More important news on vitamin D

Numerous studies have been conducted on vitamin D and the benefits it provides.

This particular study investigated the association between vitamin D and the metabolic syndrome (Devaraj S, et al. 2010). The metabolic syndrome is a condition which includes elevated blood sugar, elevated cholesterol and triglycerides and also often elevated blood pressure. These individuals have insulin resistance and have usually put on weight around the waist. These biochemical changes make them more susceptible to both cardiovascular disease and diabetes as well as other chronic diseases.

The research showed that the individuals with metabolic syndrome had significantly decreased vitamin D levels compared to the ones without the metabolic syndrome.

It is also interesting that the vitamin D levels were significantly inversely correlated with fasting blood glucose.

Vitamin D offers multiple health benefits. To read more about the importance of vitamin D, click here.

To read the original abstract, click on the reference below.


Reference:

Devaraj S, Jialal G, Cook T, Siegel D, Jialal I. Low Vitamin D levels in Northern American Adults with the Metabolic Syndrome. Horm Metab Res. 2010 Nov 25.

Improve your learning and memory.

We would all like to improve our memory or at least not see it decline as we get older. The following research may show us one way to do that.

The study included healthy individuals aged 55 years or more (Yurko-Mauro, et al. 2010). The participants were randomly assigned to take either 900 mg of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) per day or a placebo for 24 weeks. DHA is one of the active ingredients of omega 3 fish oil.

The researchers concluded after 24 weeks that supplementation with 900 mg of DHA daily improved learning and memory function and is a beneficial supplement that support cognitive health with aging.

To read more about the benefits of omega 3 fish oil click on "Better Fish Oil," a pharmaceutical grade fish oil.

To read the original abstract, click on the reference below.


Reference:

Yurko-Mauro K, McCarthy D, Rom D, Nelson EB, Ryan AS, Blackwell A, Salem N Jr, Stedman M; MIDAS Investigators. Beneficial effects of docosahexaenoic acid on cognition in age-related cognitive decline. Alzheimers Dement. 2010 Nov;6(6):456-64.

How to decrease your risk for upper respiratory infection.

The study reviewed here investigated the relationship between physical activity and the rates of upper respiratory tract infection (Nieman DC, et al. 2010).

The participants included 1,002 adults between the ages of 18-85 years, 60% were female and 40% male. They were followed for 12 weeks during fall and winter seasons and monitored using symptoms surveys.

The results showed that the days with upper respiratory symptoms were reduced by 43% in the participants who reported doing aerobic exercise 5 or more days per week when compared with those who did 1 day or less of aerobic exercise per week.

A 46% difference was found when comparing subjects in the high versus low fitness tertile.

One of the things you can do to improve your chance of staying healthy this winter is to include some type of aerobic exercise in your lifestyle.

To read the original abstract, click on the reference below.


Reference:

Nieman DC, Henson DA, Austin MD, Sha W.Upper respiratory tract infection is reduced in physically fit and active adults. Br J Sports Med. 2010 Nov 1.

Increase your intake of a specific type of fat and improve cardiovascular risk factors.

Increasing your intake of fat and still improve cardiovascular risk may sound strange to you, since you probably have been told to eat a low fat diet to improve cardiovascular risk. However several studies have documented that you can eat a certain type of fat and improve your cardiovascular risk.

One of the most recent studies investigated the association between monounsaturated fat HDL the so called good cholesterol, apoplipoprotein A1 another cardiovascular risk factor and C-reactive protein an inflammatory marker, also a cardiovascular risk factor (Jenkins DJ, et al. 2010).

The study participants first ate a low saturated fat diet for one month and then half of the group was assigned to a dietary protocol high in monounsaturated fat and the other half of the group assigned to a diet low in monounsaturated fat.

The participants followed these diets for one month and were then retested. The results showed that the participants eating the diet high in monounsaturated fat increased their HDL cholesterol, reduced the ratio of total cholesterol to HDL and reduced C-reactive protein which means their cardiovascular risk improved.

