Sport Fitness & Physique» BioSignature Modulation

Is Dinner Making you Dumb?

admin — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 23:02:04 +0000

Actually, Dumb isn’t just for dinner anymore.

It really doesn’t matter what time of day you eat it -drink it or sprinkle it on your food…

Excitotoxins are slowly and methodically killing your brain.

What are excitotoxins, you ask?

Excitotoxins are tasty little amino-acids that food manufacturers use to ‘sweeten’ and ‘spice-up’ our foods and beverages.

Do you enjoy diet soda or Crystal-Light?

Do you put Nutrasweet (aspartame) in your morning coffee?

Do you enjoy sauces, gravies, rubs, marinades, soups or salad dressings?

Do you enjoy dining out?

Sometimes eat fast-food?

If your food or drink comes in a bag, box, bottle, packet or can
-it probably has some excitotoxins added for flavor.

So what do these excitotoxins do -beside make my food and drinks taste yummy?

Well, there are some ‘exciting’ characteristic of excitotoxins.

For instance, as soon as excitotoxins enter the bloodstream, they go straight to the brain and excite the specific brain neurons that give us pleasure.

That’s the exciting part!

The uglier side of excitotoxins is that once in the brain,
they don’t know when to say ‘when.’

Excitotoxins keep ‘exciting’ the brain’s pleasure neurons until the neurons finally die!

Did you get that?

Excitotoxins actually stimulate the brain to death!

The effects of repeated brain cell death are tragic and repeated excitotoxin exposure has been found to greatly contribute to the following life-threatening diseases:

ALS (Lou Gherig’s Disease)
Alzheimer’s disease
Brain tumors
Chronic inflammation
Chronic stress
Dementia
High blood pressure
Hypoglycemia
Hypoxia
Immune deficiency
Impaired blood flow
Infections
Irregular heartbeat
Memory loss
Obesity
Parkinson’s disease
Pituitary, thyroid, hypothalamus, adrenal and reproductive dysfunction
Rheumatoid arthritis

So what do excitotoxins look like?

Here are the common sources of food additives containing excitotoxins:

Aspartame
Autolyzed Yeast (also called ‘Natural Flavorings’)
Bouillon
Broth
Calcium Caseinate
Corn Oil
Hydrolyzed Oat Flour
Hydrolyzed Plant Protein
Hydrolyzed Protein
Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein (cheap, tasty but very dangerous soy product)
Malt Extract
Malt Flavoring
Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)
Natural Beef Or Chicken Flavoring
Plant Protein Extract
Sodium Caseinate
Soy Protein (Isolate and Concentrate)
Stock
Textured Protein (Including TVP –another dangerous soy product)
Various Seasonings
Yeast Extract

So you see, there’s nothing exciting about excitotoxins.

Flavorful or not, aspartame, MSG and all the aforementioned sources of excitotoxins are absolutely deadly.

So what can you do to stay lean and healthy?

Drink more water and avoid soda, flavored drinks and drink mixes.

Eat more natural, whole foods.

Only use fresh herbs, spices and condiments like horseradish or fresh salsa to flavor your foods.

Don’t let dinner make you sick, fat, dumb -or worse yet…

Don’t let dinner make you dead.

Further reading and resources:

Excitotoxicity and ALS (Lou Gherig’s Disease)
PubMed.gov

Excitotoxins and Autism
PubMed.gov

Excitotoxins
Wikipedia article

‘Hidden Sources of MSG’
Excerpt from Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills by Dr. Russell Blaylock, MD

‘Food Additive Excitotoxins and Degenerative Brain Disorders’
An article by Dr. Russell Blaylock, MD

Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills
Dr. Russell Blaylock, MD – Amazon.com

‘Lean Gain Principles’ eBook Review

admin — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 13:49:15 +0000

It has often been said that ‘not a single ounce of muscle has ever been built in the gym…’

And, it’s true!

Muscle isn’t built by training with weights…

Training is what bodybuilders do to tear their muscle down…

Muscle is built at the training table and while you sleep.
-That’s where real muscle is built.

Now, just getting more sleep is fairly easy, but unless you really know what your doing in the nutrition department -you may just be spinning your wheels and wasting your energy.

