different, and everyone will respond differently to various food patterns.

The paleo diet is truly a unique approach to dieting, and in some ways it's a refreshing attempt to bring back the days when food was much simpler.  Give it a shot if you like, it definitely won't hurt you.  See how your body responds.  You never know, a caveman's life may be the life for you.

Eat clean, live simply, and as always, GOOD LUCK!

The Banana: A Fruit For The Gym

When it comes to lifting, running, jumping, swimming, climbing, biking, or any other gym/workout related activity, all carbs are NOT created equal.  It's common knowledge that our body needs carbs to fuel it during intense activity, and carbs to refuel it after that intense activity has been completed.  Your body is like a high performance engine, which runs on carbohydrates.  Without that fuel, you're not going to get very far.  And with low quality fuel, you may be able to function, but just barely.  You'll end up misfiring and running rough more than making all the power you could, if you want to continue with the engine analogy.  There are many great sources of carbohydrates out there, most of which are natural and delicious.  You might think of oats, whole wheat bread, vegetables, or brown rice, just to name a few.  But all these are complex carbs, and while they'll fuel your body extremely efficiently in the long run, sometimes you need a faster digesting carbohydrate to really give you that kick in the seat of your pants.  I'm talking about sugar.  That's right, that dangerous thing that so many fitness enthusiasts avoid like the plague.  I'm here to tell you that not all sugar is bad, especially right before and right after your workout.  And where's a great source of healthy, natural sugar?  Why...fruit, of course!

But guess what, when it comes to working out, not all fruits are created equal, either.  Most fruits are comprised mainly of the sugar called fructose, which isn't bad for you, but isn't optimal for muscle glycogen fueling/replenishment.  In fact, fructose can only be used toward refueling liver glycogen, not muscle glycogen.  There are, however, a few fruits that are higher in glucose rather than fructose.  Glucose can easily be used by the body to refill muscle glycogen stores, so these fruits would be a much better choice pre and post workout.  And what's the most optimal choice as far as fruits go?  Why, it's America's favorite fruit, the banana!

I personally love bananas.  I recently added one per meal into my diet, just to increase carbohydrate intake.  They're delicious, nutritious, and do wonders for your body.  As mentioned above, a banana pre-workout can really give you an added energy boost as all the simple sugars are converted into immediate muscle energy, and post workout a banana is an excellent way to refill muscle glycogen.  The glucose in bananas both spikes your blood insulin to encourage muscles to "suck up" all the nutrients you're giving them, and replenishes muscle glycogen levels at the same time so you'll be ready and willing to hit the weights even harder tomorrow.  A good insulin spike after a workout is exactly what you want, which is why a banana paired with a whey protein shake is an excellent way to ensure proper recovery after a hard workout session.

And if you're already a fruit lover, and perhaps been curious as to their effects on your workout and recovery, but didn't really know which kind to pick, just know that a banana is probably your best bet if you want great results!

But good, natural glucose isn't the only thing bananas have going for them, oh no.  In fact, they're absolutely loaded with all sorts of other nutrients that will do you a world of good:

-Bananas contain a decent amount of your daily vitamin C intake, about 11%.


-They also have a large amount of dietary fiber, about 3.5 grams for one large banana


-Bananas have no fat or cholesterol, and therefore are an extremely healthy snack choice, especially if you're looking for a little energy boost.


-Bananas are rich with potassium (16% of daily intake), which is the forgotten electrolyte.  A balance of sodium and potassium can help your body remain adequately hydrated and energized, as well as ensure proper neural function (clear thinking.)  Many people consume an excess of sodium, but not nearly enough potassium.  Cut out the table salt, add a banana, and see how good you feel!  

Potassium replenishment is also extremely important after a workout, as you've usually drained a good amount of electrolytes from your body.


Here are the nutritional facts for a large banana:

Nutrition Facts
Calories 121	(506 kJ)
% Daily Value 1
Total Fat	0.4g	< 1%
Sat. Fat	0.2g	< 1%
Cholesterol	0mg	0%
Sodium	1mg	< 1%
Total Carbs.	31g	10%
Dietary Fiber	3.5g	14%
Sugars	16.6g
Protein	1.5g
Calcium	6.8mg
Potassium	486.9mg

There it is, a little overview of my favorite workout fruit.  If your workout diet is lacking, add one or two bananas, as I did.  I can bet you'll see a huge improvement in your strength, stamina, and recovery.  Plus, they taste amazing, why wouldn't you want to have one?  And if you were merely confused on which fruit to choose for your workout goals, you can now feel secure in the fact that a banana will always be a better choice than an apple, a pear, an orange, etc, just because of its glucose-fructose ratio.  Cool stuff, right?

