Diet Deceptions

I’ve tried to stay away from diet talk because there are so many different views on food choices depending on what individuals consider are important to them. Deciding what to eat used to be so much easier, and for many people in the world it still is – whatever you can find to survive. Now we have grocery stores on every corner, foods from all over the world at our fingertips, and media bombarding us with diet ideas. Your food choices are now dependent on whether you value cost, ethics, sustainability, convenience, weight loss, improved health, or whatever the commercials tell you is tasty. It's also not surprising that it's quite difficult to eat according to these values as they often don't align. For example, eating cheaply doesn't always mean eating ethically or conveniently (Malhi et al, 2009 - http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19320240903346448). You are not longer a simple omnivore like out ancestors, but you have a choice to be labelled as vegetarian, vegan, pescatarian, raw-food eater, or "carniovre", with the list increasing almost daily. It's no wonder so many of us are confused about food.

I’m pretty bored talking about weight-loss diets, but what is interesting are the number of diets claiming to improve health and performance. I took a number of Applied and Sports Nutrition courses while I was completing my Kinesiology Degree and the information I learnt was pretty simple for athletes. The spark notes version is that depending on what your energy demands are you will tweak a certain Carb-Protein-Fat ratio, and maintain proper hydration and electrolytes.  My brother is an Infanteer in the Canadian Forces and has an intense workout schedule as part of his job. He is surrounded by some incredible athletes who are capable of amazing physical feats and is obviously influenced by their successes. Over his time in the Forces he has tried a number of diets that his peers use and attribute to their almost in-human physical abilities. One of the diets he tried was the Palaeolithic Diet. This diet basically says that we should be eating the same foods as cavemen did - no processed foods, and lots of meat, fruits and vegetables. It is based on an assumption that cavemen had to be in excellent shape to survive, and were able to hunt for days without food. At first glance this does seem like a great idea and I agree that processed foods are a major cause of our obesity epidemic in North America. But, if you actually try the diet out without proper preparation you will soon realize that without processed foods it is extremely difficult to get any grains (breads, cereals, rice, etc) and therefore you enter into a very low carbohydrate situation and potentially become deficient in some B Vitamins. Your body and brain have been programmed to use carbohydrates as its first source of energy. The Paleo Diet states that over time your body with adapt to use protein and fat as its primary sources, which is true, but typically not ideal for the average person. My brother experienced this first hand as he went through carb withdrawals within the first three days, and began dreaming about loafs of bread, and feeling extremely low-energy and unwell. All it took was some fresh homemade granola bars to bring him back to a balanced diet.

I believe that the Palaeolithic Diet, like any other elimination diets, such as, vegetarianism, if done correctly and with proper education and preparation can be beneficial to health. There are a lot of scientific articles out there showing the health benefits to eating less meat, dairy, processed foods, etc, but you must learn how to get all the nutrients you need from other sources rather than just cut certain foods out of your current diet. A person could go crazy trying to stay on top of the current dietary trends, so it’s important to be critical of the information out there and to make up your mind based on personal experiences. FYI, coffee is back in the “healthy” column, soy was demoted to the “unhealthy” column, and my personal fave, drinking a glass of any kind of alcohol daily has now been shown to increase longevity. You be the judge.

The new fascination for my brother is the Blood Type Diet. I can believe that the Paleo Diet had some validity to it (never mind that most cavemen didn’t live past 30 and were probably in a state of perpetual starvation and disease), but I laughed when I heard about this Blood Type Diet. I had to investigate and what I found was naturopathic Dr. D’Adamo proposing that the different blood types (A, B, AB, O) somehow came about at different times in history as our ancestors developed new ways to hunt and gather foods, and by extension your blood type influences your personality and your stress levels (huh?). He recommends that different blood types should have different diets, different types of exercise, and different ways to deal with stress. Now, seeing as how blood type is really just determined by whether you have certain protein markers on your red blood cells (and this hasn’t changed much through our time as homo-sapiens), I have a hard time believing anything this guy says, although I have heard that there is a correlation between blood types and certain illnesses. The only real evidence he had on his website supporting this diet was that about 75% of participants “improved in a variety of health conditions”. If you read through the different diets you will quickly see that they are all very similar and are basically just promoting good eating practices, such as, eating smaller meals throughout the day, limiting sugar intake, increasing vegetable intake, and choose exercise instead of emotional eating. Of course this will improve the “health” (whatever that means) of participants coming from who-knows-what eating practices they had originally.

