This is a rant.

I’ve touched this subject several times since the late 90’s in articles, forum posts and seminars. But since I see people quoting unrelated or flawed studies on daily basis at various forums, it’s still as relevant as ever.

So, what’s my beef with studies? Well, for starters:

• Most studies are performed in an unlikely environment, not applicable in the real world
• Most studies are performed on an exclusive group of people, and the results cannot be transferred on to other groups
• Most studies has too few participants to get any noteworthy data
• Most studies are too short to show any significant data
• The interpretation of studies is multiplex with many potential pitfalls (just take a look at journalists and their sensational conclusions)
• Studies are constantly contradicting each other, which leads to another big point…

According to Greek epidemiologist John Ioannidis’ mathematical model, a well-designed study (with no professional bias) has an 85% chance of being right, while a poorly designed study with researcher bias has a 17% chance.
After breaking down all the research data he collected between 1990 and 2003 he concluded that 50% of all published research is probably wrong.

Now, this is why I only cite well-respected and well-backed up studies in my articles and why I never jump on the bandwagon when some new contradicting and sensational study is being published.

However, I still skim trough studies and reports on a weekly basis. Most of it is not applicable in the real world, but now and then something interesting shows up. If it’s relevant I’ll do my own field testing and discuss it with other fitness professionals. However, most of the time those studies only validate what we have been doing for years. When it comes to the know-how, the research community is often years behind innovative trainers and coaches.

Now, in our field of training and nutrition – please don’t cite studies or draw your own conclusions from them unless you know exactly how to interpret research data and has less than several years of experience training people. Leave that to the experienced experts in the field.

Some years ago we ran an article series in Ironmag called “Supplements worth your money”, and since there seems to be a lot of confusion on this subject, I thought I’ll revamp the series with some blog posts.

Fish oil, or Omega-3 capsules, ranks at the top of my must have supplement list. Since the late 1990s when large clinical trials were published supporting the cardiovascular benefits of omega-3 fatty acids, fish oil has been one of the most sought after supplements. If you do a search for fish oil supplementation at PubMed, you’ll get more than 1800 studies, and that number is steadily increasing. Besides its cardiovascular benefits, fish oil has shown to reduce risk of and/or treat psychiatric disorders such as depression, schizophrenia, and aggression/hostility. And as little as three or more servings of fish/week or one fish oil capsule has been associated with 50% decreased risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. However, for us gym-goers, the really interesting pieces are the metabolic and anti-inflammatory properties of fish oil.

Fish oil and the metabolic rate
A study by E.E. Noreen showed that 3g a day of concentrated fish oil supplying about 900 mg EPA and 600 mg DHA increased resting metabolic rate by 199 kcal to 488 kcal a day after 28 days of supplementation. That’s a huge metabolic boost!
Also, fish oil increases the levels of fat burning enzymes and decreases the levels of fat-storage enzymes. And if that’s not enough, omega-3 fatty acids allow the body to burn fat at times when fat burning is normally inhibited by insulin release, like after a carbohydrate meal.

Omega-3 and inflammation
Inflammation is associated to a host of human conditions such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, arthritis, joint pain, obesity and even neuropsychiatric conditions (as mentioned earlier). The biggest contributor to inflammation is a diet high in trans- and saturated fats and by an excess of dietary sugars. In addition, an over consumption of omega-6 fatty acids (such as corn, safflower, sunflower and soybean oils) has been shown to promote inflammation.
Now, on a cellular level, inflammation is mediated through eicosanoids. Eicosanoids are built from 20-carbon long chained fatty acids. Inflammatory cells typically contain high proportions of arachidonic acid (AA) and low levels of other 20-carbon fatty acids (EPA), thus making AA the usual substrate for eicosanoid synthesis. Consumption of Omega-3 fatty acids (EPA and DHA) results in increased uptake of these fatty acids into cell membrane; and cells with higher DHA and EPA contents, as opposed to AA, produce fewer inflammatory eicosanoids, thus decreasing local and systemic inflammation.
Most inflammatory conditions could probably be improved and/or treated by supplementing omega-3 fatty acids.

