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The Acai Berry - new miracle fruit?

The Acai berry is thelatest miracle food to make a surge onto the market boasting weight loss as itsmain incentive. Firstly, what is it? The acai berry is a reddish purple fruitwhich originates from Central and South America- related closely to the blueberryand cranberry. The berry itself contains; minerals, amino acids, vitamins,omega 3, fatty acids and antioxidants. The claim is that this super food raisesmetabolic rate and supresses appetite but it can also enhance energy levels andimprove your skin condition.

Antioxidants help combat free radicals; these are potentially dangerous cellsif left free to roam about the body. Free radicals are odd-number electronswhich attempt to become ‘even’ by binding to other already even-numberedelectrons. By binding to these already-even electrons they cause them to becomeunstable and free- thus free radicals. Acai berry’s supress the activity ofthese free radicals which can potentially become cancerous.

Research is limited, but the most convincing piece comes from the Nationalinstitute of aging which looked at the pulp from the acai berry. The studyfound it did have the ability to reduce the negative effects of a high-fat dietin flies. Firstly, this research was conducted on flies- we cannot generalisethese findings to humans. Secondly, the study looked at an already high-fatdiet not a normal diet; therefore the research cannot be applied to the lattereither.

Acai does contribute to a balanced diet which ultimately is what willlead to weight loss and a healthier lifestyle. To drink copious amounts of acaiberry juice and pop several acai pills daily will not cause sustained weightloss.  

The most standout product currently on the market is called ‘Ketone Ultra’which combines acai berries and raspberry ketones. Raspberry ketones have beenknown to shrink fat cells in the body as well as increasing the production ofadiponectin, a protein which speeds up the metabolism of fat. Ketone Ultra boasts‘30 pounds in 30 days’ tagline and with these two berries packed in, it is easyto see why. However, once again it is important to remember there is noscientific evidence to back up this magic pill’s claim.

The world we live in today is so driven by money that a price tag can actuallybe a more powerful agent than scientific research. Acai berry and raspberryketone tablets sound exotic and often come with a high price tag. Now, there issomething about exotic fruits and weight loss that sounds appealing- perhapsthe unknown aspect leads us to believe it is one of the best kept secrets ofall time. Speaking on behalf of the world here, we like the idea of these newproducts that claim to promote fat metabolism and supplement websites knowthis. As well as this, berry is made up of 90% seed with the remaining fleshypulp and skin where you find all these nutrients. This means only 10% of theberry can actually be used for juices, tablets, powders etc. This would alsoexplain the high price- it’s foreign and is hard to extract any sellableproduct from. Next week we will undoubtedly have yet another exotic fruit putinto tablet form that claims miracle effects.  Is the acai berry a miraclefruit? Highly unlikely although it contains many good things so does a lot of fruit- in short, there is nothing trulyspecial about this fruit unfortunately.

Lance Armstrong – the saviour of world cycling?

 

On first glimpse you areprobably thinking this was written in 2005 and Lance had captured his seventhTour de France victory. But no, the year is 2013 and the statement stands.

In June 2012 the US anti-doping agency(USADA) found him guilty of using performance-enhancing drugs and in August ofthe same year he was given a lifetime ban and stripped of all of his titles wonsince 1998. Armstrong chose not to appeal the ban but never categoricallyconfirmed his drug usage until he subtly disclosed the details of his drugsprogramme to Oprah Windfrey and her three million viewers in January of2013.Now, Lance has heroically put himself forward to assist in the crackdownof the use of drugs in sport, stating, "This is about cyclingand, to be frank, it's about all endurance sports."

The question then remains, ‘are we to trust this man?’

He claims to want to start fresh and ‘become a new man’ but by the looks ofthings he is still up to his old tricks. Cast your mind back to that interviewwith Oprah where he admitted he had taken drugs frequently but not in 2009 and2010. Why not? Because he really is this changed man and is ready to tackle thedrugs problem in cycling- fact! There is absolutely no suggestion it hasanything to do with the fact that under the statue of liberations, he can onlybe charged for fraud for those years and nothing prior to. You can just seeanother court case with more lawyers arguing his innocence all over again.

 

But what still remains is the fact that he was part of “the most sophisticated, professionalized andsuccessful doping program that sport has ever seen” (USADA) -and the man at thecentre of all of this will have contacts. This same man will know exactly whois involved, where they obtain their drugs from and most importantly who is thepioneer of all of this- the athlete? The coach? Or perhaps someone moreexternal but equally as powerful such as a sponsor? These are questions easy toanswer when you have someone who has taken part in an operation as covert asArmstrong’s. It has become very clear that for him to ‘play ball’ he will wantfavours, but who wouldn’t when you’re facing a $12 million payback to SCApromotions.

