Catalyst Athletic and Crossfit

How They're Fooling Us, Vol. 1

"You can fool all of the people some of the time...."

The fitness industry is dirty. There may exist no larger salesforce on the planet. Myths abound, and are spread daily; lies aren't pretty, but they sell-sell-sell, baby.

Sometimes, these myths are passive, and don't hurt anyone. If believing that "antioxidants" are the cure for your dry scalp, and that makes you eat more carrots, great. More often, though, what we don't know CAN hurt us.

"A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes." - Mark Twain

Compounding the problem is our own motivation: we WANT to believe. If a friend recommends a protein drink, then finding benefit in the drink validates their belief, as well as our own judgment in choosing our peers. We WANT that creatine to add 5lbs to our squat in the noon group...and so it does. We want to believe that coffee will raise insulin sensitivity, because we love coffee, and bacon....well, bacon.

Supplement companies know this, and their burden of proof is minimal. If a bodybuilder said, "I take this, and it makes me huge!" then that was good enough for me twenty years ago. But long-time exposure to the fitness industry, its "research," and the pendulum of expert opinion will make anyone a skeptic. Approaching healthcare practices with a critical eye is vital to my success as a coach, and our success as a community. Skepticism is healthier than most things on our store shelves.

To help train your critical eye, here are some of the most popular frauds used by the supplement industry (there are so many that I'll break this into two or more posts.)

 

#1: Science PROVES that this works!

As Mike Watson once said, "science doesn't exist to prove, but to disprove." Anyone can attack CrossFit, or squatting, or avoidance of grains using research. However, science is limited to saying, pro or con, "This is what happened under these exact circumstances. It should happen the same way again, given the same circumstances." For this reason, we often have research that contradicts other research - change one variable, and it's a different case altogether.

Innovation is primarily led by those 'in the trenches,' and supported - later - by research.When science fails to disprove something, it's declared valid (this is the formal process behind proving the null hypothesis.) Science, on its own, is simply a rigorous, disciplined detractor. Unfortunately, in the time required to disprove a claim, MANY will believe it.

Science doesn't exist to 'prove' that a supplement works. 

#2:  Correlation VS Causation. Two things can happen in a vaccuum without one causing the other. For example, 

A diet high in fibre is correlated with lower blood pressure. Yes...correlated. It does not necessarily CAUSE lower blood pressure. Could it be that people who eat more fruit and vegetables from natural sources are also more likely to exercise than people who don't? In fact, the only thing that has been proven to REDUCE high blood pressure, moderate blood sugar, remove the effects of stress, improve sleep, increase HDL (good) cholesterol, and lessen the risks of heart disease....is exercise.

#3: Actual ingredients are hidden. If the first ingredient on a label is a brand name - it carries a trademark or registration symbol - it may contain anything. This is the big flaw in labeling laws - a manufacturer can claim that an ingredient is proprietary (a secret blend) and avoid breaking it down into its component parts.

For example, look at the label below. It's hard to believe, but 'Mutant Whey' may not actually create (or contain) mutants.

#4: The overly broad application of data (Of Mice And Men.) Application of data beyond the very small window to which they actually apply.  

Lab mice showed a 50% increase in lean muscle gain after eating this food for two weeks! could mean:

• The mice were underweight before being given the food. 
• The mice were given other things to eat besides the food.
• The mice were given the food in amounts that a normal mouse wouldn't eat.
• The food was administered non-orally, and therefore avoided the digestive tract breakdown.
• The mice did other things - like lifting weights - that helped them build muscle tissue.
• You are not a mouse.

That sounds like an obvious example, but this is a tactic employed VERY often in the fitness and supplement industries: it worked for this guy, so it will work ten times better for you!

#5: The 'More is Better' fallacy. In the first example cited here, well-meaning scientists and healthcare bureaucrats consider that a diet high in fibre seems to be correlated with better health. Ergo, a high-fibre diet is healthy. It follows that eating MORE fibre must be healthier. Any way we can get more fibre in, therefore, must be good. And that, friends, leads to this:

Does adding psyllium husk - an indigestable grass - REALLY make Froot Loops an acceptable, healthy choice?

#6: Mixed or confusing terminology. "Part of this balanced breakfast!" sounds a lot like, "all the important bases are covered!" but really means, "It's pretty bad, but the milk is good, so that makes the score 1:1."

#7: The 'Expert' Testimonial. Any good supplement worth its salt will quickly find a doctor willing to endorse its powers. Dr. Andrew Weil and Dr. Mehmet Oz set the gold standard here.

The trick: combine reasonably good science with illogical hearsay. An example, from the Skeptic's Dictionary:

The appeal of Weil's integrative medicine is that he mixes sound scientific knowledge and advice with illogical hearsay. For example, on his Men's Health Internet page, he provides scientific information regarding men with prostate problems. He offers common sense advice such as don't ingest caffeine and alcohol if you are having trouble with frequent urination, since these substances will increase the need to urinate. But he also advises men to eat more soy because: "Asian men have a lower risk of BPH and some researchers believe it is related to their intake of soy foods." As Sally Fallon and Mary G. Enig note, however: "the same logic requires us to blame high rates of cancers of the esophagus, stomach, thyroid, pancreas and liver in Asian countries on consumption of soy" (Soy Alert! 2001). Weil also states that saw palmetto "may help" BPH because: "There is clinical evidence that saw palmetto can help shrink the size of the prostate, and it may help promote healthy prostate function." Now we know there is clinical evidence that saw palmetto doesn't helpshrink the size of the prostrate.

#8: Studies that begin with the end in mind. "We set out to prove that our protein works..."

