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Stress Cookies & Stress Tea

I did a recent interview about sports nutrition for the Canadian natural health and wellness magazine, Alive!, which asked me several questions for their Rio 2016 Olympics Special (which should run next month).

Here are the main questions and answers from that interview…

1. What foods do you eat leading up to a workout (the day before or the day of), and why do you think these foods help your athletic performance?

One of the most important considerations when choosing foods on the day before or the day of a competition is to select foods that you “know” – foods that you’ve consumed before and that you understand how they will affect you. DON’T fall into the trap of trying a new food to “boost” your performance unless you’ve used it with success in the past.

I have eaten the same “day before – day of” diet for nearly 30 years (as an elite rower and then as a professional triathlete and now as a middle-of-the-pack age-group trail runner):

Day Before:

Breakfast – 2 packs instant oatmeal with 1 scoop vanilla whey powder, handful of fruit and splash of half & half. As a usual coffee drinker – I avoid coffee and caffeine on the day before an important event (but I drink a cup before my event – see below)

Lunch – turkey or roast beef sandwich with mustard, tomatoes, pickles, lettuce, other veggies

Dinner – pasta with fish (not shellfish – high risk for food-borne illness) – green salad with vinaigrette dressing – large glass of water (or two) – one glass of red wine

Day Of:

Breakfast – 2 hours before the event to allow for proper digestion – same oatmeal as above, but with 1-2 cups of coffee (1 cream, 1 sugar in each)

Sip on water until the event starts.

After event – chocolate milk or Snickers bar with large bottle of water (see #4 below)

Since events are typically “away” from your kitchen, you need to select foods that are easily available (at a typical restaurant) and easily prepared (often in a hotel room). Each of these meals provides a balanced blend of carbohydrates (your primary source of energy for high-intensity exercise), protein, fat, and fiber (all needed for proper energy metabolism).

2. Do you eat a snack right before your workout? If so, what is it and why do you do that?

This decision is very individual – some athletes “need” to eat a pre-workout snack and others “can’t” (due to gastrointestinal distress) – so you need to experiment to see what works best for you.

If you decide that you do better with a pre-workout snack, then be sure to consume that snack either 90 minutes before or 15 min before – but NOT within that 15-90min window before exercise.

Why? Because consuming a snack within that window (say at 30-60min before exercise, like a lot of athletes do to “top off” their energy before a workout or event) will allow just enough digestion/absorption to raise blood sugar and insulin levels, which will  then “crash” soon after you start exercising (not good, because your energy levels and mental focus will also crash – leading to poor performance).

Personally, I prefer to avoid pre-workout snacks and instead eat something “during” a long run or long ride if needed for added fueling (which then also “trains” the gut to tolerate food during long efforts). My favorite long workout snack is either a PB&J sandwich or a Snickers bar – both are a great blend of carbs, protein, fat, and fiber (and yummy).

3. What do you drink before, during, and after your workouts, and how does that help your athletic performance?

Mostly water – except during very long and very hot workouts, where you need an electrolyte replacement drink. Since I am eating real food, which contains carbs for energy and electrolytes to replace those lost in sweat, I don’t use a “sports drink” during most workouts – BUT, I use a range of different electrolyte drinks during my longest workouts (2+ hours) and during hot times of the year. In those conditions, all of the e-lyte drinks are superior to water and most of the commercial drinks are equivalent in performance to each other – so choose one that tastes good to you (Gatorade, Cytomax, EFS, Gnarly, Scratch, Osmo, etc).

4. What do you eat after exercise for recovery, and why?

Chocolate milk – or sweetened cereal with milk – or sweetened yogurt with granola.

Each of these tastes great after a hard workout and each one provides a nice balance of “fast” and “slow” carbohydrates with fast and slow proteins and with the right amount of healthy fats.

The fast sugars (sucrose, glucose, and fructose) and slow sugars (maltodextrin, maltose, lactose) help to keep blood sugar levels balanced, improve glycogen storage, and balance stress hormones.

The fast proteins (whey) and slow proteins (casein) help to repair muscle damage after exercise, enhance fat-burning, and control appetite.

If I’m “away” at a race and can’t have easy access to milk/cereal/yogurt, it’s always convenient to have a post-workout or post-event treat like a Snickers bar stashed away in a gear bag. I like Snickers because they taste great and deliver 250 calories of a nice dose of carbs (33g), which is primarily what you;re looking for post workout, but balanced with some protein (4g) and fat (12g) from the peanuts.

5. Finally, do you take any supplements to boost your energy, either before a workout or after a workout? And if so, what are they and why do you like them?

Yes – I am a strong advocate of several supplements that have good evidence for effectiveness and are not banned/prohibited by any sports.

New Zealand Pine Bark Extract – sort of a “secret weapon” for me because it helps with both physical and mental performance. Very high in nutrients called “OPCs” (oligomeric proanthocyanins) that help to open blood vessels, improve blood flow to working muscles and the brain – so you feel motivated, focused, and ready to move. Research also shows that OPCs can balance stress hormones and neurotransmitters, including cortisol, epinephrine, and dopamine – leading to improvements in mental focus, concentration, and irritability.

Astaxanthin – this is a carotenoid antioxidant that has been shown to effectively improve mitochondrial function, cellular energy, and neurological function. Mitochondrial function typically fall during aging, but astaxanthin supplementation has been shown to improve endurance, enhance respiratory exchange ratio (RER, an index of fat metabolism), increase production of new mitochondria, and improve cognitive function (mental energy).

