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I wrote an article years ago entitled “Can eating cheeseburgers make my shoulder hurt?” where I discussed a theory of being “allergic” to certain foods which would cause inflammation and therefore pain in my right shoulder. I based my hypothesis on the fact that  a) I have chronic shoulder pain and b) this pain was far less when I ate clean foods. Years have passed, kilos have come and gone and thousands of hours of research on many topics have led me to being a much more educated physical culturist. So let’s revisit!

What are Food Allergies, Sensitivities and Intolerances?

Food Allergies: Pretty much anyone who has a food allergy will know about it. An allergy is an immune-mediated response to a food. Traditional doctors and allergists generally focus on these types of responses when you approach them about a food allergy. They are known as IgE mediated responses. These kinds of responses manifest symptoms almost immediately and trigger anaphylaxis and a massive release of histamine. Rash, swelling, tears, fainting, asthma, rhinitis etc. may all come on quickly. Serious reactions can be fatal and shots of adrenalin are often used when serious allergic reactions occur. However IgE mediated allergies are just a tiny segment of food reactions!!

Food Intolerances: are non-immune mediated. A person may be food intolerant if they find that they just don’t digest certain foods well. They may pass through undigested, ferment and cause gas or just make the person feel bloated and nauseous. Things like lactose intolerances are common in this class.

Food sensitivities: This term may be used to describe both intolerance and allergy. However allergy as I said is related more to IgE response so I reserve the term “food sensitivity” to the other kinds of food reactions that I want to lend more time to here.

IgG and IgA responses are also immune responses. Unlike IgE which manifest immediately and usually in a dramatic sometimes violent fashion, IgG and IgA responses can go by undetected for long amounts of time or they may also show symptoms immediately. They cause inflammatory responses and the release of immune factors. They can affect ANY organ system of the body and can take from minutes to days before symptoms show up. They can also be dose dependant responses, meaning that either a certain amount of the reactive food must be eaten for symptoms to show or that tiny amounts of the food over a long period of time can cause many small reactions in the body before a symptom may show. This delayed onset of symptoms make food sensitivities notoriously hard to detect without the appropriate laboratory work. Symptoms are often misdiagnosed as something else and you may find yourself treated with medicines that mask the symptom without addressing the cause. Check out many of the things below that food allergies may cause and have a think about how they may be diagnosed as something else. Without treating the cause people may be medicated heavily when perhaps they just needed to drop the milk, whey protein or soy out of their diets!

  • Migraine and headache
  • Night terrors (common in infants especially)
  • Depression
  • Joint pain
  • Gas and bloating
  • Inability to drop body fat
  • Inability to put on muscle
  • Skin problems like psoriasis and acne
  • Fatigue
  • Stomach problems like Crohns Disease

What causes food sensitivities?

We still don’t have all the answers as to why people develop food sensitivities. We do know that eating the same foods over and over causes us to become intolerant to certain foods. I have tested a LOT of bodybuilders over the years and guess what I see the most coming up on sensitivity food panels… chicken, tuna, eggs, whey and broccoli! Humans evolved eating hundreds of different seasonal foods and meats as they were available. Humans (with bodybuilders definitely being the worst offenders) eat an average of 12 different foods.

So someone shooting for optimal body composition trying to build muscle or burn fat for a competition may be hindering results by causing constant inflammatory reactions in the body. On my last food panel eggs were off the chart in immune response and I was eating them every day. When I substituted the eggs out I dropped 2% body fat in 10 days (it was during a comp prep) without changing any other variable.

Remember, food sensitivities may be genetic or small reactions over time can build up until they manifest into a reaction. Rotating foods is one way to avoid sensitivities that you aren’t pre-disposed to.

How do you detect food sensitivities?

Now we get down to business! As we discussed earlier the delayed reaction effect and the fact that some reactions can be completely undetectable or manifest themselves in a symptom that you would never attribute to the piece of chicken you just ate (like shoulder pain!) make sensitivities very hard to detect.

