Category Preventative Health

Are Post-Workout Carbohydrates Necessary?

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Please check out my latest article for Sports Nutrition Supplement Guide!

You can access the original post here:

http://www.sportsnutritionsupplementguide.com/eating-plans/item/1532-are-post-workout-carbohydrates-necessary#.VfiGeBFViko

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If you have been lifting weights for a while, you have probably heard about the importance of ingesting simple carbohydrates during the critical post-workout window. The idea is that the insulin spike which occurs with carb consumption augments protein uptake and thus optimizes muscle building and repair.

However, there is a growing body of evidence which argues against this theory. One study which was published in Nutrition and Metabolism split older male subjects into two groups, one of which consumed only protein post-workout, while the other group consumed the identical amount of protein, with an added carbohydrate source in a 1 to 2 ratio. The subjects in the second group initially had an insulin spike and a greater uptake of protein into muscle tissue, but after several hours, both groups had the same uptake of protein.

Athletes who train several times a day may benefit from the faster rate of protein absorption which accompanies carbohydrate consumption during the post-workout window since they need to keep glycogen stores full for the next workout. However, the average person or athlete who only trains once per day will be able to replenish glycogen levels within a day or two, without any negative effects, as long as enough carbohydrates are consumed in the diet throughout each day. This is great news for individuals who cannot consume large amounts of simple carbohydrates, either due to diabetes or excess weight, because the overall absorption and uptake of protein is unaffected by carbohydrate intake.

Substances like whey protein induce an even bigger spike in insulin than carbs do, and the increase insulin levels from protein alone is adequate to inhibit the muscle breakdown which occurs post-lift. You might also consider employing a carb-cycle diet which consists of a low carb plan intermixed with one or two high carb days per week. The carb spike days will effectively replenish glycogen stores and keep your energy high for those intense lifting days, while the remaining lower carbohydrate days will boost growth hormone production.

REFERENCES: Hamer H, Wall B, Kiskini A, de Lange A, et al (2013) Carbohydrate co-ingestion with protein does not further augment post-prandial muscle protein accretion in older men. Nutrition & Metabolism 10:15.

Jeanne Calment – World’s Oldest Person

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The following description was copied from the Wikipedia description of this extraordinary woman:

Jeanne Louise Calment 21 February 1875 – 4 August 1997) was a French supercentenarian who has the longest confirmed human lifespan on record, living to the age of 122 years, 164 days. She lived in Arles, France, for her entire life, outliving both her daughter and grandson by several decades.

Calment was born in Arles on 21 February 1875.[2] Her father, Nicolas Calment (28 January 1838 – 22 January 1931), was a shipbuilder, and her mother, Marguerite Gilles (20 February 1838 – 18 September 1924), was from a family of millers. She had an older brother, François, (25 April 1865 – 1 December 1962). Some of her close family members also lived an above-average lifespan, although none lived anywhere near as long as Jeanne: her older brother François lived to the age of 97, her father to six days shy of 93, and her mother to 86.

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In 1896, at the age of 21, she married her double second cousin, Fernand Nicolas Calment, a wealthy store owner. Their paternal grandfathers were brothers, hence the same surname, and their paternal grandmothers were also sisters.[5] His wealth made it possible for Calment never to have to work; instead she led a leisured lifestyle, pursuing hobbies such as tennis, cycling, swimming, rollerskating, piano, and opera.[2] Fernand died in 1942 at the age of 73 after suffering from a bout of food poisoning.[6]

Their only child, a daughter named Yvonne Marie Nicolle Calment (20 January 1898 – 19 January 1934), produced a grandson, Frédéric Billiot, on 23 December 1926.[5] Yvonne died one day before her 36th birthday from pneumonia, after which Calment raised Frédéric herself.[7] Frédéric became a doctor, but died at age 36 in an automobile accident on 13 August 1963.[5][2]

In 1965, at age 90 and with no heirs, Calment signed a deal to sell her apartment to lawyer André-François Raffray, on a contingency contract. Raffray, then aged 47 years, agreed to pay her a monthly sum of 2,500 francs until she died. Raffray ended up paying Calment the equivalent of more than $180,000, which was more than double the apartment’s value. After Raffray’s death from cancer at the age of 77, in 1995, his widow continued the payments until Calment’s death.

In 1985, Calment moved into a nursing home, having lived on her own until age 110. At the age of 114, she appeared briefly in the 1990 film Vincent and Me as herself, becoming the oldest actress ever to appear in a motion picture.

