When it comes to nutrition, not many foods are scrutinized as much as carbohydrates; from fad diets to the bodybuilding circuit, many people have varying ideas on what is really needed and what is beneficial to us in terms of health and what gets results when in the gym.

Over the coming weeks we’ll be looking at the importance of carbohydrates and the role they play in the functions of our body. We’ll also be looking at ways to increase the efficiency and usability, the best timing, and foods that will help give us the results we’re after – as well as ones to steer clear of.

In this first section, let’s clarify first what a carbohydrate is and the role it plays in the human body.

What are Carbohydrates?

Carbohydrates are essentially strains of sugar molecules, and are made up of 3 things – Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen. These sugar molecules convert at differing rates depending on the source, but all break down at the end to Glucose providing your body with much needed energy. There are generally 2 accepted categories within these 1) Complex (Starches) and 2) Simple (Sugars) Carbohydrates, and although they both end up being  sugar, the complex usually takes longer to convert and therefore is known as a ‘slow release’ energy source. This may give you a few ideas as to when you need which carb option in regard to your training.

What does our Body use these for?

While there are many uses for carbohydrates and we’ll look at the roles in terms of general health, this site is about the benefits of foods for muscle strength and size, so as you read I encourage you to think about how this could work for you in your training.

Some of the roles these play in the body are:

• Provide energy in the form of Glucose to give stamina during physical activity, and not only transporting energy throughout the body but storing it in the form of Glycogen for later use (Ever get that 3pm yawning fit? This happens when your Glycogen reserves are depleted).
• They play a major role in the healthy function of the Immune System – it has been shown that glucose has a relative effect on the immune suppressing hormone (sometimes called the stress hormone) ‘cortisol’.  The higher the intake of glucose (within reason) the lower the production of cortisol and as a result, a stronger immune system.
• They are needed for successful coagulation (blood clotting), and if you get injured in any way you’ll know about this one.
• They are vital for growth and development. Tip: The word on the street is that if you want a killer pump in the gym, have a meal that’s high in both carbs and sodium a while before your workout, but be sure to balance yourself out by having post workout ‘cleansing’ foods that can rebuild strong muscle mass, and fresh veges high in proteins.

These are just some of the functions and benefits of carbohydrates in your diet. The main thing to note in all this from a training perspective is without carbs you’ll crash and burn. It’s vital to get good quality carbs in your system for health and well being.

Be sure to get the feed of this so you can check out the next section where we discover when to use carbs, and what are the best food options to get what we need!

- Glenn.

That title to most people may sound ridiculous, especially when everyone is pressured to cut out fats and get lean, but to cut out all fats from the diet is one of the most dangerous things we can do. Your cells require a certain level of fat to function properly, and did you know that your brain is made up of approximately 60% fat?
The good news is that there are different types, and of course it’s common knowledge that there are fats that don’t just make you feel sluggish, but are detrimental to your health. It is also commonly known that there are good fats as well, but what are they, what are the benefits, how much do we need, and what is the best source of these naturally available to us in everyday supermarkets?

Let’s look first at a common fat that is accepted by many as being the most beneficial source of ‘good’ fats in the diet, and i’m talking about Omega 3. There are so many supplements for this on the market that it can get a little daunting to say the least! Between Fish oil, Flax seed oil, cod liver oil, tablets, capsules, liquids – the list goes on… There are many questions that need to be asked here in regard to these -
How safe are these, What are the dangers of giving your body a concentrated dose in one hit, will your body recognize it and utilize it the way we intend, and can we really get what we need from a natural source instead? after all, people got enough of these oils in the past before this supplement boom ever reared it’s ugly head…

Let’s Clarify what those mean, nasty fats are!

Ok, just to get the record straight, we need to identify what fats you should stay away from, or at least know to cut down on. Just think ‘processed, animal, saturated’ – there, done. Processed fats are ones that have been cooked at high temperatures, and are unusable to your body and toxic, they also clog your system and cause things such as high blood pressure and poor circulation. Animal fats include things such as dairy (milk/ cheeses/ any form of butter). Anything that looks and smells good (joking!), anything deep fried and containing saturated fat.