Keep on eating that magic yellow powerhouse!  GOOD LUCK!

Universal Creatine *Review*

Sometimes, the simplest, purest, most basic things in life work out the best for you and your goals.  When things get too complicated, too fruity, too doctored up and fooled around with, their real effectiveness can really be brought into question.  Take one step into GNC and you'll see exactly this, supplements with so many ingredients they basically sell you a novel along with the powder.  Are some of the supplements effective?  Sure thing!  But they sure are complicated, and if you don't know what to look for, you can end up paying a lot of money for something that doesn't do much at all.  Isn't there anything out there that's simple and effective?  Something you can trust, and just plain works?

Yes, as a matter of fact there is.  It's called Universal Creatine Monohydrate.  Now I've done an article on creatine before, and as I've said, creatine is the old school powerhouse in muscle building.  It was one of the first supplements ever to hit the shelves, and it's still one of the most tried and true muscle builders out there today.  Why do so many people use such an old, seemingly outdated supplement?  Because it works, that's why.  And believe me, almost anyone who knows their stuff as far as supplements go will tell you that good ol' creatine is something they'll always turn back to after their complex BCAA glutamine super amino blah blah pills have left them with little to show for their money.

Now don't get me wrong, companies have definitely tried to improve creatine over the years.  Right now you can buy creatine "blends" from all sorts of manufacturers like Muscle-tech, BSN, Muscle Pharm, BPI, Driven Sports, and countless others.  These blends are filled with strange forms of creatine like "creatine ethyl ester," and "micronized creatine," along with the original creatine monohydrate.  And boy, will they all suck your wallet dry quickly.  I'm not saying they don't work, and I'm definitely not saying they don't taste good, but I will say that you can get quite a bit more bang for your buck if you look at the simpler stuff from Universal.  There is no study out there that proves one form of creatine is better than another, and a TON of studies that back up the raw effectiveness of simple creatine monohydrate.  And the good news for you is that pure, unflavored creatine monohydrate is cheap.  That's why I firmly believe that Universal Creatine Monohydrate is one of the best supplements you could ever buy for your money.

What's in it?  Nothing but certified pure, unflavored, creatine monohydrate.  One serving size is 5 grams, or one teaspoon.  In a 200 gram container you'll get 40 servings (yay math), and two of these bottles packaged together from bodybuilding.com costs you $12.  One 300 gram bottle costs only $8.65.  If you're a veteran at buying supplements, you'll know that price is DARN CHEAP, and that amount of product will last you for quite a while (definitely enough for one to two full cycles.)

300 Grams Unflavored Serving Size1Teaspoon(5g) Servings Per Container60 Amount Per Serving % DV Creatine Monohydrate 5g * * Daily Value (DV) not established.

Other Ingredients: Contains Pure Micronized Creapure® Creatine Monohydrate. Made in a GMP facility that uses milk, soy, egg, peanuts.

How's it taste?  Like what ever you put it in.  It's unflavored, which may be a bit of a buzzkill when you first get it, however you'll soon realize is actually a big bonus because you can throw it in with pretty much any drink and never know it's there.  Even in plain water it doesn't reveal itself as a supplement, it just goes right down your gullet with no nasty aftertaste or texture.  I usually stick one teaspoon in with my pre-workout, and another in with my post workout shake.  Again, I cannot ever tell the difference, and it's great to know I'm getting my muscles all that creatine with so little hassle.

How's it mix?  Well, creatine monohydrate mixes OK, but never fully dissolves, so at the end of your drink I suggest swishing the little bit of liquid left around the glass a couple times, then quickly chugging it to avoid a little pile of undissolved powder at the bottom of your glass.  This tiny issue in mixibility isn't the product's fault though, it's just the properties of creatine mono itself.  Not hard to overcome though, as long as you're capable of keeping track of how much liquid you have left.

Does it work?  YES!  YES IT DOES!  I've been on a horrendously difficult training program, and even consuming more food was not drastically helping my strength gains.  I decided to go back on creatine (I had used it years ago, and took a long hiatus).  My god, my workouts are entirely different!  I feel stronger, more energized, like a true beast.  I've hit a few new PR's in one week on this stuff, and just keep wanting to hit the gym over and over again.  It's a great feeling, and it's a common result of creatine supplementation.  Creatine will increase energy levels, muscle volume, and protein synthesis (it helps your muscles to more effectively build up bigger and stronger each time after a workout.)  If you want strength gains, get on creatine, it's as simple as that.