Calment’s remarkable health presaged her later record. At age 85 (1960), she took up fencing, and continued to ride her bicycle up until her 100th birthday. She was reportedly neither athletic nor fanatical about her health. Calment lived on her own until shortly before her 110th birthday, when it was decided that she needed to be moved to a nursing home after starting a small fire in her house, caused by a cooking accident, which has been attributed to complications with sight. However, Calment was still in good shape, and continued to walk until she fractured her femur during a fall at age 114 years 11 months (January 1990), which required surgery.

Calment smoked cigarettes from the age of 21 (1896) to 117 (1992),though according to an unspecified source, she smoked no more than two cigarettes per day towards the end of her life. She quit smoking, not because of health reasons, but she couldn’t see well enough to light her cigarettes.

Calment ascribed her longevity and relatively youthful appearance for her age to a diet rich in olive oil, which she also rubbed onto her skin, as well as a diet of port wine, and ate nearly one kilogram of chocolate every week. She also credited her calmness, saying, “That’s why they call me Calment.” Calment reportedly remained mentally intact until her very end.

On 4 August 1997, around 10 AM Central European Time Calment died, aged 122.

A Centenarian Who Broke World Records

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Tom Lane

Tom Lane broke records as one of the nation’s oldest Masters swimmers. He exercised every single day, shot golf regularly, but his favorite physical activity, and the one which won him gold medals in Masters divisions, was swimming. a former patent lawyer, Tom Lane set Masters records in the backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle in three age groups. He went on record stating that his life’s philosophy was, ‘If you can’t beat ’em, outlive ’em.’”

Tom Lane proved to younger people that old age was never an excuse to become lazy and sedentary. He went on record saying that for many people, retirement is when an active life can begin. He didn’t even allow blindness to stop him. When glaucoma robbed him of his sight at the age of 92, he began to have problems with turning at the end of laps in the pool, and would bump his head on the edge of the pool. Instead of quitting, he attached a sponge to his forehead to cushion the blow when he reached the edge..

Tom Lane died at the age of 103 from complications of pneumonia in his home in San Diego in August of 1997, but not before leaving an inspiring legacy and breaking world records in Masters swimming.

Bravo!

Who Is THAT In The Mirror?

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young-vs-old

This post is dedicated to every single patient and client who has admitted to me that at some point after they began their descent into middle age, they looked in the mirror and no longer recognized the reflection staring back. The aging process can be terribly cruel, and when hormonal levels plummet, the physical changes can appear almost overnight. Taut, supple skin is replaced with saggy skin. A full, thick head of hair is reduced to a thin, lifeless mass. Joints begin to creak and resist natural movement. Brilliant white teeth begin to look dingy. Once full cheeks and lips become deflated. Grey and white hairs sprout and take over the scalp. Back fat and belly fat obliterate a once trim waistline. I could go on, but you get the idea.

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None of the changes associated with aging are fun, especially the physical changes which end up making us feel frustrated by a rapidly changing physical landscape. While some folks begrudgingly accept the aging process without considering any interventions, a growing segment of the aging population has turned to everything from adrenal support supplements, to hair dye, to dermal injectable fillers, to surgery, in an effort to fight the aging process every step of the way.

The good news is that there are more anti-aging options than ever before. In addition, there is a greater awareness of the importance of proper nutrition and regular exercise in fighting the aging process. But let’s face it. Many people still want a magic pill or an instant fix, and that is where cosmetic interventions such as fillers and surgery come into play.

Is it cheating to have treatments which make you feel more like yourself? I certainly don’t think so, nor do my patients. Unless you are on a mission to pump your face so full of fillers that you look like a Barbie doll, you can turn to fillers to restore volume which has been lost over the years and STILL LOOK LIKE YOU.

For those of you in the Los Angeles area who are interested in injectable filler treatments, Botox, chemical peels, or bioidentical hormone replacement, please check out my medical site: http://www.drstaceynaito.com/#!procedures/c1pna

This Is What $54 Worth Of Good Cat Food Looks Like…

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For the past several weeks, I have been re-training my European Burmese cat Kazu to eat moist cat food so that she will lose weight. She is a very fussy eater, and it has been a guessing game, trying to determine which foods she will eat. My conclusion is that Kazu will only eat food which has had little to no processing, and is considered “human grade”. This little lady is insisting on a whole food diet, which is fine with me, but the kind of food she likes is expensive!

Today I decided to stock up, so I went to C&C Pet Foods (great place for discounted pet food in Burbank) and purchased 32 three ounce cans, 6 three ounce pouches and 1 six ounce can, which came to a total of $54. That’s pretty pricey if you ask me! However, Kazu has refused other brands of foods, so I have to stick with a small handful of brands (Tiki Cat, Weruva, and B.F.F.) which are not available at stores like Petco or PetSmart.

