Archive for Supplements
A Berry, Berry Good Idea for Inflammation
Posted by: | CommentsBerries are a real sweet treat. Not only are they relatively low in carbs, meaning they’re guilt free for those restricting your sugars, but the polyphenol antioxidants contained within regulate cell function to improve many areas of health. In this study the authors compared the effects of lifestyle intervention with and without berry extract supplements on 61 women. Over a 20-week trial greater berry consumption was seen to decrease levels of certain liver enzymes, associated with liver damage, by 23%! This may contribute positively to the low-grade systemic inflammation in body and decrease the risk of cardiovascular diseases. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition advance online publication, 3 March 2010; doi:10.1038/ejcn.2010.27.
What can you do?
Berries are an easy addition to any cupboard. A really great choice is the goji-berry, incredibly high in anti-oxidants. The Mule bar with goji-berries therefore provides energy and a healthy, anti-oxidant boost!
Reference
H. M., J. P. Suomela, et al. (2010)."Berry meals and risk factors associated with metabolic syndrome." Eur J Clin Nutr. Lehtonen,
Vitamin D – athletic and health performance
Posted by: | CommentsThere is increasing evidence that virtually everyone should be taking Vitamin D supplements.
Are you taking Vitamin D?
Deena Kastor theAmerican marathon runner broke her foot during the 2008 Olympic Marathon, here is an excerpt from an interview with running times
Q: Did a Vitamin D deficiency lead to the injury?
A test showed I had a great deal of calcium in my bloodstream, but without enough Vitamin D I couldn’t utilize it. Something I’ve prided myself on is taking care of my skin because of repeated bouts of skin cancer — always wearing hats, long sleeve shirts, lots of sunscreen — but I guess it’s something I need to balance. Maybe when I do my 20-minute warm-up I won’t wear sunscreen and wait to put it on with my racing flats on to do my workout. And now I’m taking a calcium supplement called "Bone Up" and eating a lot more green vegetables.
The Chicago BlackHawks Ice Hockey team were diagnosed as being Vitamin D defficient 18 months ago and most of the players are on 5000IU/day, they won the Premier Ice Hockey Competition (The Stanley Cup) this year after never having won it previously, they have also seen decreased levels of flu and repetitive strain injuries.
Anecdotedly since I’ve been taking Vitamin D personally, I’ve not had any hayfever and very few colds. I’ve not broken any bones either, but I’d not broken any before so that doesn’t count.
Vitamin D where do we get it from?
Our body produces Vitamin D from exposure to sunlight. With many people concerned about exposure to the sun and skin cancer, it’s caused the levels of vitamin D in the population to fall as we reduce our exposure to the suns harmful rays. Vitamin D is also found in oily fish and egg yolks, lets be honest not many people eat oily fish (mackeral, sardines etc) very often if at all Tuna and Salmon don’t count as oily fish and a lot of people tend to avoid eating too many eggs, so there’s a combined effect that is driving down the levels of Vitamin D in the population.
In some countries they fortify common foodstuffs like milk with Vitamin D, but that’s a way off happening in this country.
If you are not convinced about the need to supplement with Vitamin D then have a listen to this episode of the BBC’s food programme that was aired a few days ago.
What are the consequences of Vitamin D defficiency
The main problems are a lack of bone strength and muscle strength, if you’re an athlete or just anyone who cares about their health then it’s a no brainer that bone and muscle strength are of vital importance.
The expert interviewed on the show takes 5000IU a day of Vitamin D, personally I take 25,000 IU every few days. When you look at the recommended daily allowance for Vitamin D in the UK it is 1000 IU a day, 5000 seems a lot.
What you have to bear in mind is that when these RDA’s are determined the authorities have to err on the side of caution and if one person out of 1 million has a reaction at a particulat level, it doesn’t matter that the other 999,999 get exceptional health benefits, they say that the limit is 1000UI’s
Here is the brand that we recommend
How to test your levels of Vitamin D
In most countries the health services are geared up to treating you when you get sick, their focus is not on keeping you well, so if you visit your Dr and say you are concerned about your Vitamin D levels, you’ll most likely get told to go away and eat oily fish and an egg every day and get some sunlight.
Obviously that’s the right advice and we all should be doing that. However for some people that may not be enough. So what I do personally, I’m not telling you to do this but it might be worth considering is to follow the Dr’s advice and then take a supplement.
Some of you may be thinking, I don’t really want to have to take a supplement unless I need to in that case then the next option is to have a private blood test and evaluation, this is the one that I recommend.