How do I take it?  Well, there's controversy on this topic, but in general there are two main trains of thought.  The first supports what's called a "loading phase," which is meant to saturate your muscles with creatine over a period of five days by taking 20 grams of creatine per day (4 tsps), then cut back to around 10 grams per day for the remaining 4-5 week cycle.  The second train of thought says to nix the loading phase and just enter in with a normal daily dosage of 10 grams per day, which will eventually saturate your muscles to the same level as with loading.  I personally side more with the loading phase, as it really does seem to more quickly get creatine into your system (your muscles take time to absorb larger amounts of creatine than natural levels, so you're basically "forcing" more into them), and you'll see better results sooner.  I doubt you'll see much difference either way, but read up on the subject if you're really interested.

Regardless of the initial method of starting supplementation, you want to remain on creatine for 4-5 weeks, then cycle OFF creatine and allow all the extra to completely wash out of your system.  This takes a lot of stress off of your kidneys, and allows them to recover (because they'll be working double time to filter all that excess creatine out of the liquids you're drinking.)  Also, your body likes to maintain a stable equilibrium above all else, and therefore continued usage of extra creatine supplementation will eventually lose its powerful strength building effect (you'll build up a tolerance to a point where the creatine is ineffective).  By cycling off creatine, you can get greater strength gains when you eventually cycle back on.  And after this 4 week "wash out," you can immediately cycle back onto creatine if you wish, and just keep repeating the process.

How does this stuff even work?  Well, in the most basic sense, creatine works in two ways.  First, it volumizes your muscles by hydrating them to extreme levels.  It pulls a LOT of water into your muscle fiber, which has been shown to drastically increase the efficiency of protein synthesis.  Secondly, creatine adds to readily available energy stores by converting to adenosine-triphosphate or ATP (your muscles' main energy source) when your original stores of ATP run out.  This means that if you exhaust your muscle ATP in 8 reps without creatine, when you have extra creatine in your muscles it can be rapidly converted to form more ATP and you can keep pushing for a few more reps.  Those extra reps will translate directly into strength gains, and therefore you'll get stronger, faster.

Note:  You must drink a LOT of water with creatine, and don't be surprised if you seem to soak it all up like a sponge.  Slight water bloating is completely normal with creatine supplementation, and it's not unusual to gain 3-4 lbs of water weight in the first week upon starting it.  But seriously, when it comes to water, try for a gallon a day at least.

All in all, Universal Creatine may be the best bang for your buck out there on the market today.  It's certified to be some of the purest creatine monohydrate you can buy, and therefore you can be sure you're getting maximum benefits from every teaspoon you take.  You can expect immediate strength gains, muscle volume, and increased energy from this stuff, which is a lot more than you can say for other, more expensive supplements.  Yup, when it comes to creatine, Universal will be my brand of choice again and again.  I rate it a 10/10.  It's cheap, effective, and SIMPLE.  I love it.

Here's the link to the order page:  http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/univ/creatine.html

Crank hard, lift heavy, and as always, good luck!

Great Grains: Quinoa vs. Amaranth

What few people realize this days is how many so-called "superfoods" are blatantly overlooked in modern society.  There are a whole host of different, whole, natural foods that provide more health benefits than can easily be described in one article, which many people have either never heard of or never cared to look at twice .  Two of these superfoods that I strongly suggest you consider fitting into your diet are ancient grains called Quinoa and Amaranth.  These little beads are packed with some of the best stuff nature has to offer, and definitely deserve the spotlight at least once in my blogging career.

Quinoa

Amaranth

Now if the names are what drove you to disregard them, I can sort of sympathize, as they're not the most easily pronounced foods.  Quinoa is pronounced "keen-wah", while amaranth is a little more obvious and is pronounced "am-a-ranth."  There, see?  Not so scary or outlandish.  Let's delve into the history of these grains just a little bit before I start spouting off everything these grains have to offer.

What's interesting about both of these grains is that they both were known about far before ANY of your traceable ancestors walked this earth.  Surprisingly, both come from ancient South American cultures.  Quinoa was considered a sacred grain in the Inca society, and amaranth was a staple in the ancient Aztec civilization.  Both civilizations were masters at harvesting their respective grains, and knew of their powers far more-so than our modern society does today.  Funny how things work like that, right?  We claim to be so knowledgable about the world, and yet somehow we overlook some of the best stuff nature has to offer.