Luckily MASS followers now have access to the best laboratory work in the country! You take a little finger prick test in the comfort of your own home, send the samples away and get results straight to your email. Test is available here: http://www.massnutrition.com.au/products/testing/igaigg-food-sensitivity-test/

Once you have the results you substitute the foods out and away you go. Food sensitivities may not be a permanent thing. They can come and go! Many times they are related to poor digestion and gut permeability. As a coach and practitioner I always have myself and my athletes take the test, we then rotate the foods out (and keep rotating so as to not cause further sensitivities) and run a gut healing protocol to fix the stomach lining and improve digestion. After a period of around 6 months we run the test again and foods that still pop up are most likely a genetic sensitivity and I recommend removing them forever.

FUEL YOUR FIRE!!!!

 

References:

Barbeau WE. Interactions between dietary proteins and the human system: implications for oral tolerance and food-related diseases. Adv Exp Med Biol 1997; 415: 183-193

Bellmann K, Kolb H, Hartmann B, Rothe H, Rowsell P, Rastegar S, Burg-hardt K, Scott FW. Intervention in autoimmune diabetes by targeting the gut immune system. Int J Immu-nopharmacol 1997; 19: 573-577

Bindslev-Jensen C, Skov PS, Madsen F, Poulsen LK. Food allergy and food intolerance – what is the difference? Ann Allergy 1994; 72: 317-320

Borst SE, Bagby GJ. Neutralisation of tumour necrosis factor reverses age-induced impairment of insulin responsiveness in skeletal muscle of Sprague-Dawley rats. Metabolism 2002; 51: 1061-1064

Cavaillon JM. Cytokines in inflammation. C R Seances Biol Fil 1995; 189: 531-544

Coppack SW. Pro-inflammatory cytokines and adipose tissue. Proc Nutr Soc 2001; 60: 349-356

Groop LC. Insulin resistance: the fundamental trigger of type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Obes Metab 1999; 1: S1-S7

Groux H, Powrie F. Regulatory T cells and inflammatory bowel disease. Immunol Today 1999; 20: 442-446

Hanson SJ, Gause W, Natelson B. Detection of immunologically significant factors for chronic fatigue syndrome using neural-network classifiers. Clin Diagn Lab Immunol 2001; 8: 658-662

Kern PA, Saghizadeh M, Ong JM, Bosch RJ, Deem R, Simsolo RB. The expression of tumour necrosis factor in human adipose tissue. Regulation by obesity, weight loss, and relationship to lipoprotein lipase. J Clin Invest 1995; 95: 2111-2119

Lester MR, Hofer MF, Gately M, Trumble A, Leung DY. Down-regulating effects of IL-4 and IL-10 on the IFN-gamma response in atopic dermatitis. J Immunol 1995; 154: 6174-6181

Patton JS, Shepard HM, Wilking H, Lewis G, Aggarwal BB, Eessalu TE, Gavin LA, Grunfeld C. Interferons and tumour necrosis factors have similar catabolic effects on 3T3-L1 cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1986; 83: 8313-8317

Reaven GM. Role of insulin resistance in human disease. Diabetes1988; 37: 1595-1607

Reinecker HC, Steffen M, Witthoeft T, Pflueger I, Schreiber S, Mac-Dermott RP, Raedler A. Enhanced secretion of tumour necrosis factor a, IL-6 and IL- 1b by isolated lamina propria mono-nuclear cells from patients with ulcerative Colitis and Crohn’s disease. Clin Exp Immunol 1993; 94: 174-181

Schafer ML. On the history of the concept neurasthenia and its modern variants chronic-fatigue-syndrome, fibromyalgia and multiple chemical sensitivities. Fortschr Neurol Psychiatry 2002; 70: 570-582

Secundolfo M, de Magistris L, Fiandra R, Caserta L, Bellatta M, Tartaglione MT, Riegler G, Biagi F, Corazza GR, Carratu R. Intestinal permeability in Crohn’s disease patients and their first degree relatives.Dig Liver Dis 2001; 33: 680-685

Targan SR. Biology of inflammation in Crohn’s disease: mechanisms of action of anti-TNF-a therapy. Can J Gastroenterol 2000; 14: S13-16

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So you’ve just finished dieting down for a bikini competition. You’ve worked with a coach with little to no knowledge about nutrition and he’s driven you into the ground with 500 calories per day and 3 hours of cardio to get you “in shape”. You starve your ass off then gorge yourself after your show, put on 10-15 kilograms of fluid and fat. I’m sure you’ve heard the term “metabolic damage” so that’s your new buzz word as to why you’re a tubby.