Enter Shelby Starnes and Steve Colescott:

With over 30 years of combined experience, Shelby Starnes and Steve Colescott are nothing short of experts in the potentially treacherous field of muscle building nutrition.

Don’t think bodybuilding nutrition is tricky?

Take a look around your local gym.

How many people look the same today as they did last year -two years ago -five years ago?

Even though they work hard, most typical gym-goers haven’t made any significant progress since their ‘newbie gains’ tapered off way back when.

‘The devil is in the details’ as they say and it’s the details of your nutrition that will make all the difference between adding quality muscle to your frame -or toiling away tirelessly year after year with very little to show for your efforts.

The Lean Gain Principles eBook is chock full of detailed nutritional information that is far more than just supposition and theory.

The information presented here is time-tested and proven; -proven by the authors themselves and proven by their thousands of satisfied clients.

The basic premise of the Lean Gain Principles is macronutrient rotation -or Macrotation© as the authors have dubbed it.

Macrotation© takes advantage of the impact that protein, fat and carbohydrate have on the body’s metabolism and hormonal system.

By carefully manipulating these macronutrients and providing the body with exactly what it needs -precisely when it needs it -muscle is built at an optimal rate while avoiding the fat accumulation that typically accompanies a muscle building caloric surplus.

But don’t you worry.

You don’t have to understand the science of Macrotation© to take advantage of the best muscle building strategy available.

All you have to do is read through the book and plug your specific numbers into the detailed charts that are provided and violá!

It’s all done for you!

The Lean Gain Principles reads like a recipe book for muscle building success.

You just have to add the appropriate ingredients as directed -and follow the recipe as written.

It really doesn’t get any simpler than this.

And if that weren’t enough…

Shelby and Scott have also included over 12 pages of bodypart-specific training advice and their favorite exercise selections for muscle growth.

Combine this with the nutritional information and you can see what a fantastic value this eBook really is.

You get:

The What, Why and How of effective bodybuilding nutrition
Sample diets: Breakfasts, lunches, dinners, shakes and snacks
Pre, During and Post training nutrition specifics
Supplementation: What works and how to use it
Food prep basics
Advanced food prep guide
Basic training guidelines
Shelby and Steve’s favorite exercises for packing on the pounds

So if you’re tired of busting your butt in the gym and not gaining the muscle you deserve…

Buy this book and make this year different.

Transform your physique now.

Lean Gain Principles eBook
Format
The Lean Gain Principles eBook is 41 pages and formatted into 12 basic chapters. Each chapter covers a specific component of a successful off-season, muscle growth phase. It's not quite as nice as having a real, hardcover book in your hands, but the eBook format can be read on any computer or electronic reading device (like the Kindle or iPad). For those needing something tangible in their hand to read, the eBook can easily be printed off as a whole or one page at a time to highlight passages of importance or to take specific pages with you to the gym or to the grocery store. You can even upload your eBook to a cloud-type app like Dropbox.com so your eBook is only an internet connection away.

Content
The information in 'Lean Gain Principles' is solid, but the writing is a little less than stellar in some areas. The main ideas are communicated well enough, but as a whole the work could have used a bit more time in the editing process. Not to worry though. Many of you won't even notice the spelling errors and simple slips of syntax. The main focus of the book is Macrotation© and how nutrient timing can change your physique for the better. Whether or not you understand the intricate details of Macrotation© doesn't matter. Shelby and Scott have helped thousands of clients achieve bodybuilding success using the information within the pages of the Lean Gain Principles eBook. The information is solid. You just have to follow the rules as written and watch as you finally begin building the muscle you've been working so hard for.

Value
Next to hiring Shelby and Scott to write your diet and coach you along the way, you really aren't going to find anything that compares to the value this eBook provides. Between the nutritional information and the training advice and exercise selection -this eBook is a phenomenal value!

Overall
If you've struggled to gain muscle mass while staying as lean as possible -the Lean Gain Principle eBook is just what you've been waiting for. Stop wasting your time and start building muscle.

Overall

If you've struggled to gain muscle mass while staying as lean as possible -the Lean Gain Principle eBook is just what you've been waiting for.

Stop wasting your time and start building muscle.