This is only a small piece of the tip of the omega-3 iceberg. There are a lot of other conditions where omega-3 supplementation has shown improvement, including cancer.
When it comes to dietary recommendations for omega-3 fatty acids, it is still a matter of debate among scientists (depending on desired disease prevention). However, to cover all the bases and to get a metabolic increase, I would recommend about 1000mg EPA and 600mg DHA. This would probably sum up to about 4g (or 4 capsules) of fish oil daily (depending on concentrations).

Finally, you should be aware of that there are several other nutrients that influence your body’s Omega-3 status. Zink, at 25 mg, has been shown to increase omega-3 status significantly in our cell membranes at the expense of saturated fats. Selenium deficiency has been shown to increase the omega-6 to omega-3 ratio and can also interfere with the conversion of omega-3 into EPA and DHA. A deficiency in folic acid has also shown to decrease omega-3 status, but will increase your omega-3 status when supplemented. Also, a diet low in antioxidants has shown to lower the levels of essential fatty acids within the bloodstream.

Not so long ago I held a small seminar about eating healthy. One of the topics that emerged was gut health, autointoxication and that bizarre colon cleansing fad a lot of people buy into today.

Intestinal autointoxication refers to the scenario where some diseases arise from toxins produced within the gastrointestinal tract. Today it’s widely known in the scientific community that a poor diet and stress wreaks havoc upon the digestive system by promoting a decline in beneficial and healthy bacteria. The common norm of most illnesses, such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and fibromyalgia (FM) are an overgrowth of bacteria in the small intestine (small intestinal bacteria overgrowth: SIBO). Symptoms of SIBO include bloating, constipation, abdominal pain, diarrhea, gas and fatigue. It also interferes with absorption of nutrients, which may not only cause malnutrition but may interfere with your mental wellbeing. And an overgrowth of certain types of bacteria may contribute to obesity by enhancing the uptake of calories from fibers and increasing storage of energy into fat cells.

This is only the tip of the iceberg. There are a lot of other stressors such as heavy metals, pesticides, medications and food dyes that interfere with our intestinal health. But it’s not a reason undergo time wasting colonics or embark on some unhealthy juice fast or bulking up on laxatives. All you need to promote normal bowel movements and to detoxify is fiber from vegetables and whole grains. And to keep the gut healthy with friendly bacteria such as Lactobacillus, nothing beats plain old yogurt. Also, the beneficial bacteria have a working relationship with Omega-3 fatty acids, so make sure you supplement with some fish- or flaxseed oil.

In the end, eating a healthy diet containing of lots of vegetables, vegetable- and fish oil, lean meat and some fruit and berries is still your best insurance against any kind of disease or stressor.

One question I often get from new clients concerns the post workout shake. A lot of athletes, especially women in the bodybuilding and fitness industry, still consume solid food after a training session as their “recovery nutrition”. When I hand them a nutritional program with a personalized post workout shake, the usual respond is; “Is that really necessary? Can’t I have a fruit or a sandwich instead when I get home?”

As I’ve written before, it’s crucial that you get carbs and protein immediately following a workout if you want to gain muscle mass and/or recover from the exercise. A liquid shake are palatable, easy and quick to consume, and can easily provide all the nutrition you need at this vital time. Since this shake should be made of whey protein and high-glycemic carbs like maltodextrin or Vitargo, it’s also absorbed much faster than solid food; usually within 30 to 60 minutes. Whole solid foods may take two to three hours to absorb and fully affect the muscle; thus missing the critical forty-five minute metabolic window.

The sooner your post recovery nutrition gets to the muscles, the better your chances are for recovery and muscle building. Waiting until you get home, or consuming solid foods won’t cut it. If you’ve busted your ass in the gym, make sure you get the most out of it. Don’t neglect the power of liquid post workout nutrition.

More on recovery (previous blog-posts):

Antioxidants as a postworkout weapon

Workout drinks

For decades we have focused on what to eat. In the last couple of years we’ve started to focus more on when to eat. This concept is known as Nutrient Timing; and the most important nutritional window, for us who train, is postworkout.
Now, a carbohydrate and protein supplement taken immediately after a workout will stimulate both glycogen replenishment and protein synthesis. It also stimulates insulin release which in turn increases the muscle blood flow, thus eliminating metabolic wastes at a doubled rate. These are the first steps to cover with your postworkout nutrition. However, there is another step to consider.