I went one step further trying to find any scientific, peer-reviewed journal articles that support this Blood Type Diet. To my complete non-surprise, I could only find 1 article on a study comparing blood type to health and this is what it says:

“The ABO blood group phenotype has been related to risk of myocardial infarction and type 2 diabetes mellitus, but there is no evidence that ABO blood group influences diet prescription for effective weight loss.”

“These data do not support the contention of a popular diet book that individuals with the A blood group phenotype should adhere to low-protein, vegetarian diets for health and weight management.”

I’m sold. Take the time to educate yourself on nutrition from a recognized organization like Health Canada or a Registered Dietician before you blindly jump into special diet being promoted to the public. If you want to read the article, the abstract can be found at:

http://www.citeulike.org/user/naturecure/article/924975

The FASEB Journal. 2006.

ABO blood group and diet prescription for weight loss

Johnston, et al. Nutrition, Arizona State University, 85212

The Truth About Supplements

Vitamins, protein shakes, diet pills, energy boosters, sports drinks, meal replacements... the list goes on. Our world is filled with supplements claiming to make you bigger, smaller, faster, stronger, or healthier. But do you really need them? I just finished talking to a friend today who has been very overweight and is currently making incredible changes in their life to reach a healthy body weight. To help boost his weight loss success, a personal trainer recommended some pills to cut fat and decrease appetite. First off, most personal trainers don't have any education in nutrition, so they shouldn't be giving nutrition advice. Secondly, anyone who does suggest diet pills are thinking about your results and not your health. Most diet pills are really just glorified stimulants and diuretics. You could get the same results by drinking a cup of coffee and save a lot of money. If your ability to control your weight, and by extension, your health, are a problem then there are issues that need your attention more so than the "quick fix" of diet pills. Choose to explore those instead of exploring the isles at the closest "health" store (the irony is too much).

I taught a Grade 10 Physical Education class last year and facilitated a conversation on contemporary health issues. Supplements were among the issues I brought up. It blew my mind that 0 out of 32 students (that spoke up) didn't know what the word "supplement" even meant, yet most of them were guilty of drinking Gatorade, Powerade, Vitamin Water or Red Bull. All of these drinks are marketed to youth to improve athletic and academic performance, or just be a yummy beverage. I think by now most people know that Gatorade and Powerade type drinks are mostly coloured sugar water that don't actually contain the proper amount of electrolytes to replenish the body during exercise. The new con artist in town is Vitamin Water which claims to be a healthy beverage alternative because it has added vitamins. But, if you look at the nutrition label you will quickly see that sugar is at the top of the list, again. I think at this point in my post it is important to note that my friend who has lost over 50 lbs since January has essentially just cut down his sugar (a.k.a. "White Death") intake by eliminating pop, candy, etc, and increased his physical activity.

By working at a number of Fitness Centers and Gyms, I am around a lot of people that seem to think that Protein Shakes are synonymous with working out. It really is pretty sad how brainwashed people are about it. Without getting into too much of the science behind it I'll just lay it out for you. The average person only needs to 1 gram of protein per kilogram of your body weight. This translates to approximately 60 grams of protein per day for the average person. This is equivalent to 2 servings of protein (for example: 2 chicken breasts). Even an Olympic weight lifter only needs 1.8 grams per kilogram, and they are doing an extreme amount of weight training. By buying into all the marketing scams of increasing protein in order to bulk up or build lean muscle, you are not only wasting your money, but you are potentially damaging your body.

