Coconut Curry Chicken

What you need:
1 lb chicken thighs
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large red onion, chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 thumb sized piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp curry powder
1 cinnamon stick
1 jalapeño, finely chopped
1 fresh green chili, finely chopped
2 heirloom tomatoes
1 can coconut milk
2/3 large carton chicken broth
1 pinch cayenne powder
Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
Juice from 1/2 a lemon
2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped

What to do:
Add olive oil to a large pot over med low heat.
Mix in the onion, garlic, and ginger.
Cook for 20 min.
Add in the tomato paste, cinnamon, chicken broth, cayenne, curry, salt and pepper, and coconut milk.
Stir well and cook another 20 min on med low.
Add in the chicken, tomatoes, lemon juice, and cilantro.
Let simmer for 1 hour.
Taste periodically and adjust salt and pepper as needed.

Serve with roasted sweet potatoes and parsnips.

Slow Cooker Coconut Chicken

What you need:
10 skinless chicken drumsticks
1 onion diced
1 thumb sized piece of ginger, minced
6 cloves fresh garlic minced
zest of one lemon
juice from 1/2 lemon
pinch of anise seeds
pinch of ground fennel seeds
pinch of ground cinnamon
pinch of ground cloves
3 tablespoon coconut aminos
1 cup coconut milk
salt and pepper to taste

What to do:
Place the diced onion on the bottom of a crock pot and spread evenly.  Lay chicken over the onion.  Combine all other ingredients in a mixing bowl and pour over chicken.  Cover and cook on low 4-5 hours.  When chicken is done the meat should pull right off the bone.

Healthy Chicken Salad

What you need:
1 rotisserie chicken, pulled
2 large celery stalks, diced
1 cup baby carrots, diced
1/2 cup purple seedless grapes, diced
1 handful sliced almonds
Sea salt and fresh pepper to taste

What to do:
Mix all ingredients in a large bowl.

Simple Healthy Spaghetti

Sometimes you just need some spaghetti.  To me this is every bit as good as the real thing, and you don't feel glued to the couch afterward.

What you need:
Two large spaghetti squash
1 lb lean ground turkey
One jar Amys premium organic pasta sauce (found at whole foods)
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 onion finely chopped
1 bell pepper coarsely chopped
1/2 cup chopped baby portabello mushrooms
salt and pepper to taste

What to do:
Poke six holes in each squash with a knife, and put them in a large microwave safe casserole dish.
Nuke for twelve minutes.  Let squash rest for five minutes, then cut in half lengthwise.  Remove the seeds with a spoon, then take a fork and scrape the meat of the squash out.  The squash should come out in strands, much like spaghetti.  One squash will make enough for two people.  I use two so that I can have leftovers the next day.
While squash is cooking, heat olive oil in a large skillet over med high and add the onion and bell pepper.  Cook for three or four minutes, then add the turkey and cook until turkey is browned.  Add the pasta sauce and the mushrooms, and cook over med for five minutes.

Serve sauce over the spaghetti squash.

Pulled Chicken Omelets and Stuffed Peppers

Pulled chicken is so versatile, you can eat it by itself, put it in rolls or tacos, use it in soups, etc.  I really like the way that pulled chicken retains a lot of moisture and flavor from whatever liquid you cook it in.  This was a crockpot recipe my wife found at Life as a Plate (really well put together website btw), we modified slightly. We decided to put the chicken in an omelet for dinner, and stuff some peppers for the next day.  Though it works great the other way around, peppers for dinner and omeletes the next morning.

What you need: 
1 lb organic chicken breast
6 eggs
2 large bell peppers
2 fresh jalepenos finely chopped
2 fresh tomatoes roughly chopped
1/2 cup chicken broth (I used leftover from soup earlier in the week)
1/2 small red onion finely chopped
1 small bell pepper finely chopped
1 cup organic salsa
1 avocado
1 tsp salt
2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp ground oregano
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground black pepper

What to do:
Put everything except eggs, salsa, and the 2 whole bell peppers into a crockpot on low for 4 hrs.
Pull the chicken when it is ready
Hollow out the bell peppers, place in a small oven safe dish, fill with chicken, top with  the salsa, and bake for 30 min at 350.
While the peppers are baking crack the eggs and mix in a bowl with a little salt and pepper. 
Pour the eggs in a skillet (with a little butter or olive oil) on med high.  When the eggs are firm enough to turn, put the chicken on half and flip the opposite side over the chicken. Cook until brown on both sides, and top with avocado. 

Better Beef Jerky

 It's always good to have some easy protein around to get you through the day.  Making your own beef jerky is more cost effective, and you can control what you want in it.  This batch is way lower in salt than anything you will get off the shelf, but has a great flavor.

What you need:
3 lb of lean beef (I used 2 london broils), cut into 1/4 inch thick strips, across the grain
     Or have your butcher cut it (normally they are happy to do it and it saves a ton of time)

1 bottle coconut aminos
1 heaping tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp crushed red chili pepper
1/3 tsp ground cayenne
1/2 tsp garlic powder
fresh ground black pepper to taste

What to do:
Mix the coconut aminos and all of the spices in a mixing bowl.  Taste it and adjust spices if needed.
Place the sliced meat in a 1 gallon ziplock bag and fill with the mixture. Squeeze any excess air out of the bag and close it, then squeeze the bag a few times to make sure all the meat is covered.  Put it in the fridge overnight.  When marinating is done, place the meat on a drip rack and put that on an aluminum foil lined baking sheet.  This amount of meat will require two racks.  You want to allow just a sliver of room between each piece of meat for air flow.  Put the meat into a 200 degree oven for 6 hours or so.  You will know it is done when the meat cracks but does not break when bent.  
When it's done I put it in a ziplock and put it in the fridge.  It should last for a couple months, but you'll never know because it'll be gone by then. 

