Testosterone levels naturally decline steadily as you age, typically at 1-2% per year after the age of 40. However, with obesity and diabetes levels reaching all-time highs, it seems the trend of low testosterone is more common today than years past, and a result of our modern lifestyle.

If maintaining healthy testosterone levels is good for your muscles, libido, and anti-aging, it seems to make sense that you should just supplement, right? Not exactly. The normal range for testosterone levels varies dramatically. In healthy adult males, it’s between 315 and 1,000 ng/dL.⁵ Most men struggling with some (or many) of the symptoms of low testosterone think a cream or gel is the solution to their problems. Unfortunately, it’s not that easy. Only 10% of adult men are two standard deviations away from the norm, meaning only one out of 10 may see benefits from supplemental testosterone, and this rate only climbs to 20% past the age of 60.⁶

If your testosterone levels are low, it seems logical that adding more into the system to raise your levels will fix the problem. Unfortunately, this just treats the smoke (i.e. the symptoms) and not the fire (i.e. root cause). Testosterone creams and gels are heavily prescribed today, yet they fail to produce meaningful results and often make things even worse in the long run. The typical result is that guys will feel great for the first 4-8 weeks, then not only do their initial symptoms return, they’re often worse than where they started!

In short, you don’t need to “boost” your testosterone, but rather focus on removing all the roadblocks hampering your ability to adequately produce testosterone. Let’s do a quick review of testosterone physiology, then I’ll address seven common reasons for low T.

Physiology of Testosterone

Testosterone production starts in the brain. Your hypothalamus is the ‘master conductor,’ leading the orchestra of hormonal reactions in the body. It secretes

gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) in a pulsatile fashion, stimulating the release of both luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) from the anterior pituitary, which then travel to the testes.⁷ LH acts on the Leydig cells in the testes to produce testosterone, leading to the physiological effects that benefit lean muscle mass, libido, improved insulin sensitivity, etc.

Testosterone is secreted in a pulsatile fashion (peaking between 200-400am) to avoid flooding the bloodstream and down-regulating testosterone receptors. That’s why your body uses negative feedback loops to control testosterone levels in the body; high serum testosterone inhibits GnRH from the hypothalamus and LH/FSH from the anterior pituitary via the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis to manage optimal testosterone levels (see figure below).⁶

The hypothalmic-pituitary-gonadal axis and testosterone secretion.⁷

7 Reasons Why Your Testosterone Is Low

For most guys, the reason you struggle with low testosterone is because your normal production is being sabotaged. You don’t need to add more testosterone in the system, you need to remove the roadblocks and allow your brain and body the freedom to restore optimal levels. I’ve listed below seven common reasons and what you can do to reverse the trend.

High Belly Fat

If you’ve got significant abdominal adiposity, you don’t need a testosterone cream, you need to lose weight. Belly fat increases the activity of an enzyme called aromatase, which converts your precious testosterone to estrogen, a major root cause of low T for most men.

A whopping 80% of estradiol levels in the blood originates from the process of aromatization, which suppresses the HPG axis, thus down-regulating your natural testosterone production.⁷ To boost testosterone, lose the beer belly.

Chronic Inflammation

High belly fat is also strongly associated with chronic inflammation, another strike against you if you’re trying to boost testosterone levels. Excess abdominal adiposity is a surefire sign of systemic inflammation, meaning your body is “on fire” from head to toe.

Inflammation impairs healthy mitochondrial function, crucial for healthy testosterone production.⁸ Trim abdominal adiposity via diet and exercise to cool excessive inflammation and put the brakes on mitochondrial damage.

Hyper-Insulinemia

If you’re overweight and have significant belly fat, you’ll not only have increased aromatase activity and systemic inflammation impairing healthy testosterone output, but also chronically high blood sugar and insulin levels. Most often, this is due to the excessive intake of processed carbohydrates and sugar (and ultimately a major caloric excess). High insulin levels will shift testosterone output toward androstenedione, a much weaker form of testosterone, which takes up the “parking spots” on receptors your regular testosterone would occupy. As tempting as it can be to look for a quick-fix testosterone cream or gel solution, your best bet is to simply kick-start weight loss.

Try adopting a low-carb diet, adding in more slow-continuous and high-intensity interval training (HIIT), as well as total-body resistance training sessions centered around compound movements to achieve a caloric deficit, improve blood sugar and insulin balance, and cool chronic inflammation.

Lack of Sleep

It’s not just weight gain that can drag down your testosterone levels. Sleep is one of the most powerful, and often overlooked, weapons for increasing low T, and the best part is it’s completely free! The average person gets about six and half hours of sleep per night, and almost 30% of the population gets less than six every night.⁹ This is a major problem if you’re struggling with poor muscle mass, mood, libido or overall health.

As you age, your total sleep time is an independent predictor or your morning testosterone levels, rising in parallel with total sleep up to approximately eight hours per night.¹⁰ In short, the more sleep you get, the better your testosterone levels.

Even in healthy young men, lack of sleep is a major testosterone killer. The Journal of the American Medical Association recently found healthy men (average age of 24) who slept only five hours per night for one week experienced a 10-15% decline in testosterone.¹¹ If you want to reboot your testosterone levels, aim for at least 7-9 hours per night, and add a few naps (30 or 90 minutes) to increase your total weekly sleep time. For performance-driven athletes, experts believe 70 hours of sleep per week should be your goal.

High Stress

Our modern environment, with 24/7 connectivity and constantly being “on the go,” is at odds with our evolutionary drive to rest and recover. The cortisol stress hormone is derived from the same hormonal building blocks as testosterone, therefore if you’re burning the midnight oil and staying out late, you’ll likely be doing so at the expense of your precious testosterone.