You find monounsaturated fat in foods like avocados, nuts and seeds. An easy way to increase this type of fat without increasing your calorie intake is to substitute avocados, nuts and seeds for some of the carbohydrates you eat.

You can easily eat an avocado a day by putting it in salads, nuts or seeds you can eat as snacks during the day.

The book "The Food Connection" has food recommendations with explanations and easy to make recipes which has shown to reduce cholesterol, LDL the bad cholesterol, triglycerides and highly sensitive C-reactive protein in only 4 weeks.

To read the original abstract, click on the reference below.


Reference:

Jenkins DJ, Chiavaroli L, Wong JM, Kendall C, Lewis GF, Vidgen E, Connelly PW, Leiter LA, Josse RG, Lamarche B. Adding monounsaturated fatty acids to a dietary portfolio of cholesterol-lowering foods in hypercholesterolemia. CMAJ. 2010 Nov 8.

The health impact of white rice.

White rice is a common food especially in Asia, but also in the USA. It is very common to have white rice served in restaurants.

Refined carbohydrates have been suggested to have a negative impact on the glucose metabolism. For that reason a large study involving 25,666 men and 33,622 women ages 44 to 75 years was conducted investigating the association between white rice intake and the risk of type 2 diabetes (Nanri A, et al. 2010). The study lasted for 5 years.

The results documented that there was a significant association between rice intake and an increased risk of type 2 diabetes in women. In men it was found to be a positive association in persons who were not engaged in strenuous physical activity.

White rice has a high glycemic index which means it will elevate the blood sugar quite high. Brown rice is a little bit better, but it also has a high glycemic index even if it is somewhat lower than white rice and contains more nutrients.

If you are going to eat white rice it would be healthier if you mix it with beans or lentils, since both beans and lentils have a very low glycemic index. It would be even better of course to substitute the rice for beans or lentils.

You will find a lot of recipes with beans and lentils in the book, "The Food Connection" and with explanations why it makes sense to eat low glycemic, high nutrients meals.

To read the original abstract, click on the reference below.


Reference:

Nanri A, Mizoue T, Noda M, Takahashi Y, Kato M, Inoue M, Tsugane S; for the Japan Public Health Center–based Prospective Study Group. Rice intake and type 2 diabetes in Japanese men and women: the Japan Public Health Center-based Prospective Study. Am J Clin Nutr. 2010 Dec;92(6):1468-1477. Epub 2010 Oct 27.

A big waist is bad for the bones.

Visceral fat, the fat we carry around the waist which is the fat surrounding the organs is recognized as a risk factor for increased chronic systemic inflammation.

Systemic inflammation is the type of inflammation which affects the whole body. It is different from the local acute inflammation we see when we for example sprain an ankle and it swells up. The local acute inflammation which is a response to an injury is not harmful. It is a part of the body's defense and also a part of the healing process.

Chronic systemic inflammation is however increasing the risk for many diseases and is not useful. Chronic inflammation is deleterious to bone and the fat we carry around the waist triggers chronic inflammation.

The relationship of visceral fat and bone density was investigated in the study reviewed here (Russell M, et al. 2010). The participants were girls 12-18 years old. Half of the participants were obese and the other half of normal weight. The regional fat content was measured using MRI. Bone density was measured and also several inflammatory markers.

The visceral fat (fat carried around the waist) was found to be an independent determinant of bone density in obesity and was related to a chronic inflammatory state.

This means that a big waist even in young girls is associated with a lower bone density.

Eating habits, which will help reduce systemic inflammation and keep you lean, is important from a young age and throughout life. Read the book, "Effective Nutrition for Effective Healing" for recommendations and recipes.

It is also important to support your bones with specific nutrients to help your bones stay strong and healthy from a young age. Click here for more information.

To read the original abstract, click on the reference below.


Reference:

Russell M, Mendes N, Miller KK, Rosen CJ, Lee H, Klibanski A, Misra M. Visceral fat is a negative predictor of bone density measures in obese adolescent girls. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2010 Mar;95(3):1247-55. Epub 2010 Jan 15.