O-Run Atlanta

We had a great time at this race.  Awesome obstacles.  Hard as hell terrain. We came in 5th ot of 97 teams.  My wife spent some time talking with the creator of the race, who was very down to earth and did a lot of hard work getting this thing ready. I'm glad there are people out there dedicated to organizing events like this.  Click here for an example of one of the obstacles, or Check out their website

Easy Turkey Burgers

What you need:
1lb lean ground turkey (99% fat free)
1/2 red onion finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic chopped (or 1 tsp minced garlic)
10 diced black olives
1/4 of a bell pepper, chopped
6 diced dried tomatoes (the really dry ones, "Melissa's brand")
1 Tbsp coconut oil
1 pinch ground oregano
Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper

What to do:
Heat coconut oil in an oven safe skillet over med high heat
Heat oven to 400
Cook veggies and garlic in skillet until soft
Mix turkey with veggies and spices in a large mixing bowl
Form meat and veggie combination into small patties (we made 6)
Return patties to skillet and brown on each side over med high heat
Place skillet in oven to finish cooking over 5 to 10 minutes
Serve with mustard and a side salad

The idea for these burgers came from Stupideasypaleo.com

Starting the Whole 30 Diet Today

My wife and I felt like we needed to change things up a little after being on vacation last week.  All that heavy food made us want to eat clean for a while.  So we decided to do the "Whole 30", starting today. Looks tough, but it will also feel really good to eat right for a little while.  Hopefully it will inspire us to learn some new recipes and try some new foods.  Here is a link to the Whole 30 website.

Salmon with Steamed Brocolli

What you need:
2 salmon filets (skin on)
2 cups brocolli, washed and cut into florets
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
salt and fresh ground pepper
1 lemon

What to do:
Heat oil in skillet over medium high heat
Place salmon filets face down (skin up) for five or six minutes until they get some color,
Flip filets and turn down heat to med, let cook for another six minutes or until meat is flaky but moist.  Garnish with lemon slices.
Steam brocolli in microwave for three minutes while fish cooks.
(Sometimes I will turn on the oven if the meat looks like it is going to burn before it cooks all the way. I'll throw the skillet in the oven for about ten minutes, usually turns out perfect.)

Were the English in the 1860's healthier than us?

     I came across an interesting article this week in the International Journal of Environmental and Public Health (I will link to it at the bottom of the page). The article focused on life in England in the mid to late 19th century.  The lifestyle that this group led provided them a level of health and longevity that remains unsurpassed in todays modern cities.  They also (according to the article) enjoyed a virtual lack of degenerative disease that has not been seen since.
       So how did they live, and what can we learn?  First off, let me say the fact that these people lived long did not mean they lived easy.  The majority of the population back then worked physically demanding jobs for long hours.  The hard work was a large part of what contributed to their longevity.  To fuel 60 hour work weeks at labor intensive jobs, these folks took in 150 to 200% of the calories that we would normally eat today. The benefit that came from eating all these calories was not a result of the calories themselves, but of the organic foods they ate.  These people lived off the land.  They raised their own fruits and vegetables, and ate them fresh from the garden.  Their meats were fresh kills from local farms or successful hunting.  These people did not waste.  They ate far more of the animals they had, including: organs, soups made from bones, whole fish including the heads and roe, and fatty parts that we tend to throw away these days.  Essentially the biggest thing that this group did right was to eat a very large amount of highly nutritious foods.  Their hard work provided the incentive to eat, and their nutrient dense foods kept them alive a long time.  According to the study, a person that lived past the age of  five in that setting could expect to live a longer and healthier life than we do today, over a hundred years later.
     So what can we do today to recreate the good aspects of the lives they led so that we may reap some of the benefits?  The following are two steps toward living like they did :

By Samuele on English Wikipedia Samuele nella Wikipedia Italiana [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons

  
Work Hard: 
     If you are like most of us and don't spend your days lumberjacking or bricklaying, the next best thing is to hit the gym.  Don't get me wrong, I don't think an hour at the gym is going to simulate 8 hours shoveling dirt, but it will get your metabolism up and stimulate an appetite.  If you are looking to burn  maximum calories in minimum time, olympic lifts with heavy weights are a great way to go.  The more you do the better, whether it be at the gym, at work, or in the yard.  The average workers back then burned between 3000 and 4500 calories a day.  We probably are not going to get anywhere near that on a daily basis, but the closer the better.  

Eat More... of Good Things: 
     A result of the hard work you do will be the desire to get some grub.  When I say eat more I mean eat more of certain things.  In America today we get more than enough carbs and protein, there is no need to up the intake of that stuff.  What we do need more of is phytonutrients, and that comes from plants.  Eat organic plants and eat lots of them.  The leafier and the darker the better.  Try to get in as many colors as you can daily as well.  Blending and drinking the juice and pulp is a good way to get in a ton of plant matter conveniently.  When considering meat products, try using as much of the animal as you are comfortable with.  An easy way to start is with beef bone broths and chicken soups (check out the simple chicken soup post).
     When you can, buy organic and local fruits and veggies. When organic is not available buy conventional and local.  You always want to get food that was grown as close to home as possible.  Free range organic meat products are not only better for the animal, but they are better for you.  Animals that live in the sun and graze on grasses and grains that they would naturally eat will provide more and better nutrient quality when consumed. 