A major criticism of the supplement and drug industry is that most of the research supporting their claims is funded by the companies themselves. If I give you money to 'prove' that I'm right, is there a likelihood that you'll prove me wrong? What if your salary - your house, car, groceries - depended on proving that my vitamins were stronger than their vitamins? You might not skew the test, but you might only report favourable data, or find a metric in which my vitamin IS better than theirs. Is a half-truth still a lie?

If a 'white paper' or 'clinical trial' uses the trade name of a supplement, you can be certain that the 'research' contained therein is inherently biased. Even when a supplement's 'white paper' lists research supporting specific ingredients IN the supplement, there's no guarantee that each ingredient will be included in a dosage that has any effect, or won't interfere with the efficacy of OTHER ingredients.

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There are plenty of other ways that the fitness industry and supplement companies attempt to fool us. This is why you won't find supplements for sale at Catalyst: while there may be legitimate products out there, they aren't easy to find. We'd prefer that you eat real food, exercise intensely for short periods in ways you find exciting, and recover well.

Delivering The Farm

We're CrossFit Coaches. We don't say, "3 x 8 reps of squats." We explain anterior pelvic tilt. We draw a picture of a posterior chain on the whiteboard. Sometimes, when we're very lucky, we get to draw a picture of levers and explain rotational torque and the 'moment arm' of the femur.

Then we demonstrate. Here's where your shoulders are in relation to your knees. See how my heels stay on the floor? Here's how I make a little shelf for the barbell on my back. Here's the way my shins look. Now, you go.

Then we give you a turn. We say, sit back. Try it with your hands sliding along a wall in front of you. Try it sitting to a ball. Try it looking up. Try it looking forward. Try it with this plastic pipe. Now try it with this barbell....

The squat is hard to beat. As exercises go, it's king. When it comes to fitness over a lifetime, what's the BEST thing a person can do to help themselves?

Plant a garden. That's my opinion, anyway. Squats are a close second, and if you can squat while weeding, you're going to have a happy retirement.

A vegetable garden isn't possible for everyone. What can we do, then, to provide the level of attention to food that we do to exercise? We can bring in a farmer.

Starting this week, you can order freezers full of meat - grass fed, free range, unpunctured, unmolested, happy beef - right from the gym. You buy it in percentages of cow - 25%, or 50% - so it's more than you can chew at once. Just like CrossFit.

It's more than you usually pay in one go, but MUCH cheaper than you'd pay for the same amount over the winter. Just like CrossFit.

In the spring, we'll make it easy for our members to sign up for a CSA service: fresh, gorgeous, local vegetables delivered to the Park every week. It's like having the farmers' market come to you. You really can't buy happiness, but you can subscribe to it through a CSA. Just like CrossFit.

By mid-November, we'll have a nutrition expert working in-house to give the Catalyst Family specific help with their eating. He'll say, this is how you cook a carrot. This is when you eat your pineapple. This is why you should have red meat. Just like CrossFit.

Telling people to read labels is a good start. Giving them books on paleo and primal is very helpful. Showing them a carrot, delivering fresh meat, letting them scrape the dirt off themselves...that's CrossFit.  Making it accessible, fun and full of fist-bumping awesomeness? That's Catalyst. 

Eat Up - Guest Post by Jeremy Paquin

Eat Up
By Jeremy Paquin

“So, are you IN or NOT Jo?” My normal quiet lunch time reverie interrupted. Jo stared
into the shoebox filled with tiny bright white neatly packaged Weight Watcher snacks.
I quietly munched on my apple and pistachios and listened to the ensuing conversation
between two of my co-workers.

 
Jo: “Well, I don’t know Jane…how much again?”
Jane: “It’s forty-two dollars.”
Jo: “And how many points are they?”
Jane: “They’re only 1 point each, and they’re delicious!”
Jo: “Yeah, I have tried them.” Grabbing one from the shoebox, she appears apprehensive
about the sales pitch.
Jane: “Well its forty-two dollars for the whole box. Are you in or not?”
Jo: “I will have to think about it…”
Jane: “Pfft. Look at Jeremy! He’s eating pistachios! I could only have four of those.”

As I finish chewing my thirtieth, I decide to enter the conversation.

Me: “Hand me one of those.” I squint to read the ingredients list at the back. It is
surprisingly long.
Me: “Tell me ladies, what’s the first ingredient?”
Simultaneously, they guess: “Sugar!”
Me: “Nope, try again...”

An uncomfortable silence follows.

Me (slowly): “Maltodextrin. Ingredient number two is sugar. Then palm kernel oil,
skim milk powder, (rate of speech now picking up speed) yogurt powder, soy lecithin,
salt, flavour, wheat flour, lets see, down the list some more, maltitol syrup, glycerine,
sucralose, carageenan, more flavour, more sucralose, chocolaty drizzle? Ok then.
Deodorized cocoa butter? Colour? Sodium phosphate, sodium citrate, oh, and of course,
sodium bicarbonate…”
Jane: “Oh but they’re sooo good Jeremy. You see, us ladies, we’ve gotta have our treats!”
Jo: “Yeah Jeremy, those pistachios would make me fat!”
Me: “Fat? Good fat won’t make you fat!” (My voice begins to raise here). “Your so
called ‘treat’, with its long list of ingredients, was created in a laboratory. How about
eating real food!? Like meat, eggs, fish, vegetables, seeds, fruit, nuts!?”

 
Unfazed, Jane responds, “But they’re only one point.”

I was incredulous.

Walking out, I reply: “You’ve missed the point.” Pun intended.

A few years ago I read Chris Carmichael (Lance Armstrong’s trainer) say that the
supplement industry was a colossal waist of money. I thought it was a bold statement at

the time. I was training 8 to 15 hours weekly for adventure racing, “carb-loading” pre-
race weekend, and consuming copious amounts of grains daily: bread, bagels, energy
bars, cereal, rice, and pasta. He suggested eating a constantly varied diet made up of
nutrient rich foods, including leafy greens, lean meats, olive oil, nuts, and fruit. I quietly
pushed aside my multi-vitamins and energy bars and meal replacement drinks and began
deliberately eating different foods each day.