An easy way to reduce the risk of periodontitis

Periodontitis is inflammation of the gum tissue and can with time lead to the loss of teeth and has also been shown to be a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Brushing and flossing your teeth regularly is of course important. What also is important is to have dietary and lifestyle habits that help reduce inflammation.

One of the factors affecting inflammation was investigated in the study reviewed here. Omega 3 fatty acids and its association with periodontitis were studied in 9,182 adults ages 20 years and older (Naqvi AZ, et al. 2010).

The researchers concluded that higher intake of especially docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), but also although to a lesser degree eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) were associated with lower prevalence of periodontitis.

A lot of research has shown that omega 3 fatty acids help to reduce inflammation, that is one of the reasons why it is providing many health benefits.

Omega 3 fatty acids from fish oil is something everybody can benefit from since we usually don't get enough omega 3 fat in our diet.

EPA and DHA are the active ingredients in fish oil, so be sure to use a product which has higher amounts of these ingredients and has been checked thoroughly for contaminants.

The formula "Better Fish Oil," is a pharmaceutical grade fish oil with higher amounts of EPA and DHA. Click here to read more about all the benefits of omega 3 fatty acids.

To read the original abstract, click on the reference below.


Reference:

Naqvi AZ, Buettner C, Phillips RS, Davis RB, Mukamal KJ. n-3 fatty acids and periodontitis in US adults. J Am Diet Assoc. 2010 Nov;110(11):1669-75.

Is calcium dangerous to your heart?

Maybe you have read about a study claiming that calcium by itself taken as a supplement is associated with an increase risk of myocardial infarction (Bolland MJ, et al. 2010).

This study has been criticized as being highly inaccurate. The study was a so called meta-analysis where the researchers picked earlier published studies which the participants had been taking calcium supplements by itself. The way the studies were picked is one of the factors being criticized. Other criticisms were that the studies picked were not designed to evaluate cardiovascular risk, data on cardiovascular death was collected separately at a later time and several other issues. The researchers also eliminated studies where calcium was used together with vitamin D because those studies showed a decreased cardiovascular risk.

Another study also published recently investigated both calcium and vitamin D as it related to cardiovascular risk (Wang L, et al. 2010). These researchers concluded that vitamin D supplements of moderate to high doses may reduce cardiovascular disease risk, whereas calcium supplements seemed to have minimal cardiovascular effects.

Calcium is an important mineral with proven health benefits, but it is better to take calcium together with other minerals and with vitamin D.

To read more about these benefits, click here.

To read the original abstracts, click on the references below.


References:

Bolland MJ, Avenell A, Baron JA, Grey A, MacLennan GS, Gamble GD, Reid IR. Effect of calcium supplements on risk of myocardial infarction and cardiovascular events: meta-analysis. BMJ. 2010 Jul 29;341:c3691. doi: 10.1136/bmj.c3691.

Wang L, Manson JE, Song Y, Sesso HD. Systematic review: Vitamin D and calcium supplementation in prevention of cardiovascular events. Ann Intern Med. 2010 Mar 2;152(5):315-23.

Guidelines to help prevent stress fractures

Athletes in general and girls and young women participating in gymnastics, soccer and track and field are at higher risk for stress fractures.

A study including both men and women athletes with the majority being women documented that in athletes with similar training habits, those with stress fractures are more likely to have lower bone density, lower dietary calcium intake and menstrual irregularity (Myburgh KH, et al. 1990).

There are also other important factors than calcium affecting bone strength. One of the factors is vitamin D.

When female gymnasts ages 10-17 years were assessed for both vitamin D status and dietary calcium intake most of them had vitamin D levels below recommended guidelines for optimal bone health and many of them also had calcium intake below the daily recommended intake for their age (Lovell G. 2008).

Low vitamin D levels have shown to be a predisposing factor for stress fractures also in military recruits (Ruohola JP, et al. 2006).

Other minerals in addition to calcium are also important. Magnesium has been documented to prevent fractures and improve bone density (Sojka JE, Weaver CM. 1995).


Bone density has also been found to be significantly better when zinc, copper, manganese and potassium were added to calcium (Strause L, et al. 1994).