Does the above sound familiar to anyone? With Fit-X and FILEX just passing and shows being done and kilos stripped off and piled back on, if I see one more woman (or man) facebook post something along the lines with “woe is me I have metabolic damage” I am going to flip.

Where did this come from?

Any coach, personal trainer, dietician etc worth their salt KNOWS that metabolism slows down as people get leaner and leaner and calories are restricted {1}. This is no new phenomenon. ATP production becomes more efficient and resting metabolism starts to drop. Hence why we need to drop calories lower and lower as we get leaner and come into a show.

Dr Layne Norton can be attributed to coining the term “metabolic damage”. In some recent videos he describes the issue, basically as I wrote in the first paragraph (not as blunt as I J). What he also talks about is the fact that weight loss (or gain) can be disproportionate to their calorie intake eg. 2 hours of cardio per day with an intake of 800 calories and weight loss stalls.

What’s my opinion?

First of all I applaud Dr Norton for bringing the issue to the forefront again. With the emergence of the internet guru bodybuilding coach we have seen it become common for prescriptions of hours of cardio with little to no calories being bandied about. A girl does a bikini show, copies and pastes her diet to give to “clients” and when they don’t lose weight she cuts their food further and ups there cardio. Ultimately they come to a point where all fat loss stalls and there is nowhere to move.

Problem 1: Calories are too low to begin with.

It’s common now also for people to hit show after show. We KNOW that calories need to be reduced to get into shape. We KNOW that metabolism slows down to meet expenditure. So we KNOW that at the end of the diet a person’s metabolism has adapted and is slower. It takes time for this to be reversed and for the metabolism to be built up again.

Common example: A female started a competition prep on a healthy 2200 calories. Gradually reduced it and got into shape with decent cardio and food management and finished up on 1200 calories. Gorged herself for two weeks (I’ve seen competitors put away over 5000 calories in sugary SHIT straight after walking off stage), packed on 15 kilograms in a couple of weeks and her metabolism is still in the gutter. She cuts back again to 1200 calories, does cardio to try and maintain a decent bodyweight. Then a few months later it’s comp prep time again. She is MAINTAINING on 1200 calories PLUS cardio. Where do we go from there? She hands this diet to me and I say “No we need to rebuild metabolism again or you are going to starve and suffer”. Alternatively she hands her current diet to some muppet who takes her 1 hour of cardio, ups it to 2 hours and reduces her 1200 calories to 1000 calories in week 1. See where this is going?

Problem 2: Gorging after show

I mentioned this earlier. I’m no hypocrate. I will put my hand up and say year after year I tell myself I’m going to be good after a show. But year after year I eat my ass off and gain 20kg in weeks (sometimes days). However I then pull it back in and start to increase calories again in a precise manner. This is what I recommend:

After the show take the diet you were on and increase total calories from everything (protein, carbs and fats) by 10%. Every week add another 10% until calorie intake and expenditure become congruent with what you started on (assuming that was correct). In this way you will gradually increase metabolism and minimalize fat gain as you are not creating massive calorie excesses due to slow metabolism. Cardio should be reduced in the same manner instead of stopped completely the day after a show. Ultimately we want maximum food being taken in with 0 fat gain with no cardio being performed. This puts us in a great position to kick start a diet again!

I will add to this that Charles Poliquin states that it take 6 months for a complete cell turnover cycle and 3 cycles to create a change on the genetic level ie: If you can stay lean for 3 cycles (18 months) then you adapt genes to want to maintain a genetically lean body! Guys in Australia like Jim Kotantonis and David Nazaroff  have achieved this and it clearly shows in their conditioning. I’ve seen Jim come in at 2.7% on a DEXA scan with 0 cardio and just under 4000 calories of food with supplementary fat burners.

Final words:

I disagree with every woman (and some men) running around telling the world they have metabolic damage that’s why they are fat and now they can’t get in shape. All that has happened is that their metabolisms have slowed down to meet expenditure and they have tried to maintain off of that. It’s their own fault and it’s an easy fix. Take the time and care to work on building your metabolism up. You will make your next diet easier by not having to bury yourself in the ground to get in shape next time.