                  By Malakwal City (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

      Pretty simple, work hard and eat good stuff.  And yeah, we may never be able to take in the high amounts of vitamins and minerals that they did back then.  As a result we may never come to know the low levels of degenerative disease that they saw.  They lived hard lives, they deserved a break.  In the meantime we'll have some fun while we're strong and if we do get some crappy disease when we're old, at least we'll have 3D movies to distract us.  Carpe Diem.  


Click here to check out the article.

Lemon Rosemary Chicken with Baby Spinach and Pear Salad

What You Need:
4 thin sliced chicken breast cutlets
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
1 small handful fresh spinach per person
1 pear
pinch salt and fresh ground pepper
3 tbsp olive oil

What To Do:
Preheat oven to 400
Place the chicken in a glass casserole dish.
Mix together 1 tbsp lemon juice and 3 tbsp olive oil.
Pour mixture over chicken and sprinkle salt and pepper on top.
Place two sprigs rosemary on top of chicken along with a few thin slices of lemon.
Bake chicken for forty five minutes.
While chicken is baking wash the spinach and cut the pear.
I also steamed some cauliflower in the microwave for a couple minutes.

Rigged Up Suspension Trainer: Works Fine, Costs Less

     Its always good to have some options around the house to switch things up a bit and challenge yourself in new ways.  I have wanted to get a TRX suspension trainer for a while, and though it appears to be a quality product, I wanted to improvise a little and see what it was like before I spent any money (TRX is not cheap).  What I came up with is slightly more sophisticated than a rope and a piece of pvc pipe.  I tried it out today for the first time and it works great.  The workouts you use with this type of device are great because you can easily scale them to any ability level.  Also the equipment is really easy to tote, so this kind of thing is great if you are on vacation or business travel.

Here is what the set up looked like.

Pretty simple.

     I wanted quality handles so I spent 22 dollars on some "go fit" ones from amazon.  I have had good experience with this brand in the past.  They came as a set with a 40 lb exercise band, so that was a bonus.  Below is a closeup of the handles.

     The straps I used were just an old set I have to tie things down in the truck, they are cheap.  All together you are looking at about 30 bucks or so.  I'll put a couple product links below, you can see there is some price difference between the two.  The TRX website has some good videos for workouts and setups.  This stuff is harder than it looks.  The workout I went through today was fun and it definitely hurt.

 


 

Quick Thoughts on the Afterburn Effect

     The afterburn effect simply means that your body will continue to burn fuel after your workout is over in order to return itself to a resting state and adapt to the stresses that are being put on it.  As you exercise, your body depletes energy stores and incurs small amounts of damage to the muscles and connective tissue. After the exercise is over your body must repair the damage that was done, replenish energy stores that were depleted, and adapt so that it can handle similar stress in the future.  All of these processes require the body to use more energy after a workout is over before it can return to a lower metabolic baseline.  The longer the transition to baseline, the more calories that will be burned as a result of a single workout.

     Afterburn is also known as EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption), and though it does dissipate relatively quickly over a couple of hours, the effect can be shown to linger in some small amounts for up to a couple days.  As the intensity and duration of a workout increases, so does the amount of stored energy that is depleted and the amount of tissue damage that is done.  So naturally the afterburn effect will last longer after high intensity workouts and workouts that last longer.

     When designing workouts, there is a balance to be had between intensity and duration.  The longer a  bout of exercise lasts, the less intense it is likely to be.  For example, think about the intensity difference between a sprint and a long distance run.  As duration goes up, intensity must at some point go down.

     A popular way to maximize the amount of intense exercise that can be done in a small amount of time is to separate bursts of intense exercise with small periods of rest.   This is known as "High Intensity Interval Training" or HIIT, and is an excellent way to take full advantage of the "afterburn effect".  One easy way to mix HIIT into a program is to finish a workout with a Tabata Interval, which is simply 8 rounds of 20 sec maximum intensity exercise followed by 10 sec of rest. 

     

   


 

Today's Workout 8/15

Do the following with as little rest as possible:

100 pushups <  2 minutes, any variation
100 inverted rows
25 one leg squat to chair, each side
25 dips
50 standing curl 25 lb dumbbells
50 standing overhead tricep extensions 25 lb dumbbells
20 lateral raises 25lb dumbbells
20 handstand pushups

Picture I took at the Color Run, a charity 5k my wife and I ran in the spring.

Simple Chicken Soup

Today was a little rainy and I had some extra time so I made a chicken soup that will last us a couple days.  Cooking the whole chicken provides nutrients you wouldn't get from the meat alone, and the leftovers only get better with time.  This recipe does take a couple of hours, but only about twenty minutes of real work.  It's worth it. Easy to do, hard to mess up.

