World-Class Fitness in 100 Words: “Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar. Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat. Practice and train major lifts: Deadlift, clean, squat, presses, C&J, and snatch. Similarly, master the basics of gymnastics: pull-ups, dips, rope climb, push-ups, sit-ups, presses to handstand, pirouettes, flips, splits, and holds. Bike, run, swim, row, etc, hard and fast. Five or six days per week mix these elements in as many combinations and patterns as creativity will allow. Routine is the enemy. Keep workouts short and intense. Regularly learn and play new sports.” — Greg Glassman, founder of CrossFit,“What Is Fitness?” (click the link- its a good article!)
This seems to be one of the best, concise prescriptions for health, performance and longevity. Since this page is devoted to nutrition, the first sentence is of primary importance.
So eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar. To many, this is known as the Paleo diet, a research-based diet, focused on the eating habits of our prehistoric ancestors. The idea is that our dietary needs have not changed dramatically through history, so why would our diets. Unfortunately, for many it has. As our societies changed from ones based on hunting and gathering, to ones based on crops and agriculture, our daily food intake changed to match this new lifestyle. This meant that people now had grains, rice, and other farmed plants as their primary sources of food. They no longer needed to hunt or gather their food, which meant much of the nutritive value of lean meat from hunted game, the vitamin-rich wild fruits and vegetables, and healthy fats from gathered nuts and seeds were lost, only to be replaced with less nutritive ( and possibly more harmful- we’ll get to this later) farmed crops- and to a lesser extent- livestock.
I think this is a very simple, yet amazingly effective way of eating for weight-loss, and sport-performance.
Where are we then? Starting from the beginning: Food as a Drug All food can be looked at as consisting of three major components: Proteins, Carbohydrates, and Fats. These are your Macronutrients. Everything you ingest has a hormonal effect on your body, much like a drug. Carbohydrates to a large degree, and proteins to a small degree, cause your body to release insulin. Insulin is produced so that your body can transport nutrients into your cells. It is also a fat storage hormone- meaning your body uses insulin to help store energy in your body. Once your body’s muscle and liver glycogen levels are full (Glycogen is the body’s means of storage of carbs/sugars), any excess is stored as adipose fat. The goal is to remain insulin sensitive, so that your body responds to small increases in insulin to shuttle nutrients into your cells. When there is too much insulin, the body becomes insulin resistant– your body does not respond well to increases in insulin levels. This causes the body to store adipose fat (around the belly), increase blood glucose levels, increase blood fats (high triglyceride levels in blood), and increase blood pressure levels.
Now the body is an amazing thing! The body creates another hormone called Glucagon. Glucagon is the counter-hormone to insulin. Glucagon’s function is to release stuff from cells- predominantly glucose from the liver. Glucagon also allows for fatty acids to be released from storage. Glucagon is released in response to Proteins and Hunger. The overall goal is to balance levels of Glucagon and Insulin, so that your body remains at a constant (or as constant as possible) throughout the day.
So what? Some people feel that it may actually be better to be Glucagon dominant, then finding a balance. If Glucagon is favoured, then the body can release energy from body fat more easily! This is great!!
But how do we do this? We can maintain our insulin sensitivity by promoting glucagon release. Glucagon can be preferentially released by decreasing carbohydrate intake- not eliminating (limiting insulin increases) while increasing protein intake. Everybody’s intake will be different, but if you feel too hungry try decreasing your carbs, while increasing your fats. If you feel lethargic, try increasing your carbohydrates.
I will try to offer some specifics about this soon.
Well that’s all for now.
Next topic: Preferred Carbohydrate Sources
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