Last year was very busy for me professionally. I decided very early that in order to become healthier, I needed to design my workout schedule and nutritional plan with efficiency in mind. The fundamental areas of physical health are nutrition and exercise. The purpose of this post is simply to share my thoughts on what I’ve learned over the past year with respect to nutrition.

Nutrition

You are what you eat. It’s that simple. The cornerstone of becoming healthier is consuming nutrients that aid in a strong immune system, muscle recovery, vital organ functioning, and a reduction of gynoid and android (visceral) fat. The production of visceral fat is your body’s survival strategy as a result of the internal organs insulating themselves from toxins by encapsulating the toxins in fat.

I’ll first provide a bit of basic background information on foods that I’ve decided to incorporate into my daily routine and end with two of my favorite health smoothie recipes.

Orange Juice:

Usually, orange juice and almond milk are the base liquids of my smoothie. Orange juice increases HDL significantly (opens in a new window) . I use Simply Orange (opens in a new window) , which you can purchase from most any grocer.

Greek Yogurt:

I add yogurt to my smoothies for protein, flavor, and the probiotics (opens in a new window) . I used to use regular yogurt but switched to Greek yogurt because the amount of protein in Greek yogurt is much higher.

Almond Milk:

Almond milk is especially beneficial to our health. For starters, it’s filled with vitamin D, which is known to improve cell function and immunity, and this has also been proven that it can help decrease the risk of Alzheimer’s.

Sources: The Science of Eating: Benefits of Almond Milk URL (opens in a new window)

Flaxseed Oil:

Flaxseed oil contains alpha-linolenic acid ( ALA (opens in a new window) ), which is converted by the body into EPA and DHA, the same omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil. I do also take a fish oil pill once daily before bed but I like getting the additional fatty acids in the smoothie. I use Spectrum Organic Flaxseed Oil (opens in a new window) from Whole Foods.

Protein Powder:

The types of protein used in protein powders can be divided into two categories: animal source proteins and vegetable source proteins. Animal source proteins include milk protein derivatives like whey and casein, goat’s milk and egg white protein. Vegetable source proteins include soy, rice, pea and hemp proteins. Nutritionally animal proteins are superior to vegetable proteins. Of the animal protein types, the most popular is whey protein. Of the vegetable protein types, soy is the most popular. Most people using vegetable protein powders do so as part of a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle, although many people use soy protein primarily for its heart-health and/or hormone-balancing benefits.

Whey protein is derived from milk. The protein portion of whole milk consists of 20% whey protein and 80% casein protein. Whey is by far the most popular type of protein used in protein powders. For most people, it’s the best all-around choice in terms of taste (it’s one of the best-tasting), quality (it’s the highest) and cost (it’s the most economical). Another unique benefit of whey protein, and one that is often overlooked, is that it enhances the immune system in several ways.

Whey protein comes in two varieties; whey concentrate and whey isolate. The advantages of each are:

• Whey Concentrate. Whey concentrate is more economical per gram of protein. It has a low lactose level that is well tolerated by most lactose-sensitive people. It has trivial amounts of fat and carbs relative to your overall nutrient intake.
• Whey Isolate. Whey isolate is virtually fat-free for those wishing to eliminate as much fat from their diet as possible. It is typically lactose free for those few individuals who are very sensitive to the low-lactose levels found in whey concentrate. Whey isolate tends to taste slightly better than whey concentrate, yet its consistency is a little thinner, without the fat.

My choice in protein is Jay Robb whey protein (opens in a new window) , which is a non-GMO (opens in a new window) whey protein isolate powder that delivers 25 grams of first class protein, 0-fat, 0-cholesterol, 0-sugars, and only 1 gram of carbohydrate per 30 gram serving.

Green Tea:

Green tea has special antioxidants called catechins which appear to have many health benefits (opens in a new window) . Rather than sip endless cups of green tea throughout the day, I add a single teaspoon of green tea powder called matcha (opens in a new window) . I use organic ceremonial matcha (opens in a new window) from DoMatcha.

Kale:

Kale’s health benefits (opens in a new window) are incredible.

Raw Honey:

Raw honey is honey that has not been heated, pasteurized or processed in any manner. The differences between raw and pasteurized honey are substantial. Raw honey has anti-viral, anti-bacterial, and anti-fungal properties. It promotes body and digestive health, is a powerful antioxidant, and strengthens the immune system.

