Boston Performance Coaching

Benefits of Red Wine

            It is widely known that abusing drinks that contain ethanol (all alcoholic beverages) can lead to organ damage and carcinoma.  However, alcoholic beverages also contain other non-alcoholic beverages that is consumed in moderation can benefit the body.  Research is been done to prove that light to moderate consumption of red wine is inversely associated with mortality due to cardiovascular disease.  This came about because people in France tend to have low coronary heart disease despite a diet high in saturated fats.

            Red wine contains a complex mixture of bioactive compounds that include; flavonols, monomeric and polymeric flavan-3-ols, highly coloured anthocyanins as well as phenolic acids and the stilbene polyphenol, resveratrol.  There is substantial evidence that resveratrol prevents or delays the onset of chronic diseases such as diabetes, inflammation leading to fibrosis, hypertension, Alzheimer’s, and cardiovascular disease.  Research is also being conducted to test if resveratrol can inhibit or stop the growth of cancer cells and its therapeutic capacities. 

Bottom Line: Red wine contains many non-alcoholic ingredients including resveratrol that could have positive benefits to both preventing and delaying numerous chronic diseases.  It is important to remember that consumption needs to be watched and abusing alcoholic beverages can lead to more harm than good. 

Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2009 September; 33(9): 1513–1523.

As our training is periodized and changes throughout the year our nutrition should change as well.  The goal of nutrition periodization is to manipulate body weight and composition, improve blood sugar control, support immune health, improve metabolic efficiency, and periodize supplement use. 

The first step is to determine the training cycle; preparatory (base), competition (build/race), or transition (off-season).  During the training cycle the goals are to eat to improve metabolic efficiency, learn “eat to train” not “train to eat”, and/or eat to lose or improve weight.  The preparatory cycle should contain fruits, vegetables, lean protein and healthy fat, and whole grains.  The competition cycle the goals are; sport specific nutrition, race simulation nutrition, fine tune eating for specific type of events or different distances or varied environment (temperature, humidity, etc.) and/or travel.  The competition cycle will include the same food groups as the preparatory cycle but introduce sports nutrition products and consumption of less fruits and vegetables and more whole grains.  Once race season it is over we enter the transition period.  This is where most athletes tend to gain a few extra pounds because they eat the same way as the other two cycles.  It is important to manage emotions and manage food intake to prevent unnecessary weight and fat gain.  During the transition period supplements are not needed due to the reduction in training (gu’s, supplemental drinks, bars, etc.).  During this cycle the diet is composed of fruits and vegetables with lean protein and healthy fats and a small amount of whole grains.

Bottom line:  As our training changes throughout the year it is important to change our diets to ward off unwanted weight gain.  After the race season is over it is a good time to try some new foods and recipes and restrict sports nutrition. 

A recent article in the NY Times explains a new technique for hydration/nutrition during intense exercise.  Instead of drinking a carbohydrate solution, simply rinsing their mouths with it.  An interesting approach.....

This Rinse, Performance Improves

By GINA KOLATA

Published: July 19, 2010

Exercise scientists say they have stumbled on an amazing discovery. Athletes can improve their performance in intense bouts of exercise, lasting an hour or so, if they merely rinse their mouths with a carbohydrate solution. They don’t even have to swallow it.

It has to be real carbohydrates, though; the scientists used a solution of water and a flavorless starch derivative called maltodextrin. Artificial sweeteners have no effect.

And the scientists think they have figured out why it works. It appears that the brain can sense carbohydrates in the mouth, even tasteless ones. The sensors are different from the ones for sweetness, and they prompt the brain to respond, spurring on the athlete.

Many athletes depend on sugary beverages to keep them going. But often, when blood is diverted from the stomach to working muscles during intense exercise, drinks or foods cause stomach cramps. So a carbohydrate rinse can be a way to get the same effect.

“You can get an advantage from tricking your brain,” said a discoverer of the effect, Matt Bridge, a senior lecturer in coaching and sports science at the University of Birmingham in England. “Your brain tells your body, ‘Carbohydrates are on the way.’ ” And with that message, muscles and nerves are prompted to work harder and longer.”

It’s a relatively small effect, said George A. Brooks, an exercise researcher at the University of California, Berkeley, who was not involved with the research. But a small difference, he added, “can make a big difference in competition.”

The discovery began with some puzzling findings dating to the 1990s.

Until then, exercise scientists thought they knew why it could help to eat or drink carbohydrates during a long endurance event like a marathon. Muscles can use up their glycogen, the storage form of glucose, during long exercise sessions. But if athletes consume carbohydrates, they can provide a new source of fuel for their starving muscles.

That theory predicts that carbohydrates should have no effect on performance in shorter races, an hour or less. Muscles can’t use up their glycogen that fast, and by the time the body metabolizes the carbohydrates for fuel, the race is almost over.

Then came a handful of studies showing that carbohydrates did have an effect in short exercise sessions. Athletes, often trained cyclists, rode hard and fast for an hour or so after drinking either a beverage containing carbohydrates or one that tasted the same but contained an artificial sweetener.

In intense exercise sessions lasting more than half an hour, the athletes were able to go faster or keep going longer when they had the drink with carbohydrates. Their performance improved as much as 14 percent.

