MMA Diet: Supplements
|
Many nutritionists I’ve met instruct their clients to avoid supplements or say that supplements aren’t needed. The reality is that supplements, while they may not be absolutely essential, will be taken. The reality is that many nutritionists are amazingly knowledgeable about nutritional concepts and food choices, but severely lacking in knowledge about modern-day sport supplements. The result is that the nutritionist tries to avoid wading into waters where they may feel uncomfortable. This is at once noble (because they are not going beyond their scope of practice) and unfortunate (because fighters are going to get supplement information somewhere and it’s better to come from a studied nutritionist rather than a supplement company or buddy at the gym). Here’s the short of it: Supplements can and do change to bodies in miraculous ways. Bodybuilders incorporate fat burners during the final six weeks before a show and they are able to get absolutely shredded before they hit the stage. As we’ve seen in baseball, players are able to hit more homeruns when they are “juicing.” However, while we know that many supplements do work, what we don’t know precisely is what else they may be doing to our bodies. Many researchers suggest that steroids can cause muscles to grow stronger than what the tendons and ligaments can support and stabilize and that this leads to injuries. Others assert that steroids can lead to heart disease and hormone deregulation – this opens the door for basically every known human health problem. We know that protein shakes can help athletes recover from strenuous workouts. We know that energy drinks can provide a burst of energy, but that the body responds in two ways: It usually crashes when the energy supplement wears off, or it responds to the supplement well for a few weeks and then adapts to it and no longer feels its effects – the latter can cause fighters to “megadose” and take more than the recommended dosage. We know that supplements are often so refined and processed that they’ve lost many of the important properties contained within whole foods. Mark Haub, nutrition professor at Kansas State University, recently made news because he lost 27 pounds in two months while eating only Twinkies, Oreo cookies, powdered donuts and other sweets. He ate 1800 calories per day. He proved his premise: In weight loss, pure calorie counting is what matters most – not the food’s nutritional value. However, because the media is infatuated with “weight,” it's only given a short period of time to convey a large piece of information and, through no fault of their own, are a bit ignorant regarding nutrition, they dropped the ball on how they presented this “diet.” By relying on refined junk foods, Mark Haub was robbing his body of the important chemical compounds in real foods. Here is a list of antioxidants in just one sprig of thyme: 4-Terpineol, alanine, anethole, apigenin, ascorbic acid, beta carotene, caffeic acid, camphene, carvacrol, chlorogenic acid, chrysoeriol, eriodictyol, eugenol, ferulic acid, gallic acid, gamma-terpinene isocholorgenic acid, isoeugenol, isothymonin, kaempferol, labiatic acid, lauric acid, linalyl acetate, luteolin, methionine, myrcene, myristic acid, naringenin, oleanolic acid, p-coumoric acid, p-hydroxy-benzoic acid, palmitic acid, rosmarinic acid, selenium, tannin, thymol, tryptophan, ursolic acid, vanillic acid. However, many of the media who presented the study called it the “Twinkie Diet” despite the fact that Mark Haub also took a multivitamin pill and drank a protein shake daily. And he ate vegetables, typically a can of green beans or three to four celery stalks. The media conveniently withheld this information because it wouldn’t be as big of a hit. (1) A safe recommendation regarding supplements is to use what is regarded as the safest of the supplements – protein shakes – when you’re in a hurry. Try to use your own powder rather than a ready-to-drink shake. Powders will often contain less preservatives and contain fewer filler ingredients. Look for: Micellar Casein, Casein, Whey and/or Egg as the first ingredient. (2) Be wary of other supplements – including those claiming to boost energy or burn fat. While protein shakes have been proven relatively safe, many other products on the market can increase your heart rate at rest and cause the body’s hormones to respond differently. This may or may not have long-term health risks, and it’s generally not worth the money, especially when a rich cup of organic coffee can give you the same boost and contains many other health benefits as well. (3) A multivitamin might not hurt or hurt much, but it might not help or help much either. Eat a variety of colorful foods and your body will pull from those foods what it needs. (4) Fish oil is a supplement worth taking. (5) Vitamin D is a supplement worth taking. There’s the crash course on supplements. TAGS: |