Cacao Nibs:

Cacao nibs are cacao beans that have been roasted, separated from their husks, and broken into smaller pieces. Think of cacao nibs as having the benefits of chocolate but without all the sugar and fat and other non-beneficial disadvantages of chocolate.

Sources:

• Live Super Foods. URI (opens in a new window) .
• Natural News URI (opens in a new window) .
• Huffington Post. URI (opens in a new window) .

Vietnamese Cinnamon:

The health benefits are quite impressive (opens in a new window) . The most health beneficial harvest is organic Vietnamese “Saigon” Cassia Cinnamon, which I order from The Spice House (opens in a new window) .

Coconut Oil:

Nearly 50 percent of the fat in coconut oil is of a type rarely found in nature called lauric acid, a “miracle” compound because of its unique health promoting properties. Your body converts lauric acid into monolaurin, which has anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-protozoa properties. More excellent information can be found here (opens in a new window) .

I prefer Nature’s Way Organic Coconut Oil (opens in a new window) .

Sunflower Lecithin:

Sunflower lecithin is a type of phospholipid abundant in sunflower seeds that supports healthy brain function and nervous system.

Source: Real Raw Food URI (opens in a new window)

A Few Healthy Smoothies…

After a bit of refinement of smoothie recipes over the past year, I’ve settled on two of my favorite ones that I have for breakfast and post-workout recovery.

Breakfast Smoothie:

• 250 ml organic, unsweetended almond milk
• 1 Tbsp Flaxseed oil
• 1 Tbsp raw organic honey
• 1/2 cup organic, non-fat greek yogurt
• 1 scoop Jay Robb whey protein
• 1 tsp organic DoMacha (opens in a new window)
• 1 to 2 cups of mixed berries. Strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, etc.
• 3 cups fresh organic Kale
• 1 cup fresh organic Spinach
• Approximately 10 to 16 ice cubes

Add the ingredients in the order listed and blend well. This recipe makes approximately 32 oz. of smoothie.

Post-Workout Smoothie:

• 250 ml organic, unsweetended almond milk
• 1 Tbsp Flaxseed oil
• 1 Tbsp raw organic honey
• 1/2 cup organic, non-fat greek yogurt
• 1 scoop Jay Robb whey protein
• 1/2 cup Cacao nibs, organic.
• 1 tsp Vietnamese “Saigon” Cassia Cinnamon, organic.
• 1 frozen Banana, organic
• 1 Tbsp Coconut oil, organic.
• 1 Tbsp fresh ground almond butter, organic
• Approximately 10 to 12 ice cubes

Add the ingredients in the order listed and blend well. This recipe makes approximately 24 oz. of smoothie.

Paleolithic

On a related note, I began to focus on a Paleolithic nutritional plan, which is a nutritional plan based on the presumed diet of Paleolithic humans. It is based on the premise that human genetics have scarcely changed since the dawn of agriculture, which marked the end of the Paleolithic era, around 15,000 years ago, and that modern humans are adapted to the Paleolithic diet.

The Paleolithic diet consists mainly of fish, grass-fed pasture raised meats, eggs, vegetables, fruit, fungi, roots, and nuts, and excludes grains, legumes, dairy products, potatoes, refined salt, refined sugar, and processed oils.

Though my next post is focused on exercise, I’ll certainly touch on my experiences with a Paleolithic nutritional plan and how I think it’s worked with my my overall CrossFit routine and corresponding recovery cycle at The Foundry (opens in a new window) .

I constantly reason through and research, among other things, many aspects of health and fitness. Categorically speaking, the two cornerstone aspects of heath and fitness are diet and exercise. As a former athelete, I am quite familiar with elements and mechanics of muscle development, diet, and exercise and the implications of each on one’s health and wellness. I’ve been actively involved in sports since very early in life; throughout middle school, high school and college . From my experience, the set of baseline measurements to gather are our metabolic rates, body fat percentages, and blood chemistry. Once we have these baselines, then we simply employ the scientific method (opens in a new window) .

BMR and RMR:

Muscle burns more calories than fat and so understanding how many calories one burns at rest over a specific duration is important and particularly in the context of your body fat percentage, which I discuss later in this post.

BMR and RMR are estimates of how many calories you would burn if you were to do nothing but rest for 24 hours. Together, they represent the minimum amount of energy required to keep your body functioning, including your heart beating, lungs breathing, and body temperature normal.