If you have a finicky pet, I would HIGHLY recommend these brands of pet food, because they are high quality and quite palatable to most pets.

So Many Flavors For My Cat To Refuse

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Cats are known for being finicky, and this is certainly the case for both of my female cats, Shima and Kazu. Their constant fussiness is balanced out by my boy, Tenshi, who is one of the most food-motivated cats I have ever known. Tenshi will eat just about anything he can get a hold of, including asparagus, avocado, broccoli, bananas and blueberries.

Over the past month I have been trying to get Kazu to eat moist food and to avoid dry kibble, because she is about 30% over her ideal weight. It has been nothing short of exhausting, trying to figure out what she likes to eat. I have gone to the pet store twice, and have selected a bunch of different varieties and brands of food, though I have focused my purchases on the Tiki Cat brand of moist cat food because it is human-grade, the closest to human table scraps, and highly recommended by her vet.

I have purchased about eight different varieties of Tiki Cat, most of which were tuna varieties with other goodies mixed in, and also purchased B.F.F., Innova Evo, Wellness, and Evanger’s. I also purchased tuna and sardines from the grocery store. Here is the status of my experimentation with different types of food:

B.F.F. – Kazu really loved this food, probably because it was a tuna variety. She ate it pretty readily.

Innova Evo – Kazu completely ignored this stuff.

Wellness – Kazu did not like the varieties we tried (tuna chunks and turkey chunks). All she did was give the broth a couple of licks, then completely refused to have anything to do with the food.

Evanger’s – Kazu didn’t even give this food a second’s worth of interest. To be honest, when I opened the can and got a whiff of the food, I was pretty grossed out myself. As a matter of fact, I have noticed that if I find a food off-putting, Kazu will not like it either.

Tiki Cat – Kazu has liked all the tuna varieties, but she was rather indifferent when I offered her the sardine variety. I will say that I am VERY impressed by the consistency and smell of this brand of food. It is appetizing, without any strange odors. With the chicken varieties, you can see actual flakes of shredded chicken. The meats which are used in the Tiki foods are high quality and unprocessed. This has been the winning brand for Kazu, and though I want to try a couple more brands on her, this may be the standard which she will eat on a daily basis. Some varieties of Tiki Cat are priced at close to $2 for a THREE ounce can, so this stuff isn’t cheap!

Hindsight is 20/20: Weight Training Then Versus Now

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This article details the five most important things I have learned about training since I began weight lifting over 25 years ago. When I think back on how little I truly knew about the methods and motivation behind working out, I realize that I have come a very, very long way. It was no accident that I obtained an undergraduate degree in exercise science and a medical degree, because I have spent my adult life strongly driven to learn as much about the human body and its potential as I possibly could. However, there is so much warrior spirit and heart that goes into weight lifting, and it can never be taught, only experienced.

Lifting Lady Weights versus A Lady Lifting WEIGHTS

I began lifting weights when I was 21 years old, shortly after embarking on a mission to heal from a year-long struggle with anorexia which brought me down to 85 pounds and also sunk my spirits to rock bottom. At that time my main objective was to learn how to lift properly, which fortunately was supported by my undergraduate studies and eventual Bachelor’s degree. I was rail thin and weak, so it took some time before I made real gains in the weight room. I held the same misconception back then that many women have now, in which I had a fear of lifting heavy and getting too muscular as a result. More than 25 years later, I regularly dispel that myth by encouraging women to lift heavy weights and showing them that my physique, which is not overly muscular, is the result of some very heavy lifting over the last several years.

Maintaining a Nice Physique versus Raising The Bar

During the years preceding my journey into competitive bodybuilding, I never pushed myself to the next level because I honestly never saw the point. I was content with the degree of muscle I had built in my 20’s and 30’s and was surrounded by people who weren’t impressed with weight training, so I never set new goals. Since I was blessed with decent genetics which kept me at a low to normal body weight and a moderate amount of muscle mass, I was pretty complacent (though very consistent) about my weight training. Then I went through a dramatic shift in 2009 when I competed in my first NPC bodybuilding contest and had an “aha” moment in which I finally understood the insatiable desire to push on to the next level and continue to set the bar higher and higher. Essentially, I had been bitten by the bodybuilding bug, and it overtook me with a ferocity and intensity that I had never known. I know that if it hadn’t been for that dogged determination which made me hungry for top national placings and an IFBB Pro Card, I might never have become a Pro.