Armstrong will weasel hisway out of this somehow –he always does- and for that reason we must use hisknowledge to find other drug cheats and other drug networks to preservecycling. LA Confidential was published in 2004 and completely proved Armstrongwas taking performance enhancing drugs, including a number of eye witness’ whosaw Michelle Ferrari injecting Armstrong with EPO (drug used to boost red bloodcell count). Yet, Armstrong was able to preserve his name and continue tocycle, until 2012. In 2005, six of his urine samples contained EPO but afterfurther prompted investigation on Armstrong’s behalf by Dutch lawyer EmileVrijman the samples were disregarded due to improper handling and testing.

If we give him any creditat all it is that he is a very hard worker and cunning. The physiologicaleffects of erythropoietin (EPO) ensure you either employ this hard work ethic,or you die. The science behind it is simple; red blood cells carry oxygen,boost your red blood cell count and you can carry more oxygen. Our body isunable to use one hundred percent of the oxygen we inhale so anything thatboosts this efficiency will help, especially if you are an endurance athlete.Why does this make him a hard worker? Well, we all have EPO in our body, itsperfectly natural but when we inject more EPO the blood becomes more viscous-thicker. If the viscosity of the blood is too high then it will ‘clog’ thecapillaries and will cause a heart attack. To counter this, you need to beexercising; this process lowers the hematocrit and thins the blood. Relativelyspeaking, if Lance Armstrong was not exercising for a large percentage of theday- he would have died. We can therefore assume he would be awake at all hoursof the night cycling as well as throughout the day. EPO requires hard work toreap the benefits and in fairness to Armstrong he would have had to put a lotof work in.

So we know the man is ahard worker, both to preserve his name and to enhance his performance.Therefore, we must conclude he is someone we want onside and in hindsight hepossibly can change the world of cycling. A big thumbs up to Lance working withUSADA and his battle with drug cheats? Absolutely not.

Whichever way you look atit, the man has disgraced the sport. No he is not alone and cheats like himhave damaged cycling to the extent that it seems cheats will forever plague thesport. But lifting his lifetime ban and allowing him immunity from paying backthe money he won unfairly, sends out the wrong message to competitorseverywhere. Every athlete has probably considered drugs but one of the majordeterrents is that if you are caught- you will be banned and you will pay. Ifwe then employ the biggest drugs cheat that has ever graced the sporting world,then the message becomes ‘if you’re caught, you’ll have to work for yournational doping agency’.

The man has had so muchimpact on the sport that we now question- is it possible to win the Tour deFrance without drugs? And we look at people like Bradley Wiggins and think ‘he’sprobably on drugs’ when in reality he is a clean, hard-working icon whodeserves every accolade presented to him. So therefore, what needs to happenhere is Mr Armstrong is placed in front of a jury and will have to either lieunder oath or come clean and pay for what he did. The people at the world antidoping agency (WADA) are catching cheats daily and definitely do not need thehelp from people like Lance Armstrong. The saviour of cycling? No. A catchytitle. The real title is ‘Lance Armstrong how do you plead?’

The Role of Vitamins C & E

Both vitamins are examples of antioxidents, but what are antioxidents? They are compounds that protect our cells from damage caused by oxidation. This then poses the question of what is oxidation? Basically, it is a chemical reaction in which atoms lose electrons- this happens during metabolism and is fueled by oxygen, hence oxidation. Stable atoms have an even number of electrons but when oxidation occurs, it is left with an odd number of electrons- ordinarily these electrons combine with each other to make a stable electron. Some atoms do not pair; these atoms are highly unstable and are called free radicals.

The problem with free radicals is they 'want' to become stable and therefore look to 'steal' electrons from stable molecules (Thompson and Manore: 2008). This means they are actively trying to destroy other cells- that can be very dangerous. Antioxidant vitamins donate their electrons or hydrogen atoms to stabilize them. The role of antioxidant minerals is slightly more complex but the end product is eventually excreted. Antioxidents get rid of these dangerous free radicals.

Vitamin E, also known as ascorbic acid is a vitamin that protects the body against these free radicals. But more commonly it is known for preventing muscle cramps, muscle weakness and anemia (Thompson and Manore: 2008). Humans do not have the capacity for ascorbic synthesis, so therefore it must be included in the diet.Further research looking into a low vitamin E diet has been proven to cause oxidative stress. This stress has been shown to decrease the effectiveness of other natural antioxidants (Cearfoss and Hassoun: 2012). Vitamin E has its obvious benefits but it also impacts the role other vitamins play in the body, rendering it a more important vitamin than first thought.