Quercetin – is a water-soluble flavonoid typically found in red wine, onions, and apples. In the body, quercetin plays a role in both improving blood flow and in elevating norepinephrine levels, both of which have been linked to increased cellular and whole-body energy levels.

Theanine – is a unique amino acid found in the leaves of green tea (Camellia sinensis). A unique aspect of theanine is that it acts as a “non-sedating relaxant” to help increase the brain’s production of alpha-waves (those associated with “relaxed alertness”). This makes theanine extremely effective for combating tension, stress, and anxiety—without inducing drowsiness. By increasing the brain’s output of alpha waves before/during a competition, theanine helps to control anxiety and increase mental focus, so you don’t get “psyched out” during an intense effort.

In terms of brands, quercetin is pretty “generic” – so any of the mainstream supplement suppliers provide a good-quality product (GNC, Vitamin Shoppe, Vitacost, etc) – BUT, for the other more specialized supplements, I use the specific branded versions on which the research has been conducted (I have also conducted specific research studies on each of these supplements):

• New Zealand Pine Bark = Enzogenol
• Astaxanthin = AstaZine
• Theanine = Suntheanine

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I’m a frequent “expert contributor” to a number of different health/fitness magazines, including Self, Shape, Cosmo, Health, Prevention, and many others. The topics are generally in the areas of weight loss, stress, sports nutrition, and dietary supplements – but here is one (by the excellent Zahra Barnes) in the June 2016 issue of SELF (about “Metabolism”) that touches on each of those areas – hope you enjoy it!

http://www.self.com/food/2016/06/metabolism-and-weight-loss/

2016, Jun 2
By Zahra Barnes
8 Things You Need To Know About Your Metabolism If You Want To Lose Weight
Like whether drinking green tea actually gives it a boost.

If you’re hoping to lose weight, understanding your metabolism can help. “‘Metabolism’ is really a catch-all word for the different processes going on in the body,” Shawn Talbott, Ph.D., a nutritional biochemist, tells SELF. But when it comes to weight loss, most people are talking about energy metabolism, or how your body burns calories, he explains.

Even if you’re not trying to lose weight, it’s good to have a handle on how your metabolism works. But if weight loss is a goal of yours, it’s extra important to keep your metabolism chugging along as smoothly as possible. Here, eight important things to know about your metabolism if you want to lose weight.

1. Figuring out your basal metabolic rate is a good weight-loss starting point.
Your basal metabolic rate is the amount of calories you burn in a 24-hour period just by being alive, says Talbott. “Once you calculate it, you get a ballpark number of how many calories your body needs on a daily basis,” he explains. Then you can work on creating a calorie deficit by changing your exercise and eating habits. Head over here to get the formulas for calculating your basal metabolic rate (and further figure out how many calories you should eat for weight loss).

And keep in mind that eating less than your basal metabolic rate in an effort to lose weight quickly can just backfire. Since your body doesn’t have enough calories to do its various jobs, it will try to burn less energy to compensate.

2. Gaining muscle mass is a key way to rev your metabolism.
“Muscle can really drive your metabolic rate,” says Talbott. That’s because muscle is more metabolically active than something like fat or bone, meaning it expends more calories while performing its duties. Luckily, the best way to gain muscle can also make you feel like a total badass. Whether you’re using weights or only doing bodyweight exercises, strength training can add some more muscle to your frame. And don’t worry that doing these types of exercises will make you more muscular than you’d like. It’s actually really hard for women to gain a ton of muscle, and it would take a lot more effort than regularly incorporating strength training into your workout schedule, says Talbott.

3. Your metabolism works best when you keep your blood sugar stable.
The foods you eat play an essential role in your metabolism because of how they affect your blood sugar. “High-carbohydrate foods and foods high in sugar can spike your blood sugar, then bring it crashing back down,” Taz Bhatia, M.D., board-certified physician, founder of CentreSpringMD in Atlanta and associate professor of integrative medicine at Emory University, tells SELF. Of course, carbohydrates can be part of a healthy diet (and sometimes you’ve just got to indulge in something, whether it’s healthy or not), but there are two simple ways to keep your blood sugar more balanced even when you’re eating carbs or sugary food.

First, reach for complex carbohydrates, which your body takes longer to process, leading to less of a blood-sugar spike. Second, don’t just eat the carbs or sugary treat by themselves. “Adding other macronutrients like protein and fat can slow absorption and digestion,” keeping your blood sugar more stable, says Talbott.

Stabilizing blood sugar is also the reason experts often recommend eating small meals throughout the day. “You won’t have big peaks and falls in blood sugar, which is important for your overall metabolism and appetite control. When your blood sugar dips, your brain sends signals to eat more,” says Talbott. That’s why skipping meals is a no-go. In addition to messing with your blood sugar levels, it can make you more likely to overeat the next time you sit down for a meal.

4. You have to clock enough sleep for your metabolism to function properly.
Yes, it can be hard to tear yourself away from the internet at bedtime, but it’s worth it. “When you’re sleep-deprived, your body can produce more cortisol [a stress hormone], which interferes with your blood sugar control,” says Talbott. A lack of sleep can also mess with your levels of the hormone ghrelin, which promotes hunger, and the hormone leptin, which reduces it, according to Harvard Health Publications. So, how much should you get? The National Sleep Foundation recommends seven to nine hours per night. If that sounds practically impossible, check out these 10 commandments for better sleep.