• BMR stands for Basal Metabolic Rate, and is synonymous with Basal Energy Expenditure or BEE. BMR measurements are typically taken in a darkened room upon waking after 8 hours of sleep; 12 hours of fasting to ensure that the digestive system is inactive; and resting in a reclining position.
• RMR stands for Resting Metabolic Rate, and is synonymous with Resting Energy Expenditure or REE. RMR measurements are typically taken under less restricted conditions than BMR, and do not require that the subject spend the night sleeping in the test facility prior to testing.

All this said, however, BMR and RMR does not represent the minimum amount of calories one burns in a day. Why? Because many of us don’t normally sit around all day in a horizontal position with our eyes closed. We perform tasks. Therefore, for a more accurate estimate of how many calories one burns in a day you may consider looking into an “activity calculator”. If you do find one, then do not add your BMR or RMR to those results. Use one method or the other.

Oh, and please keep in mind that “calories burned” calculations are based on your weight. As you lose weight and activity becomes easier, you’ll burn fewer calories performing the same activities. Therefore as you lose weight, you will need to periodically recalculate the number of calories you burn in a day.

The apple, the pear, and the egg…

There are essentially three prolific body shapes represented in the different obese classifications for people: the apple, the pear, and the egg. With these shapes in mind, let’s discuss the notion of android and gynoid fat.

Android fat is the fat stored in the midsection of the body predominantly in the abdomen, but also the fat stored in the chest and upper arms. This is a common fat-storage location among men and is associated with an apple shape and is consistently associated with increased risk of heart disease and diabetes, hormonal imbalances, some cancers, sleep apnea, and more. In this type, the fat is mainly accumulated within the abdomen and around the vital organs (visceral fat).

Gynoid fat storage represents the “pear” shape and is more common among women. This fat is stored primarily around the buttox, hips and thigh areas. Overweight pear-shaped people tend to suffer from mechanical problems such as hip, knee and other joint issues due to an excess of fat (weight stress) on the lower half of their body.

The Ovoid, or egg, shape represents a unisex body type wherein a generalized coverage of body fat is exhibited.

It’s important that both one’s subcutaneous fat (the fat under your skin) and visceral fat (fat around your internal organs) be specifically measured. Determining the ratio of android to gynoid fat (the A/G ratio) and monitoring that ratio is critical important because it directly correlates to the prevalence of visceral fat. The production of viceral fat is your body’s survival strategy as a result of the internal organs insulating themselves from toxins by encapsulating the toxins in fat. Unfortunately, this may impede organ function and, as a result of this diminished function, increase the risk for disease. Ideally, your android fat should be lower than your gynoid fat; so a value below 1.0 is in the ideal range of the threshold metrics.

I scheduled an appointment with DexaFit (opens in a new window) to have them conduct a DexaFit DXA Total Body Composition Scan. In short, this scan is very accurate and produces an exact measurement of one’s A/G ratio along with other vitally important infomation; and best of all, the entire process takes approximately 7 minutes. I certainly encourage anyone interested in their body fat analysis to strongly consider DexaFit.

Incidentally, this is why body fat analysis methods that use the notion of simple subcutanous clamps or water immersion are vastly inferior to the DexaFit method of measurement since those methods do not measure visceral fat and so the overall body fat percentage calcualation is, therefore, inaccurate.

Blood Chemistry Analysis:

A blood chemistry analysis provides an important set of baseline measurements to serve as key indicators for a person’s overall picture of health and wellness. For a male over the age of 40, a comprehensive blood chemistry analysis is recommended on an annual basis. I use DirectLabs (opens in a new window) . DirectLabs provides direct access laboratory testing for those who want to take charge of their own health and personally monitor their own wellness. In the course of time, they assist in the prevention or early detection of disease by providing discounted, high quality online blood and laboratory testing services directly and confidentially to consumers.