As you see there are several factors affecting bone density and bone strength. For these reasons it is better to supplement the diet with a formula containing all these nutrients. The BMJ is such a formula which supports both bone, joints and other connective tissue.

Click here to read about it.

To read the original abstracts, click on the references below.


References:

Lovell G. Vitamin D status of females in an elite gymnastics program. Clin J Sport Med. 2008 Mar;18(2):159-61.

Myburgh KH, Hutchins J, Fataar AB, Hough SF, Noakes TD. Low bone density is an etiologic factor for stress fractures in athletes. Ann Intern Med. 1990 Nov 15;113(10):754-9.

Ruohola JP, Laaksi I, Ylikomi T, Haataja R, Mattila VM, Sahi T, Tuohimaa P, Pihlajamäki H. Association between serum 25(OH)D concentrations and bone stress fractures in Finnish young men. J Bone Miner Res. 2006 Sep;21(9):1483-8.

Sojka JE, Weaver CM. Magnesium supplementation and osteoporosis. Nutr Rev. 1995 Mar;53(3):71-4.

Strause L, Saltman P, Smith KT, Bracker M, Andon MB. Spinal bone loss in postmenopausal women supplemented with calcium and trace minerals. J Nutr. 1994 Jul;124(7):1060-4.

Easy way to increase fat loss

The study reviewed investigated the effect of moderate calorie restriction for 14 days with 8.5 or 5.5 hours of night time sleep (Nedeltcheva AV, et al. 2010). The objective was to see if sleep restriction had an effect on fat loss. Fat loss and fat free mass were two of the things measured.

The results were very interesting showing that when the participants slept 5.5 hours they lost 55% less fat compared to when they slept 8.5 hours.

What was also surprising was that when they slept less they lost 60% more fat free mass than when they slept more.

Losing fat free mass like muscle tissue is neither healthy or productive in the long run if you want to lose weight and stay lean, since muscles are metabolic active tissue which help you burn calories.

If you want to get healthier and stay lean you need to lose fat, not muscles.

This research reminds us of how important it is to get enough sleep, it is even affecting the way we lose weight.

Sleep enough, exercise regularly and eat meals that promote a lean body composition.

To read the original abstract, click on the reference below.


Reference:

Nedeltcheva AV, Kilkus JM, Imperial J, Schoeller DA, Penev PD. Insufficient sleep undermines dietary efforts to reduce adiposity. Ann Intern Med. 2010 Oct 5;153(7):435-41.

Common deficiency associated with serious disease.

Recent published research including 41, 504 patient records, revealed a prevalence of 63.6% deficiency of vitamin D with only minor differences by gender and age (Anderson JL, et al. 2010).

The researchers found that the vitamin D deficiency was associated with highly significant increases in the prevalence of diabetes, hypertension (high blood pressure) and hyperlipidemia (high cholesterol and triglycerides).

The vitamin D levels of the study patients were also highly associated with coronary artery disease, myocardial infarction, heart failure and stroke.
Vitamin D deficiencies are very common even in sunny climates because the common use of sunscreen.

To spend some time in the sun without sunscreen is healthy as long as you don't overdo it, that is one way to increase vitamin D levels. To get sunburned it not healthy however.


If you want to be sure that you get enough vitamin D, you can also take 1000 IU to 2000 IU of vitamin D3.

You can read more about the many benefits of vitamin D by clicking here.

To read the original abstract, click on the reference below.


Reference:

Anderson JL, May HT, Horne BD, Bair TL, Hall NL, Carlquist JF, Lappé DL, Muhlestein JB; Intermountain Heart Collaborative (IHC) Study Group. Relation of vitamin D deficiency to cardiovascular risk factors, disease status, and incident events in a general healthcare population. Am J Cardiol. 2010 Oct 1;106(7):963-8. Epub 2010 Aug 11.

Easy way to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

The study reviewed included 31,671 women from Sweden with no history of cardiovascular disease and also 2,262 women with a history of cardiovascular disease (Rautiainen S, et al. 2010).