Unfortunately, the misconceptions about food are pervasive in our culture. Our ancestors
did not evolve while eating boat-loads of grains, refined sugars, or laboratory-created
foods. They ate whatever the land produced. North Americans, especially, have fallen
into a capitalist food industry nightmare. We are the guinea pigs of big business. We are
the laboratory now.

An entire aisle at the grocery store devoted to cereal? Another, jammed end to end
with colourful boxes of cookies and crackers? Racks and racks stuffed with chips and
chocolate bars?

Recently, a hockey teammate of mine said: “Jer, you’d be proud of me! I’ve been eating
healthy all week! I’ve had chicken wraps every meal.” Hmmm I thought, healthy living
all wrapped up in one convenient snack.

Only a few days prior to the Catalyst Games, I was minding my own business in the
office lunch room, when another co-worker, glancing at my food selection - sliced apples,
raisins, and roasted almonds - says: “You’re not going to eat ALL of those almonds
are you?” I reply: “No, but I might have 40 or 50 by days end.” She looked at me like
I was clinically insane. “Oh, I could only have 12 to 16,” she said, matter of fact, while
drinking vitamin water and desperately trying to spoon out the remaining droplets of her
zero-fat strawberry mango yogurt.

Eating like our ancestors did is not so hard after all. In fact, there are many cultures that
continue to eat the same as early humans. Three simple examples, from three far away
continents, tell a similar tale:

The Hadza were featured recently in the National Geographic. They grow no food, raise
no livestock and continue to live a hunter-gatherer lifestyle unchanged from 10,000 years
ago. These Africans eat wild berries, vegetables, nuts, and whatever meat they can catch.

Persons visiting the Middle East, whether in Pakistan, India, or Afghanistan, for example,
would sit down with families over almonds, pistachios, and raisins, and endless cups
of green tea. A reporter who recently had an opportunity to interview Hamid Karzai,
the President of Afghanistan, was greeted to a modest lunch menu of warm tea and
pistachios.

In the spring I read “The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon”
by David Grann. The Brazilian government estimates there remains as many as 60
tribes who have yet to have contact with the outside world! Upon visiting one such
group, a tribal elder was admiring the author’s wrist watch and offered to trade, which is
customary in the Amazon rainforest. In return, Mr. Grann received at first what appeared

to be only a leather pouch. Peering inside, however, he found it filled with cashews.

Who do you think got the better deal?

Below is a list of food items I ingested during the 7 days leading into the 2010 Catalyst
Games. Many fruits, vegetables and herbs were from my own 160sq. ft garden or
purchased from local farmers. My food intake is like a revolving door. Another week
I might include pecans and walnuts, fresh basil, mussels, tuna, and trout, or grapes,
broccoli, fresh raspberries and watermelon. Constant variety ensures intake of a
wider range of vitamins, minerals, and macronutrients necessary for healthy living.

Peanuts
Cashews
Pistachios
Almonds
Sunflower seeds
Macadamia nuts
Rosemary
Parsley
Crushed chillies
Paprika
Cumin
Dill
Turmeric
Garlic cloves
Granulated garlic
Olive oil
Sesame oil
Mayonnaise
Horseradish
White vinegar
Balsamic vinegar
Table salt
Sea salt
Kosher salt
Black pepper
Black peppercorns
Chicken
Steak
Wild salmon
Oysters
Pork sausage
Roast beef
Eggs
Apples
Peaches
Wild blueberries
Bananas

Oranges
Golden raisins
Thompson raisins
Tomatoes
Potatoes
Carrots
Green onion
Yellow onion
Red onion
Zucchini
Green pepper
Celery
Cucumber
Asparagus
Red cabbage
Iceberg lettuce
Avocado
Romaine lettuce
Black beans
Baked beans
Red kidney beans
Water
Coffee (with a splash of milk, no added sugar)
Gatorade (1L each day for 3 days leading up to the Games)
Bread (one serving the entire week)

How many items listed in the one-point Weight Watchers snack? 58. Fifty. Eight.

The Nutri-Ninjas: Cappelli's Pilot Project

You've heard of Anna, right?  That girl, the ultimate maven; there from the start; holder of many records; a Catalyst veteran of legend.

She's the one, seven years ago, who was trying "The Catalyst Diet" when Coop was just a lowly trainer at another tiny gym.

She's the one behind the spreadsheets, the long emails, and Josh. She's the one who dragged Eddie (remember when we used to call him Sandbag?!?!?) into the family. She's the collector, the collator, the questioner.

It's paying off.  You've SEEN Anna, right? She's fulfilled her inevitable quest toward guru. She's newly certified through her favourite nutrition program yet (Precision Nutrition) and running a pilot project for NEW Catalyst clients in October-November.

The program is just as amazing as Anna herself: meet with her one-on-one this week; meet with the group and a Catalyst Trainer next week.  Rotate back and forth, getting ongoing weight-loss guidance, and working with Catalyst Trainers, meeting with your group, interacting on a private blog (nutrininjas.com) ...for as long as you like.

Like our new Enduro project, Anna's going to make this as easy as possible: become a member of the Nutri-Ninjas.  Commit without a signup fee; every month, your rate is $64.  That's it. And for you, lucky risk-takers, we can make it even better!

For October - November, $60 gets you into the pilot project.  Hey, someone's gotta burn in the motor on this racecar.  Things may not be *perfect* in the first month, and we're counting on you to help us get our shine on. We're taking 6 volunteers - new Family members for the Pilot, please - and only 6.  Don't worry: in December, we'll open the doors to the Ark and let you all join the Ninjas!

