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By Cory Holly
Sports
Nutrition is an art and a science. The art consists of nourishing an active
body with high quality food and dietary supplements in a skillful, safe and
consistent manner. This pertains not only to what we eat, but also when.
It’s
surprising how many athletes disregard the importance of consuming whole
organic real food.
Many feel they simply "burn off" the empty
calories they consume in the form of polished rice, milled white flour,
homogenized milk and commercial breakfast cereals. This myth, perpetuated by
ignorance and supported by misleading irresponsible advertising, only serves
to strengthen the power and might of the food conglomerates that continue to
thrive from the mass addiction they foster.
Meanwhile, countless numbers of
youngsters committed to sport and athletics literally burn out their neural
network and by age 30, often experience depression, chronic joint inflammation
and fatigue, caused by depletion of organ reserve, adrenal exhaustion and
immune system failure.
On the other hand, you have
the health food "junkies." They eat fresh organic food religiously,
drink their carrot juice and assemble what appears to be a never-ending stream
of vitamins taken throughout the day like clockwork, never missing a
"hit." Trouble is, they don’t exercise, so over time they lose
lean mass, accumulate bodyfat and even lose the capacity to use the food they
so gloriously uphold as righteous. One thing’s guaranteed: any lifestyle
that excludes exercise and physical activity will reduce the health span of
any human being.
The Importance of Protein
The subject of protein
consumption, especially from animal sources, always stirs up public
controversy and heated scientific debate. Athletes think about muscle and
performance. Vegetarians are often concerned about kidney and liver damage,
cancer risk and osteoporosis. Then there are issues about the environment, the
effects of eating livestock raised on pesticide-loaded grains and bovine
growth hormone, and how we treat animals raised for slaughter.
The good news is that we can
push all of these issues to the side. Through the efforts of investigative
science and biological research in the field of medicine and sports nutrition,
new "designer" and "engineered" whey and soy proteins,
superior to commercial tissue (animal) proteins, are now available for
health-conscious athletes and consumers.
Briefly stated, protein is
one of three macronutrients (protein, carbohydrates & fat) constituting
about one-fifth of our total weight or 75% of the dry weight of most cell
matter. It is second only to water in prevalence in the body, except in the
obese, where it would rank third.
Protein is so important to our health, that
the Greeks originally called it protos, meaning, "to come first" or
"of the first rank." Our 100 trillion cells are actually
mini-protein factories, expending an enormous amount of time and energy
synthesizing the protein building blocks we need to support the biochemical
demands of our structure and function.
Whey Peptides
Whey is a derivative of
milk. It takes over 229 litres of milk to produce one kilogram (1000mg) of
concentrated, high-quality whey protein isolate. Whey contains an extensive
range of remarkable proteins called whey peptides, which provide the highest
quality source of protein known — higher than eggs, fish, turkey, beef or
soy. But the real bonus lies in how whey peptides are extracted, concentrated
and isolated - without heat! Heat ruins protein and significantly interferes
with how amino acids interact within the body biochemically. Whey protein is
also "cleaner" than commercial animal proteins, less susceptible to
oxidant and free radical conversion and carries virtually no risk of parasite,
pathogen or infective microorganism exposure
How Much Protein?
My recommendations for
protein are based on lean body mass, which is your total weight minus your fat
mass. The last thing you want to do is feed your fat. To determine this
figure, you need to have a body composition assessment, which is different
from a standard weigh scale or the Body Mass Index (BMI). If you are sedentary
and physically inactive, I recommend 1 gram of high-quality protein per
kilogram of your lean mass.
For athletes and active people, the amount goes up
to 1.5-3.0 grams per kilogram of lean mass, depending on such variables as
training volume, training intensity, body type, specificity of sport,
frequency of activity, blood type and training objectives.
High-quality protein does
not include denatured, chemically altered, damaged protein, such as fried
hamburger, canned fish or luncheon meat. Nor do I advocate protein supplements
which employ heat, acids, toxic chemicals and solvents in their manufacture.
When it comes to raising glutathione levels and improving resistance to
disease, over-cooked animal protein simply can’t compete with specially
filtered, cross-flow membrane and ion-exchanged whey peptides.
The New Sports Nutrition
combines the best of all worlds and stands on the solid ground of objective
science. It’s about crossing over into the world of optimum nutrition if you’re
a ‘fitness fanatic’, and getting into the world of fitness if you’re a
‘health food nut’. It’s about balance and finding the perfect blend to
suit your biological needs and personal aspirations. No more extremes, no more
one or the other. It’s two camps forming a perfect union based on the mutual
desire to prolong life and sustain the highest quality of life possible for as
long as possible. It’s called "bridging the gap.
Cory’s Ultimate Power Shake Recipe
250ml filtered pure
water
1-3 scoops (25-75g) whey protein isolate
1 tablespoon (15ml) flax seed oil (or mixed oil blend)
1-2 cups fresh or frozen fruit (papaya, berries, mango, banana, pear, etc.)Selected Optional Ingredients
1 teaspoon (5g) calcium ascorbate (vitamin C)
1 tablespoon (15g) fresh raw bee pollen
1 tablespoon (15g) liquid raw honey
1 teaspoon (5g) green food mix
2-4 ice cubes (filtered water)
5g creatine monohydrate
5g L-glutamine
5g D-ribose
First add water to the
blender. If you like your shake ice cold, add ice cubes and blend at high
speed for 2 seconds. Next, add powdered food supplements, such as vitamin
C, whey or soy protein, glutamine, creatine, green food, etc. Then add
the oil and the fruit. It’s okay to use frozen berries right from the
freezer.Now blend all the
ingredients at medium to high speed for 10-20 seconds. Near the end of the
actual blending process, add the liquid honey if you so desire. The
taste, texture and thickness of your shake will depend on the amount and type
of fruit you use, the volume of water added and the flavour and
quantity of the food supplements you select.
Bon apétit!
Cory Holly, CHFA Ambassador
of Sports Nutrition, is the author of Recipe
for Health and the CHFA home study Certified Sports Nutrition Advisor (CSNA)
education program. A competitive Masters athlete, he is a featured speaker at
the CHFA Expo East Public Health & Fitness Symposium in Toronto, Sunday,
September 22nd, 2002 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel.
For more info visit
www.coryholly.com.
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