Sports Nutrition

The First Round - Creatine Monohydrate Wins

In the ongoing debate between between which is better, creatine monohydrate versus creatine ethyl ester, the winner is? Creatine monohydrate!1 What’s odd about this debate is folks claiming CEE (creatine ethyl ester) as being superior to creatine monohydrate have NEVER produced evidence to show that it is even equal to CrMono (creatine monohydrate). NEVER. It’s like claiming to be the best team in pro football during the Pre-season.

    Read More     View & Print Article    Ask Anna
 
 

Resveratrol - Miracle Compound from Red Wine?

Recently, potential antioxidants (vitamin E, polyphenols, etc) have received much attention as potential antiatherosclerotic agents (i.e. fighting heart disease). Among the polyphenols with health benefit properties, resveratrol, a phytoalexin of grape, seems promising for protecting the blood vessel walls from oxidation, inflammation, platelet aggregation, and thrombus formation.(1) Huh? Let me explain.

 
 

So, You're Considering A Vegan Diet

Not only is adequate protein in your diet crucial to your physique and overall health but also the type of protein is as important as remembering your mother's birthday (if she still remembers it). Incorporating meat and dairy gives you the utmost advantage to your workouts and your metabolism. Vegan diets may actually put a damper on your libido, brain function and immune system! Yes, I said libido. These so called vegetarian "complete proteins" won't cut it. I suggest you read on unless you're a member of PETA or a really hardcore hippie.

    Read More     View & Print Article    Ask Anna
 
 

Protein is Lovely

The Gist of Things: (for those of you who have a shorter attention span than me) Protein is essential for your workouts regardless of what type (even if you're a salsa dancer [or even an exotic dancer]). Eat lots of protein; there are a plethora of realistic benefits that outweigh the fallacies invented by outdated nutritionists! By eating a higher protein/lower carbohydrate diet you'll lose weight, compliment your physique, improve your immune system, improve your workouts and your heart health!

 
 

I Love Leucine

Do you remember HMB? Come on! Don't you remember way back when it was touted as having 'Decalike' effects. Haha! Who the hell believed that crap? Okay, somebody did. HMB is fine. But recent work shows leucine to be perhaps even finer! A recent study looked at the effects of dietary leucine supplementation on the exercise performance of outrigger canoeists.

 
 

The KISS Principle

You know the phrase Keep It Simple, Stupid. I'm a big fan of it. Maybe it's because I'm lazy. Or maybe it's because I don't think nutrition should be about advanced mathematics. My wife says I'm lazy, but I call it efficient.

 
 

Green Tea

Green tea is one of the most commonly consumed beverages in the world! Coffee and water though probably run neck and neck with it. What makes green tea so special are a family of polyphenols (catechins) and flavonols which have potent antioxidant activity. Tannins, which are large polyphenol molecules, form the bulk of the active compounds in green tea, with catechins comprising nearly 90%.

    Read More     View & Print Article    Ask Anna
 
 

Do Stupid Things Faster with More Energy AND Improve Your Workouts

The Gist of Things (for those of you who don't like to read): Caffeine is one of my best friends and it should be yours too! Taken before a workout, caffeine enhances fat loss, energy levels, mood and mental state, exercise performance (both cardio and weight training), duration of exercise and eases the perception of your hard workouts! There's somewhat of an art to taking caffeine to reap its benefits (scroll down to 'A Few Pointers about Caffeine Intake').

 
 

Taurine - The Other Amino

In the world of amino acids, you're probably quite familiar with glutamine, arginine, and the BCAA (valine, leucine, and isoleucine). Well, perhaps there's another amino that should be as much attention and credit for doing some pretty cool things. What is this amino? (Read the title my friend).

    Read More     View & Print Article    Ask Anna