And for god’s sake stop using it as an excuse. It’s nothing new. It happens to all of us.

1)     Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2011 Sep;301(3):R581-600. doi: 10.1152/ajpregu.00755.2010. Epub 2011 Jun 15.

Biology’s response to dieting: the impetus for weight regain.

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To each achieve the results we all individually desire it’s common to think and also assume we must spend 6 or even 7 days a week in the gym to reach such goals. Some people train more than once a day! The surprising fact is that some of the most famous physiques on earth have been built on only 4 hours of training each week. We are going to look at some of the different theories behind training, and by training I must point out I will be specifically referring to weight training. I am going to look at the benefits of incorporating rest days into your training routine and what the associated benefits may be from doing so.

Let’s talk about the most important aspect of training and that is recovery. Recovery time is important because it is then when the body heals and most importantly adapts to the training you have undertaken. When training, muscle tissue breakdown occurs and during the recovery period your body is refuelling its energy supplies but also repairing damaged muscle tissue.

This next point causes a huge amount of confusion and it’s easy to see why. The reason for this is most people assume recovery means greater amounts of replenished energy. They have had a day off or in some cases a couple of hours and they feel as though they have the energy to train again, so the body must be repaired right? No! Now depending on the intensity of the workout and body part trained this may feel replenished the same day. The next day or several days time however this does not necessarily mean your body is “recovered”.

If someone was to keep training and pushing their body, muscle tissue would start to break down while the body is trying to go through the recovery phase. You may also find performance slows over time and results will diminish as well. This will take effect on not only your physique but the constant stress of training puts much unneeded stress on your vital Central Nervous System (CNS). When this occurs your immune system will weaken and all things can happen from that point.

During my time training I have realized that every individual reacts to training quite differently and it heavily depends on how hard and intense your workouts are. I know for myself I could not consistently train as hard as I do 7 days a week. I would become run down, over tired, my results would quickly suffer and I would also run the risk of getting sick. I have learnt that sometimes in training less is actually more. You must always remember that training is the stimulus and together with nutrition and recovery this is what helps the body recover and ultimately grow. I have adopted the following approach.

  • Monday Training (Shoulders)
  • Tuesday Training (Back)
  • Wednesday Rest Day
  • Thursday Training (Chest)
  • Friday training (Arms)
  • Saturday Training (Legs)
  • Sunday Rest Day

This gives me two complete rest days a week which I find is perfect for me. You will also notice I ensure my larger body parts are separated as far apart as possible. This is because these body parts require a much higher workload. On back and leg day for example my body is under a lot more stress and is also burning a lot more calories as the muscle groups are so much bigger. I have also seen other gym goers adopt a one on one off principle where they take every second day off training altogether and run through each body part over a 9 or 10 day split. It comes down to trying new things and seeing what works for your body because everyone is different.

Now when I refer to rest days it would be unrealistic to assume you or I simply lay in bed all day, however I sometimes try and make this happen. A rest day should simply involve some stretching, good nutrition and by this I mean stick to your meal plan. This is not a day to binge as we want to ensure your body receives all the nutrients it requires to recovery adequately. Sometimes I go for a light walk to get the blood moving but this is only light cardio! You want to keep active and entice some blood flow which will help your body recover and flush out toxins but you don’t want to run a marathon so a light 30 minute walk is fine. If you lay in bed all day like a zombie your body and mind will begin to feel sluggish and although it seems like an attractive idea your much better getting up, eating and embarking on some light cardio and stretching. A rest day is a perfect day to make up for your precious gym time, take the dog for a walk, spend some quality time with your girlfriend, wife or husband or catch up on work, but remember to keep your body and mind active!

Remember, it’s important to note that everyone is different but from my own personal experience and observing many high level athletes and bodybuilders if you are really training at 100% there is no way you could train 7 days a week with the same amount of intensity. You may be able to for a few weeks before your body gives way but this is not ideal for long term results. If you are serious about your training you should be putting just as much importance on your recovery and rest days as you do on your training. Remember one thing – your body does not grow in the gym, it is merely the stimulus. When you refuel your body with quality nutrients and rest this is when repair occurs and muscle hypertrophy takes place.

If you want to grow, you have to rest!