What you need:
1 whole fryer chicken, preferably organic and free range, more for the nutrients than the hippie factor.
1 large onion, peeled and sliced
2 leeks, sliced
5 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
Pinch of dry cilantro
Pinch of dry turmeric
Pinch of dry thyme
Pinch of paprika
Pinch of cayenne powder
Teaspoon minced garlic
2 bay leaves
Fresh ground pepper
Sea salt
32 oz low sodium organic chicken broth

What to do:
Place the chicken in a large pot, pour in the broth and add water till the chicken is covered.
Bring to a boil and then drop the heat and simmer for an hour.  
While the chicken is cooking, chop the vegetables.
Remove chicken and use a fork to separate the meat from the bones.
Replace the meat back into the broth along with the vegetables, herbs, and spices.
Let simmer for an hour or two.

Oven Roasted Chicken with Carmelized Shallots and Blackberry Salad

This recipe comes from  David Lebovitz.  I was looking for something quick and easy that I could do in the little time I had to work with today.  This turned out great and was really simple.  I'll make it again for sure.  I made a side of carrots and squash to roast, and put together a quick salad while everything was in the oven. Can't get much more low maintenance.

You need:
8 pieces of chicken, I used four drumsticks and four thighs, bone in
3 tablespoons of olive oil
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce, I used lower sodium
salt and fresh ground pepper
It called for 4 large shallots, peeled and minced, I used 3 and I think for me that was plenty
1 handful flat leaf parsley

For the salad:
One small handful of baby field green salad mix per person in a medium bowl
large handful of fresh blackberries rinsed and dried gently
top with pecans and dried cranberries
no dressing

For the side:
1 cup of baby carrots whole
2 small squash cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper

What to do:
In a glass casserole dish, mix the olive oil, red wine vinegar, soy sauce, salt and pepper, and shallots.
place the chicken in a single layer in the dish, and use your hands to mix the chicken with the marinade until the chicken is coated.

In a separate dish, coat the carrots and squash with olive oil and salt and pepper.

Put both dishes in a a 425 degree oven.
Turn the chicken once after about twenty five minutes, when it is beginning to brown.  Let the chicken cook for another twenty five minutes or so until the skin and shallots are nice and brown.  Let the carrots and squash cook the whole time the chicken is in.  When they are ready, remove from oven and garnish chicken with parsley.  Serve with the blackberry salad. 

Chipotle Chicken with Strawberry Salad and Sweet Potato

 Marinade 1 lb chicken breasts in glass casserole dish with Lowry's Baja Chipotle 30 min marinade
( I'll let you guess how long)

While chicken is marinating:
Preheat oven to 400

Peel and cut sweet potato into rounds of similar size (you may have to cut some into halves).
Place potato into a different glass dish large enough for each piece to touch the bottom, salt and pepper lightly, add 1 tbsp olive oil and mix with hands until potatoes are coated evenly.

Make salad
     2 cups arugula and baby spinach salad mix
     Handful of strawberrys sliced small
     Add small bits of honey goat cheese to taste
     Top with small handful of crushed pralines
     No dressing
     Set in fridge


When chicken is ready, place it and the potato in the oven on the middle rack.
Bake 1 hr and serve with salad.

Gaining Strength Simply

If you have never lifted weights, or if it has been a good while since you have done any strength training, Developing a good base is the place to start.  You need a solid foundation on which to build. The best way I have found to go about this is through the Stronglifts 5x5 program. This program is very simple. It is comprised of only five exercises. The squat, deadlift, barbell row, bench press and shoulder press. The plan is layed out so that you perform only three of these exercises per workout. You do three workouts a week, which should last less than an hour each. Don't let it fool you though, done right, that three hours a week will be exhausting. It is one of my favorite programs simply because it is fun, and you make serious headway in a small amount of time. The point of this program is to add weight each time you go to the gym. When I am doing this program I always see strength gains quickly, which is encouraging. There is also a free app that will track your progress for you and guide you through the program. Check out the program here . They will ask for an email, but the program is legit and I rarely get any emails from them. Download the free report, don't let the hype at the beginning scare you off, just scroll down and check out the program layout. The most important part of this thing is to not get ahead of yourself. Do each lift with strict form and start out LOW on the weight, you'll be adding it on quickly enough, trust me. If you are a beginner this program will really get you started on the right track for maximum strength gains. Intermediate and advanced lifters I think will benefit from this program as well. I use it to get motivated and get my body back into the swing of things if I've been away from the gym for a while. When I plateau I move on to a different program.

Health Benefits of Green Tea

Green Tea is one of those products that gets touted a lot as a cure all. If you walk through any Whole Foods or Fresh Market, you will see tons of products containing green tea, and literature praising the health benefits of consuming it. I wanted to do some reading and see if I could find more information than what I've been given by the people trying to sell it, and here's what I found.

Where did it come from?
There is a legend that thousands of years ago a Chinese emperor was making camp in the forest. As a pot of water boiled over the fire, a wind blew up and sent several leaves from a nearby tea plant tumbling in. The emperor was familiar with herbal medicine, so he decided to let it steep, and drank the freshly brewed tea. The emperor was happy with his discovery and eager to share it.  Soon the kingdom, followed centuries later by much of the world, was drinking tea. Throughout history tea, and in particular green tea, has been associated with a multitude of health benefits. People over time have noted its ability to prevent and cure diarrhea, which can be a serious problem in areas that lack modern medicine. It has also been thought to prevent dementia, cardiovascular disease and stroke, diabetes, cancer, and a slew of other chronic processes. These associations have been made and reinforced over the course of centuries of consumption, which leads one to believe that there must be something to it.