“Lean Gain Principles” An Off Season Nutrition Guide“

Becoming Super-Human: Part Deux

admin — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 21:52:22 +0000

As mentioned in a previous post, my wife and I began giving the diet and exercise recommendations in Tim Ferriss’ new book The 4-Hour Body a real go.

Well, I am happy to report that after just one week, I have dropped over 17 pounds, 4% bodyfat and two inches off my belly.

My waist measurement has decreased some, but not quite an inch yet.

Suffice it to say, I am more than pleased with the results for the both of us so far.

Keylea has lost 8 pounds this week. She is feeling fantastic!

But even so, we won’t measure her until her cycle has passed.

A woman’s menstrual cycle can play havoc on her weight, her measurements and of course -her emotions. So there’s no good sense in measuring what you know isn’t accurate and what you can be relatively sure will be more bad news than good.

The emotional toll just isn’t worth whatever metric data you may or may not discover.

At the outset, I wanted to try the training routine that Tim outlines in the book. And in fact I did perform the very first training session exactly as Tim describes. It was short, sweet -and everything I remembered High Intensity Training to be.

However, HIT training is very familiar to me. I have used HIT several times in the past; on myself and with various clients.

And while HIT can be very effective for beginners, the under-trained or those coming off an injury -High Intensity Training just isn’t my cup of tea at this stage in my life.

I enjoy my time in the gym and although HIT can be very effective -the counting, timing and cadences required to perform that type of training properly, just seem to sap my energy and drain my enthusiasm.

I will instead continue to use the training program that has been the most enjoyable for me to date:

Jim Wendler’s 5/3/1 Training Program

The 5/3/1 program allows me to make substantial strength gains while working well below the level of muscular failure.

I can also incorporate the Olympic lifts and other more specialized training implements without over-taxing myself or pushing my recovery capabilities.

Fat Loss and Strength Training:

Dieting while building strength and/or muscle tissue can be tricky.

Many would say that you cannot serve two masters; that one must either focus on fat burning or muscle building.

I have always challenged this theory and I believe that this little experiment will help me establish the appropriate diet, training and supplement program to accomplish both goals simultaneously.

Supplementation:

Right now, I am taking the following Poliquin nutritional supplements to aid my recovery, fortify my immune system and give me an advantage in my fat loss efforts:

Upon waking, on an empty stomach:
Two (2) Holy Basil Supreme

Immediately after training:
Three (3) UberZinc Px
Two (2) UberMag Px

With each meal:
Two (2) Ultra HCL 4.0 -Mid-meal
Five (5) grams Fish Oil in either liquid or capsule form

Before Bed:
Two (2) UberMag Plus Px *with L-Tryptophan
Two (2) UberZinc Px
Two (2) Tribulus Supreme

I am still feeling very strong.

In fact, even after losing my 17 pounds, I experienced absolutely no loss of strength during my squat training tonight -which for me -is quite amazing. My squat is usually the first thing to suffer as I cut weight.

Not this time though. And I could not be happier.

Stay tuned!

Happy, Healthy, Smart and Lean?

admin — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 20:16:20 +0000

You just might need more D3 -ya know what I mean?

If you’re feeling kind of down, or maybe a little SAD as the experts call it, you might just need a bit more Vitamin D3.

You probably don’t think much about it -but
Vitamin D3 is an incredibly important nutrient!

We all need adequate Vitamin D to build and maintain strong bones, regulate our blood pressure, protect us from Diabetes, keep us healthy and fight disease by fortifying our immune system (1, 2, 3).

We know that Vitamin D is essential for cognitive development in infants, children and in young adults.

Adequate Vitamin D is also crucial for avoiding cognitive decline later in life.

We also know that Vitamin D deficiency has a strong connection with Multiple Sclerosis, Crohn’s disease, and cancer of the colon, breast, and prostate (4).

And if that’s not enough, as an extra added bonus, new research is suggesting that Vitamin D can even help you lose abdominal fat too (5)!

‘How cool is that!?’ As Flo would say!

We get most of our D3 through our skin from sunlight exposure (I bet you’re not getting a whole lot of that right now, eh? -Especially in the northern hemisphere).

Fish is another great source of Vitamin D…. you could try eating more fish if you like.