Some studies, though, did not find an effect. And the difference seemed to be that athletes who were hungry showed improved performance.

It made no sense. Could the body somehow have metabolized the carbohydrates in the drinks and put them to use in such a short time? Did the muscles even need carbohydrates in such short bouts of exercise?

Asker Jeukendrup, an exercise physiologist at the University of Birmingham, and his colleagues put that idea to the test. They were among the first researchers to discover a carbohydrate effect in cyclists riding hard for an hour, and they had been puzzling over what could account for it.

So they gave trained cyclists intravenous infusions of glucose or, as a control, intravenous salt water, before asking them to ride as fast as they could for about 24 miles, about an hour. The intravenous glucose meant the athletes had large amounts of sugar available right away — no digestion required. But it had no effect on their performance.

Next they tried what seemed like a crazy idea. They asked the cyclists to do the same ride, but first to rinse their mouths with the maltodextrin solution (or, as a control, with water).

“The results were remarkable,” the researchers wrote. Just rinsing with a carbohydrate had the same effect as drinking it.

Probiotics

What exactly are probiotics and why do we need them?  Probiotics are living organisms that are similar to the good bacteria found in out intestinal tract.  We typically consume probiotics in the form of dietary supplements or in certain types of food.  Examples of foods containing probiotics are yogurt, fermented and unfermented milk, miso, tempeh, and some juices and soy beverages. In probiotic foods and supplements, the bacteria may have been present originally or added during preparation.  Most often the bacteria comes from two groups Lactobacillus or Bifidobacterium. Within each group, there are different species (for example, Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium bifidus), and within each species, different strains (or varieties). A few common probiotics, such as Saccharomyces boulardii, are yeasts, which are different from bacteria.

Why do these bacteria help our gut?  First, it is essential to understand that our bodies contain both good bacteria that is vital to proper development of the immune system, to protection against microorganisms that could cause disease, and to the digestion and absorption of food and nutrients.  Each person's mix of bacteria varies. Interactions between a person and the microorganisms in their body, and among the microorganisms themselves, can be crucial to the person's health and well-being. 

The bacter balacing act can be thrown off when a person is on antibiotics or unfriendly bacteria enter the mix.  Antibiotics kill normal flora (good bacteria) in the gut along with bad bacteria.  Probiotics can be used to offset the side effects of antibiotics (gas, cramping, or diarrhea).  Dieases casuing bacteria, yeasts, fungi, and parasites upset the balance and cause conditions like IBS, infection with Helicobacter pylori, tooth decay, infectious diarrhea, skin infections, etc.  Another interesting part of probioctics is the fact that there are cells in the digestive tract connected with the immune system. While more research needs to be conducted, there is a theory is that if you alter the microorganisms in a person's intestinal tract (as by introducing probiotic bacteria), you can affect the immune system's defenses.

Bottom Line:  Probiotics introduce needed beneficial bacteria into our gastrointestenial tract.  The food products that contin probiotics also contain other beneficial vitamins and minerals and are low in fat and calories (yogurt for example) that should be added to your diet.

            The açaí berry is a small round size berry (about the size of a grape) that is green when immature and ripens to a dark purple.  It comes from the açaí palm, which is native to Central and South America and grows in the Amazon region as well as swamps and flood plains.  The berry can be consumed raw or as a juice.  Food products containing the açaí berry are typically sold as jelly, syrup, ice cream, liquors, energy drinks and a variety of other beverages.  Nutrients of the berry include vitamins A, C, and E, calcium, phosphorus, iron, thiamine, and polyphenols and anthocyanins.

            The açaí berry gained popularity when it was promoted on the Oprah show by Nicholas Perricone as a “Superfood for Age-Defying Beauty”.  Recently, it has been marketed as a dietary supplement and sold in the form of tablets, juice, smoothies, and instant drinks.  Other than  its antioxidant capacity other health claims include; helps fight heart disease, helps people lose weight, improves sleep, improves arthritis, improves sexual performance, stops cancer, and improves general health.  There is limited scientific research to support the above claims, in addition there are conflicting reports regarding the amount of antioxidants in the açaí berry ranging from medium to high levels.  Therefore, more scientific research needs to be conducted to confirm the health benefit claims of the açaí berry.

Bottom Line:  To get the recommended daily amount of antioxidants, the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for American, recommend eating two cups of fruits and two and a half cups of vegetables each day. 

Reference: Journal of the American Dietetic Association, Volume 109, Number 11, Pg 1968

Researchers tracked nearly 200,000 men and women for 14 to 22 years.  Those who ate at least 5 servings of white rice per week had a 17 percent higher risk of Type 2 diabetes than those who ate less than one serving per month.  In contrast, people who ate at least two servings of brown rice a week had an 11 percent lower risk of Type 2 diabetes than those who ate less than one serving per month.

Bottom Line: Switch from refined to whole grains.  Brown rice may protect against diabetes because it has more fiber, vitamins, and magnesium and other minerals than white rice, and because it raises blood sugar less than white rice does.  However, other whole grains, like bulgur and whole-grain pasrta, raise blood sugar even less than brown rice.

Nutrition Action, July/August 2010, pg 8