Register here - Nutri-Ninjas Pilot Project

Post-Workout Eating

Okay, it's over.  Finally. Time to start recovering.

As soon as your hands are off your knees, and your 'sweat angel' starts to dry, it's time to start preparing for tomorrow.  One thing we've always liked about hard training: it FORCES you to eat well.  While most workout "routines" will admit that they won't work without proper eating attached, the diet portion is usually added as an afterthought and summarily dismissed by users.

The 20 minutes immediately postworkout presents you with a unique opportunity: a shortcut to recovery.  At this point, the muscle is much more sensitive to insulin (and, as such, glycogen replacement.) After 20-30 minutes, though, your body enters a secondary recovery process, which will last around 24 hours.  That short time span, called the 'glycemic window,' is critical to recovery and preparation for the NEXT workout.

The priorities of the muscle postworkout:

1) refuel

2) rebuild

3) rewire

...in that order.  When it comes to nutrition, and specifically supplementation, the knowledge that the muscle will refill itself with glycogen BEFORE using any protein to rebuild itself will save you a lot of money and guesswork. While the supplement industry promotes IMMEDIATE protein intake following exercise, the truth is that protein ingested immedately postworkout will simply be turned into sugar (gluconeogenesis) until the refuelling needs are met.

Above: some samplings from the Glycemic Index (a higher number denotes a bigger insulin spike. Pick fruits.)

 If you can, causing an insulin spike on purpose postworkout will help you recover faster.  If your goal is weightloss - especially if you're storing fat around the midsection - ignore this advice and maintain stable blood glucose levels all day.

Triggering an insulin spike means eating, by itself, a high-glycemic carbohydrate; some fruits will fit the bill (a banana,) but so will crackers or dry cereal.  This isn't an excuse to eat cookies, but a small insulin spike to bulldoze glucose into the muscle will help avoid extra protein turnover.

Half an hour later, with the recovery process underway, is the time to have a meal containing a protein source with high bioavailability (non-plant-based,) and a little more carbohydrate to stimulate an insulin response.  From there, resume normal eating.  The types of eatings we prefer - Paleo, Zone, Primal - will all leave enough circulating protein, in the form of nitrogen, in the bloodstream for long-term recovery; adding this small step will give you a metabolic advantage.

Is Creatine A Steroid?

Creatine is an ergogenic aid. As a supplement, it improves athletic performance.  Numerous studies have proven that effect.  It's never been shown to have a negative effect, in the short-term or long-.  And yet, anti-creatine messages persist, largely due to mythology, misinterpretation, and misunderstanding.  It's frequently confused with creatinine, a metabolic waste product that sometimes indicates kidney disease; it's also sometimes mistaken for a hormone, because it appears pharmacological.  Neither are true.

First, some history: Creatine was originally popularized by Bill Philips (Body For Life, EAS, Met-Rx.)  As the legend goes, Philips regularly received "new" supplements from pharma companies, which he kept in a big box under his desk.  They were almost exclusively junk.  One day, he tossed the bottle of "phosphocreatine" to Dan Duchaine (then, a very popular steroid guru) and Duchaine was amazed: here was a mere protein - NOT a steroid - with volumizing and strength-enhancing results!  Creatine originally appeared as "Phosphagen," sold by EAS, in the form of white powder.  It's still produced primarily by a lab called CreaPure, and resold by different supplement companies under a thousand different names. 

The study that built the bad press: In France, researchers were studying the effects of eating charred meat.  They wanted to understand whether barbecueing, if overdone, could cause renal damage.  When you break down a protein, creatinine is produced as a waste product; typically, the kidneys would filter the creatinine.  But if you're taking in excess protein that's already been broken down before ingestion (ie, burned) or your kidneys aren't functioning normally, creatinine passes straight through into the urine.  The French study of charred meat did, indeed, find elevated levels of creatinine in the urine, suggesting renal failure. Unbelievably, the term 'creatinine' was mistranslated when the study was published in an English medical Journal, and since bad news travels much faster than good.....well, many medical professionals are still advising parents that creatine causes kidney damage, though the authors of the original French study have publicly corrected their translation error.

Creatine works by improving the pool of available PhosphoCreatine in the muscle cell.  Phosphocreatine is necessary for the creation of ATP, which is the most basic form of energy available.  When ATP runs out, more is synthesized from ADP and phosphocreatine, which loses its phosphagen ion to the ADP (adenosine DIphosphate,) which creates adenosine TRIphosphate (ATP.)  Increase the pool of phosphocreatine available, and you can rebuild more ATP more quickly.  And it works: users generally improve their strength in only a few days. Yes, they still have to work hard, but if they train properly, creatine will help.

Creatine also has a fun side effect: it attracts water to itself, wherever it is in the body.  If it makes its way through the digestive system and into the muscle intact, it can hyperhydrate the muscle, creating a swelling effect.  This can happen very quickly - in a day or so - leaving many to believe that it's just too effective to be healthy.  On the downside, if too much creatine is ingested, it will attract water to itself while still in the digestive tract, which leads to gastrointestinal cramping.  Piles of research has shown that 5g daily shouldn't cause any cramping, but that water intake should be increased; if there's no extra water available, creatine WILL pull water into the muscle from elsewhere in the body.

Creatine occurs naturally in fish AND in humans.  If there isn't enough available, it's easily produced in our systems by combining a few other amino acids (glycine, arginine, and methionine.) A 70kg human has about 120g of creatine stored in his muscles, with a turnover rate of about 2g daily; introduce an extra 5g, and the body has the ability to store extra in the muscle.  And that's how it works.  (For more science, including some great graphs, click here.) 