Competitions & Overtraining versus Paying Attention To Pain

Let’s just get one thing straight: ever since I began competing in 2009, I have become accustomed to training like a beast. However, when I began my journey towards obtaining IFBB Professional Status, my purpose was so singular that I was willing to train until I collapsed from complete exhaustion, a tactic which I now realize is pretty stupid since it wreaks major havoc on the body when practiced for many months or years. I now understand that it is NEVER worth overtraining, or training with injuries which won’t heal because the athlete never takes a break from lifting. Overtraining interferes with muscle gains, immune function, sleep cycles, joint health, mood and energy, and can trigger a complete metabolic meltdown if the athlete continues overtraining for an extended period of time. Though my body’s creaks and groans, along with chronic pain issues from rotator cuff tears in my shoulder and severe tendinitis (IT bands, forearms, feet) were what caused me to finally ease up on the intensity of my workouts, I only allowed myself to pull the reins back AFTER I got my Pro Card. Once the beast had been slain, I fully embraced the idea of training smart and listening to my body’s pain cues

Hurry Up Before It’s Too Late versus Improving With Age

Before I began competing, I honestly believed that there was a freshness date stamped on competitors which essentially relegated them to the dinosaur pits by the time they reached 35 or 40. So I became positively giddy when I discovered that there was a masters’ division in bodybuilding and that I could strut my 43-year old booty onstage without risk of embarrassment. I regarded each subsequent contest as a chance to improve with age, thus using my competitions as a means to beat Father Time. Through my competition journey I have also met other bodybuilding and fitness devotees who do an outstanding job of proving that one can never be too old to be in great shape.

Seeing Clients/Patients One-On-One versus Impacting The Masses

If someone had told me back in 2009 (my first year of competing) that I would build a global following in a couple of years, I never would have believed it, especially since I had become so accustomed to working with fitness training clients and medical patients on a one-on-one basis. My passion for fitness became supercharged when I began competing, and I was so enthusiastic about sharing that passion that I turned to websites and social media platforms to demonstrate favorite exercises and contest video footage. Without thinking about it, I had put myself in a position to lead by example, and used my knowledge, educational background and experience to build fan loyalty and inspire and motivate my followers and fans. To this day, I love getting messages from fans who say that it was because of me that they decided to start competing or to pursue another personal passion which gave them joy and also graced them with optimal fitness.

These days, I often refer to embarking on a fitness and wellness regimen as putting the oxygen mask over one’s own face. That was exactly what I did for myself over 25 years ago. By showing others how to do the same thing, I feel completely in line with my life’s purpose, and it’s extremely rewarding.

Hot and Cold

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Many women who are in their early 40’s and beyond experience a roller coaster ride with their internal thermostats which is absolutely maddening. They can go from sitting comfortably one minute, to a sudden sweat and flush which makes them feel like they are standing next to a fiery blaze the next minute. Such a roast-fest can last from seconds to minutes, after which a woman may feel pretty comfortable. But the pendulum can swing the other way, and the woman may suddenly feel very cold once the air conditioning has kicked in, prompting her to put on a sweater. Guess what? Chances are that sweater will be peeled off in a matter of minutes when the woman has another hot flash. Hot, cold, hot, cold, hot, cold. Fun times. Such fluctuations in a woman’s perception of temperature, coupled with her constant putting on and taking off layers of clothing, are often perceived as pretty nutty by people who don’t have a clue about the torture these women go through.

I can relate to the constant temperature fluctuations because I have been suffering from it for over a year now. I fully realize that my body doesn’t know what temperature it is. Thanks to hormonal imbalance and the decline associated with peri-menopause, I am very familiar with the sweating which is sudden and intense, and I know that feeling of desperation which has me peeling off clothes, fanning myself, and sticking my head in freezers and in front of blowing fans. However, I only recently began experiencing the feeling that I am suddenly freezing my butt off, and I truly can’t stand it. My perception of the ambient temperature can go from upper 70’s, to 120 degrees, to 60 degrees, within 5 minutes flat.

woman with chills

On my worst days I will have maybe five or six of these episodes, so the daytime hours aren’t too bad, but my evenings make up for the relative break I get during the day, because I am hot and sweaty for many hours and cannot cool down at all, even if I wear a cooling towel around my neck, lie on the floor under my ceiling fan (the darned thing is positioned right over the foot of the bed and doesn’t cool me off at all when I am in bed), and lie over the covers. My bedroom feels like it is 100 degrees and I cannot get away from the heat because, of course, the heat is emanating from ME. My hypothalamus is tricked every night into perceiving that my body needs to release excess heat. I know that this is the result of low estrogen levels, but my professional knowledge of estrogen therapy is enough to keep me from ever supplementing with estrogen, so I will continue to suffer as long as my hypothalamus triggers the way it does. At least I know I am not alone: about 85% of women who are peri-menopausal experience hot flashes. Hot flashes can last from several months up to 15 years, with an average of 2 years. I hope and pray that I fall into the average! Seriously, hot flashes and night sweats are absolutely miserable. I often get as little as two hours of sleep at night when my night sweats are in full effect!