Heavy training also causes a suppressed immune system and a huge buildup of free-radicals. This often leads to upper respiratory infections during periods of hard training. Researchers refer to this as the “open window” theory, which means that after hard exercise bouts the immune system is temporarily compromised for three to seventy-two hours.
However, several studies has shown that a carbohydrate and protein supplement taken immediately after the training session will help the immune system to fight infection. This postworkout supplement can be further enhanced by adding powerful antioxidants like vitamins E and C. These antioxidants fight free-radicals which suppress the immune system and also are linked to aging and many diseases.

I recommend a minimum of 80-120 mg vitamin C and 80-400 IU vitamin E taken with your postworkout supplement.

If you often suffer from colds and infections, give this formula a try!

You can read more about postworkout nutrition in my Workout drinks article and in my Carbs, Glycogen and Performance article.

The other day I got a question about fat as fuel during moderate exercise from an elite cyclist. So, as a little continuation on my blog article “Carbs, Glycogen and Performance”, I will now go into the different muscle fuel sources and how fat can aid you.
When you’re at rest, about 60 percent of the energy needed to fuel your body is coming from fat, or more correctly, free fatty acids (FFA) that are circulating in the bloodstream. Now, these FFA comes from fat stored in cells in areas where you accumulate body fat. When you exercise at low levels (about 25 percent of your aerobic capacity), fat provides about 80 percent of the muscle’s fuel, with the remaining fuel coming from carbohydrates (and less than 5 percent from protein).
Now, of these 80 percent, most of the energy comes from the FFA in the blood. But a small amount is derived from stored fat inside muscle cells; the intramuscular triglycerides (IMT).

Usually, most people focus on glycogen, (stored carbohydrates inside muscle cells), when it comes to endurance performance. That’s okay if you were to live in the 70’s, but today that’s a terrible close-minded approach.
If we start at a low level of exercise and as exercise intensity increases, so does the usage of IMT to fuel the muscles involved. At about 65 percent of max VO2, IMT supplies about 25 percent of the energy needed for sustained muscle contraction. And then, as you finally approach 100 percent of your aerobic capacity, glycogen becomes the necessary and preferred fuel.
The problem with fat at high intensities is that it takes considerably more oxygen for muscle cells to burn fat than carbohydrate. Fat yields 4.69 calories per liter of oxygen, while carbs yields 5.05 calories. Even though the difference is only 7 percent, this 7 percent caloric advantage of carbs turns into a three fold faster energy production during aerobic metabolism in the muscles.
Therefore, we come to the conclusion that glycogen is absolutely needed once you precede 85 percent of your aerobic capacity. If your glycogen stores are empty, or if you run out of glycogen, then you will hit the well-know wall.

Now, we know that you can refuel with carbs during exercise. But you can only metabolize about one gram per minute. That is not fast enough to replace what is being lost during hard exercise. That is why athletes need to pace themselves.
So, therefore you’re forced to rely on fat as fuel, and thus you need to slow down since fat needs more oxygen to be burned.
Now, there is a way to slow down muscle glycogen loss and better your performance. You can do that by increasing your body’s efficiency at burning fat as energy and by increasing your IMT stores. This can be of great benefit to those of you that perform in extreme endurance events such as really long marathons and bicycle road races. In events like these you will deplete your glycogen reserves because you can not refuel as quickly as needed from energy- drinks, bars or gels.

A study performed in Switzerland by Michael Vogt showed that a diet of 53 percent fat for five weeks doubled the IMT stores without compromising muscle glycogen stores. So, a higher fat diet (from mostly poly- and monounsaturated fats) can definitely give you an edge in these scenarios.
It’s also known among coaches and athletes that a diet higher in fat and lower in carbohydrates promotes a metabolic shift towards fat for fuel (and thus sparing carbohydrates during exercise).
I’ve used this “higher fat” approach on several athletes with great success. I usually recommend a year-round diet of about 25 to 35 percent fat because of all the health and performance benefits. And if you’re a really hardcore endurance fan, you might give an ever higher fat diet a try for five to six weeks prior to a race and see how it works out.