Training is also a major stressor, and it’s well-established in the scientific literature that low testosterone is a common symptom of overtraining.¹² Similar effects occur if you’re working long hours, getting too much screen time, or not enough sleep. Stress also worsens blood sugar and insulin control, predisposing you to all the weight gain, belly fat, chronic inflammation, and hyper-insulinemia mentioned above.

To offset stress, avoid excessive caffeine intake (especially before noon), reduce or eliminate alcohol in the evening, and find time (5-15 minutes) to perform breath work or disconnect from the daily grind of your workday.

Nutrient Deficiency

Micronutrients like zinc and vitamin D are critical for testosterone production, and common deficiencies occur due to diets high in grains, blood sugar dysfunction, excess alcohol intake, and lack of sunshine.

But just because you add a supplement doesn’t mean you’ll boost your T levels. The research shows zinc supplementation can increase serum testosterone levels, but only in individuals who are deficient.¹³ Similarly, vitamin D is intimately involved in testosterone production, however blood levels above 40 ng/dl (150 nmol/L) are unlikely to provide any additional benefits.¹⁴ To sum up micronutrients, they can help nudge your testosterone in the right direction, however they aren’t the “big rocks” like maintaining your ideal weight, getting adequate sleep, and keeping stress under control.

Testosterone Medication Use

If you think you can fix your low T levels by simply slapping on a testosterone cream or gel, be warned, you’ll likely make the problem worse. Applying these gels topically on adipose (fat) tissue is an extremely poor method to raise testosterone levels, may accelerate aromatization, and can down-regulate your testosterone receptor activity, setting you up for problems in the future. Forget the pills and potions; address the six root causes above, and your libido and muscle mass will soon be on the rise.

Addressing the root causes of low testosterone may not be as “sexy” as the notion of taking an exotic supplement from depths of some distant jungle, or slapping on some testosterone cream and transforming into Superman. But the reality is the former will yield significant testosterone benefits, while the latter is unlikely to help. Get back to addressing why your T levels are low, and you’ll soon experience more lean muscle, improved libido, clearer thinking, and superior overall health. 

References:

The post 7 Reasons Why Your Testosterone Is Low appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Why is this success rate so abysmal? Bad advice is on the top of my list. People are always looking for sophisticated and exotic ways to solve their problems, when in fact, the simplest approach typically yields very strong results (with minimal effort).

Think back to 100 years ago, was everyone obese or overweight? No, not even close. In fact, a famous circus performer dubbed the “Fattest Man In The World” in 1903 wouldn’t even stand out of a crowd today. Where did we go wrong? Let’s try and simplify things.

The Grazing Theory

One of the biggest nutrition myths is that eating multiple meals—five or six—throughout the day will help you boost metabolism and therefore lose weight. It’s the “grazing” theory. Let’s see how it actually stacks-up in the research. 

Proponents of multiple meals will cite the increased thermic effect of food (TEF) as a key indicator that your body is working harder—and expending more calories—to process the meals you’re eating. Basically, the more meals you eat, the greater your TEF. The greater your TEF, the more calories your burn. Also, advocates of multiple meals suggest your metabolism will bottom out completely if you don’t eat every 3-4 hours.

This should be great for weight loss! But recently, Dr. Brad Schoenfeld and his research team crunched the numbers and examined all the best studies around meal frequency and weight loss to uncover whether “multiple meals” is really a good nutritional intervention for weight loss.

• What they did: The researchers pooled together 15 randomized, control trials comparing men and women who ate three or fewer meals per day, with those people who ate greater than three meals. The studies were all greater than two weeks in duration, had pre- and post-study body composition testing, and were done in adults over the age of eighteen.

• What they found: The researchers discovered there was absolutely no effect of meal frequency on bodyweight. Likewise, there was no improvement of body-fat percentage with increased meal frequency. In summary, they stated “our analysis does not support a tangible benefit to eating small frequent meals on body composition.” Enough said.¹

Let’s take this a step further. It gets worse.

A recent study published in the medical journal Hepatology described a trial where they wanted to participants to gain weight. (Yep, not the best study to be a part of.) They compared eating three square meals per day with eating multiple meals in a diet with a caloric surplus. The results were eye-opening. The group that ate with higher frequency gained significantly more body fat, in particular belly fat, but also gained significant fat in their livers (at exactly the same caloric intake).² When your body is storing fat in the liver, your health is seriously compromised and you’re at much greater risk of chronic disease.

Eat More, Less Often

So, you’ve been convinced to eat protein bars, snacks, and anything in a package, multiple times a day to help you lose weight. Let’s simplify the equation. Do the opposite.

To burn body fat as a fuel source, your blood sugar levels must be low enough to trigger lipolysis—the breakdown of body fat. If you’re out of shape or overweight, your body likely does not deal with carbohydrates very efficiently. This means if you drink juice, eat cereal, bread, etc., your blood sugars will increase much more than a fit person, and take much longer to return to baseline. And by the time they do, you’re eating another snack.

In short, you’re metabolically inflexible. You’re “stuck” in carb-burning mode, and your body is incredibly poor at breaking down body fat for fuel. Your goal should be to become metabolically flexible. Improve your body’s ability to break down fat for a fuel source. How can you do this?

Stop snacking.

If we go back to our hunter-gatherer ancestors, they would have gone many hours, many days, even weeks between meals. How did they survive without a protein bar snack or eating every 3-4 hours? The answer is simple; your body is designed to shift gears from burning carbs to burning fat (i.e. metabolic flexibility). But modern eating patterns are completely hijacking this ability. The result is being stuck with unwanted and persistent weight gain.