By choosing supplements over real food you are endangering your health. You can get all the vitamins, minerals, energy and protein you need from a balanced diet, not to mention fiber. The lack of fiber in so many peoples diets these days is evident from all the advertising with cereal and yogurt. There are even fiber supplements available. Guess what I'm going to say about that. Just make sure you eat less processed foods and more vegetables and fruits, and that's all the daily fiber you need. Did I mention already that real food tastes a lot better too? Well, it does.

Check out Canada's Food Guide for a good framework on how to eat a balanced diet.

Combat Back Pain

When I was younger I would look at extreme adventurers climbing rock faces, repelling down waterfalls, and paddling through class 5 rivers, and I would dream about being able to do what they do. I used to think that only "rich" people get to do those things because all the gear and training costs so much. But then my brother decided to start indoor climbing at the local climbing gym and (easily) convinced me to tag along. It was then that I realized two things: that I loved to climb and that it really was quite affordable. That was over 5 years ago and I never looked back. Climbing has been so much for me, including a stress relief, an inspiration for self improvement, and a positive social environment. If you've never climbed, I challenge you to try it before the end of the month! For me and my fellow climbing buddies, climbing combines strategy, physicality, and the thrill of heights (most of the people I know started climbing because they were afraid of heights so that's no excuse).

Just over a month ago I was climbing a route indoors that wasn't particularly hard but included an overhung section. Now, good technique when climbing dictates that you want to keep your hips close to the wall in order to keep most of your body weight on your feet so that you don't tire out as quickly. While I was doing this, I squeezed my glutes to keep my hips in and I felt a sharp pain in my sacroiliac joint (SI joint). The sacrum is the bone at the base of you lumbar spine (extreme low back). The SI joint is a joint that connects the sacrum to the pelvis and isn't supposed to move much at all. When I tensed the muscles surrounding the area I caused the sacrum to shift and strain the SI joint. This caused muscle pain and joint stiffness for a few weeks.

Sadly, most people will eventually experience a form of back pain. Whether this is caused by a direct injury like mine, a chronic injury, or an unknown situation, there are things you can do that may help relieve the pain and stiffness. I'm talking about non-serious back pain here just to be clear. Here are some of my own secrets to combating my back pain and stiffness that I hope you can use too!

1) Strains to joints, ligaments, and muscles tend to cause inflammation. By taking anti-inflammatory drug, such as, IBU Profen and icing the area will help to decrease inflammation and promote healing. When icing, never put ice directly on the skin, and only keep the ice on for about 15 minutes. You can even alternate warmth and ice every 10-15 minutes.

2) Contrary to western beliefs in the last century, bed rest is the worst thing you can do for back pain. If you can't move at all then you should probably see a doctor. If you can move, try to keep moving in safe ways as often as you can. This helps to keep the vertebrae lubricated and to prevent muscles from seizing up.


A great movement to do is to alternate arching your back like an angry cat, and reversing the posture by lifting your head and tail bone up to the sky. It is best if you couple this movement with breathing. Breath out through your nose as you pull your naval in towards your spine, tuck your head and tailbone in, and arch your spine. As you breath in through your nose and expand your lungs, lift your head and tailbone up to the sky and let your spine hyper-extend to a comfortable position. You can continue to do this for as long as you want.

3) Stretches that target spinal movement will also help to prevent back pain on a daily bases as well as combat it. Depending on the type of back pain you have, some or all of these stretches might be too intense at the beginning, but I guarantee they will feel amazing to those of you who are in the "stiff" phase and no longer in the"pain" phase.

Spinal Twist - Lie on your back with bent knees. Let your knees drop to one side while you keep both your shoulder blades on the floor and look towards your extended arm. With every breath try to relax deeper into the twist. Body twists not only provide your spine with a soothing rotation, but they also promote relaxation by calming your nervous system.

Side Flexion - Sit comfortably and reach one arm overhead. Have the intention of trying to grad at the opposite side wall as you root your sit bones into the floor to really open up your side body.

Forward Bend - A more advanced stretch that can be modified by starting in a sitting position with legs stretching out in front of you. Keep your knees soft (not locked) and let your upper body and head relax and hang down. This stretch requires a decent amount of hamstring flexibility, so if your hands don't reach the floor, you can bend your knees as much as you need to until they do, or take the modified stretch - Sit and Reach.