Why Cheat Meals Are Good

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If you ask a competitor about favorite cheat meals, you had better expect the person’s eyes to glaze over as he or she lovingly describes his or her most beloved foods. You may wonder if cheat meals are only incorporated into the lives of fitness people, but they actually serve a purpose for anyone who is committed to healthy eating. Perhaps you have just embarked on a healthy food regimen and are struggling a bit with it. When you incorporate one or two cheat meals into your plan each week you will boost your metabolism and foster a more balanced relationship with food.

Let’s face it. We are only human, and we carry our emotional relationship with food with us throughout our lives. If we were to practice a rigid adherence to a healthy meal plan without any fun meals, we would feel guilty if we were to ever indulge in a bad food in a moment of weakness. If we know that we are allowed such a fun meal (I prefer this terminology over “cheat” meal), we can rest in the comfort that it is acceptable and that there is no reason to feel guilty about consuming it. This also works nicely if you tend to go to events on the weekends and don’t want to be the stick-in-the-mud who can’t eat anything that is being served.

When you eat a more calorie controlled meal plan during the rest of the week, a fun meal will speed up your metabolism and satisfy cravings that have been accumulating during the week. I believe it is important to eat something you truly crave instead of doing a small cheat like a dinner roll with a chicken spinach salad. Have the two slices of pizza or the burger! Just make sure to eat an acceptable amount of food and don’t gorge yourself.

I am often asked by weight management patients if a cheat day or a cheat weekend is acceptable. My response is no, for the simple reason that this creates a slippery slope which causes many individuals to lose self-control and spiral into a guilt-ridden “I messed up so why stop now?” mentality. If it is too difficult to do one fun meal per week, incorporate two fun meals spaced by at least one day so that your body can recover.

My Cat Needs A Body Transformation

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For the first time in the thirty years that I have had cats, I share my home and my heart with an obese cat. My six year old European Burmese Kazu is of small stature, and her normal weight should be somewhere around nine pounds. She was nine pounds until just under a year ago, when her weight began creeping up. I noticed instead of walking down the stairs like she used to do, she hopped down the stairs, mainly as a result of her increasing belly girth and her short legs, both of which interfered with normal transit.

8.18.15 Kazu

One day in May, my roommate remarked that Kazu was rather stout, then began asking questions about her. Since my roommate was new to the household, she could clearly see that my cat was overweight. Was she constipated? Well, yes, Kazu has had bouts of constipation since kittenhood. Did Kazu drink enough water? Yes, I think she does. Does Kazu overeat? Honestly, I really don’t think so. Kazu doesn’t usually beg for food, and she normally doesn’t like moist cat food or people food. Out of concern for my little girl, I took her to the vet, who told me that my cat was fat and that there was nothing I could do about it. I then got a second opinion which was the same. I then addressed the constipation issue by trying glycerin suppositories, but there wasn’t much of a change in Kazu’s bowel habits, and neither of us enjoyed the process.

By early August, Kazu’s weight shot up to twelve pounds, which prompted me to take her to a third vet. Thankfully, that vet (Dr. Lavely at Limehouse Veterinary) was willing to take the time to chat at length about the problems which I had regarding switching the household to scheduled feeding times (erratic schedule, often not home, greedy male cat who eats everything, Kazu’s finicky palate). It’s been about a week since we visited Dr. Lavely, and the feeding has definitely been very erratic, which is why I still have dry food out at all times for the cats to eat. I keep trying to give Kazu people food and moist cat food, but her response is inconsistent. On some days, she readily accepts the food I put out for her, while on other days, she barely even sniffs the food before walking away. I am hoping that Kazu begins to accept the offerings I give her, because that is the only way she will lose weight. I even bought a very expensive moist cat food which has human grade ingredients in hopes that she transitions over to moist food. My goal is to get her to lose three pounds in a healthy way over the next year. Kazu is relatively active and plays with her siblings frequently. She also plays toys and is the only cat out of the three who knows how to play fetch and even initiates games of fetch on a regular basis.

I guess Kazu is my first feline body transformation client!