Once again, the solution is to stop snacking; get back to eating three square meals, like your great grandparents. Here are some quick tips on how to survive the first week, without chewing your arm off or screaming at your colleagues or loved ones.

Mid-Morning Snack

Drink coffee. The caffeine in coffee inhibits the PYY appetite hormone in the gut, naturally supressing appetite. It’s remarkably effective. The problem for most people, is they drink their morning coffee before or during breakfast. The best strategy is to hold off until after breakfast (perhaps when you get into the office) to grab your cup of java. Remember, no added sugar in your coffee. If you’re not a coffee-drinker, go for black or green tea.

Afternoon Sugar Cravings

The AM snack is quite easy to cut out; most people find it much easier than they initially thought it would be. The afternoon snack can be a little more difficult. For most people, you’re coming down from your morning caffeinated high, a blood sugar dip from lunch, and a natural, circadian low. This is the three-headed monster that makes you crave sweets!

I’m a big fan of drinking a green tea in the afternoon (2:00-3:00pm), as it contains a touch of caffeine to suppress appetite. It also provides an amino acid (i.e. L-theanine) which relaxes the nervous system, so it’s not as stimulating as coffee. You can also go with an herbal tea, or drink more water to get you through. Distractions like walking around and scheduling meetings are also very helpful. And of course, don’t keep snacks in your desk.

You’ll likely have cravings for a few days, but then they will subside. This will let you know you’re moving in the right direction. If your cravings last for more than 4-5 days, you’ve been really overdoing it, and you’ll just have to “grin and bear it” a little longer.

The Late-Night Couch Snack

This one is the toughest for a lot of clients. After a long day, you finally kick your feet up on the couch and, just like Pavlov’s dog, it triggers your brain to instantly crave a reward: something sweet. Much like the PM snack, the cravings will subside after a few days. Once again, a simple herbal tea can work wonders (just don’t overconsume, as you may be getting up in the night to pee!).

Get Back to Your Roots to Get Slim

There you have it. If weight loss is your goal, simplify rather than complicate. Get back to your ancestral roots and ditch the snacking. You’ll be amazed at the progress you can make eating three square meals per day!

Don’t believe the excuses the media feeds you:

Nobody Is Doomed to Be Fat

References:

1. Schoenfeld, Brad Jon, Alan Albert Aragon, and James W. Krieger. “Effects of meal frequency on weight loss and body composition: a meta-analysis.” Nutrition Reviews 73, no. 2 (2015): 69-82.

2. Koopman, Karin E., Matthan WA Caan, Aart J. Nederveen, Anouk Pels, Mariette T. Ackermans, Eric Fliers, Susanne E. Fleur, and Mireille J. Serlie. “Hypercaloric diets with increased meal frequency, but not meal size, increase intrahepatic triglycerides: a randomized controlled trial.” Hepatology 60, no. 2 (2014): 545-553.

The post How to Avoid the Biggest Weight Loss Mistake appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

From an evolutionary perspective, regardless of whether you consumed the ancestral high-carb diet of the Kitavans or the very low-carb, high fat Inuit diet of the north, both cultures were virtually free of diabetes and metabolic diseases until the introduction of the Western diet.

Metabolic diseases was virtually non-existent until the introduction of the Western diet. [Photo credit: Pixabay]

The Problem with the Western Diet

The Western diet is chock-full of processed convenience foods that are high in added sugar, harmful trans fats, food additives, and artificial sweeteners, and are deficient in fiber and key micronutrients.¹ While these all contribute to excess caloric intake and potentially weight gain, their impact on your brain and your cravings is just as detrimental.

Obesity researcher Dr. Stephan Guyenet has delved deeply into the notion of food “hyper-palatability”—how processed convenience foods are engineered to elicit major responses by our brains, kicking up dopamine levels and driving “food reward” that leads to you craving more and more of these tasty snacks.

Here are some of Dr. Guyenet’s insights on hyper-palatability of foods and weight gain:

• Approximately 70% of the average American diet is from processed foods.² In 1980, there were approximately 15,000 convenience foods available in supermarkets, while today that has exploded to over 43,000. Dr. Guyanet believes the greater the variety of foods, the more calories you’re likely to consume.
• Over the last twenty years, our total daily caloric has increased by 425kcal per day and “snacking” accounts for 77% of this total increase.³ Dr. Guyanet believes this is sufficient, on its own, to explain the rise in weight gain over the past two decades.
• The greater the “palatability” of the food, the more calories typically people will consume in one sitting.⁴ Sounds obvious, but in real-terms this means the tastier your treat or snack (from sugar or additives) the more you’ll consume.

Hyper-Palatable Foods and Your Brain

The brain is constantly seeking reward, and processed foods are engineered to stimulate your brain to want more via the addition of sugars, artificial flavours, salt, and fats. Smell, taste, texture, appearance, and proximity all play key roles in influencing how much of a certain food you will eat. For example, our brains are far more likely to want a snack if it’s close by (i.e. in your desk drawer) versus three-blocks over at a local café. So it’s difficult to resist when your office mates bring in a box of donuts, or when you pass by the candy store on your commute home.