Stretches for Runners

Running and jogging is an activity that puts the body through a repetitive, high impact movement. As instinctual and natural that running is, people typically need to focus on proper technique to keep the body in a safe biomechanical posture. It is also quite common for runners (and athletes that run as part of their sport) to eventually experience lower leg, knee, hip, and/or lower back pain. Regardless if the cause of the pain(s) are from improper shoes, poor running technique, overuse, or a body imbalance, stretching can serve to prevent and rehabilitate injuries.

After years of struggling with knee pain caused by IT Band Syndrome I have re-kindled my love for running. By being consistent and focussing on injury prevention I have been jogging twice a week pain-free since my last post. Yay! The major changes I have made are my modifying my running technique, warming up my hips before the run, rolling my IT Bands on a foam roller and stretching after the run. I have also not put any pressure on myself to run longer distances than my body wants me to.

New Balance Minimus

Vibram Five Finger

There is currently a big movement towards barefoot running. The main reason for the change from highly supported/cushioned running shoes to minimal support shoes is to bring people back to running more naturally. By doing so there have been amazing success stories of decreased injury and improved performance. My brother and many of my friends have been happily sporting the Vibram Five Finger shoes and I am using the New Balance Minimus. The difference between these is that the Minimus looks more like a regular shoe with closed toes rather than having the toes individually "wrapped". I chose the Minimus because I prefer trail running and my toes will be safer from injury if I accidently stub them on rogue rocks or roots. Regardless of your choice of footwear I hope you will find the following stretches useful as a tool to improve your running experience.

Dynamic stretches for the hips:

Facing a wall, swing your leg side to side progressively increasing the height of the swing in both directions as you feel ready. Do this for approximately 30 seconds before changing to the other leg.

 Next, turn your body so that you are sideways to the wall, and swing your leg forwards and backwards progressively increasing the height of the swing. Make sure that you are keeping your upper body quite still and not feeling any sharp pains in your legs or back. If this happens you are probably trying to swing too high too soon.

Lower body static stretches:

Hamstring stretch - Keeping leg straight without locking knee, pull leg in until you feel a gentle tension in the back of your leg. A good flexibility is reflected if you can bring your leg to a right angle like in the picture.

Gluteal stretch - Cross your ankle over your other knee and pull your bottom leg in towards your chest until you feel a gentle tension in your hip/glutes. Relax head and upper body on the floor.

Body twist - Keeping both shoulders on the floor, let knees drop to one side and look towards outstretched arm in opposite direction. Deep breaths will help you relax into the twist that is meant to stretch abdominals, lower back, side hip and chest.

Hip Flexor stretch - Keeping your front knee over your ankle, tilt your pelvis under until you feel a stretch come to the front of your hip (my right hip in this picture). Reaching your arms to the sky will help to elongate the side of your body and increase the amount of stretch you feel in your hip flexor.

Quadriceps stretch - Balance on one foot and grab the ankle of the other leg pulling your foot towards to seat. Keep your knee pointing to the floor and push your hip forward to increase the stretch in the front of your thigh.

Calf stretch - Although I'm demonstrating a yoga stretch here what I'm trying to emphasise is pushing my heels towards the floor in order to stretch my calves. By bending your knees in this posture you can move the stretch lower and target your soleus and achillis tendon.

IT Band stretch - It may look like I have to pee really bad here but I'm actually feeling a pretty sweet stretch in my side hip. Most of my weight is on my front (left) foot and I am actively pushing my right hip outwards to the side. By reaching my right arm upwards I am opening up my side body and enhancing the stretch I feel through my side hip and leg.

Butterfly stretch - This stretch is for the groin and inner thigh (adductor) muscles. Sit with the soles of your feet together and push knees towards the floor. If you are quite flexible here you can use your elbows to help push your knees down and/or hinge forward from your hips bringing your stomach towards the floor.