What are the benefits of good fats in our diet?

The benefits are numerous as you’ll see, and don’t just think of this from a training perspective, but from a general health perspective. That’s what we train for anyway, right? These are only some of the benefits, i could be here all day otherwise!

• They increase the metabolic rate, raising energy levels and shortening recovery time (this one point alone should get you thinking)
• They help improve skin – many skin conditions could be eliminated just by getting enough good fats.
• Lower blood pressure, and are needed to move cholesterol.
• Stabilize your heart beat, increase mood and ease depression.
• protects DNA from damage, providing support for cardiovascular and immune system function.
• Help transport minerals through your body.

Is that enough reasons to get more of these good fats in your diet?

How much do we need?

I personally don’t worry myself with the exact milligrams needed, or any of the technical stuff (they always change anyway depending on who you speak to). As a good general rule, go for a ratio of 2:1 – Omega 3:Omega 6 as Omega 3 is needed more, but 6 is still a needed fat for good health, and can’t be produced naturally in the body so it must be from food. You’ll know what you need as well by how you feel, once you feel the effects of increasing your intake of natural fats you’ll know what feels right for you.

What Foods contain Omega 3 & 6?

Here’s the fun bit, where you’ll see there’s a whole range of natural sources we can get these fats from, and some that seem a little naughty, but are actually very good for you. Think about fats in their natural state and you can’t go far wrong.

• Seeds & Nuts – most seeds and nuts have a natural fat content, but good sources are Almonds, Hazelnuts, Walnuts. As an example, if you have a handful of walnuts mixed with flax seeds you’ll be close to getting the recommended intake of these fats.
• Avocado – One of the best foods on the planet, and high in natural fats
• Fish – most people will have heard this one, and the best are the fatty fish (obviously) like Salmon, sardines etc…
• Eggs – With any animal product try and go for free range, organic if you can – the more natural the animal lives, the better it is for you.
• Olive Oil – this sounds strange to a lot of people, but olive oil is a great source of good fats, so why not reward yourself with a good quality one.

As you can see there are plenty of benefits to these essential oils, and they are so easy to add into your diet that there’s no need to go with expensive supplements, but that choice is up to you.

If you need to learn more about getting lean through great nutrition and training, check out Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle!

One thing i’ve heard a lot about over the years in the training circles is pre vs. post nutrition, and the difference in what your body needs at both stages. It’s commonly accepted that carbohydrates before, and protein afterward is the right way to go, and it makes total sense when you see how muscles work and what they need (fuel before to give maximum energy and then foods to grow and repair afterward). So that begs the question,

Where does Energy come from?

There is one point i need to make here before we get into it, and that is to do with where real energy comes from. Energy is life, and so it comes from ‘live’ things – fresh (electrically charged, moving) air, clean mineral rich water from the source (which doesn’t mean the tap!), natural water rich foods, in general most things that grow in the earth canhelp us to grow from the life that is contained in them, in their natural raw state – it makes sense when we switch off the’scientific’ mind and just use our intuition, but science also backs it up.

From the other side of the equation, if we consume dead foods or artificial/ synthetic products to gain energy, our
body will be using more than it’s fair share of energy to try and burn through and eliminate these toxins in the quickest possible way. Just like a child would be stunted if not given the proper nutrition, our muscles will be stunted if not fed what they need to grow.

So if this is the case and we need energy to train at a level of intensity needed to get real results, what are some of
the options regarding foods that we can benefit from? When thinking of this question we need to think of what will encourage growth and general health in out body, because some people just want to build huge muscle but don’t really care about their health, but by focusing on their health they encourage their body to build stronger, leaner muscle… You can’t lose when you focus on health first – nutrition is key!

Foods for intense training

Ok, so what foods will help us to push our boundaries and hurl those weights like feathers?