5. And you should definitely been drinking a lot of water.
Without sufficient hydration, your body can’t complete all of its processes as well as possible, says Talbott. That includes burning calories. “One of the best things you can do is structure your drinking throughout the day,” he explains. Specific recommendations about how much you should drink vary, but try these 12 easy ways to drink more water every day. (You can also keep track of the color of your urine for a hint as to how hydrated you are.)

6. Your metabolism slows as you age.
This is why you might realize you’ve put on weight even though your habits haven’t changed, or even if you’ve gotten healthier as you’ve gotten older. “Every few decades, women should be eating less than they did before,” says Bhatia. Specifically, the USDA recommends women aged 19 to 30 eat no more than 2,000 calories a day, but the number drops to 1,800 for women aged 31 to 50, then it shifts yet again to 1,600 for women 51 and over. So yes, the older you are, the more you may have to alter your lifestyle to account for your metabolism. The good news is that when you’re eating a lot of fresh, wholesome foods, you should still be able to stick within those calorie bounds and feel satiated.

7. You can get your metabolism tested, but there are other ways to keep track of it.
Unexplained weight gain, a larger midsection than usual, or random fatigue can all hint at metabolic changes, says Bhatia. It’s no reason to panic—doing the aforementioned things like getting enough sleep and eating regular meals can help if you’re not already incorporating them into your life. But if you’re already following these metabolism rules and are gaining weight out of nowhere, you can get your metabolism tested to see what’s up. Ask your general practitioner or similar medical expert if they can recommend a lab that does that kind of analysis.

8. Unfortunately, eating or drinking certain things doesn’t change your metabolism in any huge way.
There are lots of “superfoods” people credit as metabolism-boosters, like dark chocolate, green tea, and chili peppers. While eating and drinking those items can certainly be good for you, in normal amounts they won’t affect your metabolism enough to cause weight loss all on their own, says Talbott. “The [metabolic] effect is often there, and sometimes it’s measurable, but it’s probably more than just sprinkling a bit of pepper on your spaghetti,” he explains. But when combined with moves like eating frequent, small meals throughout the day, strength training, staying hydrated, and sleeping well, reaching for these foods and drinks definitely can’t hurt.

Best Future You – Harnessing Your Body’s Biochemistry to Achieve Balance in Body, Mind, and Spirit

My 13th book, Best Future You, is out!

Over the next several weeks, I’ll be posting excerpts from the book and blogging frequently about the main concept in the book – which is the idea of harnessing your body’s internal cellular biochemistry to achieve true balance in body, mind, and spirit – and in doing so, help you to become your “Best Future You” in terms of how you look, how you feel, and how you perform on every level.

Chapter 9 – Putting It All Together

For more than two decades, I’ve been doing my best to help people maintain (or restore) “balance” in their bodies and minds. Some people might label my techniques as “nutrition” therapy, while others may refer to them as “anti-aging” approaches, and still others as “anti-stress” programs. From my position as an exercise physiologist and nutritional biochemist, these “labels” are based on the proven efficacy and resounding benefits that people receive from following the advice that I deliver in my seminars, blogs, and books – so no matter what “label” you want to use to describe the focus of my life’s work, you can rest assured that there are enough health and well-being benefits to go around.

Let’s be honest, very few of the hundreds of thousands of people around the world who attend my seminars or read my blog and books, wake up each morning looking to restore their “biochemical balance” or reduce their “cellular stress” levels. However, the fact that you’re reading this book probably means that YOU understand the crucial role that stress in general – and perhaps cellular stress in particular – play in our overall health, well-being, and longevity. At this point in the book, you very likely understand that biochemical imbalances and cellular stress are the root underlying causes of damage, dysfunction, and disease in every tissue in the body. You’re undoubtedly aware that thousands of scientists around the world have associated cellular stress with virtually every chronic condition imaginable, as well as with the aging process itself.

All of this means that everybody needs proper daily management of cellular stress if they want to be as healthy as possible. Unfortunately, “optimal health” can often be both a difficult concept to explain, as well as an abstract idea for most people to fully grasp. This is partly due to the fact that the problems associated with excessive cellular stress may take years to manifest – and also may take just as long to resolve when cellular balance is restored. For example, heart disease, cancer, obesity, depression, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, arthritis, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and so many other chronic conditions don’t develop overnight – they occur through gradual accumulation of tissue damage that builds up over months and years of our cells being out of balance with elevated levels of cellular stress.

As a scientist who has studied many aspects of biochemical and cellular stress, I often educate my audiences and readers that “biochemistry drives behavior” – which basically means that a key reason that we feel (or look, or perform) a certain way, is because of our underlying biochemistry – right down to the cellular level. In research settings, we can show that disrupted biochemistry often leads us to feel “off” – so we don’t feel our best, or look our best, or perform our best.  What scientists often refer to as “cellular stress” – from free radicals (oxidative molecules), cytokines (inflammatory molecules), glucose/fructose (glycating sugars), cortisol (our primary stress hormone), and many others – is what makes each individual cell function poorly. When you have trillions of cells functioning poorly throughout your over-stressed body, then it’s no wonder we don’t feel like we’re at our best.