EDIT August 2012: For more information on stretching check out my new post Stretching Do's and Don'ts 2.0

IT Band woes

For nearly a decade now I have been dealing with chronic Iliotibial Band Syndrome. It has been a major source of frustration for me, as well as, a limiting factor in my ability to train for cardiovascular activities. When I was in high school I was training for my second degree black belt in Tae kwon do and a part of our test was to run 10 km in under an hour. During my time training for this I first started to notice pain on the lateral side (outside) of my knee. If I kept running through the pain I would find myself barely able to walk the next couple days and in considerable pain going down stairs. This pain prevented me from continuing to run and I had to modify my belt test from a 10 km run to an hour on a spin bike with my heart rate kept above 160 beats per minute. Running had always been a joy in my life and since then it became a guessing game of whether I could run for an hour or just 10 minutes before having to walk to rest of the way home. I stopped running with friends because I felt bad about having to cut their runs short and I stopped using running as a training medium because of the fear of not being able to complete them.

For those who don’t know, the Iliotibial Band (ITB) runs along the lateral side of your thigh and crosses the hip and knee joint. It can get tight and rub the femoral epicondyle on the lateral side of the knee (the bone that sticks out a little on the outer side of your knee). This rubbing can lead to inflammation and pain which is called IT Band Syndrome (ITBS). ITBS is an overuse injury and is typically treated with rest, ice, and anti-inflammatory drugs. I tried all of these as well as stretching and massaging my ITB’s and contributing muscles with little improvement.



For more information on ITBS you can check out the following article:

http://www.medicinenet.com/iliotibial_band_syndrome/article.htm

There are many factors that can contribute to ITBS. There are studies out there that say that improper running shoes, poor running technique, muscle imbalances, having wider hips (females), and leg length discrepancies will increase the risk of developing and injury. There is also a battle between beliefs about flexibility. Some think that stretching the tight muscles is helpful and some believe that less flexibility is better for runners because it helps keep the body in efficient alignment.  From my years in martial arts and ice skating I already had a pre-disposition with tight leg muscles and muscle imbalances and I certainly saw that as a detriment to my running. I started to wonder if I was cursed to never be able to run 10 km again, let alone a marathon, and I lost hope for many years.

About 6 months ago my brother began training for a marathon length run and succeeded in running over 30km a few times with nothing but a few blisters to show for it. Then horror struck and he too fell to the torments of ITBS after taking a couple weeks off and trying to run 30km again.

It was at this time I decided to read Born to Run by Chris McDougall. This is an incredible book about Chris’ real life adventure in Mexico trying to track down a barefoot runner, a secret running tribe, and determine the secret to running injury-free. I highly recommend this entertaining, inspirational, and educational novel to everyone. My brother took his advice to heart and started running in low-support toe shoes, massaging his ITB on a foam roller before and after each run, and modifying his running technique. Like me, he experienced the frustration that came with the guessing game that is ITBS. It didn’t matter how you changed up the variables, sometimes it would hurt and sometimes it wouldn’t.

I am happy to report that my brother is back in the world of running and successfully ran 10 km injury-free last week. I am motivated to fight ITBS with all I have and I too have a success story. In the last 3 days I tried running for 35 minutes twice and lasted without pain. I will keep you updated on my journey which will hopefully have a happy ending.

If you want to learn more about Chris McDougall and his book feel free to visit his website:

http://www.chrismcdougall.com/


UPDATE August 2012: After suffering an SI joint injury 5 months ago I have been around the block seeing Physiotherapists, Acupuncturists, Naturopaths, and my doctor to help me with my back pain. My back pain has been continuously diagnosed as the result of a twisted pelvis from years of sports that have caused muscle imbalances in my pelvis and spine. This in turn has affected the rest of my body and is a main culprit in my IT Band problems. As I continue to work on correcting my malaligned pelvis and spine I am noticing less knee pain and am hopeful that my IT Band issues will disappear with my back issues. Food for thought.