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I’m a big advocate of organic eating. In this instance we will leave meats to the side and discuss fruits and vegies. Not because it’s more nutritious. The jury is still out on that point. Considering it’s grown in the same nutrient deficient soils just as conventionally grown foods are then it’s no surprise to me that there is evidence that nutrient values are not all that different. [1, 2, 3]

However the main and most important reason to choose organic over conventionally grown foods is what is DELIBERATELY left out – Pesticides and fertilizers.

Things like organochlorine pesticides and organophosphate pesticides are potent neurotoxins. Basically they kill the brain! Even in small doses they affect children’s IQ and brain development. Don’t forget research is clear these nasties can even be passed on to a developing baby during pregnancy. [4]

People are often mistakenly making claims that the amounts are not enough to cause harm in adults. Just because you are taking in a small amount doesn’t mean it’s not harmful! Just because you eat an apple covered in bug killer and you don’t curl up and die on the spot doesn’t mean that it’s not harmful in the long run! People, toxicity is accumulative. Smoking 10,000 cigarettes in one hit will surely kill. As will drinking a litre of pesticide. But will smoking 10,000 cigarettes over 10 years cause damage? Yes. What about taking in litres or kilograms of toxins over the same period? Of course! Use your head.

Now I know eating organically can be expensive. Trust me, I know! Luckily for us we can greatly reduce our toxin intake without having to purchase ALL organic. The EWG (Environmental Working Group) in America every year bring out a fantastic list called the “Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen”. Every year they test a large amount of fruits and vegetables for pesticide content and publish the results.

DIRTY DOZEN: Avoid conventional at all costs and make sure you purchase organic. In order of dirtiest to least dirty (but still should be avoided)

  • Apples – 99% tested positive for at least 1 pesticide
  • Strawberries
  • Grapes – One sample tested positive for 15 pesticides!
  • Celery
  • Peaches
  • Spinach
  • Sweet Bell Peppers
  • Nectarines
  • Cucumbers
  • Potatoes
  • Cherry Tomato
  • Hot peppers

Clean Fifteen: If $$$ is an issue choose these when shopping for conventionally grown foods

  • Corn
  • Onion
  • Pineapple
  • Avocados
  • Cabbage
  • Frozen Sweet Peas
  • Papayas
  • Mangoes
  • Asparagus
  • Eggplant
  • Kiwi
  • Grapefruit
  • Cantaloupe
  • Sweet Potato
  • Mushrooms

Now although we can take into account that yes this was a list compiled in America agriculture, it isn’t very different between our two nations (outside of GMO). Also take into consideration that only a handful of companies control the vast majority of the world’s food supply and these companies dictate growing methods then we can infer that the list is pretty congruent worldwide. Lastly we can take into account a whole lot of the above foods are imported anyway!

Use the above as a tool to reduce the “toxin in” side of the toxin in vs toxin out equation!
FUEL YOUR FIRE!!

 

1. Williams CM. Nutritional quality of organic foods: shades of grey or shades of green? Proc Nutr Soc. 2002 Feb;61(1):19-24. [Medline]

2. Magkos F, Arvaniti F, Zampelas M. Organic foods: nutritious food or food for thought? A review of the evidence. INt J Food Sci Nutr. 2003 Sep;54(5):357-71. [Medline]

3. Dangour AD, Dodhia SK, Hayter A, Allen E, Lock K, Uauy R. Nutritional quality of organic foods: a systemic review. Am J Clin Nutr. 2009 Sep;90(3):680-5. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.2009.28041. Epub 2009 Jul 29.

4. Janneche Utne Skaare et al: Organochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls in maternal adipose tissue, blood, milk, and cord blood from mothers and their infants living in Norway. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology January 1988, Volume 17, Issue 1, pp 55-63

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Staying Motivated

How do you stay motivated? Here are a few tips that I use to keep on track…

Set goals

Having a goal or a set timeframe really helps with getting the fire started – small goals, big goals it doesn’t matter, set a deadline and strive for progress.

Make sure your goals are realistic. Having unrealistic expectations of yourself and your results can make your workout program almost impossible to fulfil.

Give yourself several achievable goals to work towards. For example, instead of saying “I am going to have that bikini body that I have always dreamed of in four weeks”, try “In one month I want to lose 2-5 kilos, become fitter and make healthier decisions.” Your odds of succeeding in your program becomes much higher, giving you the motivation to keep going and stay on track towards that dream.