Conversely, steroids work by increasing hormonal output (or suppressing other hormone output.) They're effective because they tip the scales toward the more aggressive hormones (testosterone) and away from the testosterone-cancelling ones (estrogen, progesterone.)  They also suppress cortisol (a hormone released by either physical or mental stress,) which would normally hamper recovery, except that steroids also assist in metabolising nitrogen (protein.)  They can help a neural impulse travel faster from the nervous system to the individual muscle cell, and help muscle recruit its fibre in a better neural pattern.  Some steroids are androgenic (sounds a lot like ergogenic, as used above, right?) - they cause either a suppression of female characteristics, or an exaggeration of male characteristics.  These are the substances responsible for the facial hair in women, the square jaws, and the shrinking testes in males.  Some, though, are merely anabolic: they trigger the nitrogen absorption and CNS recruitment improvements, without the heavy testosterone dosage.  How these work is beyond the scope of this article, but they're more frequently used in the athletic world.  It's important to note that steroids need not be androgenic: think of a female runner using a progesterone-based birth control.  There's a distinct hormonal advantage, but no one questions the usage because she doesn't grow a mustache.

Creatine works.  Does it work well enough to deserve a ban?  This is the question currently in front of the NCAA, WADA, and the FDA.  Unfortunately, since natural levels of creatine (120g/day) can vary widely, even in the same person during a 24-hour span, it's nearly impossible to regulate. 2g/day turnover is normal; 5g/day is the recommended supplemental dosage.  More than 5g is excreted by the urine.  A hard-training athlete may naturally vary by 5-6g/day....you get the picture.

Does it deserve the negative stigma?  No.  5 extra grams, out of 120, isn't going to send the body into a state of non-production, as steroids do. It's not going to rewire the nervous system; not going to produce secondary sex characteristics, or enhance the growth of tumours (steroids have never been shown to CAUSE cancer, but they can increase tumour size along with everything else.)

The best way to take creatine: on an empty stomach, with a small insulin spike.  So a half-teaspoon in fruit juice will work best.  Make sure it's completely dissolved before ingesting to avoid drawing water into the gastrointestinal tract.  And don't bother "cycling" on and off creatine - there's no need.

One More Reason To Start A Garden

The Glycemic index is a useful tool for diabetics and us: those looking to control insulin levels throughout the day. The Index measures how much blood-sugar levels spike after you eat certain foods.

We've been talking  a lot about Paleo foods, and about eating Zone foods, but the two 'diets' aren't mutually exclusive.  To quote Greg Glassman, "There isn't a debate.  It's like asking, 'Should I wear tennis shoes, or a hat?'  Why don't you do both?"

Foods that fit the Paleo-eating template are also better suited to Zone eating, it turns out.  Vegetables cause less of a blood sugar spike than grains.  They're more slowly digested, so your pancreas doesn't overreact and gush insulin.

Mendosa.com has always kept a comprehensive lists, based on research, of the glycemic impact of different foods when eaten alone.  Combining foods helps, of course - that's why we balance carbohydrate, protein, and fat intake at every meal - but it doesn't totally negate the effect.  You can't cancel out the massive insulin spike you'll get from eating a bowl of white rice just by adding some milk.  Eating some cheese with your corn is still going to mean a blood-sugar crash a few hours later.

Mendosa also lists the Glycemic Loads for foods.  While the original Glycemic Index measures the quality of foods (how much they increase blood glucose,) Glycemic Load also considers the quantity of a typical serving.  Glycemic load is the GI value of the food, multiplied by a typical serving size,and divided by 100.  So, while long-grain rice can have a Glycemic Index value of  47, which isn't bad at all, most people eat at least a cup, which means that the total Glycemic Load of the meal (a 2.7, or very bad) is going to cause a huge insulin spike.

Compare to vegetables.  Green peas have a GI value of 39 (excellent,) and a Glycemic Load of 0.5 (also excellent.)  You can eat as many green peas as you like without worrying about a blood-sugar crash an hour later.

Download GI_GL_Carb_data

A few other examples:

Juices - cranberry juice is often touted for its antioxidant effects. But drink a glass alone, without a meal, and it's Bonk City.  Orange juice, though, is fine.

Apples? Great.  Dried apples?  Ridiculously calorie-dense, because people still eat the same volume, even though the water's taken away. 

Strawberry jam?  Not bad!  Strawberry fruit bars, a la 'Breakfast Bars?' - brutal.  Good luck staying awake if you have a long commute, especially when eaten on an empty stomach!

The best way to eat vegetables?  Fresh, uncooked, right from your own garden.  Kids turned loose in a vegetable garden will never ask to leave.  Gardening is also extremely cathartic, very good for improving creativity, and a great reward system.

Last year, we experimented at home with seeds from Veseys.  A Canadian company, Veseys takes guesswork out of the equation: buy from them, and they don't ship plants or seeds until they're ready for shipping.  It's top-quality stuff; even my unrefined farming skills produced enough peas, carrots, potatoes and the occasional strawberry for my kids all summer.  It's a bit of work (yikes!) but the luxury of walking across your lawn for fresh green peas, right out of the pod, is hard to match.  New strawberries every day? Decadence.

Can't grow it?  Buy it.  This is our local Food Network.  Get to a farmers' market.  Until they're open, though, start planting seeds.

Get Well Soon

"You can listen to me, or you can die."

Those were her doctor's words.  But now, hunched over her collapsed body in her tight hallway, her doctor was far away.  I made eye contact with one of the Paramedics: he knew the truth, too. 

"Your doctor told you to drink that?" he asked, drawing a curtain of professionalism over his incredulity.  He nodded toward her jug o' juice, the main part of her diet for the last two weeks.  To her, it was medical science: 1000 calories a day of Space Tang, a mathematical miracle.  To us, it was a Carbohydrate Cowboy with an itchy trigger finger.  Having a diabetic lose weight on a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet seemed to defy logic.  But, then again......doctor said!