There are of course many tests offered by DirectLabs but the ones I chose are panel-selected as the most important battery of tests for males over the age of 40:

Comprehensive Wellness Profile. This profile measures…

• Lipids: This is a group of simple blood tests that reveal important information about the types, amount and distribution of the various types of fats (lipids) in the bloodstream. Includes Total Cholesterol, HDL (good) Cholesterol, LDL (bad) Cholesterol, Risk Ratio (good to total), and Triglycerides.
• Complete Blood Count (CBC’s): Used as a broad screening test to check for such disorders as anemia, infection, and many other diseases. It is actually a panel of tests that examines different parts of the blood.
• Fluids and Electrolytes: Includes Chloride, Potassium, Sodium, and Carbon Dioxide.
• Thyroid w/TSH: Includes T-3 Uptake, Total T4, (Free thyroxine index)T7, and TSH.
• Liver: Includes Albumin, Alkaline Phosphatase, Alanine Transaminase (ALT or SGPT), Aspartate Transaminase (AST or SGOT), Total Bilirubin, Total Protein, LDH, Total Globulin, Albumin/Globulin Ratio, and GGT.
• Kidney: Includes Blood Urea Nitrogen (BUN), Creatinine, BUN/Creatinine Ratio, eGFR, and Uric Acid.
• Glucose (Diabetes);
• Mineral and Bone: Total Iron, Calcium, and Phosphorus.

Fibrinogen, Quantitive: Fibrinogen is used to detect suspected bleeding disorders or abnormal blood clotting. Fibrinogen is often significantly increased in conditions involving tissue damage, infection, or inflammation. Increased levels may be seen in smokers, during pregnancy, and in women taking oral contraceptives. Fibrinogen levels can be diminished in advanced liver disease.

C-Reactive Protein, hs (CRP, hs): CRP, hs is a critical component of the immune system and can be predictive of future risk of heart attack, stroke, sudden cardiac death, and the development of peripheral arterial disease. Individuals with elevated levels of CRP have a risk about 2 to 3 times higher than the risk of those with low levels.

Homocysteine: Homocysteine is an amino acid that plays a role in destroying the lining of your artery walls, promoting the formation of blood clots, and also accelerates the buildup of scar tissue. High levels may increase the chance of heart disease and stroke, especially if you have other risk factors such as diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, smoking, or family history.

Hemoglobin A1c: This non-fasting test, also known as A1c, HbA1c, Glycohemoglobin, or Glycated hemoglobin, indicates how well you have controlled your diabetes over the last few months. Even though you may have some very high or very low blood glucose values, Hemoglobin A1C will give you a picture of the average amount of glucose in your blood over that time period. While the Hemoglobin A1C is the standard tool to determine blood sugar control for patients with diabetes, it is not a substitute for daily, routine blood glucose testing.

DHEA-s: DHEA-S serves as a building block for making the male sex hormone testosterone and the female sex hormone estrogen. DHEA-s concentrations peak after puberty and then the levels tend to decline with age. In women, too much DHEA-s can lead to excessive hair growth or male body characteristics as well as adrenal tumors, cancers, and adrenal hyperplasia. Under production can be an indication of Addison’s disease or adrenal hypoplasia.

Total Testosterone: Testosterone is a hormone that causes male characteristics. The blood level is used by men to investigate abnormal sexual development and sexual dysfunction. Small amounts are produced in women’s ovaries and levels are tested to evaluate virilization.

Testosterone, Free: Testosterone, Free is the free flowing testosterone that is not bound within the body and only accounts for about 2% of all testosterone. The free flowing testosterone is unencumbered in the charging of testosterone related systems, the brain, muscles, blood and sex drive, while two-thirds of bound testosterone is connected the SHGB (Sex Hormone Binding Globulin) and the other third to albumin. Low free testosterone means testosterone related systems are not getting the necessary charge. When testosterone free decreases the SHGB increases, this can inhibit the way in which testosterone is distributed to bodily systems.

Estradiol: Estradiol, also known as E2, is the most active of the estrogens. For women, it is important to look at the relationship between estradiol and progesterone in evaluating menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes, mood disorders, and aging skin. It is also used for monitoring pregnancy.

In both men and women, low levels of estradiol can be associated with osteoporosis.

PSA: The prostate specific antigen (PSA) is a protein made only in the prostate gland. PSA is produced by normal, abnormal and cancerous prostatic tissue. The PSA blood test is an accurate measure of this amount. The theory is that cancer causes more of the protein to be made and leaked into the blood than normal prostate tissue, so PSA is now used for assisting in the diagnosis and monitoring of prostatic carcinoma.

Best of all, the cost of tests are covered by my insurance company since my policy does provide for preventative health care.

Diet and Exercise:

As for exercise, my routine is heavily focused on Escalation Density Training (EDT) and I am only now starting to incorporate Yoga into my schedule. I plan to dedicate an entire post to EDT in the very near future so will not discuss it now.