There are three main varieties of tea. These are green, black, and oolong. White tea exists as well but is a subclass of green tea. All come from the leaves of the same plant, with the difference being how they are processed. To produce green tea, the leaves of the plant are steamed while they are fresh so that fermentation does not occur. Oolong tea is partially fermented and black tea is fermented completely (fermentation also increases caffeine, leaving black tea with more than twice the caffeine of green tea). After steaming, the leaves are rolled and dried, rendering a product that is stable and can be packaged and shipped. Because green tea doesn't undergo the fermentation process it retains it's color and more of the chemicals that are thought to be beneficial to our health than oolong or black tea. These chemicals are called polyphenols. Much as it sounds, a polyphenol is a chemical compound comprised of many phenol groups bound together. The amount of phenol groups and their structural placement give these chemicals their varying attributes. They can come from natural sources or be made in the lab, and are water soluble for the most part, which is why we find them in teas. You may also see the polyphenols in green tea referred to as flavanols or catechins. In any case the polyphenol compound that is believed to be the main source of green tea's healthy effects is called epigallocatechin gallate, or EGCG for short. EGCG is a powerful antioxidant, and has also been shown to have antidiabetic and anticarcinogenic effects in the labratory setting.


There have been thousands of studies done on green tea over the past decade, and so there is a lot of literature to filter through. Green tea poses some difficulty to researchers because it contains such a large variety of chemical compounds, and not every cup of tea is the same. There are differences in the chemical makeup of tea that vary with geographic growing location, processing methods, and brewing methods. This makes it difficult to deliver consistent amounts of green tea polyphenols to test subjects during an experiment. Some researchers have chosen to go with extracts in order to avoid this problem. A factor to consider when using extracts is that the compounds in tea act synergistically, so that studying the effects of only a select group of its constituent compounds in extract form may not be able to tell us all we need to know about how these chemicals work in concert. Also a large part of the research that has shown green tea to be beneficial has been done using animal models or retrospective reviews. Studies done retrospectively, while useful, can be hard to control for confounding factors. And though the results that have been found using animals and in vitro methods have yielded very promising results, it has yet to be seen how those results will translate to human subjects. What we can say is that green tea in normal doses, such as those you would get from drinking a few cups of tea a day, probably won't hurt and probably is beneficial. In very high doses green tea compounds can become cytotoxic, especially to the liver. High doses have also been shown to do some oxidative damage to the pancreas, which is counterintuitive since we usually think of tea as having antioxidant properties. Other negative side effects of green tea usually come from caffeine, disruption of iron absorption, or aluminum. Caffeine can cause anxiety, increased heart rate, insomnia, and increased urine output. Decreased iron absorption is mainly problematic in people with blood disorders or heart problems. Aluminum has been thought to contribute to problems with the nervous system such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. Though there are some potential negative side effects of drinking tea, they are normally seen at doses well above what you would find with normal use. Thousands of years of ingestion by large populations of people who are long lived have provided enough proof for me that tea is a good thing.
All in all I think the scientific proof is still somewhat lacking on how exactly green tea is beneficial, but I'm sure in time it will catch up. In the mean time do we really need complete scientific justification to drink something that tastes great and has been associated with long life for centuries? Nah... I think the secret, as in so many areas, is in balance. That, and enjoying the process. Taking a few minutes out of the day to boil up some water and steep a cup of tea, along with the calming smells and warmth it provides can be an instantly soothing experience.  No wonder so many cultures have developed social rituals that center around taking time out and drinking tea every day.  

A couple quick tips:

Adding lemon to tea can increase the amount of available aluminum, so skip it if possible.

Bottled green tea typically contains almost none of the beneficial polyphenols found in the freshly brewed product. Also it often has a lot of sugar. Brew your own.

The compounds in green tea that make it healthy are the same ones that provide a somewhat bitter taste, so don't be scared to take it a little strong.

To get the most out of a cup of green tea it has to be consumed fairly quickly after being brewed. A Keurig machine is great because you can brew quickly and easily several times a day.

Try to stick with fresh brewed tea instead of extracts, which aren't strictly regulated and can increase the potential of negative side effects.


Sources:  Anticancer, a book by Dr. David Servan-Schreiber
               The Primal Blueprint, a book by Mark Sisson
               

                   Beneficial Effects of Green Tea:  A Literature Review, Journal of Chinese Medicine
                Cancer and Metastasis: prevention and treatment by green tea
                Cancer Prevention by Tea: animal studies, molecular mechanisms and human relevance

Easy Taco Salad

I have become addicted to this one, its so quick and easy and tastes great. Mostly healthy too, has a little salt, but you can always go skimpy if you want.
Here's what you need:
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 lb lean ground turkey
1/2 an onion, chopped
1 avocado, sliced
1 handfull of cherry tomatoes, halved
2 or 3 heads romaine lettuce, sliced
1 packet low sodium taco seasoning

What to do:
Add olive oil to skillet and heat to medium high
Add onion and heat till they are just starting to get some color on them, four or five minutes
Add turkey and cook until done
While turkey is cooking,clean and chop the tomatoes, avocado, and lettuce
When turkey is done, add taco seasoning and water and bring to a boil
Once boiling, turn heat to low and give sauce a few minutes to thicken
Toss lettuce with tomatoes, top with turkey, garnish with avocado and maybe a little hot taco sauce

The Art of Deloading, In The Gym and at Home

Deloading simply means to take it down a notch for a few days in order to let your body fully recuperate from the stresses you put on it at the gym. Without this downtime, the body and mind can become weakened from overuse. This can lead to plateaus and injury, and sap your motivation. Luckily, deloading is easy and feels good. The only problem is you have to remember to do it! While we all know we should keep close track of our workouts, not all of us (including me) hit the gym with notebook in hand. So if you belong in this group it may be easier for you to schedule your deloads on a recurring basis, such as the first or last week of every month.

