Hack your Endurance with Rhodiola & Ginkgo

Rhodiola and ginkgo combination boosts endurance (no training required)

Supplementation with extracts of Ginkgo biloba and Rhodiola crenulata increases the stamina of young men. This is shown in a human study published in 2009 in the Chinese Journal of Integrative Medicine.

Study
The researchers, at the University of Hong Kong, divided 67 young men into 2 groups. For 7 weeks, they gave the men in one group placebo capsules and the men in the other group capsules containing extracts of Ginkgo biloba and Rhodiola crenulata in a ratio of 1: 9.

The men took 4 capsules each day, each containing 270 milligrams of extract mixture. They took 2 capsules with breakfast and 2 capsules with dinner.

Results
The supplement increased the men's stamina. The subjects in the experimental group managed to cycle longer, and that may have been due to the increase in their bodies' ability to absorb oxygen. [VO2max]

Supplementation did not affect the test subjects' testosterone levels, but it did prevent cortisol levels from rising after exercise. That may mean that the men recovered faster.

Conclusion
"The present findings have provided evidence supporting the use of Rhodiola crenulata and Ginkgo biloba combined supplement for improving the endurance performance by increasing oxygen consumption and protecting against fatigue", summarize the researchers.

According to Russian animal study, extracts from both plants improve endurance, albeit in different ways. [Bull Exp Biol Med. 2003 Dec;136(6):585-7.]

Women and Men respond similarly to strength trianing

Women's upper body muscles respond to strength training just as well as men's

The extent to which women can strengthen the muscles in their upper body through strength training is the same as the extent to which men can do this. However, this does not imply that women can easily reach the strength level of men who work out.

Study
In 2016, Brazilian sports scientist Paulo Gentil published a study in which he got 44 male and 47 female students to do a full-body workout twice a week for 10 weeks.

The workout consisted of basic exercises such as leg press, leg curl, chest press and lat pulldown. The subjects did 3 sets of each exercise with a weight that allowed for 8-12 repetitions. The subjects rested for 2 minutes between sets.

Before and after the training period, the researchers determined the torque that the test subjects could develop during a biceps curl. 'Torque' is what athletes in the gym often refer to as 'force'.

Results
In absolute terms, the men gained more strength than the women [left in the figure below]. But in relative terms, in terms of progression over the strength already present before the training program began, the progression of the men was similar to that of the women [bottom right].

Conclusion
"Despite the physiological and hormonal differences between sexes, women demonstrated the same relative strength gains compared to men [...]", writes Gentil.

"It appears there is presently no evidence of a need to design different resistance training protocols to men and women. [...] One should not expect to find limitations in upper body strength development in women."

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Reference: PeerJ. 2016 Feb 11;4:e1627.

Glutathione Info and Supplementation Tips

Glutathione is critical in the management of your voltage. When an electron donor gives up its electrons, the donor can become a stealer. Glutathione readily supplies the electrons to restore your electron donor to its donor status so it can help again.

Glutathione is not significantly absorbed from the gut, so taking it doesn’t help. However, it is made in every cell in the body by assembling the amino acids cysteine, glycine, and glutamine. Thus the key is for you to be sure to consume those amino acids.

Glutathione has multiple functions:

1. It is the major antioxidant produced by the cells, participating directly in the neutralization of free radicals and reactive oxygen compounds, as well as maintaining exogenous antioxidants such as vitamins C and E in their reduced (electron donor) forms.

2. It detoxifies many foreign compounds and carcinogens, both organic and inorganic.

3. It is essential for the immune system to exert its full potential, e.g.:

   • Modulating antigen presentation to lymphocytes, thereby influencing cytokine production and type of response (cellular or humoral) that develops

   • Enhancing proliferation of lymphocytes thereby increasing magnitude of response

   • Enhancing killing activity of cytotoxic T cells and NK cells

   • Regulating apoptosis, thereby maintaining control of the immune response

4. It plays a fundamental role in numerous metabolic and biochemical reactions such as DNA synthesis and repair, protein synthesis, prostaglandin synthesis, amino acid transport, and enzyme activation. Thus every system in the body can be affected by the state of the glutathione system, especially the immune system, the nervous system, the gastrointestinal system, and the lungs.

5. It is necessary for converting T4 to T3 (thyroid hormones). It is also necessary to transfer electrons from the cell membrane to the mitochondria.

Supplementing has been difficult, as research suggests that glutathione taken orally is not well absorbed across the gastrointestinal tract. In a study of acute oral administration of a very large dose (3 grams) of oral glutathione, Witschi and coworkers found that “it is not possible to increase circulating glutathione to a clinically beneficial extent by the oral administration of a single dose of 3g of glutathione.”