Mackerel, Catfish, Tuna and Eel yield the highest concentrations of Vitamin D.

Cod Liver Oil is a darn good source of Vitamin D too
(See? Grandma knew what she was talking about after all)!

But chances are, even if you are able to spend some quality time in the sun and you do enjoy eating fish fairly often, you could probably benefit greatly with a little extra Vitamin D in your blood, one way or the other.

Got D?

See this informative, in-depth article over at the Poliquin website for all the nifty science, explanations and more references, of course!

References:

Autier P, Gandini S. Vitamin D supplementation and total mortality: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Arch Intern Med 2007 Sep 10;167(16):1730-7.
Deane A, Constancio L, Fogelman I, et al. The impact of vitamin D status on changes in bone mineral density during treatment with bisphosphonates and after discontinuation following long-term use in post-menopausal osteoporosis. BMC Musculoskelet Disord 2007 Jan 10;8:3.
Goldstein MR. Myopathy, statins, and vitamin D deficiency. Am J Cardiol. 2007 Oct 15;100(8):1328. Epub 2007 Jun 29. Comment on: Am J Cardiol 2007 Apr 15;99(8):1171-6.
http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/170/13/1135
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/153669.php

Supplements that Help You Sleep: Part Two

admin — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 13:40:50 +0000

I don’t recommend nutritional supplements to correct problems (like insomnia), but rather to correct nutritional deficiencies. Supplements are not a panacea. They are not intended to replace sound nutrition practices. Instead, we wisely use nutritional supplements to ‘supplement’ our nutrition and provide our bodies with what our diet may be lacking.

For instance, in the case of insomnia or poor sleep, the first thing we look for is stress.

Stress can be environmental, emotional or physical and stress is the leading cause of poor sleep habits. We may not believe that we are under stress -but we certainly are. The following are just a few causes of stress that wreak havoc on our bodies, our minds and rob us of much needed sleep.

Personal relationships
Family relationships
Business relationships
Deadlines, Dates & Commitments (personal, family and business)
Pollution (smog, exhaust fumes, pesticides, herbicides, perfumes, colognes, etc…)
Environmental toxins (carpet fibers, textiles, fabrics, PCB’s, plastics etc…)
Radiation (radio waves, microwaves, cell phones, television, power lines, electronic devices, etc…)
Physical stress (manual labor, domestic work, exercise daily activities)

Somehow have to deal with daily stress and recover.

The best way to recover and rebuild our bodies is through sleep.

But how do we improve our sleep to recover from all this stress?

Here are a few practical ways we can try to control and recover from the daily stress of life:

Schedule the majority of stress early in the day and taper your stressful situations down towards the end of the day
Include plenty of fresh fruits, fresh vegetables and lean sources of animal protein in your daily diet
Schedule breaks and time to pray, meditate, relax and revive yourself throughout the day
Take time for physical exercise (the most effective stress reliever of all!)

If insomnia is still an issue after incorporating these stress relieving strategies, we should then correct the specific nutritional deficiencies that are hampering your recovery by wisely supplementing your diet.

In the last installment we discussed the importance of magnesium and how well magnesium aids in sleep.

Another essential mineral that will help improve sleep is calcium.

You are probably aware that calcium is essential for strong bones, strong teeth and a healthy immune system. But did you know that calcium is also essential for sleep?

Calcium works in synergy with magnesium and is one of the most abundant minerals in the body. Calcium deficiency can weaken bones, disrupt heart rhythms, interfere with proper nervous system signaling and will certainly disrupt your sleep.

Most folks believe that bovine mammary product (cow’s milk) is the best source of calcium. However, in my experience, adding dairy products has never improved one’s diet or general health.

The preferred non-bovine sources of calcium include: salmon, almonds, sesame, oranges, figs, quinoa, amaranth, rutabaga, mustard greens, broccoli, spinach, collard greens, bok choy and other green leafy vegetables.

If the diet lacks these essential sources of dietary calcium and poor sleep is still an issue, I would recommend supplementing with a quality calcium supplement.

Look for calcium supplements ending in “ate” -such as calcium carbonate, citrate, gluconate, and chelate.

