Stop Wasting Your Workouts: The Best Way to Recover

Image courtesy of iStockphoto / Thinkstock
After an intense workout, our bodies experience significant depletion of key nutrients, water and energy. For many, this loss is seldom replenished and bodies are left running on little fuel until the next meal.
The hard work of a particularly grueling workout will hardly be worth it if you're not refueling your body properly. Choosing the right food and beverage sources may help prevent injury and attain those long-awaited results.
To better understand what your body needs, you need to know what your body loses during a workout.

What You Lose

When you're hitting the gym (or doing MaxT3 in your living room), your body loses energy it expends as you increase your activity level from a resting state. Also lost is "a severe depletion of carbohydrate stores and dehydration." ¹ Continually as the body sweats, it loses water and electrolytes. Basically, you're beating yourself up to reach your bikini goals.
The loss of these nutrients isn't  immediately detrimental, but it  can be if not replenished.  Once you leave the gym your body goes into recovery mode to fix the sudden loss of energy and nutrients. Thanks to a nutrition market that is saturated with conflicting information, sometimes it's hard to determine what you need and what you can skip.

What You Don’t Need

• Nothing.  Skipping a post workout "meal" is like skipping a night of sleep. It doesn't benefit you in any way and only adds to your exhausted feeling. Your body is running on low fuel and needs something to help it bounce back from the beating you put it through.
   
• A Spoonful of Sugar.  Many sports drinks or recovery drinks boast magical properties but are loaded with sugar.  "After a workout, sugar from soft drinks and fructose from fruit juice set your metabolism back to slow." ² You just exhausted yourself to boost your energy levels and metabolism. Don't negate it by downing a sugar-loaded sports drink, or--gulp!--a soda.
   
• Loads of Fat. A high-fat meal post-workout hinders recovery. It's recommended that your diet have a good balance of fat but that does not include scarfing a cheeseburger directly after your workout (not to mention the refined carbs in the bun). Your workout aimed to reduce your total body fat and refilling it with bad, damaged fats will keep you on that plateau.

What You Do Need

Since you lose electrolytes, water, carbohydrates and fat, it would make sense to replace them. While it's discouraged to do so by feasting like it's Thanksgiving, you can replace these nutrients in a healthy and productive way.

• Water. Most people sweat profusely when they workout because their bodies are working to regulate a fluctuating temperature. You'll hardly need a reminder to drink up because of the thirst you experience, but you should aim to drink 16-24 ounces of h₂o immediately after and continually for the remainder of your day.
   
• Complex Carbohydrates. "Carbohydrates are essential in rebuilding muscle cells."  A small bowl of spinach, kale or some mix of cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, etc.) is actually an ideal post-workout snack. You could also try snacking on some organic almond butter (most nutritious when raw) and slices of a Granny Smith apple (low-glycemic index). The carbohydrates found in these snacks will aid your recovery and promote muscle growth.
   
• Protein. "During intense workouts, muscle protein is damaged, which leaves an athlete with a net loss of muscle protein." Many athletes tend to consume protein drinks or supplements immediately following a workout.  Liquid protein is more quickly absorbed into the body. They also tend to contain an ideal blend of calories, proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and various minerals necessary for rebuilding. However, soy protein and A1 casein should be avoided as they've been linked to various health risks. Whey is the way to go.
   
• Electrolytes/Vitamins/Minerals. After a sweat session, you lose essential electrolytes, vitamins and minerals that are equally important to replace. Bananas offer a great source of potassium, which is one of the main electrolytes you lose. Other fruits like apples and even vegetables can also boost energy levels. If you're on the Advanced Plan, be sure to reference the Maximized Living Nutrition Plans to see what fruits are cleared for limited use. Coconut water works wonders for rehydration and it has the ideal pH balance and perfect blend of electrolytes.

Finding a snack or drink that balances all of these is ideal and convenient. Unfortunately, many drinks or supplements claim a list of benefits but are loaded with artificial ingredients and sugars that yield little benefit.