However, plasma and liver glutathione concentrations can be raised by oral administration of S-adenosylmethionine (SAMe), glutathione precursors rich in cysteine include N-acetylcysteine (NAC) and whey protein, and these supplements have been shown to increase glutathione content within the cell.

N-acetylcysteine is available both as a drug and as a generic supplement. Alpha lipoic acid has also been shown to restore intracellular glutathione. Melatonin has been shown to stimulate a related enzyme, glutathione peroxidase, and silymarin, an extract of the seeds of the milk thistle plant (Silybum marianum) has also demonstrated an ability to replenish glutathione levels.

Top 9 Food Myths

Myth #1: Eating fat will make you fat.

Truth: It’s true that fat is denser in calories than carbohydrates and proteins (more than twice the calories per gram), but obesity is not primarily due to an excess of calories consumed. It is the type of calories consumed that is important. Recent science shows that most surplus weight and obesity is caused by excess carbohydrates in the diet. Fats are a main source of energy. They are also an important source of fat-soluble vitamins and provide much of the pleasurable flavor and texture in food. Some (the omega fats) are, in fact, essential in our diet, as we can’t produce our own.

Myth #2: Saturated fats are bad for your heart.

Truth: There has never been any robust, conclusive evidence that saturated fats cause chronic disease. In fact, saturated fats are the cleanest-burning fuel you can put in your body. From a health perspective, saturated fats are not only benign, they’re beneficial.

Myth #3: Carbohydrates are essential to our bodies.

Truth: There are no essential carbohydrates. Your body evolved to make its own blood glucose from non-carbohydrate sources. When it does so, it makes the optimum amount for the present needs of the body. There are beneficial carbohydrates—soluble and insoluble fibers—but you can get plenty of these without also burdening your body with sugars and starch.

Myth #4: Gluten-free eating is the healthiest option.

Truth: If you have celiac disease or are gluten sensitive, by all means avoid gluten in your diet. Otherwise, keep in mind that most processed, gluten-free foods use substitutes like rice flour, potato starch, and tapioca flour. These and other starches rapidly raise blood glucose and insulin, aggravating diabetes and other chronic diseases. Gluten-free does not mean low-carbohydrate. In fact, it’s sometimes quite the opposite.

Myth #5: Everything in moderation.

Truth: To quote Canadian physician Dr. Jay Wortman, “Everything in moderation is an excuse we use to eat the things we shouldn’t eat.” Like the notion of a “balanced diet,” “everything in moderation” gives us license to trade off nutritious calories for empty ones. This is doubly dangerous when that junk food contains sugar, which activates the opiate receptors in our brain, stimulating our reward center. Each time we eat something sweet, we’re reinforcing those neuropathways and hardwiring our brains to crave the stuff. So, next time you catch yourself using “moderation” and “balance” as a rationale to consume foods you know are bad for you, it helps to remember that you’re not only fooling yourself, you’re compromising your health in the process.

Myth #6: To lose weight, you need to cut calories.

Truth: Cutting calories means you eat less food, and eating less food means you have less of an opportunity to meet daily nutritional requirements. If you are restricting calories to less than your daily needs, you will not only be perpetually hungry, but you will also reduce your metabolic rate, making weight loss more difficult. What’s more, once you return to your regular diet, there is a high probability that you will regain the weight you lost and are likely to put on even more.

Myth #7: Fruit is good for you because it’s natural.

Truth: Newsflash: fruit did not evolve to be a health food. Its evolutionary imperative is to spread its seeds, and the best way to do that is to get animals to eat it, move on, and deposit the seeds, some distance away, embedded in a healthy dollop of fertilizer. Sweet fruit is more attractive to animals—including humans—so job well done on the dispersal-system front. But the sweetness comes at a high cost not only in terms of high-carbohydrate starches but also fructose—a known toxin. The same goes for honey and maple syrup. Don’t be persuaded to buy and eat food simply because it’s considered natural.

Myth #8: All vegetables are created equal.

Truth: Many vegetables—especially root vegetables, beans, and grains (and, yes, I include grains as vegetables because they are plants)—are high in starch and can contribute to obesity and insulin resistance. Choose wisely.

Myth #9: If you work out, you can eat whatever you want.

Truth: Working out does burn calories, so your food intake should increase proportionally. However, science tells us that about 80 percent of weight management is determined by what you eat, not how many calories you burn. You lose weight in the kitchen; you get fit in the gym. If you eat poorly, exercise will not help you outrun the negative health consequences.

via The Bio Diet