The age of these women were from 49 to 83 years.

The researchers investigated the use of multivitamins and the risk of myocardial infarction. The multivitamins were estimated to contain close to the recommended daily allowances of vitamin A, C, D, E and the B vitamins.


The results documented that the use of multivitamins were inversely associated with myocardial infarction, especially with long-term use among the women with no cardiovascular disease.

Just a simple thing as taking good quality multivitamins can make a significant difference for your health.

To read the original abstract, click on the reference below.


Reference:

Rautiainen S, Akesson A, Levitan EB, Morgenstern R, Mittleman MA, Wolk A. Multivitamin use and the risk of myocardial infarction: a population-based cohort of Swedish women. Am J Clin Nutr. 2010 Sep 22.

A simple thing you can do to help prevent brain atrophy.

Cognitive impairment and dementia are getting more common as we age and it makes sense to do whatever we can to help prevent it.

An increase rate of brain atrophy is often observed in older people who suffer from cognitive decline. Homocysteine, an amino acid, is a risk factor for brain atrophy and have been found to increase with low intake of B vitamin like B6, B12 and folic acid.

A recent study investigated the effect of 800 mcg of folic acid, 500 mcg of B12 and 20 mg of B6 daily comparing it with placebo over 24 months (Smith AD, et al. 2010).

The rate of atrophy was assessed with MRI and the results documented that the average rate of brain atrophy per year was 0.76% in the treatment group and 1.08% for the placebo group.


The rate of brain atrophy in participants with homocysteine levels of more than 13 µmol/L was 53% lower in the group taking the B vitamins.

You easily get the levels of vitamin B used in this study by taking 1 tablet of the formula "Vitamin B Complex." You can also read more about the benefits of B vitamins by clicking here.

To read the original abstract, click on the reference below.


Reference:

Smith AD, Smith SM, de Jager CA, Whitbread P, Johnston C, Agacinski G, Bradley KM, Jacoby R, Refsum H. Homocysteine-lowering by B vitamins slows the rate of accelerated brain atrophy in mild cognitive impairment: a randomized controlled trial. PLoS One. 2010 Sep 8;5(9):e12244.

Reduce your risk of death from inflammatory diseases.

The study reviewed here investigated the connection between different foods and the risk of death from diseases in which inflammation or oxidative stress was a predominant contributor (Buyken AE, et al. 2010).

The participants both men and women were followed for 13 years. The results showed that women who ate foods in the highest glycemic index tertile had a 2.9 fold increased risk of inflammatory death compared with women in the lowest glycemic index tertile.

The glycemic index is a way of measuring how high a food is elevating the blood sugar after it has been ingested. In the case of this study, foods that elevated the blood sugar high had a detrimental effect.

To learn more about this and all the benefits of eating a high nutrient low glycemic index way, read the book “The Food Connection.”

The book also has a lot of easy to make recipes.

To read the original abstract, click on the reference below.


Reference:

Buyken AE, Flood V, Empson M, Rochtchina E, Barclay AW, Brand-Miller J, Mitchell P. Carbohydrate nutrition and inflammatory disease mortality in older adults. Am J Clin Nutr. 2010 Sep;92(3):634-43. Epub 2010 Jun 23.

Protect your DNA.

We would all like to be able to protect our DNA. New research may show us an easy way to do that.

In a recent study, green tea was compared to a placebo of water where DNA damage and resistance to an oxidative challenge was measured (Han KC, et al. 2010). This was a cross-over study using the same participants, but having a wash-out period of six weeks between the green tea and the placebo. The participants drank green tea for four weeks comparing the tea to a placebo of water.

The interesting results showed that the green tea provided a 20% decrease in DNA damage.

Even if you don’t like to drink green tea there is an easy way to get the benefits anyway.

You can take one capsule daily of the formula "Better Green Tea," that is all you need.

Research has also documented other benefits of green tea. To read about that, click here.

To read the original abstract, click on the reference below.


