Heartbreaking Dawns 1498 Scorpion Chili Sauce *Review*

OK, I confess, I'm a wannabe chili head.  Allow me to explain.  A "chili head" is someone who absolutely loves, and in some ways is quite addicted to, incredibly spicy, flavorful foods.  These usually include the peppers which are truly the hottest of the hot, the chilis that make Jalapenos taste like unflavored popcorn, and Habaneros akin to a quick night time snack.  I'm talking peppers like the Naga Viper, the Trinidad Scorpion (and similar strains like the Butch T or 7 pot), and of course the infamous Bhut Jolokia (Ghost Pepper).  All of these peppers boast heat ratings over a million Scoville Heat Units (SHU).  To put that in perspective, a Jalapeno is only about 3,000 SHU.  These peppers are HOT!!!!!

Chili heads also enjoy many sauces and spices created from these super hot fruits.  I've had quite a bit of experience with sauces myself, and have always liked challenging myself with what I've considered to be quite spicy foods, and am always looking to try the next level.  My tolerance to heat isn't bad, but it's nothing compared to the true chili enthusiasts, or perhaps I should call them "heat seekers."  However I am always looking to try the next step up, and decided I'd like to purchase a real powerhouse hot sauce and give it a go.  I  wanted one that would make Tabasco look like the wimpiest little bottle going, but still wanted one made with natural ingredients and actual peppers, not just super hot extract.

After a lot of research, I came upon a company called Heartbreaking Dawns, and let me be the first to say that while my experience with hot sauces isn't as vast as some, these folks blow everyone else out of the water.

Heartbreaking Dawns is a company based on home brewed sauces made with the tastiest combinations of natural ingredients you could ever come upon.  They've got everything from pineapple jalapeno sauces to super spicy yet flavorful ghost pepper varieties.

I, however, wanted something with a little more kick.  So I settled on their "1498" sauce, made with Trinidad Scorpions, one of the original peppers to dethrone the Bhut Jolokia as the hottest pepper in the world.  Boy was I in for a treat.

Flavor:  This sauce tastes absolutely fantastic.  It's not just a destructive, eye watering heat with no flavor to boot, oh no.  It has an extremely rich combination of ingredients (discussed in more detail later in the article) that taste FANTASTIC together.  This sauce went through many prototypes, and boy did they get the end product right.  It tastes great by itself, but even BETTER on food, and BEST on meats.  Seriously, it's got all sorts of fruity aroma, including hints of blueberry and scotch bonnet peppers as well as the very flavorful Trinidad Scorpion pepper.  It adds a lot of character to almost any meal, and honestly I can't really imagine it going poorly with anything.  It doesn't overpower, despite the intense heat.  Awesome!

Heat:  I won't lie, this stuff is HOT!  But I'll also say that it isn't killer.  Sure, if you think Tabasco is hot, you'll have a little bit of an adjustment period (and will want to go light on the sauce at first),  but it won't set your whole face alight.  It's got a "nice" burn to it that lingers, and makes you sweat it out for a little while, but actually feels good once you get used to it.  As you can probably tell, it's hard to describe.  All I can say is that if you're looking for a kick, this sauce will DEFINITELY give it, especially in larger quantities.  But it can also be used sparingly for a great heat without making you cry for hours.  Be prepared for tongue and throat burn though, they can get intense.

Ingredients/Nutritional Information:  Here's a picture of the ingredient list.

As you can see, the ingredients speak for themselves.  No extract, no artificial sweeteners, no HFCS, just all natural ingredients.  Nearly zero calories per serving, only a TINY bit of sodium (very unusual for hot sauces), and a blend that'll make even seasoned food critics quite intrigued.  It's fantastic, and it really brings a smile to my face to see such natural ingredients in such a tasty sauce.

Other comments:  Check out how cool that logo is, really tattoo-esque, right?

Overall, I highly highly HIGHLY recommend this sauce.  It's a perfect blend of heat and flavor, and is about as natural and healthy as you can get.  It'll add awesome kick to any food, yet will also compliment the existing flavors quite nicely.  You can't go wrong with Heartbreaking Dawns.  Be adventurous, get some heat in your life!