Hyper-palatable foods make us far more likely to snack, and the implications on our waistlines are significant. A recent study looked into the impacts of consuming excess calories on weight gain when consuming only three square meals versus multiple meals (ie. three meals and two snacks) daily. Researchers found that if you overconsume calories, the effects are far worse when you consume them in more than just three meals a day.⁵

Ironically, if you ask the average person about weight loss, they’ll likely repeat the old mantra, “eating multiple meals throughout the day increases metabolism and is good for weight loss”. Unfortunately, this old dogma is a myth. A recent meta-analysis found no benefit of multiple meals on metabolism and fat loss in overweight people.⁶

How to Fight Off “Hyper-Palatable” Foods

Today, constant hunger is far less likely to be due to a true lack of energy and much more likely to be due to hormonal dysfunction (e.g. high insulin), nutrient deficiencies, dehydration or simply boredom. Most people internalize their inability to skip the snacks or avoid that nighttime treat as some type of personal flaw.

But what if the foods themselves were designed to achieve this trait? Processed convenience food companies use added sugars and artificial flavours that stimulate your brain to want more. That’s right: expert scientists are employed to come up with the tastes, textures, and aromas that stimulate your brain and maximize the food reward signal.

If all the extra calories are creating hormonal and metabolic havoc, how can you reboot your brain to not crave the hyper-palatable foods in every gas station, pharmacy, convenience store, and grocery store around? One simple strategy is to kick snacking to the curb. Here are a few options for different periods of the day:

Snack (AM)

After breakfast, go straight through until lunch without breaking for a snack. If you’re used to nibbling on snacks mid-morning, be warned you’re likely going to “crave” food in the first few days. However, remember this is not likely because you need energy, but more so reflects poor blood sugar control and your body’s over-reliance on burning carbs, which impairs its ability to break down fats to balance your blood sugars.

One great tip is to have a coffee mid-morning, as caffeine naturally reduces the PYY hormone in the gut that kicks up cravings. Most people notice that after a few days, the cravings subside and they can make it through easily to lunch.

Snack (PM)

Drinking coffee in the afternoon is not typically a good idea, as it can impair deep sleep at night. Milder forms of caffeine, like black or green tea, or dark chocolate (70% or more) are better alternatives to get you through the natural circadian low we all get in the afternoon (made worse by poor blood sugar control or excessive caffeine intake). If you’re really struggling, go for veggie snacks like cherry tomatoes or bell peppers.

Late Night Snack

After a long day, you finally hit the couch and the stress of a busy day is acutely relieved by a sweet treat. However, as the days roll by you can easily become Pavlov’s dog, wanting a sugary treat as soon as the TV turns on. Drinking water or adding a non-caffeinated herbal tea can help overcome the need to have something at the end of the day. This can be a really tough time of the day for people. For some, toughing it out and going cold turkey can do the trick. For others, tapering off by snacking on frozen berries or grapes is a nice stopgap until you can cut off the snacking completely.

Get Your Health on Track

The issues caused by the Western diet, namely blood sugar dysfunction, diabetes and metabolic diseases are enabled by manufactured, highly palatable snack foods. The urge to eat is not an internal flaw, but rather the result of a food carefully engineered to make you want more. Cutting back on convenience foods and sticking to three square meals per day is a great place to start to lose weight and get your health on track.

More on getting past comfort-food strongholds:

How Stress Makes You Crave Food and Store Fat

References:

1. Cordain L, et al., “Origins and evolution of the Western diet: health implications for the 21st century“. Am J Clin Nutr February 2005 vol. 81 no. 2 341-354.

2. Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB), “Highly processed foods dominate U. S. grocery purchases.” ScienceDaily, 29 March 2015.

3. Guyanet, S., “Why Do We OverEat? A Neurobiological Perspective.” Retrieved from YouTube.

4. De Castro, J., “Social Facilitation and Inhibition of Eating.”

5. Koopman et al., “Hypercaloric diets with increased meal frequency, but not meal size, increase intrahepatic triglycerides: A randomized controlled trial.” ResearchGate, 2014 Aug; 60(2): 545–553.

6. Schoenfeld B, et al., “Effects of meal frequency on weight loss and body composition: a meta-analysis“. Oxford Journals. Retrieved from: nutritionreviews.oxfordjournals.org/content/73/2/69

The post How the Western Diet Triggers Weight Gain appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Eating on the go can be tricky. If you’re trying to trim body-fat, it takes time and effort to develop new eating habits, and it can be stressful when you can’t find an option to fit your new lifestyle. Likewise, if you’re training intensely in preparation for a big event or competition, it’s frustrating if you don’t have time to meal prep and get stuck with no solid nutrition options during the day. Regardless of whether you’re traveling through airports, fueling up at highway gas stations on a road trip, or stranded at the office, finding the right snack can be a challenge.

Before you dial in your snacking strategy, take a step back and examine your goals. Are you trying to get leaner? Are you looking to improve performance? Is upgrading your health your top priority? Your ultimate goal will impact the type of snack you choose, how much you should consume, and if eating a snack is even the best option.

If your goal is to burn fat and shed bodyweight, reach for high-protein, low-carb, and moderate fat snacks. Protein is the key macronutrient for triggering satiety, so it should be your top priority.

If performance or hypertrophy is your goal, adding more calories to your day is important for training at intensity. Adding fats to your snacks will increase calorie count the quickest, and eating quality carbs will refill muscle glycogen and accelerate recovery.

Here is a list of my favorite snacks to help you reach your nutrition and performance goals.

Jerky (Beef, Turkey, Chicken, Pork)

Jerky is my favorite high-protein snack option. It’s convenient, easy to carry, and tastes great. Jerky has made a big comeback recently, making it much easier to find antibiotic- and hormone-free brands with no additives, preservatives, red dyes, or MSG.

A 1oz serving typically provides 12g of protein with only 5g of carbs. Jerky is typically very lean and contains little to no added fat.