They took her away in an ambulance.  Again.  To Big-E Emergency.  Again.  Protesting, again.  To be prescribed few calories, no fat, and rigid adherence.  Again.  Hey, it works for everyone else, right?

On the porch with her son and grandson, I couldn't hold my tongue.  Maybe my message of research and logic and overreliance on 1970s technology was lost in my shocking use of profanity.  Maybe, but I'd had enough.  After sprinting my fastest 400m ever to find my mother-in-law, sweating and fighting for consciousness on her low-pile carpet, I was ready to say my piece.

Patricia's doctor, you see, had never told her there was a third option.  There's always a third option.  In this case:  3) ...or you can do something else.

They'll call it improving impaired glucose sensitivity.  They'll call it improved glucagon/insulin balance.  They'll call it restabilization of fasting blood sugar.  We'll call it walking.  For now.  Later, we'll call it walking with a little more. 

They'll call it a low-carb diet.  We'll call it better balance of protein, carbohydrate, and healthy fats. 

It's clear, now, that it won't be possible to change the medical system from the inside.  You'll need to look outside the traditional 'medical' world for help: and that's scary, isn't it?  There's just as much bad information out there as good information.  But we're going to help, and we're going to do it in a big way.  More on that tomorrow.

Today, though, Patricia is still using a hospital bed.  After spending her first night in a hallway, alone, she was finally given a room. The next day, Grammy's shoes were stolen.  Yesterday, doctors gave her medications checklist a serious overhaul......and no one mentioned exercise.  Dietitians visited last week, and gave her a book about the DASH diet (low sodium) - an excellent idea to treat the symptoms of congestive heart failure, but not the causes.

Who's at fault?  The system.  The 'funnel' paradigm - intake, process, output - is a defensive model.  It's reactionary.  To make it worse, the funnel's overflowing.  Your best bet is to avoid the process.  We'll talk about that tomorrow, too.  "Get Well Soon" is can't just be a greeting-card cliche anymore; it's a social imperative.

Metabolic Medicine - Guest Essay by Terri Lutes, ND

Metabolic Medicine

Congratulations to all of you who have taken on the January No Grains challenge. I would imagine by now, almost at the half-way point, that a lot of you are already noticing improvements in your overall heath. Some of you may notice an improvement in your digestion, less headaches, decreased joint pain, or increased energy. However, other changes are occurring inside your body that you might not realize are happening. Some of this is due to removing gluten from your diet. Many people are gluten intolerant and don’t even know it. Other changes are happening because you are better controlling your insulin levels.   Insulin resistance is the basis of many chronic diseases and of aging. What is the purpose of insulin? Most would answer that it is to lower blood sugar (glucose) by facilitating the transport of glucose from the bloodstream into the cell. They would be right, but insulin has other actions in the body.   Insulin stores excess glucose as fat. The body has a limited capacity to store glucose as glycogen in the liver and muscles. Once that capacity had been surpassed, the body converts the rest of it to fat.  There is more bad news about insulin. Not only does it store excess glucose as fat, but it prevents the use of stored fat as an energy source. Since fat can’t be burned, the body burns glucose from muscles instead. So with high insulin, any time a person ingests extra sugar it gets stored as fat, and any time there is a deficit of sugar the body burns up glucose from muscle instead of fat. Not good.  
That’s bad enough, but insulin will also make you eat too much. Insulin stimulates appetite by affecting the brain in two ways. First, it interferes with the appetite-suppressing hormone leptin. Second, insulin causes a spike in dopamine, signaling our brain to seek rewards. This can turn us into cookie monsters, since these rewards often come in the form of a brownie or a bowl of ice cream.     This is why eliminating or limiting sugar and high carbohydrate foods like grains (which will be digested into glucose) is beneficial for managing body composition. Limiting the amount of sugar ingested limits the release of insulin, and therefore the amount sugar that gets stored on the body as fat. Keeping insulin levels under control also allows the body to burn fat instead of valuable muscle. It also helps to keep us from being ravenous all the time, and having constant sugar cravings.   What else does high insulin do?   It increases blood clotting and atherosclerosis.   It increases cancer risk by increasing IGF-1 (insulin-like growth factor-1) signaling, which stimulates cell proliferation and inhibits apoptosis (programmed cell death).   It decreases intracellular Vitamin C. Vitamin C and glucose are very similar in structure. Since the absorption mechanism for vitamin C and glucose are identical, when glucose levels rise less vitamin C is absorbed by the cells. This results in a weakening of the immune system.   It decreases intracellular magnesium. Magnesium relaxes muscles, so with decreased magnesium the muscles around blood vessels constrict, increasing blood pressure. Magnesium is also important for the action and manufacturing of insulin.    It increases sodium retention, contributing to fluid retention and high blood pressure.   It is linked with an increased serum TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone), which indicates poor thyroid function. It also decreases the conversion of the thyroid hormone T4 to the more active T3 in the liver.   The nutrition plan you have been following for the past 2 weeks is metabolic medicine. It is helping to prevent heart disease, high blood pressure, poor thyroid function, and depressed immune function. All that plus improving body composition. While it may not always be easy to follow a grain-free diet, your efforts will reward you with better health and vitality.
  Terri Lutes, ND Synergy Naturopathic Clinic 705.949.2300

 

January No-Grains-All-Brains Challenge!

I know, I know. The Canada Food Pyramid says to eat your whole grains, and you'll be fine. It also has no problem with this: Froot Loops (Now with Fibre! Raise the Insulin-Resistant Roof!)

Though they make up 75% of the North American diet, you do NOT need grains to survive. You're NOT wired to digest grains properly - we simply haven't been exposed to them long enough, as a species.

While we're not great at digesting most carbohydrates, we're REALLY not smooth at handling processed carbohydrates (sugars.) As we digest them, the spike in our blood sugar creates metabolic mayhem and we board the insulin roller-coaster for hours afterward.