Whey Protein – which one to use
Posted by: | CommentsIf you’ve been a subscriber for any length of time you probably realise how important Whey Protein is for your sporting performance, it’s not only for body builders it’s just as important for endurance athletes to boost their recovery and help protect their lean muscle mass.
If you’re interested in the benefits of Whey Protein then check out the various posts on the site here…
As you may be aware I helped an Irish company called Kinetica develop and formulate a range of whey products and have had them for sale on my website for a while. The quality of the whey is top notch, it all comes from Irish Cows which have a good diet unlike some cheap whey proteins that come from America where they feed the cows on cornflakes instead of grass.
Anyway I’ve been scratching my head as to why you guys have not been buying more of it and what I’ve realised is that I’ve not been doing a good enough job of ‘selling it to you’. A lot of people tend to look at Whey as a commodity i.e All Whey is the same and the client is often driven by price, even though I really disagree with this premise I’m going to focus on the pricing.
I want to compare the pricing of Kinetica Whey 2.27Kg with Maximuscles Promax the best selling Whey Protein in the UK.
On Maximuscles site they charge £43.99 for a 908g tub that works out to 4.84 pence per gram if you shop around you can get the same product online from Amazon Maximuscle Promax 908g
How does the price of Kinetica Whey compare to Promax?
I tend to supply the 2.27Kg tubs of Kinetica which retail at £49.99 which looks a lot more expensive than the Promax but when you do the maths it works out to 2.20 pence per gram which is 27% cheaper than the cheapest online price available for Promax.
As you know I always say that you need to cycle all your supplements and not stick to one brand of anything for ever as it can lose it’s effectiveness and it’s possible to develop intolerances, so my recommendation is to add Kinetica to your Whey Protein list, not because it’s cheaper but because it makes sense.
If you place an order in the next week http://sportsnutritionvlog.com/products-page/protein/ you can use this discount code KN10 just before you checkout and get a further 10% discount.
Matt Lovell
How do you decide what sports nutrition supplements are best?
Posted by: | CommentsIt’s absolutely amazing
Gavin went to the Body Power Expo at the NEC on Sunday, he was telling me it was absolutely rammed with people. It's a really good show and hopefully next year I’ll be able to do a few talks and maybe Gavin will get to do some cookery demonstrations.
In chatting with Gavin and looking at some of the literature that he brought back it’s absolutely amazing how many companies are involved in the sports nutrition market place and how confusing it is for consumers to make decisions.
There is so much noise competing for the same market space. No wonder it’s hard for people to make any meaningful decisions on what is going to be best for them.
The marketing budgets that these companies have must be huge, they had the works the scantily clad models with cosmetic breasts, Formula 1 cars decked out in their brand, huge display stands.
There must be well over 100 different types of whey protein available and if you add in those that are combined with carbohydrate and then other bits and bobs like extra creatine etc, the product choice runs into the 1000’s.
I suppose it's like any market if you went to a jam makers expo there would be 1000’s of types of jams represented.
Where the supplement market differs with any other consumer market I think is the decision making hierarchy that consumers go through.
Using jam as an example it probably goes
1. taste
2. price
3. health benefits
With supplements it is more likely to be the other way round
1. Health Benefits
2. Price
3. Taste
(maybe price and taste are interchangeable when it comes to supplements)
The challenge that consumers have in the supplement market is to cut through the noise to make an informed decision. This is one of the reasons why I set up this site to help people find the information and make an informed choice.
All the products that I stock in my sports nutrition shop are the ones that I use myself personally and I use with my athletes so you can rest assured that they are there because they rank number 1 for the health benefits, they might not be the cheapest on the market and they may not be the best tasting but if you want them to deliver results then they are the best available.
Likewise the products that I am developing like the growth hormone supplement off the back of the research that I have been doing with elite athletes over the past 10 years aren’t going to be glitzy, I’m not going to be hiring big breasted blond bimbos to promote them because at the end of the day it’s you the consumer that ends up paying for that (plus my wife won’t let me!).
My aim is to help educate people to get the best results possible and often in order to do that you need to invest some time to learn the right information, you can pick up stuff online or down the gym but how can you be sure if the information is correct,
How much are these people being paid to say that?
If you are seriously looking for answers then come along to a sports nutrition seminar I’m putting on in London on the 25th June, I look forward to meeting you there details coming soon.
Leave me a comment below and tell me how you make a decision to purchase your sports nutrition supplements. I might have to bow to the market and hire in a few models if that's what makes your mind up.
Matt Lovell