When we seek to reduce cellular stress, and restore balance within the body, we need to harness the body’s own internal protection system by activating the CDR pathway referred to throughout this book. This internal network of antioxidant enzymes, stress proteins, and survival genes has the ability to sense cellular stress – and respond rapidly to reduce damage, accelerate repair, and restore balance. By inducing these mechanisms throughout the body – we can improve the functioning of trillions of cells.

When mitochondria, neurons (brain cells), and blood vessels are kept healthy, we’re likely to feel our best. When our skin cells are able to protect themselves from the toxic environment around us (air and water pollution, ultraviolet radiation from sunlight, etc), we tend to look our best. When our muscles, joints, and lungs are functioning at their peak, then we tend to perform our best. Each of these individual benefit categories – feeling your best, looking your best, and performing your best – represents a multi-billion dollar business opportunity that is being aggressively pursued by the nutrition, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical industries. Why? Because these are the benefits that people want – but they’re also the benefits that are the most elusive because cellular stress is the underlying factor preventing people from attaining them.

The Fluctuating Nature of Stress

It is important to remind yourself from time to time that neither your stress level nor your response to stress is constant. Instead, there will be periods in your life when you experience more stress or less stress, just as there will be times when you feel as if you can withstand stress better and times when it is more difficult. Accordingly, you need to alter your exercise patterns, nutrient intake, and supplementation regimen to accommodate your exposure to stress. For example, regular exercise and a balanced diet are always going to be important, but they become even more so during stressful times.

Adhering to your regimen of dietary supplementation is important every day, but even more so when you’re under periods of elevated stress. Skipping breakfast during a period of low stress isn’t ideal, but it isn’t going to kill you. Skipping that balanced breakfast during a high-stress period sets yourself up for poor metabolic control and eventual blood-sugar crashes, surges in appetite, and feelings of fatigue—each of which will be even more pronounced because of your high-stress profile.

In other words, you almost need to do the opposite of what most people are tempted to do during high-stress periods—that is, staying up late to finish work, skipping meals or eating junk food, and neglecting exercise. Obviously, no one is going to maintain a perfectly balanced anti-stress regimen, especially in today’s modern “always-on” super stress world. Nevertheless, if you keep some of the suggestions presented throughout this book in mind – and implement them when possible, you’ll find it much easier to deal with high-stress periods in your life—and you will feel, look, and perform your best as a result.

Are you experiencing higher-than-normal stress levels in your life? If so, then your cellular stress is likely to be elevated and your biochemical balance is likely to be “off,” – and you need to be especially careful about taking steps to activate the CDR pathway to reduce cellular stress and restore that internal balance.

Are you enjoying an interlude that’s relatively stress-free and tranquil? Then perhaps you can relax a bit and take pleasure in the welcome fruits of the healthy lifestyle you’ve created—and commit to maintaining it.

Keep in mind that all of the “pillars of health” that were outlined separately in earlier chapters (oxidation, inflammation, glycation, and allostation), are all interconnected, so any healthy activity you engage in for one of them will affect all the others, leading to a positive spiral in how you feel, look, and perform. For example, using herbal supplements or specific foods to activate the CDR pathway and internal production of protective antioxidant enzymes will complement the anti-inflammatory effects of regular exercise, which will complement the glycation-reducing effects of eating a balanced diet, which will complement the cortisol-lowering effects of getting adequate sleep.

Ancient Wisdom Meets Modern Lab Data

One of the things that I love most about the kind of work that I’m lucky enough to do, is that studying lifestyle interventions (diet and exercise) and traditional remedies (herbal and dietary supplements) provides us with plenty of circumstantial evidence that they “work.” In many cases, our Western-style research studies are merely confirming (with objective scientific data) what has already been observed for decades or centuries or even millennia. For example, practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) have been using various herbal remedies for more than three thousand years, and practitioners or traditional Indian medicine (Ayurveda) have been using herbs as medicine for more than five thousand years, but it has only been in the last two or three decades that any of these traditional remedies have been “proven” to work by modern scientific investigations. The TCM and Ayurvedic practitioners “knew” that certain remedies “worked” for certain ailments (such as using eurycoma or ginseng to “strengthen the Qi” – or using turmeric to reduce pain and swelling), but it has taken modern science quite a long time to confirm that these ancient remedies are effective in reducing cellular stress and restoring biochemical balance in the face of many of our own modern stress-related diseases.

As a scientist, I find that theories are nice, but evidence is where the rubber meets the road. In the words of many of my colleagues, I want to “see the data” about a particular approach (including CDR activation) before I will believe it works. Based on the data, scientists and health professionals can understand that a given program has a certain degree of likelihood to actually be of benefit to their clients and patients. Throughout my entire career, I have felt very strongly about continuing to put the traditional herbal therapies “to the test” to see if these ideas would really stand up to the harsh reality of reducing cellular stress and improving how people feel , look, and perform in the modern super-stress world in which we all now find ourselves.

In the wide range of cellular stress studies, it is interesting to note that we can literally trace “systemic” stress (for example, of psychological stress or sleep deprivation) all the way down to the cellular level and even to the genetic level. Likewise, we can trace the phytonutrient activation of a cellular anti-stress pathway (for example, activation of the CDR pathway with turmeric or pine bark) all the way “up” to a whole-body benefit such as reduce inflammation or to a tissue specific benefit such as improved brain energy and mental focus. It’s even more interesting to note that these traditional anti-stress therapies seem to work even better (faster and more effectively) under conditions of higher stress.