Now that you have it scheduled... what are you gonna do on your deload week?
Here are some suggestions:

1. Most importantly, Earn Your Deload! Work hard on the weeks leading up to the deload week. You want to tax your body so that this time to recover takes place when it will benefit you. The point is to allow your body to fully adapt to the new stresses (higher intensity and weight loads) you have put on it. This can restore you to a baseline that is a level above where you previously were, and prepare you to reach new levels in your training. If you don't earn your deload, don't take it until you do. You don't want to defeat the purpose.

2. You have earned it, so enjoy it. Don't think of this week as downtime or regression. Instead use it to improve your form at lower weight loads, practice explosive lifts, and work accessory muscles that will help pull things together when you are back to full intensity. Give your mind a break by changing things up, and after a few days you will feel yourself dying to get back to your program.

3. Stretch it out! This is a great time to stretch. Do some yoga. Work on your balance. Use a foam roller to release any knots that you have building up. This should be part of your regular routine anyway, but I know its not as exciting and often gets left out (like a warm up and cool down). Eric Cressey of Cressey Performance compares stretching and soft tissue work to flossing. We all know we should do it and its good for us, but nobody really wants to. Also like flossing, it hurts if you haven't done it in a while. But, if you do it regularly, you are glad you did.

4. Keep in mind that deloading is also appropriate in everyday life. Take it one step further by taking it easy at home too. You work hard, take some time to relax. Treat yourself to a massage. Change things up a bit, get into a book you wouldn't normally read. Try to unplug a little, turn off the phone and the tv. These changes are good for you, will inspire new thought, and will will help your body to focus on rebuilding.

5. Eat right. Deloads are a great time to plan your meals for upcoming weeks. Find some new recipes. Nutrition is as important as exercise, so put some thought into it. Remember to give your body what it needs to support your efforts.

6. Get some sleep. You may not be as worn out at night, but doing a little stretching before bed and reading with the tv off usually puts me right out. Obviously sleep is huge for recovery and adaptation. Plus, it's sleep, what's not to like.

7. If you have vacation coming up, plan your deload for your vacation week. Work your butt off in the weeks leading up to it. Bonus, you'll be buff at the beach and you won't feel like crap if you slack a litte while you are there. Just do some bodyweight stuff (check out the earlier post on staying fit away from home), maybe a run in the morning... you're good to go.

Well, there ya go, there's no secret to the deload, at least for those of us who won't be competing in the olympics anytime soon. Ain't nothin to it but to do it.

BPA Risk Assessment

I've been seeing BPA-free labels a lot lately, which got me wondering what this chemical is and why so many products I buy need to be free from it. So I spent the last couple days looking around and I thought I would post what I found. Pretty interesting.

What is BPA?
Bisphenol A, or BPA, is a synthetic chemical used mainly in plastics and resins. It was first synthesized in 1891, and is made through the condensation of acetone and phenol. It was not used commercially until the early 1950's, when chemists discovered it was useful in making epoxy resins. These resins are used as protective coatings to line products like food cans. A few years later chemists found a way to obtain a higher grade, more pure BPA product, which could be made into a durable plastic called polycarbonate. Polycarbonate found use in electronics, car manufacturing, food and drink containers, CDs and DVDs, and a slew of other applications that called for a hard, clear plastic. More recently BPA has been used in products like dental sealants, orthodontic hardware, and thermal paper such as that used in retail receipts.

Basically anywhere you look you will find BPA. It is such a versatile product it has found its way into a large majority of the things we use on a daily basis. It is manufactured in huge amounts. The US had produced half a billion pounds by the late seventies, and global production is presently over six billion pounds per year. That makes it one of the top 50 products produced globally by the chemical industry.

What's wrong with BPA?
We have established that BPA is a very useful product, and since it has become so plentiful, it makes sense for the public to be aware of any hazards it may convey. It has been known sine the 1930's that BPA has estrogen mimicking properties. It has also been known for years that BPA can leech out of the products that contain it, especially when it is heated. Scientists at Stanford who were doing research involving estrogen discovered this when their results were repeatedly skewed by BPA leeching from flasks that were heated in their experimental methods.

How Does BPA Affect The Body?
Simply put, the human endocrine system is made up of glands that produce hormones. Hormones are chemical messengers that are stored in glands and released into the blood under certain conditions. Once released they find their target tissues via a receptor mechanism, much like a lock and key, and they relay a message. For example, vasopressin is a hormone that is stored in the pituitary gland. When the body becomes dehydrated, vasopressin is released into the blood, where it travels to the kidney and signals it to retain water. It has been well established through years of experimentation that BPA has an effect on the human endocrine system. It exerts it's effect by mimicking hormones that the body naturally produces(such as estrogen), effectively tricking tissues in the body into believing some hormone levels are higher than they actually are.