The "Smart" Diet (Food For Final Exams)

Well, final exams are over, and I don't like to brag, but I did quite well.  I believe such grades were earned, as I  studied hard and made sure to manage my time efficiently (or as efficiently as possible while still maintaining my sanity).  Yes, all in all, I'm quite pleased with my grades, and god does it feel good to be done with these piles of work.  It's as if all at once, the pressure's been lifted.  The lid's off the pressure cooker, ya know what I mean?

Anyway, before I start rambling, I'd like to bring up an important concept relating to my success in this year's final exams (and school year in general).  It's actually a concept I talk about quite frequently.  Could you guess what it might be?  If you said "food," or "diet," you're right.  I relate a lot of my success this year to my study habits, but feel that credit should also rest in what I've been putting in my belly.

How, you ask, does food have ANYTHING to do with academic success?  Well, unlike a lot of articles which just spout off fact after fact and tout study after craftily worded study, I'm just going to tell you about my personal experience.  I mean sure, I'll say that you'd be crazy not to think that food has an effect on your brain. Nutrient dense food does wonders for cognitive ability, leading to better memory, lower stress levels, and greater confidence.  Good food helps you stay happy, healthy, and ready to take on the world (or a nasty, brutally complicated exam).  This isn't any secret, yet so many people fail to accept the fact that a healthy diet can keep them successful when they need to be.

Did I personally do anything special to my diet in preparation for exam week?  Well, the changes I made weren't initially geared toward the exams themselves, however I soon realized that they worked great for cognitive ability as well as physical prowess.  You see, on my Olympic lifting training program, I work double sessions in the gym multiple times per week.  This week, being pretty much empty other than an 8 AM exam every morning, I decided I'd go even harder on the double sessions (as the only other thing I had to do each day was study.)  To support this brutal attack on my body, I made sure I was getting another hundred or so calories ON TOP of what I had already calculated to be a 200 calorie excess.  I've been stalling out recently on weight gain, so I figured it couldn't hurt anyway.  I made sure these calories came from clean sources such as almonds and egg whites, as well as a few more veggies on my plate.  So far, such diet programming has been working beautifully for my workouts, and I've been maintaining strength despite increasing squat volume considerably.

This caloric excess also did WONDERS for my level of alertness, stress (low), and energy.  That healthy food pushed me through extra study sessions as well as extra squats, and a hearty breakfast of oatmeal, whey, and peanut butter woke me up and got me going each and every morning.  To put it bluntly, I felt, and still feel GREAT!

And one more little nugget of useful information:  heavy brain work burns a lot of energy.  Yeah, you heard me right, you're burning more energy than you think just trying to remember that darn equation for energy stored in parallel inductors.  Ever feel drained after a big test?  Like it's time for a nap?  Well, you're drained because you've been working hard as heck.  The bottom line is, my body needed those extra QUALITY calories, especially this week, in the face of the final test of knowledge.

Note to students:  Those "care packages" or "study packs" your college offers to your parents to buy for you are full of absolute junk.  Dum-Dum lollipops will NOT help you pass that final, and will likely send you on an aggressive sugar roller coaster that will leave you either too hyper to think or too monotonous to care about which bubble you're filling out.  And all that chocolate?  It won't help your brain grow, but it sure will grow you out of those jeans.  

So what's my advice to you?  If you've got tests coming up, don't be afraid to eat hearty meals of clean food.  I would suggest heaps of complex carbs, as well as plenty of protein and fats from sources such as nuts, milk, and fish.  You do NOT need to be waking up a completely drained wreck, unable to focus and unable to think about anything but how hungry you are for lunch.  Keep yourself fed with "premium fuel," 'cause hey, you wouldn't put anything but the best in an expensive sports car right?  Your body is the fastest, sleekest, most valuable car you own.  Fuel it as best you can, and you'll not only see your lifts increase in the gym, but your grade point average climb as well.

Good luck on finals to all my fellow college students.  Eat well and let's start this summer right!!

Training For Gold: Week 10

It's been a while since I've updated you all on as to how I'm progressing through my training.  This post serves only as a short update, as I realize it's really only of interest to a few people.  Though this is a pretty good spot to get my thoughts down, if I don't say so myself.