Nuts (Macadamia, Walnuts, Pistachios, Pecans, etc.)

While nuts do contain modest amounts of protein think of them as more of a fat snack. Pound for pound, macadamia and walnuts pack the biggest omega-3 punch.¹

Combining nuts with jerky makes a great low-carb, high-protein, and moderate-fat snack between meals. Other low-carb nut options include pecans and Brazil nuts (just over 1g per handful), as well as hazelnuts and peanuts (about 2.5g per handful).

If you want more carbs for hypertrophy or performance, go for cashews or pistachios (one handful is about 9g and 6g, respectively).

Mixed Veggies (Bell Peppers, Cucumber, Cherry Tomatoes)

If you’re trying to lose weight, keeping your blood sugars and blood sugar hormone insulin balanced is important for success. A lot of people think veggies are “boring,” but nothing could be further from the truth.

They are incredibly nutrient-dense and low in calories, making them an awesome snack option to add to your arsenal. One bell pepper is only 20 calories and provides 134 percent of your daily vitamin C needs, or spice things up with sliced cucumber sprinkled with cumin.²

Grab a party tray at your local grocery store and snack on it throughout the week to mix things up.

Dark Chocolate (70% or more)

It’s 3:00pm, you’re at work, and struggling to get through your day. Rather than reaching for a sugary, high-carb candy bar, switch gears and get a dark chocolate fix.

Dark chocolate is a great low-carb alternative, and a great source of antioxidants, fiber, and minerals like magnesium, iron, potassium, and zinc.³ Aim for 1-2 squares to help get you through until dinner.

Berries

Portable, convenient, and delicious, berries are loaded with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Raspberries and blackberries in particular are phenomenal sources of fiber; one cup provides 8-9g to help slow the release of sugars to provide sustained energy throughout the day.

Berries also help to fight off chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease, and various forms of cancer.⁴

Medjool Dates

For hypertrophy and optimal recovery from intense training, calories count. If you’re on the go, dried fruit can provide a calorie and nutrient-dense carb source to replenish glycogen and offset training-induced elevations in cortisol stress hormones.

Medjool dates pack a great carb punch (only four provide a whopping 72g) as well as potassium, b-vitamins, vitamins A and K, iron, magnesium, and trace minerals.⁵

Protein Bars

If you are trying to lose weight or upgrade your health, I wouldn’t put protein bars on the top of your snack list because they typically contain a significant amount of carbs and sugar to increase palatability.

However, if you’re training intensely and performance or hypertrophy is your goal, then a protein bar can be a great option. Aim for 20g of protein per bar to stimulate muscle protein synthesis.

Avoid high fructose corn syrup, fractionated palm kernel oil, canola oil, artificial sweeteners like sucralose or acesulfame-potassium, and refined sugars like cane syrup and sugar alcohols (i.e., mannitol, erythritol, etc.) as they can trigger inflammation, weight gain, and disrupt the balance of your gut bacteria.⁶

Attack Your Snack With a Plan

Convenience is an important factor when choosing snacks. My favorites are jerky, nuts, and veggies for fat loss, and dried fruit, fruit, and high-carb nuts for hypertrophy and performance.

The most difficult part of choosing solid travel snacks is ignoring the plethora of processed, refined and high sugar options around you. Have a game plan and you’ll be far more successful.

A little planning goes a long way: How to Stick to Your Nutrition Goals While Traveling

References

1. Ros, E. “Health Benefits of Nut Consumption,” Nutrients 2(2010):652–682.

2. “Vitamin C Fact Sheet for Health Professionals.” National Institute of Health.

3. Crozier S et al. “Cacao seeds are a ‘Super Fruit’: A comparative analysis of various fruit powders and products,” Chemistry Central Journal 5(2011):5

4. Basu A et al. “Blueberries Decrease Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Obese Men and Women with Metabolic Syndrome,” The Journal of Nutrition 140(2010): 1582-1587. 2010.

5. Yasin B et al. “Date Polyphenolics and Other Bioactive Compounds: A Traditional Islamic Remedy’s Potential in Prevention of Cell Damage, Cancer Therapies and Beyond,” International Journal of Molecular Science 17(2015):30075-90

6. Buyken A et al. “Carbohydrate nutrition and inflammatory disease mortality in older adults,” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 92(2010):634–43.

The post Snack Smart While Traveling appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

One vitamin in particular goes largely unnoticed. Choline, sometimes referred to as vitamin B4, plays a major role in supporting focus, building strength and power, and accelerating recovery. Unfortunately, if you’re over nineteen years old, the research shows there is a greater than ninety percent chance you’re not getting enough of this key nutrient.¹

Increased strength, power, focus, and recovery are all supported by vitamin B4. Are you getting enough?

What Is Choline?

Choline is a water-soluble vitamin grouped with the B-complex family of vitamins. It acts as a precursor to the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which plays a major role in supporting nervous system function in the body, a key area for any serious athlete. While many of the positive adaptations you experience from lifting heavy weights or performing explosive movements are due to building muscular strength, your nervous system also plays an important role.

Your nervous system adapts, becomes more efficient, and allows your muscles to fire with increased potency. These neurological adaptations require acetylcholine, but you can’t eat acetylcholine. However, you can increase your dietary or supplemental intake of acetylcholine precursors like choline to improve your power, performance, and recovery.

Choline and Power Production

While most athletes are familiar with creatine and protein supplements to support intense training, acetylcholine precursors like choline or alpha-glycerylphosphorylcholine (A-GPC) may hold the potential to unlock significant gains in strength.