Gluten, too, is a big concern. Most of us aren't diagnosed as "gluten-intolerant," but can still feel a difference in joint inflammation and recovery time after a grains-heavy weekend. After November's Paleo challenge, several participants celebrated with a big meal of wings and beer, or something similar. Their response, the next day? Increased fatigue, joint pain that they would previously have associated with injury, depression, and a lack of drive to exercise.

While true Paleo-style eating is a big bolus to swallow all at once, we believe that we can achieve a terrific start - and up to 80% of the benefit - by eliminating grains for a month.

Yes, there's mounting scientific evidence to back this up. But mostly, we're doing this because we've had enough. Diabetes is skyrocketing, and what's the response of Government, the Canadian Diabetes Association, the education system, the Health Care system, and most 'experts'? Eat more whole grains. Instead of demanding drastic change - which, frankly, we require - we hear it's fine to just add 2g of "whole grain" to a pile of sugar. Fibre doesn't cancel out sugar, folks; it barely numbs the glycemic response to the rest of the sugar in most foods; and the type of fibres that most food companies choose to add to foods (psyllium husk) is hard on the digestive system.

Our system of health 'care' is a reactive one. Constantly playing defense, it's struggling to stay afloat as more and more people unintentionally add to the burden. It's time to stop settling for the bare minimum. Sometimes, it's necessary to experience the extreme to pull ourselves back toward centre. In this case, we're going to shut out all grains (listed below) for January, and just eat like Grandma used to tell us: eat your vegetables. Finish your meat. Dessert is not an everyday occurrance. And drink your cod liver oil!

Call us reactionary; call us extreme. Just don't call us late for dinner. And don't serve white rice.

A useful list of what is a grain, and what is NOT a grain (from grainfreeliving.com):

Foods that are grains, or are made from grains are:

• Wheat
• Rye
• Barley, including barley malt
• Bran
• Bulgur
• Couscous
• Farina
• Kamut
• Orzo
• Semolina
• Spelt
• Corn - INCLUDES CORN SYRUP (as in pop)
• Cornflour
• Cornmeal
• Rice
• Oats
• Millet
• Beer (yes, beer!)
• Glucose made from wheat
• (this list may be incomplete)

So any thing made from these products would also have grains - like cakes, biscuits, pizzas, bread, pasta, breadcrumbs, spaghetti etc

Foods that are grain free, even though they are often used as a flour or look a bit like a grain are:

• Almond
• Amaranth
• Arrowroot
• Buckwheat also called Kasha
• Cassava
• Chickpeas (made into flour)
• Coconut (used in flours)
• Cottonseed
• Dal
• Fava bean
• Flaxseed
• Gram flour
• Lentils
• Manioc
• Potato Starch/Flour
• Quinoa
• Sago
• Sesame
• Taro flour
• Soy
• Tapioca
• Glucose made from tapioca

REQUIRED READING (Hey, it's January. You have the time.)

The definitive guide to grains

What happens when you Carb Binge?

The Graham Cracker: A Cure For Lustful Urges

The Paleo Food Journal

Grain Free Living

Grain Free Gourmet

Grains and Legumes Cause Discordance in the Human Diet

CONTEST RULES

To participate: Your goal is to eat foods that are 100% GRAIN-FREE (see above.) That includes anything used in the preparation of your meal.

To win: Well, you'll win just by doing the challenge. Just in case you need a prize, though, we'll provide one. A hint: it will taste GOOD.

Getting points: We'll award points based on the following criteria. Points are to be entered daily on our Tracking Site (don't have a password? Email or call!)

5 Points - Entire day, including beverages and all ingredients involved in preparation and cooking, are 100% grain free (see above list.)

3 Points - One or two meals is 100% grain-free, but not the whole day.

1 Point - you eat the meat and vegetables and throw away the bun. Some small change to your norm.

Change happens bit by bit - not all at once. Don't worry about being perfect; worst case, you're only 3 hours away from a grain-free meal, and you can make it up then.

Easy Eating - The Zone Diet

It's 2001. I'm in a hockey dressing room, talking to sweaty, tired 10-year-olds at John Becanic's summer hockey camp at the Pee Wee Arena. A few parents lean through the doorway. I'm talking about protein intake for hockey players. They're asking questions, good ones, about things to eat between games in a tournament. I'd been training athletes for five years already; my advice didn't include much about healthy fats, but DID recommend a high-GI carb right after a game (which I still push, for the insulin spike and improved recovery time.)

One boy asks about protein bars. I tell him to emphasize good eating and not rely on supplements. "What kind?" I ask, more to fill the silent void. "Zone Bars. My mom is ZonePerfect." he says. I scoff, pigeonholing Mama into the legions of fad-following Sears Disciples who wear the ZonePerfect badge like a medal. To me, it's the Scarlet Letter.

When Dr. Barry Sears first published "The Zone" in 1995, he couldn't have foreseen the road the book would take. Over the next few years, as The Zone grew in popularity among the fad-diet crowd, Sears enjoyed a hero's renown. But the original book, "Enter The Zone," was too technical. Food had to be counted. Meal preparation required equipment and math. Diligence turned to obsession for a few, and caused a whole new type of eating disorder: the overly-strict. Faced with a lifetime of weighing and measuring and dissecting their plates, the Zone fanatics slowly turned toward the next rising star (Atkins.)