For close to a decade, my research associates and I have documented the progress of thousands and thousands of participants who have used the lifestyle interventions described in this book to reduce cellular stress, restore biochemical balance, and improve how they feel, look, and perform. Scientific colleagues around the world have further shown in a variety of research models, that the CDR pathway is the underlying “switch” by which these traditional therapies induce their cellular effects. Many of these peer-reviewed studies are outlined and summarized at my personal blog (ShawnTalbott.com).

Concluding Words

Our grandmothers didn’t know about cellular stress or care about CDR pathways, but they knew some of the basic steps underlying our ability to feel, look, and perform at our best: Get enough sleep (which controls cortisol); Eat more fruits and veggies (which controls oxidation) and fewer sweets (which controls glycation); and Exercise (which controls inflammation). Yes, it’s a tired old mantra, but these simple steps are probably the most effective tools available for combating stress and raising levels of wellness.

Stress researchers around the world from Yale to Oxford to the University of California have shown over and over that the best way of “managing” stress, from a physical and a psychological perspective, is to adhere to a handful of basic tenets of good health promotion. Here are my favorite “Magnificent Seven” that I’ve gleaned from the research:

1. Move it! It doesn’t even really need to be “exercise” as long as you’re out there moving your body from point A to point B—and often (daily)—and for about an hour per day (though not necessarily all at the same time).

2. Eat right – with fewer of the wrong foods (highly processed grains including soda and baked goods) and more of the right foods (brightly colored fruits and vegetables).

3. Stop eating before you’re stuffed. Use the “80 percent rule” so you eat until you’re not hungry (80 percent full) – and practice intermittent fasting at least once per month (eat nothing except water from 10pm one night to the following night’s dinner at 6pm – around 20 hours).

4. Spice things up – by using spices (turmeric, ginger, rosemary, garlic, etc) and plant extracts (pine bark, green tea, quercetin etc).

5. Find an outlet (for your stress)—everyone has stress that needs to be released. The stress is toxic, and it is stronger than you—get rid of it.

6. Get a life. Cultures with the longest life spans and the highest “happiness quotients” tend to have well-developed social networks that emphasize making family and friends a priority, living a spiritual life, and encouraging individuals to have a “purpose” in life.

7. Relax. Sleep. Be lazy (every once in awhile).

Decades of scientific research show that stress—and failure to adhere to the seven basic tenets listed above—does a lot of “bad things” to people. Most “modern” diseases are stress-related and directly result from the biochemical imbalances that stress creates, but from a simple “quality-of-life” perspective, we know that rampant cellular stress impedes our ability to feel our best, look or best, and perform at our best.

I am continually astounded by the potential for centuries-old natural therapies to cure so many of our modern ailments – by the ability of plant compounds (phytonutrients) to reduce cellular stress and improve how we function physically and mentally. The research breakthroughs over the past few decades have given us the ability to not only survive in the face of a chronically stressful world, but to truly thrive in that world – so that we don’t just hope to “get by” but we have a real ability to improve and become that “best future you” version of ourselves.

We are living in a miraculous time in history – where the learning of ancient healers about natural therapies over thousands of years is finally being scientifically proven at the cellular, genetic, and molecular levels. We are the lucky benefactors of this accumulated knowledge and experience, which enables us to bring about meaningful changes in how our body responds to stress and how we feel every day. I hope that, by this point in the book, you’ve come to the conclusion that everyone needs to “do something” about their chronic stress exposure and the resulting cellular stress, and I also hope that I’ve made a compelling-enough case for you to give some of my advice a try. Restoring biochemical balance and reducing cellular stress will truly change your life – and when it does, I hope that you will be motivated to share what you have learned in this book to help others change their lives as well.

Thanks for reading – this is the LAST installment of content from my Best Future You book.

I hope that you’ve enjoyed reading all of the blog posts – and please stay tuned for my next book about “Brain Ergogenics” (helping you with strategies to reduce stress, improve mental focus, boost mood, enhance sleep quality, and increase performance)…

Best Future You – Harnessing Your Body’s Biochemistry to Achieve Balance in Body, Mind, and Spirit

My 13th book, Best Future You, is out!

Over the next several weeks, I’ll be posting excerpts from the book and blogging frequently about the main concept in the book – which is the idea of harnessing your body’s internal cellular biochemistry to achieve true balance in body, mind, and spirit – and in doing so, help you to become your “Best Future You” in terms of how you look, how you feel, and how you perform on every level.

Chapter 8 – Perform Your Best

Phase 5 – Personal Achievement (Best Future You)

As the reigning “World’s Fittest CEO” (2^nd place 2013, 1^st place 2014) one of the most common questions I get asked is, “How do you stay in shape with all the travel you do?” I travel hundreds of thousands of miles every year all around the world. Whether I’m speaking at a scientific conference in Europe, or educating a group of coaches and athletes in the USA, or even scouting for interesting herbal extracts in Asian markets or the jungles of Brazil or Malaysia, it can be a huge challenge to stay in good physical and mental shape.

In one of my earlier books, The Secret of Vigor, I write about maintaining “vigor” in the face of chronic stress. Vigor is a term from psychology research that means the opposite of “burnout” and is described as a combination of physical energy, mental acuity, and emotional well-being. The book outlines much of the extensive research and complex underlying biochemistry (hormones, enzymes, neurotransmitters) that drives our psychology (how we feel and behave) on a daily basis, but it also breaks down some of the simple “what to do” aspects of improving vigor to boost energy, improve mood, focus attention, and even trim your waistline. I call these “what to do” tips, “VIPs” for vigor improvement practices – and I’ll share some of my favorites with you below (5 for Nutrition, 4 for Exercise, and 3 for Mind).