Don’t compare your goals to someone else’s

A lot of women damage themselves by trying to match somebody else’s success. Just because you read somewhere that someone lost 7 kilos in a month doesn’t mean that you will or should even try to lose that amount yourself.

Your health and fitness journey is yours alone. While others can motivate and encourage you, it is only you that can be the best version of yourself.

Don’t beat yourself up

Take your new lifestyle change one day at a time and forgive and forget. If you fall off your program every now and then, just remember…you are only human!

Reward yourself

Reward yourself with new gym clothes in that smaller size you always wanted – It’s a great way to show off what you have been working so hard to achieve and gives you an even better reason to hit the gym in your new clothes while looking and feeling great.

Music

Having a good playlist with all the music you love is the perfect way to stay focused and pumped during a workout.

Food

Try and keep your kitchen stocked with only those items set out in your meal plan. This way it stops you from cheating yourself by eating dirty when you are bored or feeling hungry – you can only reach for the good stuff if that’s all that is there.

Consistency

Lastly and most importantly keep consistent with your training and nutrition!! Motivation is a feeling, just like when you feel happy, sad, excited – you can’t rely on it to always be there. By keeping consistent you are creating a habit for yourself, so when that feeling of motivation drops you will still get up and get moving – Consistency is the key to success in any program!!

Rhiannon Harris
IFBB Bikini Pro

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One of the questions all my athletes and clients ask is “Can I have salt?” – If I haven’t already written it into their diet then I always say “Yes, but it must be Himalayan Sea Salt.”

What is it? – Himalayan Sea Salt (HSS) is a kind salt that is found naturally in the earth.

Where does it come from? – HSS is mined in the Khewra salt mine in Pakistan at the base of the Himalayan mountains. Humans have been mining salt from the Khera mines for an estimated 900 years. The mine is now the second largest in the world with tunnels stretching 50 kilometres.

Why choose HSS over normal salt? – HSS is a natural salt found in the earth. It can be many shades of colour from pink to purple, red and brown. It is said to contain 84 minerals and elements including iron, zinc, iodine, hydrogen and oxygen. Table salt has been refined and stripped of all minerals. Sodium Chloride in its very basic form is basically toxic to the body.

What about sea salt, isn’t that natural? – Be careful with the term sea salt. Virtually all table salt starts as salt from the sea before undergoing a refining process that still strips it of all minerals. Be even more cautious of the term “rock salt”. It may sound natural but it’s basically table salt pressed into a crystal or rock and put inside a grinder for a more “gourmet” experience. The end result is still table salt.

Why is salt important? – For my athletes adequate electrolyte replacement is imperative to maintain performance. Endurance athletes will need even more. For bodybuilders or women trying to deal with water retention cutting sodium and removing salt completely from the diet can backfire. Although initially one might find a reduction in subcutaneous and intracellular fluid by reducing sodium (which can work 24-48 hours out from a competition) after a period of time a negative feedback loop kicks in and aldosterone levels start to rise. Aldosterone is a hormone that governs sodium and water excretion from the body. If sodium intake is too low the body will release more aldosterone which will tell the body to hold onto more fluid and sodium. An adequate sodium intake will keep aldosterone levels low and water retention will be at a minimum. This is why I often have competitors on a high sodium intake all the way into a show!!

A word on iodine – Iodine deficiency is one of the leading causes of thyroid problems and mental retardations. You have all heard I am sure of a need for increased iodine for a pregnant woman? This is why.

People suffering from adrenal fatigue also crave salt. This again comes down to aldosterone. Aldosterone is produced by the adrenals? In adrenal fatigue the adrenal output of hormones like cortisol (yes this is a BAD thing) and aldosterone are compromised. Too low levels of aldosterone will lead to too much sodium and fluid being lost and electrolyte balance (not good for the heart) and dehydration is a problem.

How much? – I personally would look at taking in around ½ teaspoon if HSS with each whole meal during the day. HSS also helps facilitate cellular transport. So a quarter of a teaspoon in your 2 litre intraworkout drink with some aminos is a great idea! The pump will be more than any arginine based pump pre-workout you will find. Again this is why I suggest its use pre-comp! I guarantee those who after a comp you hear whinge and moan “I was flat, I couldn’t get a pump or anything” more than likely cut sodium completely so it’s no wonder intracellular fluid retention was zippo!!