Vitamin C is another antioxidant, it is remembered most notably for preventing scurvy in sailors, it also prevents loose teeth and can enhance iron absorption (Thompson and Manore 2008). In those who added vitamin C to their diet their systolic and diastolic blood pressure were lowered (Juraschek, Guallar, Appel and Miller: 2012). What is even more interesting is that it has been proven that the body loses control and cells begin to divide when it is deprived of vitamin C- this is cancer. A high intake of vitamin C will assist redox and immunological mechanisms behind spontaneous remissions. In 1969 it was found malignant cancer was caused by inadequate collagen- something vitamin C provides in abundance (Hickey: 2008).

The RDA for vitamin E is 15mg and foods high in the vitamin include: almonds, hazelnuts, peanuts, shrimp, sweet potato, avocado and tomato sauce. Foods high in vitamin C include oranges and other citrus fruit, kiwi, strawberries, broccoli, cauliflower and tomatoes. The body cannot absorb any vitamin C above 200mg and it is water-soluble being eliminated by the body after 12 hours (Wener, Hoeger and Hoeger: 2008).

To make a complex matter simple, vitamin C prevents cancer because it prevents cell division promoted by free radicals. It does not cure or make you exempt from cancer, but it is something that actively does prevent some cancers. Vitamin E prevents free radicals from preventing antioxidents (like vitamin C) doing their job- the example given being to stop cancer cell multiplication.

Alcohol, Dehydration and Hangovers

Every day we are bombarded with pro water and anti- alcohol campaigns, the question is why and why just water, what’s wrong with drinks such as Coke and tea? The science behind it proves drinks high in sugar such as Coke drastically increase blood sugar levels thus causing the body to give up vast amounts of water to flush out the sugar. Tea and coffee are high in caffeine; drinks high in this substance trigger stress responses resulting in diuretic effects leading to increased urination.

Strictly speaking, caffeine is therefore toxic for your body; in terms of hydration your body is sacrificing water to remove it. The removal of caffeine from the blood starves the cells of water causing cellular dehydration and temporary blood thinning. As mentioned earlier a similar process occurs in sugary drinks, the only difference being in a beverage like Coke, the hormones released by the stimulation of the adrenal gland give your brain the false impression this newly found vitality and energy was the result of that ‘tasty beverage’.

However, this area has been extensively researched and I can in fact confirm the myth that coffee and coke are toxic for your body’s water levels is false! The American college of sports medicine proved this with their findings. They found that while caffeine ingestion does have a mild diuretic effect it does not affect water replacement especially in regular coffee drinkers. Basically, if you’re used to it, your body doesn’t mind it.

Moving swiftly on to alcohol. Alcohol is normally 95% water and 5% alcohol so why and how does it cause dehydration? The 5% alcohol interferes with the anti-diuretic hormone (ADH) which is responsible for the prevention of water loss. If your body believes it is dehydrated, a message is sent to the posterior pituitary gland, this results in ADH being pumped out, ADH stops you urinating. Alcohol stops the transmission of this hormone, therefore causing you to urinate regularly when you do not need to. Research has shown that you produce roughly 100ml of urine for every 10 grams of alcohol, 10 grams is about 330ml of a 4% alcoholic beverage.

What are the side effects of alcohol? According to Swift and Davidson there is definitely a link between alcohol-induced dehydration and a hangover, the electrolyte balance also contributing. This balance is essential, it is altered and lots of electrolytes lost through urine such as: potassium, sodium and chloride. How is the banging headache caused? Well, when you consume alcohol, your body works hard to metabolise it, this uses a lot of energy and steals glycogen. The liver is also trying to get rid of the alcohol and therefore cannot keep up with the demand for glycogen, this leaves you glycogen deficient, the same glycogen your brain runs on to work. As well as headaches, a loss of concentration, fatigue and mood disturbances will also occur.

The major contributor to feelings of nausea and the ‘I’m never drinking again speech’ is a substance found within alcohol- acetaldehyde. Up to 30 times more toxic than alcohol, acetaldehyde is processed by the liver. However, the liver is only able to do this in small amounts; researchers tend to agree on the figure of 7 grams of ethanol per hour. Roughly translated, a standard bud is 5%, so just fewer than one and a half of these can be processed per hour! If you drink copious amount of alcohol in a short space of time, the liver cannot remove this substance and it remains in your body for an extended amount of time. This alongside mass dehydration are two major contributors to a hangover, how can you avoid a hangover? Don’t drink so much, there is no medical cure and drinking 6 pints of water before you go to bed will do nothing.