Top 5 Nutrition VIPs

Eat by color – choose bright and avoid white. Brightly colored fruits and veggies are high in protective phytonutrients – so try to include at least one of each “color” in your diet every day. Look for all the colors in the rainbow: Red (lycopene from tomatoes), Orange (beta-carotene from carrots), Yellow (lutein from corn), Green (chlorophyll from spinach), Blue (anthocyanidins from blueberries), Indigo (catechins from blackberries), and Purple (quercetin from grapes). Avoid processed foods based on white flour – such as white bread, rolls, and baked goods.

Is it calorie worthy? Ask yourself whether or not the food you’re thinking about eating is really “worth” the calories that you’re about to “spend” on eating it. For example, I think it’s great to enjoy a nice glass of red wine or a warm chocolate chop cookie, but don’t eat a cookie that’s only so-so. For example, one of my favorite fitness snacks is low-fat fruit yogurt because it’s a rich source of calcium, magnesium, vitamin D, protein, and probiotics – all of which are important for fat metabolism and helping us shed body fat and boost lean tissue.

Practice pairing of macronutrients. Always combine a carbohydrate with a protein and fat. Carbohydrates in and of themselves are not “bad,” but both the form of carbohydrate (how much it’s processed) will determine your body’s biochemical response. For example, the more refined (less “whole”) the carb is, the more likely it is to raise blood sugar levels, leading to oxidation, inflammation, and problems with muscle building and recovery. Combining any carb source with some protein and fat will slow it’s absorption and lessen it’s oxidizing/inflammatory effects in your body.

Eat more healthy (omega-3) fats and fewer unhealthy (omega-6) fats. Fatty fish – like mackerel, bluefish, wild salmon, and tuna are rich omega-3s that improve circulation, reduce inflammation, and reduce the risk of heart disease. Reduce your intake of inflammatory omega-6 fatty acids found in high concentrations in vegetable oils such as corn/soybean/sunflower oil.

Supplement wisely. A big part of my supplement routine to geared toward enhancing my body’s own protective and recuperative abilities. This means assuring a high intake of nutrients and herbal extracts that activate natural performance pathways in the body – including turmeric, green tea,New Zealand pine bark, quercetin, theanine, and others. Activating the CDR pathway is a built-in way to turn on your body’s own production of antioxidant enzymes and anti-inflammatory proteins. Maintaining mental and physical performance during exercise is my secret weapon to getting into that feel-good “flow” state where energy, mood, and focus are at peak levels.

According to a recent study, elite endurance athletes are more likely have variations in their ability to activate the CDR pathways. The study found that 80% of the elite-level athletes had CDR-related gene variations that may be associated with improved athletic performance, such as increased production of new mitochondria (the cellular components responsible for energy production) and reduced cellular damage from oxidative and inflammatory stress. Another recent study showed that typical antioxidant supplements – such as vitamins C & E, beta-carotene, and resveratrol – may disrupt the cellular adaptations to exercise training, blunting the training-induced increase of mitochondrial proteins, which are needed to improve muscular endurance. Researchers theorized that the vitamins interfered with cellular signaling and blunted the expression of certain genes, such as those involved in activating the CDR pathway, that are required for muscle adaptations subsequent to exercise training.

Top 4 Exercise VIPs

Practice “MIM” – by making your workout your “Most Important Meeting” of the day. Research shows that exercise is even more effective that prescription antidepressants or ADHD drugs for improving mood and maintaining mental focus – so think of your daily workout as an investment in your career just as much as it is an investment in your physical health and mental well-being.

No “junk” workouts. Similar to the “calorie worthy” diet concept, you want to make sure to avoid “junk workouts” where you’re simply going through the motions. When you have limited time and need to squeeze as much value out of each minute, every workout needs to have a focus. This means that you need to decide what type of workout you’re doing – such as building speed (hard/fast intervals) or endurance (long/slow distance) or building strength (weights/Crossfit) or balance (yoga, plyometrics, etc). Don’t fall into the trap of going at “medium” intensity all the time just to feel like you got a “good” workout – that’s the path to mediocre performance.

Get In, Get Out, Recover. I train a maximum of 8-10 hours per week, even when I’m training for an Ironman or an ultramarathon. If you focus on quality workouts with a purpose, you can get a lot of fitness bang for your workout buck – but you also have to recover properly to fully reap those rewards. Whether we talk about joints, bones, muscles, tendons, or any other tissue, the right amount of the right type of exercise can help stimulate production of new collagen, removal of damaged tissue, and delivery of vital oxygen and nutrients. The body is designed to move – so much so that the human body is the only machine that breaks down from underuse rather than from overuse. That said, it’s quite clear that our body (and mind) can break down from overuse as well, as evidenced by the numerous over-trained athletes that I have worked with over the years.

Take a full day off each week. Recovery for both body and mind is so important – and so neglected – I’ll emphasize it’s importance by giving you another tip about it. A “day off” means no work – or workouts. No thoughts about work or worries about workouts. Take this day to relax, reflect, and recharge, regardless of whether or not a “Sabbath” day of rest has any religious connotations for you. Read a book. Take a walk. Luxuriate in the act of doing nothing. I guarantee that if you give yourself over to a solid month of “do-nothing Sundays” (or Saturdays, or whichever day of the week works best for your schedule), you will feel more physically and mentally refreshed than you could possibly imagine. Doing nothing will give you back a lot.