I'm please to announce that I'm continually feeling stronger than I ever have before in my life.  The workouts are brutally difficult, however I'm constantly surprising myself with hitting double and triple snatches that I didn't think were even close to possible for me.  The strength is there, and Ivan, my coach, clearly knows exactly what he's doing.  I have an unbelievable amount of respect for him.

In terms of injuries, I'm overcoming a shoulder pang that's been nagging me for a couple weeks, however through ice, heat, and lots and lots of massage and stretching it's recovered despite not ceasing my training.  Awesome!  It never effected my numbers either, thank goodness.  I'm also overcoming a bout of patellar tendinitis with a combination of foam rolling, a LOT of fish oil, and even more ice. All three combined are working wonders, and 12 days after I could barely walk, I'm feeling absolutely great.  Another week and I should be up near 100%.

I hit two new max lifts yesterday, which was absolutely remarkable because the workout surrounding the max attempts was designed to drain me of any energy I had left by the time I actually got the lifts themselves.  That means good things, such as LOTS of untapped potential deep within my muscles to lift a good few kilos more in both the clean and jerk and the snatch.  I have no doubt I could hit at least another 2 kilos in the snatch, and maybe as many as 5 more in the clean and jerk.  Regardless, here's my latest video of both lifts:

You can see more at my YouTube account specifically created to document my lifting progress: Liftm0re (yes, that's a zero, NOT an "o").

I'm due to max out in week 12 as well, so we'll see how that goes.  Progress is coming at relative light speed, and I cannot WAIT to see what else I'm capable of lifting.  A 150kg clean and jerk by the end of this year may not be so far fetched after all, especially if the muscle keeps coming on like it has been.  I'm up to 74 kg!

Stay tuned for more progress, cause I'm not quitting any time soon.

Fish Oil: The Magic Pill

Let me tell you a little story about me, and fish oil.  About two weeks ago, after a seriously heavy squatting session, I walked back to my dorm with burning hot knees, feeling like they were on fire every single time the ligaments moved at all (which they were doing quite frequently while walking...surprise surprise.)  I knew it was every Olympic lifter's nightmare:  patellar tendinitis.  This is where the tendons across the front of the knee (the patellar tendon and surrounding tissue) become inflamed and swollen, and therefore are very resistant to sliding smoothly like they should.  The cause?  Overuse.  It's a quite common injury among lifters, as well as runner, jumpers, and any athlete who runs, jumps or squats day in and day out.  For an Olympic lifter, it can be extremely depressing, as it means that future squatting sessions will be full of pain and misery.  And taking time off from training unfortunately ISN'T an option.  Any time not spent under the bar is progress lost toward new PR's, podium placings and gold medals.  Patellar tendinitis isn't dangerous, just VERY uncomfortable and debilitating.

So what did I do?  At first, I started ice massage, which helped a little, but never seemed to make any progress in the grand scheme of things.  Every workout after that was pain and suffering just as bad as before.  So I did a little more research, and through countless hours of internet searching I found what I hoped to be a possible cure:  Fish oil.

I read that Olympic weightlifters, when faced with patellar tendinitis, often go on a mega dosing fish oil regimen.  That called for 5000 mg a day for the first week, and an additional 2500 mg a day ever week after that.  I read that the condition should improve noticably in 10 days, and be almost gone by day 30.  I figured it couldn't hurt, and so I picked myself up 300 caps of 1000 mg fish oil pills.  The very next day I started in on 5 pills, spread throughout the day.  Well my friends, it's been ten days, and I'm pleased to tell you that my knees feel SOOOO much better.

Sure, I kept icing, massaging, stretching, and foam rolling, but I have absolutely zero doubt in my mind that fish oil is a nearly "magic" cure for joint pain.  If you don't believe me, just read the countless testimonies by other happy consumers who have loosened up and feel tip top thanks to a pill filled with oil from a fish.  But after I started dosing, I did some reading on the pills.  Turns out fish oil is far more beneficial than I ever could have imagined.  Honestly, I would recommend EVERYONE get on fish oil pills, because what they do to your body is absolutely astounding.  Let's look at these magic capsules a little more closely, and really see what I mean about their truly remarkable power at improving your health and well being.