Calcium phosphate and calcium lactate are more expensive forms of calcium, but they are not absorbed any better than the lesser costing calcium supplements and therefore should be avoided.

Ideally, your calcium supplement should contain or be taken in conjunction with a quality source of vitamin D.

Vitamin D is important is calcium absorption because vitamin D the human body converts vitamin D into a hormone that promotes healthy intestinal proteins that allows calcium absorption.

Next time, we will investigate vitamin D and it’s effect on mood, attitude, cardiovascular health and preventable late-life cognitive diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and dementia.

To Your Good Health!

Supplements that Help You Sleep: Part One

admin — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 19:42:08 +0000

Do you have trouble sleeping? Does your mind race at night? Are you stressed over all you have yet to accomplish?

Your diet may be deficient in several essential nutrients which are keeping you from the rest and relaxation you deserve.

~Let’s take a look at one particular essential nutrient that your body absolutely must have in order to function properly and enable you to sleep like you’re supposed to.

Magnesium:

Magnesium is critical to human health. A vital nutrient found in whole grains, legumes and green leafy vegetables (like spinach!) -magnesium is responsible for regulating heartbeat, blood pressure, blood sugar and over 300 more essential metabolic functions.

Magnesium deficiency is related to hyperexcitability, nervousness, restlessness, mood swings, depression and in severe cases even death.

The USDA estimates that more than two-thirds of the US population is magnesium deficient.

More on magnesium from the USDA here.

Most common multivitamins and magnesium supplements source magnesium oxide or magnesium chloride in the manufacturing process.

Unfortunately, less than 30% of these compounds can be absorbed by the human body. Supplement manufacturers generally use these compounds because they are inexpensive, compact easily and are easy to handle in an industrial environment.

That’s good news for manufacturers -bad news for you.

The best sources of dietary magnesium come from green leafy vegetables, nuts and some whole grains of course.

However, if you do not receive enough magnesium from your diet you may want to consider supplementing with a quality magnesium supplement.

But which magnesium supplement should you choose?

Look for magnesium supplements containing magnesium chelate, magnesium fumerate, magnesium citrate or magnesium glycinate. These forms of magnesium are highly bio-available and are readily absorbed by the human body.

Naturally, I recommend Poliquin Supplements.

Poliquin’s Ubermag Plus is an outstanding magnesium supplement that I recommend to any client suffering from poor sleep, restlessness, lethargy, foggy thinking, moodiness, migraines, or insomnia .

Ubermag Plus contains a proprietary blend of four different magnesium chelates and has 300 mg of L-Tryptophan to help you improve your sleep.

If you need better sleep and you aren’t getting the magnesium you need from your diet, don’t shortchange yourself.

Invest in a quality magnesium supplement like Poliquin’s Ubermag Plus and get the rest you need.

Buy Now

To Your Good Health!

Teens lost 29 pounds in 13 Weeks!

admin — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 12:18:45 +0000

In a recent study conducted by Dr. Nancy F. Krebs, professor of pediatrics and head of the division of pediatric nutrition at the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine -severely overweight teenagers adopting a high protein, low carbohydrate diet were able to lose 29 pounds over a 13 week period.

Nature's Goodness

Even better, after nine months the subjects had been able to maintain their weight loss -not gaining any of their weight back, as some researchers had predicted.

Source: Reuters Health Information April 01, 2010
Howard Wolinsky

Ideally, we would rather our teens not become obese to begin with. Teaching our children about nutrition from a very early age should be a priority. Prevention, after all, really is the best medicine.

The research is clear:

A diet rich in fresh fruits, vegetables, lean meats, select nuts and seeds is safe, healthful and beneficial to maintaining a healthy weight and body composition -for children and for adults.

Avoid grains, breads, cereals, pasta and the like.

Avoid packaged food products, additives, preservatives and toxic sweeteners.

Drink plenty of fresh, clean water.

Get out and move your body daily and enjoy the beauty of nature.

Are we Setting a Good Example for our Youth?

Living a fit and healthful lifestyle is the surest way to instill healthful values in our youth.

Don’t know where to begin?

Need a little help?

We’re here for you.
Contact Us for ideas, help and support.

To your Good Health!
-and the Good Health of your children…

Contact Us -today!