Sears countered with several books designed to simplify Zone eating, and cash in on the dwindling numbers who still followed his brand. In short order, he published Mastering the Zone, Zone Perfect Meals In Minutes, Zone Food Blocks, and The Anti-Aging Zone within 3 years. Between 2000 and 2002, his work took a noticably different slant: making The Zone simpler, and easier to follow. A Week In The Zone, The Soy Zone, 100 Great Zone Foods, and The Omega Rx Zone were all published within 20 months. His brand was dwindling among the simpler (though less effective) low-carb diets like South Beach and Atkins, and since those diets touched on some of the same rationale, The Zone was largely grouped with its contemporaries and went out of fashion with them. But all that was before CrossFit, of course. Now Sears is enjoying a new resurgence of popularity among both athletes and more elite exercisers whose energy requirements go above and beyond a multi-grain bagel at breakfast time.

 

In 2006, Sears did a Live Lecture series, and it was recorded and published for sale (you can buy a copy here.) In my estimation, this is the best piece of work he's ever done: it's simple. It gives the listener a solid piece of equipment (the palm of their hand!) to use for any meal, anytime, anywhere. This, we've dubbed the Hand Model.

At every meal, eat:

Protein: the size and thickness of your palm

Carbs: same. If all crunch vegetables, eat the size of your whole hand.

Fat: size of your thumb.

Now THAT's a food plan! Since everyone will respond slightly differently depending on insulin sensitivity and output, a little experimentation is necessary. This, too, is addressed in the Live Lecture; you just need to do a little test.

1. Eat your meal.

2. Do your thing.

3. 3 hours later, ask yourself: am I hungry, but alert; or am I hungry, but tired or dopey?

If you're hungry but alert, you're in the right Zone for fat metabolism. You're doing it right. If you're hungry and tired, you're suffering the slope of lowering blood sugar. You may crave a carbohydrate snack. Either reduce your carb intake, or increase everything else to provide blood sugar stability.

This, folks, is as easy as food intake is ever going to get. Personally, I dropped too much weight at first, and had to ramp up total Zone Blocks and especially fat intake to survive the punishing CrossFit schedule. Modify as necessary, but this will get you 90% of the way there.

The 100-Mile Challenge

 To participate: Your goal is to eat foods that are produced - from the ground up - within a 100-mile radius of Sault Ste. Marie.  That includes all meat, vegetables, grains, drinks, oils, and anything used in the preparation of your meal.  Since we have a late growing season this year, we'll award points based on meals that are close to 100% local, instead of insisting on some ridiculous and nearly-impossible challenge. 

One of the more rigid (but terrific) eating styles we advocate is the Paleo style - nothing processed, focusing mainly on meats, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds.  Another is the Zone - 40% carbohydrate, 30% protein, and 30% healthy fats - to control insulin.  While the Zone is a template for timing food intake, the Paleo Diet is more specific about good food choices.  You don't have to do either for this challenge, but both help, and both fit.

 To win:  Well, you'll win just by doing the challenge.  Just in case you need a prize, though, we'll provide one.  A hint: it will taste GOOD.

Getting points: We'll award points based on the following criteria.  Points are to be entered daily on our Tracking Site(don't have a password?  Email or call!)

5 Points - Entire meal, including beverage and all ingredients involved in preparation and cooking, are grown and processed within 100 miles of Sault Ste. Marie (any direction.)

3 Points - Food is local, ingredients (like salt or olive oil) used in cooking or seasoning aren't local.  Beverage is local.

1 Point - a food item that forms a major part of the meal (meat like beef or bison, vegetables, wild rice, or fish) is local.  Beverages don't count in this category.

Questions?  Post below (just click 'respond') and we'll all help one another! Points will be tallied at the end of the month!

The Zone - Food Shopping

Okay, so you're almost ready for 30 Days of the Zone as Rx'd!  Just gotta go shopping...right?

Here's the best advice I've heard so far: only buy food from around the perimeter of the grocery store.  Don't go down the aisles.  Think about the stuff at the perimeter: fresh fruit.  Fresh vegetables.  Then some grains (if you're so inclined,) fresh meat, then dairy.  Eggs and juice (watch out with the juice.)  Stop at the 'bulk' area on your way out for some almonds, and/or get some good flax oil and olive oil or Udo's Choice oils from the refrigeration section...and you're out!

The Zone Diet Primer

What started as a challenge has taken a life of its own.  Over 30 Catalyst members and clients are now going to try the Zone 'as Rx'd' in June!  30 days of blood-sugar control, enhanced performance, and fat loss.

When the Zone Diet was originally published in the 1980s, it gained a huge following right away, but tapered off.  All 'diets' have some degree of followership, followed by a decline when folks realize it's not a magic bullet, but requires fundamental lifestyle change.  This is not easy stuff; imagine building your house, and then realizing that part of the foundation was flawed!  Major work required.

In his more recent 'Live Lectures,' though, Barry Sears highlights the most relevant points of the diet; he shows how to 'ballpark' the Zone; he gives tips you can use to test your own insulin level based on your level of fatigue.  It's great stuff, and it's no wonder most elite CrossFitters use the Zone.

First off, the Zone isn't a diet in the traditional sense.  There are no 'banned' foods.  It's a template.  It's a system for regulating insulin based on macronutrient pairing.  Where those macronutrients come from is another story for another time.

Carbohydrates, Proteins, and Healthy Fats are broken up into 'blocks.'  Forget grams, calories, cups and ounces; just focus on Zone Blocks.  How much is One Block?  Below, you can download the Zone Block Guide.  

Download Food Block Guide

How many blocks of each do you need?  Well, depends on your goals.  If your goal is weight loss, you can figure out your recommended daily Block intake at:

www.zoneliving.com

There's more to fitness than weight loss, though.  As we discuss in our book, Defy Mediocrity, and our CAT Testing Guide, weight is a correlate - not a determinant - of fitness.  Those doing the Zone for CrossFit may find that they lose weight too quickly due to the high demands of the WODs.  Some CrossFit nutritionists recommend as much as double the daily Zone Blocks calculated by the Zone method; Robb Wolf regularly consumes as much as 5x the recommended daily Fat Blocks!