So how strong is this effect and does it cause enough disruption in the body to be of concern? This is where things become tricky. Much research has been done. But much of the research has been funded by either the chemical companies themselves, or other companies that stand to make a profit from the sale of BPA. Here is a quote from an article called "The Politics of Plastics", featured in the American Journal of Public Health, in November 2009.

Most alarmingly, they highlighted an apparent funding effect in the BPA research. Between 1997 and 2005, there were 115 studies on the effects of BPA at or below the safety standard, conducted by dozens of laboratories in the United States, Japan, and Europe. The reported effects of BPA included changes in fetal prostate and mammary gland development, disruption of chromosomal alignment in developing eggs in females, altered immune function, metabolic abnormalities, and changes in the brain and behavior. Of these 115 studies, 90% of those that were government funded reported some effects from exposures at or below the reference dose, whereas none of the 11 studies funded by (the chemical) industry reported any effects.

This kind of thing makes me skeptical, along with the fact that the two major studies that the government has used to determine safe levels of BPA were both funded by the American Plastics Council, and the Society of the Plastics Industry (according to the same journal article as above).

After I spent a couple days reviewing journals and trying to find reputable sources online here is what I believe to be the heart of the issue.

There is definitely evidence to show that BPA has endocrine disrupting capability in humans, and that BPA is leeched out of products containing it, often into our food. The extent to which BPA is harmful is up for debate, and there are widely differing views. BPA seems to have the most substantial effect during critical developmental periods in the human life cycle. During developmental times such as fetal growth, early postnatal development, puberty, and pregnancy, the body is dependent on hormones to help direct critical processes. At these times we are particularly susceptible to the deleterious effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals. That said I think the best approach, at least for me, is to limit exposure where possible without becoming a freakazoid about it. Here are some useful ways to limit BPA exposure.

If you have to have a reuseable plastic bottle, Look for BPA-free labels. Alternatively stainless steel is lighter than glass and safer than plastic.

Use glass as much as possible at home.

Avoid canned foods (especially tomatoes) when there are easy alternatives like fresh or frozen.
Acidity in the tomatoes greatly increases leeching from can liners.

Do your best to buy BPA free products for babies, such as bottles (which frequently are heated), plastic toys (which are often put in the mouth), or pacifiers (which are very often put in the mouth).

Try not to frequently use products labeled as plastic #7, which are usually hard and clear. I checked the water cooler at work we all use and yep, it was.

Plastic number 1 is BPA free, though I still recommend drastically reducing consumption from these bottles too, there are other chemicals in plastics that can leech out as well. Which I will try to cover in a future post.

I suppose that's all for now, please leave a comment if there is anything you would like to add !

Should I Eat Organic Produce?

     When I'm at the grocery, store the first place I find myself is the produce isle, where I always have this internal battle over whether or not to buy organic stuff.  Part of me thinks, "buy organic, its good for you and better for the environment".  But another part is always saying, "ahh that's a load of crap, it's more expensive and doesn't make a difference anyway."  So there I am wondering well, which is it?  I did a little digging, and decided it might make a good topic for today's post.
     First off, there are so many issues related to the whole organic food debate, I needed to narrow it down.  For me the thing that matters most is the impact it may have on the health of my family.  From that standpoint, the two main issues seem to be pesticide residues, and nutrient retention.
     What's so bad about pesticide?  The most commonly used pesticides work by affecting the nervous systems of insects. Unfortunately, they can also affect the human nervous system.  Pesticides can also cause cancer and endocrine malfunction.  It is thought that children may be particularly affected by consuming pesticides because of their higher metabolism, different eating habits, and developing organs.  For more info from the EPA on why not to chow down on insect killer,  click here  (ok, maybe that was a little strongly worded, but you get the point).  I think we can all agree we don't want to eat too much of the stuff.  The book "Anticancer" speaks of a theory of disease called the "the seed and the soil".  Basically this says that we create an environment in our bodies (the soil) that either is conducive or not to the development of disease (the seeds).  What we put in our bodies on a daily basis sets up the stage for the development of disease or a natural resistance to it.  This is a commonsense concept, but I think sometimes we get so busy with life we forget that we actually are what we eat.  That said, if we can adopt simple changes that affect what goes in our mouths every day, we can make a real difference in longevity. 
     A quick note on limiting exposure. When you are buying products that have a lot of edible surface area, such as leafy greens (lettuce, spinach, kale, and such), it is important to go organic.  These products are often sprayed with harsh pesticides, and owing to their large surfaces, will hold the most residue.  Also washing produce is a must, whether it be organic or not.  If you are eating pesticide treated produce, a wash designed to reduce residue is advisable.  You can make an inexpensive wash at home with white vinegar and a little salt (click here to see how).  Products with a skin that is not eaten or is easy to clean pose less of a risk.  These include onions, avocados, and the like.  For more info on pesticides and disease, see the following: Organophosphorous Pesticide Exposure of Urban and Suburban Preschool Children With Organic and Conventional Diets. This study measured pesticide in the urine of children, and showed that levels increased or decreased rapidly based on whether they ate conventional or organic products. Also see: Pesticides and Cancer.
     Enough about that for now, let's move on to nutrients.  According to the Mayo Clinic (click here), a recent study looked at the scientific literature over the last fifty years, and determined that there was a minimal nutritional difference between organic and conventionally grown produce.  Given that, I think the following formula presented by Mark Sisson, author of The Primal Blueprint, makes a lot of sense.  He says that your buying habits should go in this order:

Organic and Local > Conventional and Local > Organic and Remotely Grown > Conventional and Remotely Grown

There are a couple reasons for conventionally grown local food beating remotely grown organic food.  Local farmers are more likely to use kinder growing methods and less chemicals than large commercial farms, and you are more likely to get these products near the peak of their freshness.  Organic products grown far away are less likely to be fresh and nutrient rich after the long trip to your local store. 
     To sum it up, it seems that for the biggest health benefits you should try to eat the most nutrient rich food with the least pesticide residue.  Sounds straight forward, and it can be.  I realize that it will drive any of us crazy to stress over this stuff too much. So let's lay out a few simple rules to shop by that won't kill the budget and will make a healthy difference.