Amaranth and quinoa are both very similar grains, and to the untrained eye they might be mistaken as the same thing.  Both of the grains are small and bead-like, and the only really discernible differences between the two is the size of each kernel.  Quinoa grains tend to be slightly larger than amaranth, and also come in white and red varieties.  Nutritionally though, these two grains are extremely similar.

Protein:  What's truly unique about these grains is the amount of amino acids they possess, and therefore their extremely high protein content.  Quinoa especially is known as probably one of the greatest sources of plant protein there is in the world today, and that's because unlike the vast majority of plant protein, quinoa has a complete amino acid profile, which means your body has all the essential amino acids it needs to start building muscle directly from quinoa.  That's great news if you're looking to get more protein into a vegetarian diet.

Amaranth also has an extremely high protein content, however unlike quinoa the essential amino acid profile isn't QUITE complete.  That means your body can't use amaranth by itself to build muscle right away, but let me tell you guys it's darn close.  Amaranth (and quinoa as well) is extremely high in an amino acid called lysine, and while it isn't complete (due to the lacking amino acids leucine and threonine), it still can provide the body with a large amount of incomplete protein which may be completed at other points throughout the day with other foods.

If you're a numbers kind of person, here's the scoop.  One cup of cooked quinoa contains 8.1 grams of COMPLETE protein, and one cup of cooked amaranth contains 9.3 grams of INCOMPLETE protein.

Fats:  Both quinoa and amaranth are sources of extremely healthy, unsaturated fats.  Neither grain has any saturated fat to speak of, and therefore you need not worry about raising bad cholesterol levels through the consumption of these grains.  I'll stick with the one cup measurement, and in quinoa and amaranth respectively there are 3.6 grams and 3.9 grams of fat.  Again though, healthy fats, don't be afraid of them.  FAT DOESN'T MAKE YOU FAT!

Carbohydrates:  This is what I love about these grains, as it seems that almost everyone these days is getting their carbs from starchy, sugary, unhealthy sources.  Both quinoa and amaranth provide healthy, complex carbohydrates that digest more slowly and fuel your body for a longer period of time with NO sugar crash.  Believe me, you need healthy carbs (although I did just write an article on ketogenic diets), and the more sources of healthy carbohydrates you can find, the better.  Quinoa and amaranth both fit the bill quite nicely, and in one cup of each there are 39 grams and 46 grams of carbohydrates respectively.  Not bad, right?

Fiber:  Both these grains are packed with healthy fiber, which you could always use a little more of in your diet.  Fiber doesn't only insure a healthy digestive tract, but also slows down the digestion of other food so that your body gets a chance to use everything you give it.  This leads to less fat storage in the long run, and I'm sure you'll all be interested in that.  One cup of quinoa and amaranth both have 5.2 grams of fiber.  Awesome!

Vitamins/minerals:  Both these grains are packed with vitamins, specifically vitamins B1, B2,B3, B6, and E.  Quinoa is slightly more vitamin dense than amaranth, but either grain will boost your overall vitamin intake for the day quite nicely.  In terms of minerals, both grains are rich in magnanese, magnesium, phosphorus, and iron.

You may be wondering how to actually eat these fantastic grains, and not to worry, I have a great link for you that describes a common method of cooking each grain on the stove.  It's not difficult or overly time consuming, so don't use that as an excuse to ignore such a fantastic superfood.  Here's the link:

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART03177/How-to-Cook-Amaranth.html

There you have it!  A little overview of what may be some of the best plant nutrient sources on the market today.  A word of caution, these grains can be a little harder to find than something like oats, but don't despair, one trip to your local health food store should yield results.  Keep in mind though, these grains are usually stored in the refrigerator when in their raw form, so don't get confused when they're not on the shelf next to the Kashi cereal.  Believe me, these grains are definitely worth the little effort required to get them.  They'll make you a vastly healthier person with a body to be envious of.  And boy are they tasty!

Be adventurous, embrace the ancient grains, and as always, GOOD LUCK!

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amaranth#Nutritional_value
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinoa
http://www.livestrong.com/article/266224-amaranth-quinoa-nutritional-guides/
http://www.askmen.com/sports/foodcourt_100/149_eating_well.html