Omega-3:  A lot of the magic in fish oil pills comes from this substance right here, omega-3 fatty acids.  This stuff is like liquid gold.  It's probably some of the best cardiovascular support you could ever get, and will lower bad cholesterol considerably if regularly dosed.  It also acts as a strong anti-inflammatory, which helps bloodflow, joints, and pretty much everything else in your body work smoothly and pain free.  There are a few types of omega-3 fatty acids: EPA, DHA, and ALA.  The two most biologically available and important of these are EPA and DHA, and both are found in significant amounts in fish oil.  ALA isn't as important in our body, and can be found more often in flax oil.  These are called "essential" fatty acids because our body cannot produce them on its own and yet requires them to function.  That's why fish oil supplements are an extremely good choice, especially for those who don't get much fish in their normal diet.

On a side note, in order to achieve maximum health status, you need a good ratio of omega-3's to omega-6 and omega-9 fatty acids.  The two latter are often found in other fatty foods such as nuts and seeds, and therefore we usually get plenty of them.  However omega-3 fatty acids are usually lacking in the average individual's diet, and therefore it's very important to supplement fish oil.

Decreased Stroke Risk:  Strokes are caused when plaque builds up in your veins to the point where it begins to break off and cause a clot in your brain's blood vessels.  That's NOT good.  Luckily, fish oil has been proven to break down the plaque in your veins, drastically decreasing the chance of suffering from a stroke.  I'll take that and run with it, thank you very much.

Improved Mental Health:  Fish oil has actually been shown to support proper levels of serotonin production in the brain, which will help treat/prevent conditions such as depression.  It has also been shown to aid in memory and overall cognitive ability.  I think that's awesome, don't you?

Healthy Skin:  Fish oil has been proven to improve the health of your skin, allowing for greater elasticity through optimum collagen production.  It'll keep you looking young and wrinkle free.  I'm not saying it works miracles, but hey, healthy skin is always a nice thing to have, don't you think?

Fat Loss:  Haha ok, I'll go into a little more depth on this one, as I can guarantee it'll peak the interest of a few more people.  Fish oil is an EXCELLENT tool for fat loss, and I'd say it's essential for anyone wanting to see real results as quickly as possible.  Fish oil increases the production of leptin, which both increases your metabolism and decreases your appetite.  A faster metabolism means more fat burning power, something many people would absolutely love.  Secondly, fish oil is able to increase insulin sensitivity, which allows your body to release less insulin when it senses ingested carbohydrates.  This ensures that you'll be less likely to store excess carbs as body fat.  Thirdly, fish oil actually helps build lean muscle mass, which will also increase your metabolism and cause your body to hold onto less body fat.  Fish oil, despite being 100% fat, actually is probably one of the most powerful fat loss tools you could ever have in your arsenal.  Cool huh?

Joint Health:  OK, I saved this one for last because I've already sort of discussed it.  Fish oil is one of the best tools out there for maintaining healthy, pain free joints.  Its anti-inflammatory properties keep things sliding smoothly, and hey, the slippery properties of oil don't hurt either.  Thousands upon thousands of people have obtained amazing pain reducing effects from dosing fish oil on a regular basis, and if you think it's too good to be true I IMPLORE you to give it a go for yourself.  You'll be very surprised at how effective this stuff is.

Fish oil has been touted as the only supplement worth taking.  While I don't completely agree with this, I do agree that it is almost 100% necessary for any serious gym-goer, casually active individual, or couch potato. Seriously, this stuff will do you nothing but good.  If you don't believe me, try it for yourself.  Pick up a bottle, start your dosage at 3 a day, and see what changes start to occur in your body.  I can almost guarantee you'll love this stuff as much as I do by the time you're done.

Love the fish, keep healthy and happy, and as always, GOOD LUCK!


References:
http://www.livestrong.com/article/315158-the-truth-about-fish-oil-fat-loss/
http://orthopedics.about.com/cs/patelladisorders/a/patellartendon.htm
http://fishoilbenefitshq.com/
http://www.webmd.com/healthy-aging/omega-3-fatty-acids-fact-sheet