Reference:

Genoprotective effects of green tea ( Camellia sinensis) in human subjects: results of a controlled supplementation trial. Han KC, Wong WC, Benzie IF. Br J Nutr. 2010 Sep 1:1-8.

Improve cardiovascular health and improve your brain function.

More and more research is finding that the different functions of the body are related to each other. For that reason it may not be a surprise that cardiac output is related to brain function.

A recent study investigated if brain MRI variables were related to cardiac MRI assessed cardiac index in participants with an average age of 61 years (Jefferson AL, et al. 2010). Patients with cardiovascular disease were excluded.

It was interesting that participants in the bottom cardiac index tertile and also the ones in the middle tertile had significantly lower brain volume than the participants in the top tertile.

The researchers concluded that the results were in agreement with the hypothesis that decreased cardiac function is associated with accelerated brain aging.


If you value a good brain function keep your cardiovascular system in good shape. Do some type of aerobic exercise regularly, eat high nutrients low glycemic index meals regularly and avoid sugary sweet drinks. Read the book "The Food Connection" for recipes and explanations of other benefits of high nutrients low glycemic index meals.

To read the original abstract, click on the reference below.


Reference:

Jefferson AL, Himali JJ, Beiser AS, Au R, Massaro JM, Seshadri S, Gona P, Salton CJ, DeCarli C, O'Donnell CJ, Benjamin EJ, Wolf PA, Manning WJ. Cardiac index is associated with brain aging: the Framingham Heart Study. Circulation. 2010 Aug 17;122(7):690-7. Epub 2010 Aug 2.

The danger of a big waist

A recent study followed 21,787 participants with an age from 45 to 79 years for an average of 9.8 years (Arsenault BJ, et al. 2010). The researchers examined the relationship between high triglycerides levels (fat in the blood), high waist circumference and the risk of coronary artery disease in apparently healthy individuals.

The threshold used as a high waist circumference was 90 cm (35.4 inches) or more for men and 85 cm (33.4 inches) or more for women.

When participants with triglycerides and waist circumference below the threshold were compared with participants above the threshold it was found that the participants above the threshold had higher blood pressure, higher apolipoprotein B (a risk factor for cardiovascular disease) and higher C-reactive protein (an inflammatory marker). These participants also had lower levels of HDL (the good cholesterol) and apolipoprotein A-1 (high is good) and smaller LDL particles (not good).

This resulted in an increased risk for future coronary artery disease of 2.4% for the men and 3.84% for women.

If you want to reduce your waist line and reduce your triglycerides, read the book "The Food Connection" and get started.

To read the original abstract, click on the reference below.


Reference:

Arsenault BJ, Lemieux I, Després JP, Wareham NJ, Kastelein JJ, Khaw KT, Boekholdt SM. The hypertriglyceridemic-waist phenotype and the risk of coronary artery disease: results from the EPIC-Norfolk Prospective Population Study. CMAJ. 2010 Jul 19.

Protein source can affect risk of heart disease

It has been known for a while that fish intake is associated with a decreased risk for heart disease, but other protein sources have not been studied much. Fish reduce the risk of heart disease because of the omega 3 fat it contains.

What about protein sources like red meat, poultry and nuts?

This has also been investigated now following 81,136 women aged 30 to 55 years during 26 years of follow-up (Bernstein AM, et al. 2010).

The findings were very interesting and documented that higher intakes of red meat, excluding processed meat and also high fat dairy were significantly associated with elevated risk of coronary heart disease.

Higher intakes of poultry, fish and nuts were however significantly associated with lower risk.

1 serving per day of nuts was associated with a 30% lower risk for coronary heart disease compared with 1 serving per day of red meat. When 1 serving of red meat per day was compared with the following, low fat dairy was associated with 13% lower risk, poultry 19% and fish 24% lower risk.

Just by cutting down on red meat and eating some nuts everyday you can reduce your risk for heart disease.



For more ways to reduce your risk for serious disease read “The Food Connection.”

You can also access information with recommendations on different conditions by logging on to www.tissuerecovery.com.

To read the original abstract, click on the reference below.