A recent study of college-aged males investigated the impact of only six days of A-GPC supplementation on lower-body and upper-body isometric strength. The trainees performed a mid-thigh pull on a force plate and an isometric push-up style press using a load cell. After supplementing with 600mg of A-GPC for 6 days, the athletes had significant gains in lower-body strength.² (See figure below). While they also showed mild improvement in upper-body isometric strength, the results weren’t statistically significant.

Choline and Growth Hormone

In the brain, acetylcholine acts as a neuromodulator, a chemical that impacts your mental focus, arousal, and motivation. New research shows A-GPC may have significant impacts on anabolic hormone response to exercise, specifically growth hormone (GH), which is responsible for many of the positive adaptations experienced from training, such as increased strength and lean muscle mass.

Recently, a randomized, placebo controlled-trial of thirty-year-old men examined the impact of 600mg A-GPC supplementation before training on growth hormone response. The athletes performed 6 sets of 10 reps of squats at 70% of their 1-rep maximum, followed by 3 sets of 10 reps of bench press at 50% of their max. The athletes’ growth hormone levels were then tested immediately post-exercise, and again at 5, 15, 30, 60, 90, and 120 minutes post-exercise. Researchers found growth hormone release post exercise peaked 44-times higher with A-GPC supplementation compared to placebo.³ (See figure below).

In 2012, a higher, single-dose of A-GPC (1,000mg) was used in healthy young adults and researchers also found significant increases in GH release post-training, as well as increased fat burning via the liver.⁴ This can benefit overweight individuals or athletes who will typically have increased hepatic (liver) fat stores, making A-GPC a nice addition for athletes looking to improve body composition.

Choline and Reaction Time

Intense exercise is exhausting and can impact how well you think and focus on the playing field or during competition. Any nutritional or supplemental intervention that can buffer the training-induced declines in reaction time or focus can play an important role in improving performance.

A recent study of active men and women tested the impact of a supplemental A-GPC formula (containing other choline forms of acetylcholine precursors) after 10 minutes of exhaustive exercise. First, all the athletes had to answer a questionnaire on feelings of focus and alertness, and perform a 4-minute quickness and reaction time test.

Next, they engaged in 10 minutes of exhaustive exercise. Once the athletes were tired, the researchers repeated the initial alertness and reaction time testing to see how the intense training impacted their mental function. Over the course of four weeks, the athletes consuming the pre-workout A-GPC formula were able to maintain their initial reaction time and alertness to significantly greater degree than the placebo group.⁵

Choline and Hormone Regulation

Acetylcholine also plays a pivotal role in building your resiliency by supporting your natural daily hormonal rhythm. Choline supports the hippocampus area of your brain, which sets your daily circadian hormonal output.⁶ Cortisol is your body’s natural stress hormone, produced at higher levels in the morning and lower levels at night. If you’re run down and tired from intense training, your daily circadian cortisol rhythm will suffer and you’ll find yourself sluggish in the morning, hitting snooze multiple times, or struggling to fall asleep at bedtime.

Stress damages the hippocampus area of the brain, lowering your resiliency and potentially your performance in the gym. Increasing your choline intake can help support your brain and hippocampus function.

Increasing your intake of choline can help support your athletic performance, as well as brain and hormonal function.

Get More Choline In Your Diet

Your diet should always be the first place you look to ensure you receive all the essential vitamins, minerals, and nutrients your body needs to perform at its best. Research supports increasing your intake of dietary choline as an effective way to boost your acetylcholine levels in the body.⁷

The quickest way to boost your choline intake from food is to add more whole eggs into your nutritional arsenal. Each egg yolk provides a whopping 100mg of choline, so if you’re an “egg-white only” athlete, it’s time to start adding back the yolks. Your next best bet is organ meat. A 3oz portion of beef liver provides about 250mg of choline. Incredibly, organ meats are one of the most nutrient-dense foods, and are also the most affordable cuts of meat at the deli counter. So no excuses. Load up!

Here is a list of the best dietary sources of choline:

• Eggs – 110mg per yolk
• Beef liver – 250mg per 3oz
• Lentils – 75mg per cup
• Pumpkin and sunflower seeds – 60mg per cup
• Cruciferous veggies (e.g., broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus) – 75mg per cup

Raw dairy provides 45mg of choline per 8oz, but pasteurization destroys 70-80% of choline.

If you want to impact your performance in a shorter time frame, adding an acetylcholine precursor supplement is the best way to quickly increase your levels. Aim for 4-8 weeks of 600-1,000mg of A-GPC 60-90 minutes before training to upgrade your performance and recovery. 

More Nutrition Science for Athletic Performance:

• Healthy Healing: Nutrition for Surgery Recovery
• The Intelligent Athlete’s Guide to Fueling Performance
• 5 Health-Based Supplements to Build Your Strength Platform
• New on Breaking Muscle Today

Photo 1 courtesy of Jeff Nguyen / CrossFit Empirical.

Photo 2 courtesy of Shutterstock.

Charts courtesy of the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition.

References

1. Wallace, Taylor C., and Victor L. Fulgoni. “Assessment of Total Choline Intakes in the United States.” Journal of the American College of Nutrition 35, no. 2 (2016): 108-12. doi:10.1080/07315724.2015.1080127. 

2. Bellar, David, Nina R. Leblanc, and Brian Campbell. “The Effect of 6 days of Alpha Glycerylphosphorylcholine on Isometric Strength.” J Int Soc Sports Nutr Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 12, no. 1 (November 17, 2015). doi:10.1186/s12970-015-0103-x. 