5 Biggest Posture Mistakes

As you know, resistance training is an important part of building and maintaining strong bones and muscles. It can also be very dangerous if you have incorrect posture and biomechanical movements. Here are 5 of the biggest postural mistakes you can make while resistance training (or exercising in general).

1. Rounded back - Doing any bent over exercise puts strain on your back. In order to protect your back from injury it is incredibly important to keep your back in a neutral or slightly hyper-extended position. These pictures are showing a deadlift. The top picture is demonstrating a dangerous rounded back posture and the second picture is showing a safe posture.

2. Locked knees - Knees are complex joints with a lot of room for injury. By "locking" your knees you are putting tremendous strain on the ligaments and the other soft components of the knee joint. Whenever you are doing ANY exercise at ANY time (including most stretches) you should focus on keeping your knees slightly bent so that the muscles are actively working to protect your joint. Here is an example of locked knees and slightly bent knees during a bent over row exercise.

3. Shrugged up shoulders - When we are stressed or working really hard, most people have a tendency to tense their upper trapezius muscles so that their shoulder scrunch up to their ears. This causes increased tension in the shoulders and neck which can lead to headaches, and neck and back pain. It is always advised to focus on keeping your shoulders down away from your ears while doing exercises that aren't explicitly targeting the upper traps and neck muscles. Here is an example of the wrong and right way of doing a seated row.

4. Bent wrists - Your wrists consist of 8 little bones that work together to give you such incredible range of motion. This also means that they can be easily injured under heavy loads. When you are doing any pushing motion you should be aware of your wrist position and try to keep it as straight as possible in it's strongest position. Think that you are punching using your two big knuckles.

5. Loose core - "Core" is a big buzz word right now and it's got a right to be. Your core is comprised of many muscles on the front, sides, and back of your torso, and also the diaphram and pelvic floor. They are important for supporting your spine through movements, and if your core is weak or the muscles are imbalanced, it can be the cause of many back-related issues. Even if you have strong, well-trained core muscles it is possible to injure your back if you forget to "engage" them while exercising. Below is an example of the wrong and right way to do a plank.

5 Practices of Self-Care

I'm currently reading Robin Sharma's book The Saint, the Surfer, and the CEO. I know I've already posted some of his wonderful insights on the 10 Rituals of Radiant Living, but this has really resonated with me and I want to share my thoughts about it with you.

Love is a strange word. We all have our different definitions for it based on our experiences in life. We can love other people, love nature, love material things, and most importantly, we can love ourself. I am guilty of being very critical of myself as I'm sure many of you are. And I'm also occationally guilty of mistreating myself by not getting enough sleep, not eating nourishing food, not resting when my body needs it, not moving when my body needs it, spending too much time in front of the TV, and telling myself "I can't",just to name a few. Correct me if I'm wrong, but do you know anyone who can honestly say they take truly care of themselves all the time?

Can you imagine how spectacular our lives would be if we loved ourselves as much as we love others? Here are some practices of self-care to get you started:

1. Simplify your life - Eliminate the complexities that bog you down and waste your time. Distractions, excessive TV and internet browsing (not including this blog!) shouldn't be priorities. Although setting goals and planning out your daily schedule is important, it is also important to have time where you can free flow and be spontaneous to truly experience life in the moment.

2. Journal - Let your inner dialogue flow onto the paper. Write down your goals, your fears, your joys, and your blessings.

Questions to ask yourself each morning:
1)How would I live out this day if I knew it was my last?
2)What do I have to be grateful for?
3)What's one thing I can do today to help make my life extraordinary?
4)What can I do to make today incredibly fun?
5)How can I help someone today?

3. Daily period of peace - Taking time to be alone in silence every day let's truly hear your own voice and take a time out of the hustle and bustle of the world around you.

4. Commune with nature - We are all connected to and depend on the environment. Spend time being surrounded by the power the Earth provides. It's incredible how our human problems seem so insignificant when you are standing next to the vast ocean or looking up at the universe of stars.

5. Nurture your body - Exercise, eat well, get a a massage, and relax.
"Those who don't make time for exercise must eventually make time for illness."
"Eating well is a mark of self-respect and self-love."