Here is a basic list to get you going, and keep you going when you really need it…

• Chocolate – just kidding! although it is sometimes recommend that dark chocolate in small doses is good,but i’m going to go one step further and say the original cacao beans (if you can get hold of some), but let’s stick tothe easy stuff that you can get anywhere.

• Eggs - If you can get eggs that you know are ‘free range‘, then go for it. Many that are labelled as free range have as much freedom as a prisoner being able to walk from his cell door to the window, so make sure before you spend the extra cash. For the purposes of training it’s the egg whites that have the goodies, so easy on the yolks.

• Chicken – The same as eggs in the way of ‘free range’. If you go for this then make sure it’s a free runner, and leave the skin behind.

• Potatoes – This is one of the best there is! make them how you like them, but try not to add bacon, butter and the like… keep them lean and as natural as possible

• Wholegrain breads and grains – as a general rule, the more crumbly the bread the better it is for you (if you can press it into a ball and bounce it off the door, chances are it’s going to take a while to break down). Things such as oats are good for sustained energy in your workout too.

• Bananas – There’s Something about the potassium that aids nerve and muscle function, so you’ll want to keep these in the menu.

• Pasta & rice – Try and make it a good quality wholegrain or brown pasta/ rice, because after all, it is a clogging food so if you choose this option you’ll want to make it as easy on your body as possible.

• Lentils – ok ok, i know they take a little getting used to, but start small and just have a little bit – The benefits are well worth it.

An insiders tip: It’s a common belief that foods that are hot or spicy can give you a little extra ‘kick’ in your workout. Try adding chili or ginger to your pre workout meal, as these will aid in the thermogenic process along with the rest of the natural foods, and help with fat loss.

What has worked for me is natural but heavy foods such as potatoes before a workout (and using the general rule of one hour before your workout is a wise move), and then protein/ enzyme rich foods after to repair and cleanse, and allow the muscles to absorb as much of the goodness as possible. Remember from the last post the importance of a little salt? Water with a little celtic sea salt before the workout will assist with hydration, and you’ll need all the hydration you can get during the training!

As always, keep it natural, and your efforts will be rewarded. You’ll also save money on expensive supplements and powders, and feel so much better when your body is working as it should, with foods that complement the powerhouse you live in!

Need more? Why not check out the complete system to overhaul your body with Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle!

Over the past few decades there has been mixed reactions when it comes to salt and what it does for us, or more importantly, what it does ‘to’ us. There have been those out there that would have us believe it’s a nasty that we should avoid and that it causes all sorts of health problems…but what are the facts? And how does it affect us in our daily lives as well as in our training?

Many of you will know that just like the earth we are between 70-80% water, but did you know that we are also about 10% fresh water, the rest being salty? So it makes sense that we need a high water/ water rich food diet, but also a reasonably salty one. Did you know that salt is the 4^th most critical nutrient in the body? And they claim it’s bad for us…

Is all salt the same?

No. Salt that is sold in most supermarkets as ‘table salt’ is the reason why people say salt is bad. One difference in these is the way it is dried (usually in a kiln at high heat which robs it of vital nutrients), but the real danger is the anti-caking agents that are added, quite often being aluminium based.

A good natural (there’s that word again) salt that has been sun dried, like a Celtic Sea salt for instance, is one that has minerals that your body needs and will use.

A good natural salt...

What exactly does it do?

Here I have a list of a few of the benefits of salt in your diet:

• It helps fight infections and prevent diseases (Hospitals know this with their use of Saline drips, otherwise known as ‘salt water’)
• It assists hydration
• It prevents muscle cramps
• It generates Hydroelectric energy, that in turn gives you the feeling of being energetic (all 76 trillion cells rely on this to function properly)
• It helps extract acids from the body, particularly from the brain
• It’s also a natural antihistamine

When and how do I take it?

Regardless of what you do, how energetic you are, you need salt in your body. For this reason it’s a good idea to ‘graze’ as opposed to having it all in one meal, just as you wouldn’t drink 3lts of water in one go but throughout the day.