Top 3 Mind VIPs

Numerous research studies verify the damage to body and mind caused by chronic stress. Being stressed out and sleep-deprived has been shown to increase heart disease and depression, reduce sex drive, suppress immune function, increase illness/injury rates, and accelerate both muscle loss and weight gain (especially belly fat) by nearly 10 times! Being fat, stressed, tired, sex-deprived, sick, and injured is no way to become the best version of yourself.

Get some sleep. Far and away the most effective stress-management technique you can practice is very simple: Get enough sleep. For example a Yale University study of 1,709 men found that those who regularly got less than six hours of shut-eye doubled their risk of weight gain and diabetes because of elevated cortisol and its interference with insulin metabolism and blood-sugar control. Even one or two nights of good, sound, restful sleep can do more for maintaining your biochemical balance, improving your performance, and reducing your long-term risk for many chronic diseases than a whole lifetime of stress-management classes. It is almost impossible to overstate the crucial role adequate sleep plays in controlling your stress response, helping you lose weight, boosting your energy levels, improving your mood, and, of course, raising your level of vigor.

Manage electronic interruptions. The beeps and buzzes from your computer and iPhone can add an annoying level of stress to your day. Instead of just responding every time you get an electronic interruption, take charge of those devices and set them to only alert you at specific times. Remember that your cell phone is there for your convenience – not the convenience of others. For instance, most e-mail programs are automatically set to check for new messages every five minutes – which means you’re interrupted by the “new-message beep” ninety-six times in an eight-hour day! How do you expect to get any “real” work done? Also, consider (as I do) shutting off your e-mail program during certain parts of the day, enabling you to get your “important” work accomplished whenever you’re most mentally fresh.

Whenever possible, leave the cell phone behind. It may be hard to imagine today, but it wasn’t too many years ago that people got along perfectly fine without cell phones. Try taking a break from your phone when possible by leaving it behind – especially during your workout. I make that recommendation, because if you carry your phone with you—even if you tell yourself that you won’t answer it—a part of your mind still waits for it to ring, or buzz, or play your favorite ringtone. Let that part of your brain relax and forget about the phone every now and then.

Summary

When you consider all of the myriad sources of cellular stress around us, it can be a bit disheartening to think that we can actually fight back effectively. Luckily, however, the discovery of the CDR pathway has given us insight into the precise cellular mechanisms that we can harness to do just that – reduce cellular stress even in the face of what may initially look like overwhelming odds. – and maintain or even enhance our mental and physical performance in the process.

Thanks for reading – please tune in for the next installment – “Putting It All Together” (the last chapter of Best Future You).

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Well-being and immune function = 2-way street. Optimal immunity improves well-being and vice versa. http://ow.ly/iNio301rYdf

Best Future You – Harnessing Your Body’s Biochemistry to Achieve Balance in Body, Mind, and Spirit

My 13th book, Best Future You, is out!

Over the next several weeks, I’ll be posting excerpts from the book and blogging frequently about the main concept in the book – which is the idea of harnessing your body’s internal cellular biochemistry to achieve true balance in body, mind, and spirit – and in doing so, help you to become your “Best Future You” in terms of how you look, how you feel, and how you perform on every level.

Chapter 8 – Perform Your Best

Phase 4 – Fitness (especially lean body mass)

Participating in moderate exercise on a regular basis can reduce body fat, build muscle and bone, improve mental and emotional function, stimulate the immune response, and reduce appetite. Being physically active can also offset some of the destructive effects of chronic cellular stress. No drug can do all that! In terms of improving your general sense of well-being, exercise generates the production of dopamine and serotonin, both of which are “feel-good” anti-anxiety and anti-depression chemicals that are produced in the brain and are responsible for the well-known “runner’s high” that can help control the stress response. For example, Duke University researchers have reported that exercise (thirty minutes per day, three to four days a week, for four months) is more effective than prescription antidepressants in relieving symptoms of anxiety and depression.

One of the most important factors when it comes to exercise is your purpose for doing it: The “reason” you should be physically active has less to do with directly burning calories and losing weight (although those may be nice side benefits) and more to do with the fact that exercise can act as a “hedge” against the tendency for stress, sleep deprivation, aging, and poor diet to upset the body’s biochemical balance. Many people tend to overestimate the rate at which exercise can burn calories. They fail to realize that you would have to run a half mile to burn off every Oreo you eat and almost 90 minutes to burn off the calories in a Big Mac! So although it is true that exercise does burn calories, its primary value as part of your strategy for reducing cellular stress lies in its profound effects on restoring biochemical balance by modulating levels of cortisol, testosterone, growth hormone, serotonin, and other biochemical compounds in the Four Pillars of Health.

You might be wondering whether a “best” type of exercise will improve biochemical balance. In reality, the best form of exercise is anything—as long as you do it! You simply need to get out there and move your body for at least three to six hours each week (thirty to sixty minutes per day, six days a week). I know that many people claim they are “too busy” to exercise. In fact, being “too busy” is the most common excuse for not exercising. If you buy into that excuse, you need to accept the fact that your biochemical balance will never reach optimal levels and your cellular stress will be higher than it needs to be—simple as that. So I invite you to take a minute to think about all the things on which you regularly spend thirty to sixty minutes each day—television, newspapers, Internet, etc.—and then ask yourself if investing that same amount of time in your health and in how you feel and look and perform is worthwhile. If you commit to an exercise program, I promise that your investment will produce great rewards.