Reference:

Bernstein AM, Sun Q, Hu FB, Stampfer MJ, Manson JE, Willett WC. Major dietary protein sources and risk of coronary heart disease in women. Circulation. 2010 Aug 31;122(9):876-83. Epub 2010 Aug 16.

One simple thing you can do to reduce your risk for diabetes

The consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages has been associated with weight gain. These beverages include soft drinks, fruit drinks, iced tea, energy drinks and vitamin water.

These types of drinks have also now been associated with metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes (Malik VS, et al. 2010). Metabolic syndrome is a condition which includes insulin resistance, elevated cholesterol, triglycerides and elevated blood pressure.

When data from studies including 310,819 participants and 15,043 cases of type 2 diabetes was analyzed it was found that individuals in the highest quantile intake of these beverages (most often 1-2 servings per day) had a 26% greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes than those on the lowest quantile (none or less than 1 serving per month).

Just from eliminating these types of drinks you have a better chance of preventing both weight gain and serious diseases.

You can read about how low glycemic index foods impact health and learn how to make easy and quick low glycemic index meals by reading the book “The Food Connection.”

To read the original abstract, click on the reference below.


Reference:

Malik VS, Popkin BM, Bray GA, Després JP, Willett WC, Hu FB. Sugar Sweetened Beverages and Risk of Metabolic Syndrome and Type 2 Diabetes: A Meta-analysis. Diabetes Care. 2010 Aug 6.

How to eat before competition and exercise

Research has documented that low glycemic index carbohydrates ingested before endurance running or biking improves performance when compared to high glycemic index carbohydrates (Wu CL, Williams C. 2006, Moore LJ, et al. 2010).

The research conducted by Wu C.L. and Williams C. compared a low glycemic index meal GI value 37 with a high glycemic index meal GI value 77 on two different occasions. The study was randomized and used the same participants at both occasions. Both meals were ingested 3 hours prior to the trials and contained 2 grams of carbohydrates per kg body mass.

The results showed that the low glycemic index meal resulted in a greater endurance capacity compared to the high glycemic index meal.

The studies reviewed here showed that a low glycemic index meal prior to endurance activities results in increased carbohydrate and energy availability at the end of the exercise leading to improved performance.

Low glycemic index meals are absorbed slowly and should be eaten at least 2 hours before the exercise. Maybe you would still get the benefits from a low glycemic index meal even if it is eaten 1 ½ hour before exercising, but I would not recommend eating any closer to the exercise than that.

A bean burrito would be a good choice since the beans are an excellent source of low glycemic index carbohydrates. You could also mix a little bit of pasta with beans if you don’t want a burrito. Even if the tortilla and the pasta are higher glycemic index, when combined with the beans, the meal is still low glycemic index and high in carbohydrates. You could also take some essential amino acids at the same time.

A couple of days before an endurance competition consume an extra 200 to 300 grams per day of carbohydrates, pasta is a good choice, and eat a pasta meal as the last meal the evening before the competition. Doing this will ensure saturation of glycogen storage in both muscles and the liver.

The books “Effective Nutrition for Effective Healing” and “The Food Connection” have a lot of examples of easy to make low glycemic index, high nutrients recipes. This would be the way to eat on a regular basis to ensure you stay as insulin sensitive as possible, allowing maximum glucose to be transferred into the cells.

Just remember the meal especially before endurance type exercises needs to be high in carbohydrates, not only low glycemic index.

To read the original abstracts, click on the references below.



References:

Moore LJ, Midgley AW, Thurlow S, Thomas G, Mc Naughton LR. Effect of the glycaemic index of a pre-exercise meal on metabolism and cycling time trial performance. J Sci Med Sport. 2010 Jan;13(1):182-8. Epub 2009 Feb 20.

Thomas DE, Brotherhood JR, Miller JB. Plasma glucose levels after prolonged strenuous exercise correlate inversely with glycemic response to food consumed before exercise. Int J Sport Nutr. 1994 Dec;4(4):361-73.

Wu CL, Williams C. A low glycemic index meal before exercise improves endurance running capacity in men. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2006 Oct;16(5):510-27.