#1    If It Is Green, then Go Green!
          This includes bell peppers, lettuce, spinach, kale, and so on.

#2    Edible Skin, Organic Wins!
          This goes for things like eggplant, tomatoes, apples, grapes.

#3    Keep it Close to Home.
          If you can buy local, do.

While these three rules may not adhere to every study ever written, they are easy to remember when you are in the produce section, and they are a good start in the right direction toward eating healthy.   

Information for this post came from the following:  The Primal Blueprint, a book by Mark Sisson.  Anticancer, a book by Dr. David Servan-Schreiber.  The Mayo Clinic website.  The recipe for veggie wash was from thriftyfun.com.  The EPA website. 

Coming Soon... Why organic can be important when choosing meat and dairy.

Choosing a Whey Protein

Since I eat this stuff every day, and really had no idea how to choose between the many varieties, I thought I would do a little research.  Let me start by saying that I am no expert in whey, I only thought that I might save some other regular guys and gals like myself some time by relaying what I have found in a few hours research online.

First off, what is whey? Whey is a byproduct of the cheese making process.  Cheese is made from milk. Milk has two types of proteins, casein and whey.  In order to make cheese these two are separated as follows. Bacterial cultures are added to milk, this produces acidity and makes the milk more receptive to an enzyme that will be added next.  This enzyme, called rennin, converts one of the milk proteins (casein) into an insoluble form.  Since the casein is no longer soluble it condenses out into cheese blobs, called curd.  The liquid that is left is the whey.  So from milk, cultures, and enzymes we now have curds and whey! If you think that's exciting, I'm only getting started!  Oh yeah, and I will try to fight the urge to insert a picture of Little Miss Muffet... no promises. 

Ok, so now we can separate the whey, which is the liquid in the picture above.  But what is actually in it?  Well, the whey is composed of protein, lactose, fat and a variety of minerals.  The protein is made of smaller fragments called subfractions which each exhibit their own biological activity in the body.  Some may help with immunity, such as lactoferrin.  Others are thought to be beneficial in a multitude of ways, such as lowering blood pressure, improving performance, reducing cortisol levels, and so on.  I will not go into depth here because I don't want to bore anybody to death.  But, for those who want more on that, check out an article called "The Whey It Is" at brinkzone.com, its written well and the guy seems to know his stuff.
The next thing we will look at is how the whey is processed once it has been separated from the curds, and how these processes affect the quality of the protein product produced. Say that five times fast!

After separation, the whey is filtered.  The product of the first pass is called a concentrate, it can retain from about 30-80% protein, and still contains a fair amount of fat and lactose.  Though some concentrates have protein percentages on the low end, the ones used in supplements that you would buy in the store are normally 70 to 80%.  The product from the second filtration is called an isolate, and contains a higher percent of protein, about 90.  Isolates have virtually no fat or lactose, which can make them a good choice for those who are afflicted with a lactose intolerance.

So it seems that the isolate may be the way to go, based solely on protein concentration.  But there is another thing to consider.  Low temperatures and stable pH conditions should be maintained during the process or the protein may become severely denatured. If this occurs during the refining process, it can render the amino acids less digestible and generate potentially carcinogenic nitrogen compounds.

Two main processes are used to attain the supplements we see on the shelf today.  Ion exchange, and cross flow microfiltration.  Ion exchange does yield the highest protein content and a product essentially free of lactose.  But in the same way it reduces lactose, it in turn gets rid of most of the beneficial subfractions.  Also, the acids used in the ion exchange process can damage the protein and make it less valuable for digestion.  Cross flow microfiltration, on the other hand, involves lower temperatures and a more stable pH. This results in a higher quality product which retains high amounts of subfractions, and supplies a protein concentration that is not significantly lower than that of ion exchange.  You will see cross flow microfiltration products referred to as isolates based on concentration.  The only true down side I see to cross flow microfiltration is that is does leave some fat and lactose in the product.
Whew! That was a mouthful, but at least now I have some vague idea of what that magical white powder I've been eating is. Hope this was a useful read.  Let me reiterate that I am no expert, but I did try to find reliable sources and I'm certainly open to any useful comments anybody has.
This info came from www.brinkzone.com, www.whey-proteinguide.com, biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/Cheese/Cheese_course, and wheyoflife.org

 Also, the best tasting protein I have found is Jay Robb, don't be scared of the dude on the package, it's good stuff.

Man Alive Begins!

     I thought for the new year I would start off this blog dedicated to staying (also worded getting) in shape, and eating healthy.  But I want to throw some other things in here and there... whatever happens to be on my mind at the time.  So please send me a note if you happen upon the site and find anything particularly interesting.