FUEL YOUR FIRE!!!

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Can someone please give me the meaning of “Clean Eating”? Is it washing your food? Eating your food after a shower? What is this latest fad term that everyone is talking about?

I have seen a hundred different fitness-bunnies-turn-nutritional-gurus prey on unsuspecting women coining the term “clean eating” for unsuspecting females (usually) and to line their Prada pockets with $$ to pay for 1000’s of different chemicals to plaster on their faces! (Surely there is some irony here??) .

The truth is it has no meaning. In fact, what clean eating has been perceived as has changed significantly over the last few decades to follow nutritional trends (or idiocies as I would correctly term them).

In the 80’s fats were demonised. If you were seen eating nuts, oils or butter you were a twit. A lard ass who did not understand that to eat “clean” you had to eat fat-free! Cutting fat from the diet is an idiocy that needs an entire other article, but we will leave it at that.

The 90’s brought about a fear of saturated fat. Monounsaturated fat and polyunsaturated fat were deemed “clean” healthy fats but if you ate red meat, egg yolks, butter and coconut oil then you were going to die of a heart attack from high cholesterol. This saw a rapid increase in vegetarianism and veganism (again both of these need full articles) and also the birth of the almighty food pyramid which touted eat grain, grain and more grain!! Bodybuilders and fitness enthusiasts everywhere were eating “clean” diets of oats and egg white breakfasts! (my all time fave idiocy :) ). All of the above has been debunked more times than I care to imagine.

We move into the 2000’s and people start to realize fats (including saturated) all have their place. (EXCEPT trans-fatty acids (TFA’s). Omega 3 is touted as the saviour of the world and should be consumed in massive amounts from flaxseed and fish oils. You were a “clean eater” in the past decade if you choked down tablespoons of flax oil that’s for sure!! Just to update you – people still stuck back there, you can put the flax down. We now know that humans don’t possess the enzymes to convert ALA to the omega 3’s EPA and DHA. We ALSO know that although omega 3 and 6 ratios are usually out of whack and some supplementation can do remarkable things for one’s health, that chewing down and mega-dosing fish oil can greatly exacerbate many of the inflammatory and cardiovascular problems we are trying to avoid! Balance people, BALANCE!!

We move more into the present day and “clean eating” (as these female masterminds put it) means eating completely unprocessed foods. Perhaps almost along the lines of a “Paleo” or “Ancestral” type diet. I say again and I quote from one of these twits e-books “Clean eating means staying completely away from any foods that are processed”. This she-genius then goes onto list her staple daily intake includes “Whey Protein Isolate” (TRIPLE -processed form of protein powder) and Musclewerx D-Fine 8 (an artificially sweetened blend of synthetic amino acids and chemical cocktail of flavouring and processed and refined nutrients). NOW DO NOT GET ME WRONG PLEASE!! I am a massive advocate of whey protein (Aminologic WPI in my opinion being purest and cleanest) it has many many benefits and I have stores lined with products like D-Fine8 (which in my opinion is a GREAT ergogenic aid for weight loss and energy). I’m simply pointing out the juxtaposition of positioning an advertisement and endorsement for these products on the pages of a “Clean Eating” e-book that states everything ingested must be completely unprocessed! Talk about discrediting yourself!!

Fitness gurus and comp prep experts are screaming at clients if they are asking if they can eat FRUITS on an eating plan for gods sake! Fructose is the latest demon! You can’t eat fructose, you have to have brown rice?? If we were to sit down and look at the nutrient density of 100g of carb from brown rice and from that of some berries or other fruit I KNOW what would come out on top. Fruits will contain far more vitamins, minerals, fiber and phytonutrients then rice or oats or whatever else the gurus are insisting clients eat. Do you REALLY think that this will change the way you lose weight?? You will be surprised! In fact a study by Madero et al [1] compared a 6 week diet of low fructose (under 20g a day) with a high fructose intake (50-70g day) with calories controlled and fructose coming from whole fruits. Guess what happened? The high fructose diet lost close to double the weight of the low fructose diet! Go figure. I’m not a massive fan of gluten containing carbohydrates so generally that is the only thing I eliminate from the diet. But guess what!? Removing wheat, barley and rye makes more room for carbs I like way more – fruits!