From a training perspective you will need a little more, as your body will use up more. What I find best for me is adding a pinch of salt to my water to make it a weak saline solution, this means I get it consistently through the day and it also has the benefit of lowering the surface tension of the water, making it easier to absorb into your system. When you drink water during or just after training, you’ll also consume more salt in the same action – it just makes it easy.

If you have any questions feel free to write a comment and I’ll get back to you – all comments are appreciated!

Need more? Why not check out the complete system to overhaul your body with Burn the fat, Feed the muscle!

There have been countless discussions on this topic of Protein, particularly in regard to Whole natural foods vs Powders. For the purpose of this article I will be focussing on the whole foods and we’ll have a look at what your body needs in respect to building muscle.
We all know the importance of protein in muscle growth and repair, but do we really need as much as the Supplement companies are telling us? Or is this another case of drug companies pushing their product?

Let’s take a look at what muscles need first and work back to what can provide a solution to that need.

The Muscle building process –

It’s no secret that in order to build muscle, you first need to push the muscle harder than it’s used to, it’s a simple system of putting strain on it, feeding it what it needs to recover, and letting it recover with the appropriate time of rest. It makes sense that the more strain you put on the muscle, the more time you will need to allow it to recover. We can also take from this that the more recovery it needs, the more nutrition it needs to 1) grow to the optimum level and 2) recover in the fastest possible time.

Is all Protein the Same?

In short the answer is No. It can basically be divided up into 2 forms – Complete and Incomplete protein. The basic understanding of this is that complete protein has all the 8 essential amino acids included, whereas Incomplete protein is usually missing one or more amino acids. The general rule here is to mix and match different protein sources throughout the day to get a balanced ‘Complete’ protein source.

How much protein does your body need?

The recommended intake for protein (for people doing any major physical activity) is anywhere between 1 – 2 grams per Kilo of body weight, so if you’re 80kg you would need 80 – 160 grams per day. It’s up to you which side of the scale you want to aim for, but if you’re eating mostly whole natural foods then it doesn’t hurt to aim for the higher amount, but anything over this is overkill and will have no benefit, you may as well save your money.

What foods can I eat to achieve the required amount for muscle growth?

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but just a clue as to where to start with your protein sources in natural foods.

• Eggs (1 Medium Size) = 6 gms – A good source of  ‘Complete’ protein
• Milk (1 Glass) = 6.3 gms (Milk however is not as good for you as people believe; I’ll cover more on that in another article).
• Soya Milk (200 ml) = 6 gms
• Low Fat Plain Yoghurt (150gms) = 8 gms
• Fish (Deep sea is best – 100g) = 21 gms
• Meats (Most meats like chicken/ beef) = 25 – 28 gms (Meat just like milk will be covered in a later article)
• Most nuts, seeds, beans and Soy products are fairly good protein sources – especially almonds, and here’s one you may not know about, Broccoli comes in at 45% protein!

There is however one that food that contains every identified mineral and trace mineral including Calcium/ Sodium/ Potassium/ Magnesium, , has more Iron per volume than spinach, and averages approximately 25% protein – Wheatgrass. This one food alone will provide your body with more of what it needs than most other foods on the planet combined! You can buy it in juice form or powder (the powder still retains the nutritional value of this food), and with the addition of some of the other protein sources mentioned, will give you more than enough of what you need.

As a general rule, if you make sure you get about 70-80% whole natural foods in your diet, and as much of that as you can in its raw uncooked state (When natural food is eaten raw, it contains the essential amino acids in the form of enzymes – some of this is removed when cooked). You will always be giving your body what it needs – even with extreme training. If you feel you need a protein powder even after reading this, then look at the label for yourself and work out if it’s what you need (without the harmful additives) – education is the key, and not being swayed by advertising or the peer pressure in the gym.

Train hard, rest well & eat well – get results… it’s that easy!

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