Fitness Training Tips to Build Quality Muscle

Good quality muscle comes from hard work, as cliché as that sounds it is also fact. Set realistic goals, have good technique, train all muscles keep a diary, eat well and rest. Goals are essential; they can act as a motivator and as a guide. For example, if you aim to bench press 80kg and in the seventh week of your plan you are benching 70kg, the extra 10kg may act as an incentive and can force out those few extra reps! Also, if it took you ten weeks to hit a specific goal for one group of muscles, then it is likely ten weeks is also a good guide for other muscle groups. So, if after eight weeks you have still not hit your goals you know there is still another two weeks available.

Good technique, arguably the most important aspect of training. The reason being, poor technique can be the difference between working your desired muscle group and working a completely different set of muscles altogether. Take standing dumbbell biceps curls as an example, keep the shoulders rigid and the elbow still, thus focussing the weight on the bicep muscle. When people tire they tend to swing the arm up with aid from the shoulder and force out those last few reps, the problem being the biceps are now assisted by the trapezius and deltoids- meaning less strain is placed on the biceps and therefore less chance of muscle growth. A way to avoid this is to use a mirror; a slow controlled movement will always point you in the right direction toward correct technique. Also, bring a partner, when the body is straining to force out that last rep, your focus probably will not be on is my technique right. A partner will be able to see all of the movement and critique it appropriately.

An imbalance can cause injury, hamstrings to quadriceps should be at least 60 percent but ideally 75 percent (one rep max of each then divide the hamstrings by the quadriceps). So, another tip is to train all muscles, the ‘beach body’ effect (large pectorals, biceps and abdominals) increases the chances of injury massively. A good way to ensure all muscles are being worked is to keep a diary- there are so many muscles it can be hard to remember exactly what weight you performed repetitions on the previous week. Simply writing, ‘bench-80kg’ can save time and decreases the chances of mistake and injury! It also ties in with the goals you should be setting, if in week six you bicep curled 20kg, week seven you could try 22.5kg, if this is too high, drop back to the 20kg you were doing last week but do not drop below.

Many bodybuilding forums will tell you, ‘decrease carbs, increase protein’, sounds good but actually it isn’t. Carbohydrates keep blood sugar levels constant thus, reducing fat storage and promoting the release of insulin. Insulin is the body’s natural anabolic hormone- it promotes muscle development. Eating carbohydrates straight after training prompts an insulin spike and puts your body into ‘growth mode’.

Lastly, rest! Muscles do not grow when you work out, they only grow when you rest work a specific muscle group once per week. So maybe, work biceps and pectorals on Monday and then different groups every other day of the week but do not train these two again until the following Monday. Also, sleep well- growth hormone releases when you sleep promoting muscle growth.

How To Make Basic Protein Balls

Ingredients:
- Whey Chocolate Protein (maximuscle): Two 30g scoops
- Instant Oats (Myprotein): Two 30g Scoops
- Honey: Tablespoon
- Vanilla extract: Cap full
- Chocolate: 80g for melting, 20g into chips
- Milk
- Icing Sugar
- Nuts (optional)



Useful Tips:
- When rolling your protein mix into balls, make sure you keep your hands dry and constantly dip your hands in the oatmix, as if you are making bread.
- These contain roughly 4.2 grams of protein per ball (dependent on what protein you use)
- When the mix becomes dry with the protein, add milk for slow release protein, water for quicker release

1) Break the 80g of chocolate into melt able pieces and put into a heatproof bowl above boiling water. Cut the other 20g of chocolate into chip chunks.

2) Bring the water to the boil and then turn it down to stop the chocolate burning.

3) Stir until all of the chocolate is melted.

4) Add a cap of vanilla extract

5) Add a tablespoon (doesn’t really matter) of honey.
Take off the heat and allow to cool.

6) Add two scoops of protein powder and mix.

7) This should produce quite a dry mix so add milk/water to produce a gloopy kind of mix

8) Add the chocolate chips and mix

9) Add two scoops of the instant oat mix

10) Mix to produce a powdery, slightly sticky mix that can be rolled into balls

11) Roll out 12 protein balls

12) Cover in cling film and you can add them to mini cupcake paper case just to help keep the shape. Cling film is essential, the case is not.
Refrigerate for an hour.

13) Add icing sugar to make them look posh

14) Eat and get ripped.