3. Ziegenfuss, Tim, Jamie Landis, and Jennifer Hofheins. “Acute Supplementation with Alpha-glycerylphosphorylcholine Augments Growth Hormone Response To, and Peak Force Production During, Resistance Exercise.” J Int Soc Sports Nutr Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 5, no. Suppl 1 (September 17, 2008). doi:10.1186/1550-2783-5-s1-p15. 

4. Kawamura, Takashi et al. “Glycerophosphocholine Enhances Growth Hormone Secretion and Fat Oxidation in Young Adults.” Nutrition 28, no. 11-12 (November/December 2012): 1122-126. doi:10.1016/j.nut.2012.02.011. 

5. Hoffman, Jay R. et al. “The Effects of Acute and Prolonged CRAM Supplementation on Reaction Time and Subjective Measures of Focus and Alertness in Healthy College Students.” J Int Soc Sports Nutr Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 7, no. 1 (2010): 39. doi:10.1186/1550-2783-7-39. 

6. Turakitwanakan W et al. “Effects of mindfulness meditation on serum cortisol of medical students.” J Med Assoc Thai 2013 Jan;96 Suppl 1:S90-5 

7. Jager R et al. “Phospholipids and sports performance.” JISSN. 2007 4:5.

The post Is Choline Deficiency Killing Your Performance? appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

A Growing Research Field

Exercise dramatically increases an athlete’s demand for vitamin D, as your muscle, heart, and vascular tissue all contain key vitamin D receptors. Today, studies show more than 50 percent of athletes are low in vitamin D.¹ While the direct cause isn’t clear, it’s most likely a combination of things like inflammatory processes, muscular damage, increased protein synthesis requirements, increased immune activity, lack of sun exposure, race, and genetics.²

A clear vitamin D deficiency occurs at blood levels less than 20ng/mL (< 50 nmol/L), while insufficiency for athletes is generally defined at blood levels between 20-32 ng/mL (50-80 nmol/L). Insufficiency simply means you’re not getting enough to meet the demands of your activity. Intense training is demanding. New research suggests that 40-50ng/mL (100-125 nmol/L) seems to be the “sweet spot” for supporting optimal athletic performance, and experts agree the body needs daily replenishment to meet that requirement.^3,4

Achieving your ideal vitamin D intake may upgrade six key areas of performance:

1. VO2 max
2. Muscular power production
3. Testosterone levels
4. Inflammation
5. Susceptibility to colds and flu
6. Mood

Let’s take a closer look at each.

Can adding more vitamin D to your diet make you a sprinting powerhouse like Dan Bailey?

1. VO2 Max

You likely spend a lot of time planning and periodizing your training to maximize your efforts, but did you know that not having enough vitamin D could compromise your maximal oxygen uptake, or VO2 max, a classic marker for assessing aerobic fitness? New research in professional hockey and soccer players found a strong correlation between low vitamin D status and VO2 max. If you’re a weekend warrior, this relationship may be even stronger.

Experts will tell you just because there is an association doesn’t mean that increasing the amount of vitamin D in your diet will improve performance. However, a new study in vitamin D deficient rowers found that 8 weeks of supplementation (6,000IU per day) resulted in more than a 10 percent improvement of VO2 max. For elite athletes, improving performance by 2-3 percent is the difference between a podium finish and being in the middle of the pack.^5,6,7 Remember, more is not always better. Talk to your doctor and get tested before supplementing with high doses of vitamin D.

2. Power Production

Your muscle tissues have many key receptor sites for vitamin D, and they seem to play a key role in supporting power production. For athletes, increasing power production translates to improved performance on the playing field. Recently, the Canadian Women’s National Hockey strength and conditioning team found athletes with higher power production were more likely to make the final selection for the national team.

Additionally, a study in soccer players found increasing baseline vitamin D status over an 8-week period resulted in an increase in 10-meter sprint times and vertical jump.⁸ While not all studies found this relationship, it’s important to ensure you meet the minimal baseline requirements to ensure maximum training benefit.

3. Testosterone Levels

Low testosterone is a common symptom in athletes who are over-reaching and overtraining. Unfortunately, too many people look for a quick fix rather than address why their testosterone levels are low in the first place. Vitamin D is a precursor to testosterone production and may increase the binding efficiency of testosterone to its receptors.⁴ Low levels are linked to increased protein breakdown, reduced strength, and increased body fat.

If you’re an athlete over age sixty, the connection is even more compelling because low vitamin D levels at that age correlate strongly to low testosterone levels.⁹ A new study over a 12-month time span found that adding approximately 3,000 IU of vitamin D daily resulted in increased total, bioavailable, and free testosterone.¹⁰ For those training through the winter, low testosterone combined with intense training will lead to sub-optimal recovery and increased risk of symptoms of overtraining (i.e., increased muscle soreness, low mood, fatigue, low libido, etc.). This is especially true for athletes who compete in indoor sports year round that limit sun exposure.

4. Inflammation

Inflammation is a natural product of intense training. However, too much inflammation can impair muscular function and future performance. One study showed adding an extra 4,000 IU of vitamin D daily can offset the increased inflammatory reaction with a high-volume training load of 10 sets of 10 reps of compound exercises in men and women.¹¹

Interestingly, the group adding extra vitamin D also noted a mere 6 percent drop in power output over the course of the workout, while the group not supplementing had a 32 percent decrease in power. Amazingly, this deficit lasted for up to 48 hours. If you’re preparing for a competition or the CrossFit Games, maintaining power output during competition is critical to your performance.