The Ideal Solution

Combine the benefits of clean, all-natural protein with healthy fats and organic fruit, and you get a delicious after-exercise snack. Best of all, this solution is quick and easy: the Perfect Protein Smoothie.
Simply mix a large handful of berries (blueberries, strawberries, raspberries--you choose!), with full-fat coconut milk and a scoop of our Perfect Protein, and you're refueling yourself with the perfect blend of carbs, fats and proteins. This simple smoothie does it all:

• Provides amino acids for muscle building and repair.
• Provides healthy fats to reduce inflammation and restore your natural fuel.
• Replenishes lost carbohydrate stores.
• Alkalizes to improve your body’s pH.
• Rehydrates.
• Replaces electrolyte stores.
• Does not overload you with sugar because it is low-glycemic.

Was This Article Helpful?

If you enjoyed the above information on post-workout recovery, then be sure to sign up for our monthly newsletter, which is packed with the latest health research, nutritional tips and even the occasional free goodies. Go to www.HealthFromWithinSTL.com.

References

1. Josephson, Scott. "Recovery Nutrition." NSCA's Performance Training Journal 2, no. 5 (2003): 16-17.
   
2. "4 Post Workout Foods to Avoid / Nutrition / Healthy Eating." FitDay - Free Weight Loss and Diet Journal. http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/nutrition/healthy-eating/4-post-workout-foods-to-avoid.html (accessed May 28, 2013).
   
3. http://www.stamantnjrotc.org/WeightLifting/Articles/RecoveryNutrition.pdf (accessed May 28, 2013).

Blasted Cauliflower

Vegetables are often thought of as boring, bland, or tasteless. This is far from the truth!
Veggies can offer a great source of variety. Cauliflower is especially versatile, and this is just another example of how it can be used. Consider yourself warned: They are addictive!

Ingredients

• 1 head of cauliflower
• 1/8 cup of olive oil
• 1/2 tsp granulated garlic
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 cup of nutritional yeast  (not to be confused with brewer’s yeast – this is a highly nutritious condiment)
• Optional (To add spice):  1/4 tsp black pepper, 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper, or a sprinkle of cayenne pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Wash and clean the cauliflower. Cut off and discard the stems.
3. Cut the cauliflower florets into small pieces.
4. In a large bowl, combine the olive oil, garlic, salt and nutritional yeast.
5. Add the cauliflower pieces and thoroughly coat each piece.
6. Place cauliflower pieces onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
7. Bake for one hour turning a few times during cooking. You will want them to look browned.

Go to www.HealthFromWithinSTL.com for more awesome recipes!

Dr. Nick Barnes

Top 10 Food Additives to Avoid!

Food additives have become very common in the modern-day diet plan but do they really add any value to the food we eat? The answer is ABSOLUTELY NOT. Used mostly to boost shelf-life, improve flavor, and to maintain color, (all to increase profits), most artificial additives are extremely harmful to our health. The simplest way to avoid exposure to these kinds of chemical substances is to understand the most common additives and also which foods they're quite often found in. Here's a list of the top 10 food additives to avoid.

1. Sodium Nitrite (or) Sodium Nitrate

Sodium nitrate/nitrite is used as a coloring, flavoring, and preservative agent in ham, bacon, hotdogs, corned beef, lunch meats, and other packaged foods. This harmful ingredient has been observed to create 'nitrosamines', most of which are human carcinogens. Several studies have revealed that consumption of food items containing nitrates/nitrites may result in a greater risk of esophageal, gastric, and rectal cancers.

2. Sodium Sulfite

This chemical is used in wine making and also in some other processed foods such as pastries, margarine, cheese, sausage, fish, and ground beef. According to the Food and Drug Administration, around 1 in 100 individuals is sensitive to sodium sulfites found in wine. People who are 'sulfite' sensitive may suffer from headaches, difficulty in breathing, and rashes. In extreme cases, sulfites can even cause death by shutting down the air passage completely, resulting in cardiac arrest.

3. Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)

MSG is an amino-acid mainly used as a flavor booster in soups, chips, salad dressings, seasonings, lunch meats and most restaurant food. An animal test linked MSG to damaging brain cells of infant mice. Also, other studies show that frequent consumption of MSG might cause damaging side effects, such as depressive disorders, disorientation, damage to the eyes, fatigue, severe headaches, and weight problems.

4. High Fructose Corn Syrup

High-Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is a refined synthetic sweetener. It has become the top source of calories in the United States. It is found in almost all processed and ready-made foods. Consuming HFCS boosts your bad cholesterol level and leads to the development of type 2 diabetes as well as tissue damage - a few among other dangerous effects. HFCS is mostly found in processed foods, bread, candy, canned fruits and vegetables, flavored yogurts, soft drinks, and cereals.

5. Artificial Sweeteners

Artificial sweeteners are usually found in sugar-free or diet sodas, sugar-free gums, baking goods, drink mixes, breath mints, table-top sweeteners, pudding, ice tea, and even in toothpaste. It is cleverly disguised in many "health foods" as Acesulfame Potassium (Sunnett, Sweet One), Aspartame (Nutrasweet, Equal), Neotame, Saccharin (Sweet 'N Low, Sweet Twin, Sugar Twin), Sucralose (Splenda). Packaging with artificial sweeteners will advertise "low or reduced sugar", "no added sugars", "low fat", "sugar-free", etc. Some of the reported results of consuming artificial sweeteners or sugar substitutes are behavioral problems in kids, hyperactivity, allergic reactions, and perchance carcinogenic effects also.

6. BHA & BHT
BHA (Butylated Hydroxyanisole) and BHT (Butylated Hydroxytoluene) are chemical preservatives found in cereal products, potato chips, chewing gum, and vegetable oils. These popular additives keep foods from changing flavor and color, or getting rancid. It's been proven to have an impact on the central nervous system, cause behavior changes, and also has the potential to cause some types of cancer.

7. Propyl Gallate

Propyl gallate is a chemical used in vegetable oil, chicken soup, meat products, and mayonnaise. It slows down the spoilage of oils and fats but can bring about stomach problems or skin complications for asthma sufferers and aspirin sensitive individuals. Scientific tests on mice claim that this preservative could potentially cause cancer as well.

8. Trans Fat/Hydrogenated Fats

Hydrogenated oils are widely used to boost the shelf life of many food products. They're found in 'deep-fried' junk food and specific processed foods made with margarine or moderately hydrogenated oils (trans-fats are produced by a process known as hydrogenation). Several research has shown that trans fat boosts bad cholesterol levels while minimizing good cholesterol; leads to higher risk of cardiac arrest, cardiovascular disease, and cerebrovascular events; and contributes to diabetes, inflammation, and other health issues. Always look at ingredients list to make sure that the product doesn't contain any hydrogenated oil.

9. Sodium Benzoate
Sodium benzoate is a food preservative and also used as additive. It is used in a number of highly processed foods and soft drink beverages. It's suspected that sodium benzoate, along with other artificial food coloring agents, may cause attention deficit disorder (ADD) in some young children. Sodium benzoate present in carbonated drinks could also react with included vitamin-C to create benzene, a cancer causing compound.

10. Food Dyes and Artificial coloring agents

Nowadays, most of the food items are often laden with food dyes and coloring agents like Sunset Yellow S, Blue 1 and 2, Ponceau 4R, Conchineal Red A, Tartrazine, FCF, and much more. These chemical substances are mostly found in variety of products like soda, salad dressings, sports drinks, fruit juices, fruit cocktail, cherry pie mix, ice cream, bakery products, candies and more. Studies show these artificial colorings may lead to behavioral problems in kids and result in a significant decrease in their IQ level. They are also proven to cause adrenal gland and kidney tumors as well as allergic reactions in many people.

Attention Shoppers: Read the label carefully, then stay away from these harmful food additives.

Go to www.HealthFromWithinSTL.com for more tips on how to avoid toxic foods!

- Dr. Nick Barnes