Because I know how difficult it can be to push back against the stresses you face in the twenty-first century, I have developed a set of exercise recommendations that are designed to deliver the most benefits within the shortest time commitment possible. The most effective way to use exercise to reduce cellular stress is with a three-times-weekly regimen of interval training (either running or walking). I think everyone would agree that walking is a pretty simple exercise that you can easily incorporate into your daily schedule. It doesn’t require any fancy or expensive equipment, and you can do it virtually anywhere. To get the most from your walking regimen, you’ll want to make sure you have a pair of comfortable and supportive shoes as well as approval from your personal health-care provider that it is okay for you to engage in moderate to vigorous exercise.

Walk outside and enjoy the sights and sounds of your own neighborhood or a local park when the weather is good. Or when it is rainy or snowy, walk around the mall. Many shopping malls have organized walking groups that meet before the stores open and the mall gets crowded with shoppers. When you get comfortable with walking on a regular basis, you can change the route and vary the intensity (walking faster or slower and adding hills or flats). Walking can also be part of developing your “mental” fitness as much as it serves as your “physical” exercise, because it can allow you some time to “get away” and to destress while your mind (and your body) wanders.

The Interval Training Plan described below has been used successfully by many of my clients and readers:

After a six-minute warm-up, the exercise alternates between high- and low-intensity levels as follows:

• one minute high intensity/one minute low intensity*
• two minutes high intensity/two minutes low intensity
• three minutes high intensity/three minutes low intensity
• two minutes high intensity/two minutes low intensity
• one minute high intensity/one minute low intensity

* Note that the intensity levels will be relative to your individual fitness level. A general guideline is that “high” intensity is not an “all-out effort” but rather a level that gets you breathing hard enough that you have difficulty carrying on a conversation with your exercise buddy. The “low” intensity intervals are easy enough to allow full recovery before your next hard interval—and also easy enough for you to talk without getting out of breath.

These eighteen minutes of interval training are followed by six minutes of easy cool-down exercise for a total duration of thirty minutes. Compared to exercising at a steady/moderate “fat-burning” pace for this same thirty minutes, the interval approach will burn more than double the number of calories (less than 200 versus more than 400) and will result in superior reduction of cellular stress via direct control of cortisol, testosterone, glucose, and other aspects of your biochemistry.

Exercise is a vital part of achieving the optimal levels of cellular stress associated with proper tissue repair. Whether we talk about joints, bones, muscles, tendons, or any other tissue, the right amount of the right type of exercise can help stimulate production of new collagen, removal of damaged tissue, and delivery of vital oxygen and nutrients. The body is designed to move. One famous philosopher commented that the human body is the only machine that breaks down from underuse rather than from overuse. (But your body can break down from overuse as well, as evidenced by the numerous overtrained athletes that I have worked with over the years.) In many ways, the motion of exercise or any type of physical activity can be thought of as lotion for your joints and other tissues. The simple act of moving your body helps hydrate joints and stimulate tissue repair throughout the body, while the act of sitting around like a couch potato sends a constant “breakdown” signal (also called “atrophy”) to your joint cartilage, bones, muscles, tendons, and ligaments.

Thanks for reading – be sure to tune in for the next installment about “Phase 5 – Personal Achievement (Best Future You).”

Thanks to those who came to the Sunday afternoon seminar for the Trail Running Research Study.

This was our first of our weekly educational seminars, which covered an overview of the Astaxanthin Supplement and the Workout Program.

I had a single one-page handout (pasted below) and you can listen to the audio file below (there are two “a” and “b” – because I dropped the recorder and had to restart – ha ha)!

The study is off to a great start! Please let me know if there are any questions?

Thanks,

Shawn

Trail Running Seminar 1

Astaxanthin Origin: (Haematococcus pluvialisis) = NATURAL

Astaxanthin is a unique fat-soluble carotenoid; it can be found in a variety of sources, such as micro-algae, or salmon, trout, shrimp, and krill. The algae starts off in a green colored state, and as it is subjected to sunlight, produces red/pink astaxanthin to protect itself from ultraviolet light damage.

Astaxanthin Supports

• Energy Production (Mitochondrial Protection)
• Eye & Brain Health
• Cardiovascular Health
• Joint Health
• Healthy Skin / Sun Protection

Uniqueness:

• Crosses the blood/brain barrier
• Spans the entire cell membrane (hydrophilic outer and hydrophobic inner membrane)
• Inability to become a pro-oxidant
• Reduces CRP (inflammation)
• Protects mitochondria & enhances energy production

Workouts

Tempo – “good workout” –

• RPE = 6-7
• loosen the legs – free the mind

Intervals – “speed”

• RPE = 7-9
• hard – easy – NOT “medium”

Hills – “strength”

• RPE = 7-9
• hard – easy – NOT “medium”

Long Slow Distance (LSD) – “endurance”

• RPE = 5-7
• Fat-Burning enzymes
• 60min+

Weekly Goal:

• 1 Interval workout
• 1 Hill workout
• 1 LSD workout
• Other workouts = weights, cross-training, Tempo