5. Colds and Flu

There is nothing worse than catching a cold or flu in the days leading up to a competition. All those hard training days and dedication to be at the top of your game, only to be cut short by a nasty bug. If you’re low in vitamin D, the “foot soldier” immune cells that make up your innate immune system will also be low. If this first-line of immune defense is compromised, you’ll be at increased risk of infection.¹²

Vitamin D promotes hundreds of anti-microbial proteins in the body that fight off bacteria and viruses and helps keep your immune system robust in the build-up to competition. Research in athletic populations highlights that maintaining optimal levels of vitamin D can reduce common infectious illnesses.¹³ If your levels are low, your immunity and performance will likely be compromised.

6. Mood

Training intensely isn’t just tough on your muscles and joints. It also takes a toll on your mental game. If you’re an athlete, you regularly push that fine line between over-reaching (pushing beyond your limits to grow stronger) and overtraining (pushing too far beyond your limits). Therefore, it’s crucial to maintain a positive mood as you fight through the toughest weeks of your training.

Low levels of vitamin D are consistently associated with low mood and depression, and because many athletes train indoors through the winter months (and sometimes even summer, depending on your sport), deficient levels can impair you sense of well-being.¹⁴ Cognitive decline also impacts your decision-making abilities, which are crucial in the heat of competition, yet fatigue and pain make them very difficult.

The best source of vitamin D is free. Take advantage when the sun is shining and get outside.

Sources of Vitamin D

Now that you know vitamin D is key for optimal performance, where is the best place to get it? The sun is far and away your best source of vitamin D. Fifteen minutes of exposure on 5 percent of your skin leads to 10,000-20,000 IU of vitamin D production.⁴ If you live in a city with a true winter – north of the 42nd parallel – you’ll need more than sun exposure alone to meet your demands, as the sun isn’t high enough in the sky for an adequate dose.

Including vitamin D rich foods in your diet should always be your foundation, and the best dietary sources include egg yolks, pork (yes, bacon!), mushrooms, fortified milk, and yogurt (if you struggle to digest dairy effectively, discontinue).

Of course, if you live in a city with a true winter climate, food alone won’t meet your demands. The general recommendation for supplementing with vitamin D during winter is 1,000-2,000 IU per day. However, this is the case for the general population, not athletes. The research on athletes suggests between 4,000-6,000 IU of vitamin D3 daily is a good bet, however this should only be taken during your intense training phases (up to 8-12 weeks), or from November to March. If you decide to take vitamin D doses greater than 2,000 IU, you must get regular blood tests done with your doctor.

Give Yourself a Winning Edge

Whether your goal for 2016 is achieving a new personal best or finishing on top of the podium, make sure your vitamin D levels are adequate. Assess your vitamin D status, add more vitamin D-rich foods, and find the right supplement strategy to meet your needs.

Intense training requires a robust nutrition plan to meet your body’s demands, and failing to adequately replenish vitamin D can negatively impact too many key systems to ignore. Get your daily dose of vitamin D this winter. The research shows it can make all the difference.

Learn More About the Benefits of Vitamin D:

• Sports Supplements You Should Be Taking
• Are You Sure You’re Getting Enough Vitamin D?
• Vitamin D Insufficiency: A Surprising Trend in Athletic Adults
• New on Breaking Muscle Right Now

References

1. Farrokhyar F, et al., “Prevalence of vitamin D inadequacy in athletes: A systematic review and meta-analysis,” Sport Medicine 5 (2014): 365–78.

2. Willis KS, Smith DT, Broughton KS, Larson-Meyer DE. “Vitamin D status and biomarkers of inflmmation in runners,” Journal of Sports Medicine, 3 (2012): 35-42.

3. Ogan D, Pritchett K. “Vitamin D and the athlete: Risks, recommendations, and benefits,” Nutrients 5 (2013): 1856–1868.

4. Dahlquist D et al. “Plausible ergogenic effects of vitamin D on athletic performance and recovery,” Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 12 (2015):33

5. Koundourakis N et al. “Relation of vitamin D level to maximal oxygen uptake in adults,” American Journal of Cardiology, 107 (2011):1246–9.

6. Forney L, et al. “Vitamin D status, body composition, and fitness measures in college-aged students,” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 28 (2014): 814–24.

7. Jastrz?bski Z. “Effect of vitamin D supplementation on the level of physical fitness and blood parameters of rowers during the 8-week high intensity training,” Facicula Educ Fiz ?i Sport, 2 (2014): 57–67.

8. Close G et al. “Assessment of vitamin D concentration in non-supplemented professional athletes and healthy adults during the winter months in the UK: implications for skeletal muscle function,” Journal of Sports Science, 31 (2013): 344–53.

9. Wehr et al. “Association of vitamin D status with serum androgen levels in men,” Clinical Endocrinology (Oxf), 73 (2010): 243–8.

10. Pilz S, et al. “Effect of vitamin D supplementation on testosterone levels in men,” Hormone and Metabolic Research, 43 (2011): 223–5.

11. Barker T et al. “Supplemental vitamin D enhances the recovery in peak isometric force shortly after intense exercise,” Nutr Metab (Lond), 10 (2013): 69.

12. Youssef D et al. “Vitamin D’s potential to reduce the risk of hospital-acquired infections,” Dermatoendocrinol, 4(2012):167-75.

13. Larson E. “Vitamin D supplementation in athletes,” Nestle Nutrition Institute Workshop Series, 75 (2013): 109-21.

14. Polak M et al. “Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations and depressive symptoms among young adult men and women,” Nutrients, 6 (2014): 4720–30.

Photo 1 courtesy of CrossFit, Inc.

Teaser photo and Photo 2 courtesy of Jorge Huerta Photography.

The post The Athletic Potential of Vitamin D appeared first on Breaking Muscle.