So what do I believe? Where does “clean eating” come into play for me and my clients? I said it earlier. Balance, people. BALANCE!! I am a big fan of paleo type diets. But do I believe that it is the exclusion of dairy and rice etc. that gives the results? Well, kind of. A paleo diet is made up of wholesome filling foods so over eating them is tough! Excess calorie intake is tough. That’s why they work. However if someone is DISCIPLINED enough to control calories, hit protein, fat and water goals then more leniency towards these foods is given.

It’s not rocket science people. Despite what some people say calories are king. Its physics, unfortunately that cannot be unsaid. Certain gurus will tell you just eat “clean” and you will have a great physique. Currently “clean” by these female e-book warriors means unprocessed. Well I hate to be the bearer of bad news but if you eat 5000 calories a day of “clean” food and burn only 2000 calories, you WILL STORE BODY FAT. It is unavoidable.

BALANCE!! A balance of fats from monounsaturated, saturated and polyunsaturated fats is important. I mentioned earlier the current demonization of trans-fatty acids. We need to make this clear cut! Although in my opinion hydrogenated vegetable oils HAVE NO PLACE in our diet. There are still trace amounts of TFA’s in meats and they are not the same. We avoid vegetable oils as we know they cause inflammation and heart disease [2, 3]. The TFA in red meat may actually LOWER heart disease risk. We now know the same about arachidonic acid (AA) an omega 6 fatty acid. [4]

All or nothing attitudes when it comes to nutritional philosophy is a recipe for disaster. It breeds a new kind of eating disorder known as orthorexia nervosa [5] which is basically an obsession with “clean eating” which we know from the above is very flawed.

For the final time everyone, BALANCE is the key. Calories are the key with the correct balance between macro nutrients – A balance of different wholesome foods. Supplements are processed but I certainly advocate their use when warranted. BALANCE is the key to your health and body composition.

FUEL YOUR FIRE!!!

References:

1. Madero M, et al. The effect of two energy-restricted diets, a low-fructose diet versus a moderate natural fructose diet, on weight loss and metabolic syndrome parameters: a randomized controlled trial. Metabolism. 2011 May 27.

2. Mozaffarian D, Clarke R. Quantitative effects on cardiovascular risk factors and coronary heart disease risk of replacing partially hydrogenated vegetable oils with other fats and oils. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2009 May;63 Suppl 2:S22-33.

3. Wallace SK, Mozaffarian D. Trans-fatty acids and nonlipid risk factors. Curr Atheroscler Rep. 2009 Nov;11(6):423-33.

4. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23220477

5. Bratman S. What is orthorexia? Accessed August 2011. http://www.orthorexia.com/index.php?page=katef

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Creatine Will Increase the Amount of ATP -  Find Out More..

Creatine MonohydrateHey everybody, Luke McNally from mass nutrition and build my body here. Today I’m going to talk to you quickly about Creatine, and specifically Creatine Monohydrate.

So what is it? Creatine is a compound found mostly in red meat, we can produce it naturally in the body or endogenously, in small amounts. We do find vegetarians and people who don’t eat a lot of red meat can be deficient. So, in supplementary form it’s has been shown to increase strength and size and power.

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Summary of McNally's DetoxWell finally it’s done and dusted and damn I feel good. Dumping (literally) all those toxins from my system has made me a new person. I feel I certainly reached my goal of:

1. Improving GI function to improve digestion and assimilation of nutrients

2. Clear a lot of xenoestrogens, heavy metals, toxins and plastics from my system

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Luke SchembriLuke Schembri – What nightmares are made of…Terribly sorry for my absence and delay in getting day 6 to you. I began to write it a couple of days ago and spilt an entire shaker onto my laptop. It made a terrible sound then sadly it passed away. Thats the 5th laptop to leave me. 4 by KO and 1 by drowning. I try and get them covered by warranty but apparantly warranty doesnt cover acts of stupidy, god or spillage. What the fuck?? What other acts are there?! Stupidity?? It was their “stupid” computer that kept fucking up every 5 mins that let to their early demise through uppercut!

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