Natty Power

Eat only natural food. Eat only when you are hungry. Eat enough, but not too much.

Do you recall “Twin Peaks”, the famous early ‘90s series? There was a character who decided to change his life and among other things, he stopped smoking. He replaced a big Cuban cigar with vegetables, so from that moment he shows up chewing an orange carrot or a green celery rib. That is exactly what you should do: replace unhealthy habits with healthy ones. If you smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol, stop right now and eat healthy food instead.

Eating healthy means eating more vegetables at the first place, especially in their fresh natural form. Add meat to your diet for power and muscle building nutrients, and you have already covered the majority of your menu. There are successful vegetarian and vegan bodybuilders, powerlifters and strongmen, but they are in minority, so you can draw the conclusions by yourself. Even if you decide to go vegetarian or vegan route, you don’t have to follow it 100% strictly. A piece of meat here and there will help you a lot in training process. While meat may not be an eponym for healthy food, you will have much more success in achieving power if meat is included in your diet. Nature created us as omnivores, but just like carnivores, we have canine teeth for ripping and tearing meat apart. That’s the best evidence if Nature wanted us to to be vegetarians or not.

It is very sad that all food today is contaminated with herbicides, pesticides, insecticides, vaccines, antibiotics, hormones, heavy metals, radio active elements, microplastics and who knows what else. Whenever possible, choose food in organic natural form, but you will still get all those toxins from the farmland, from the food animals were eating, water they were drinking and injections they received. Furthermore, if the food is packed in plastic and you buy it in the supermarket, then it can not be completely healthy, that’s for sure. You additionally get toxins from the plastic package, preservation chemicals, additives, artificial colors and other unhealthy stuff. After all, GMO food is now very common, but negative effects are still unknown. Please avoid all GMO food, because those organisms are not created by Nature or God himself, they are man-made in a laboratory. If you are going to train in tune with the Nature, first you should eat in tune with the Nature, so stay away from any GMO food.

The best thing we can do is to grow our own organic food. More and more people are becoming farmers for the sole reason of eating healthy and they are absolutely right. Second best solution is to carefully choose the healthiest food you can find. Private organic farms, run in traditional way are excellent source of healthy food. If you live in a city and buy food in a supermarket, which is not healthy from the start, then do your best to reduce amount of toxins you eat. Buy fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds, preferably in their natural form. Buy raw, unprocessed meat, never heavily processed products like sausages, salami or pate. Avoid products packed in boxes, glass jars or cans. Avoid any food mixed with other foods and unknown ingredients. For example, you should eat bananas and drink milk products, but banana ice cream or banana milk shake – not so much. Also, avoid frozen food, unless you can not find the same food in fresh state.

What to Eat

Eat only the real natural food, if possible. To give you some ideas, here is a short list of foods that you should eat:

• animal meat: beef, pork, poultry, fish, shrimps…
• animal products: eggs, caviar, milk, yogurt, kefir, cheese…
• green leaves: spinach, nettle, Swiss chard, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cale…
• vegetables: cauliflower, broccoli, zucchini, celery, peppers, cucumber, tomato…
• fruits: banana, apple, pear, plum, orange, grapefruit, apricot, peach, cherry…
• berries: strawberry, blueberry, raspberry, blackberry, cranberry…
• nuts: walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, pecan, pistachio, cashews, Brazil nuts…
• seeds: sesame, pumpkin seeds, flax, chia, sunflower seeds…
• grains: rice, oat, rye, barley, quinoa, corn, wheat (in small amounts)…
• legumes: chickpeas, beans, green peas, lentils…
• roots: beetroot, ginger, curcuma, onion, garlic, potato, carrot…
• fat & oil: lard, tallow, fish oil, olive oil, coconut oil, sesame oil…
• herbs: basil, parsley, oregano, rosemary, cinnamon, turmeric…

Never eat highly processed junk food or at least, try not to eat it too often:

• donuts, cookies, candies, cakes, sweets, biscuits…
• ice cream, sweetened yogurt, pudding…
• snacks, pretzels, bagels, chips, French fries…
• processed meat, hot-dogs, sausages, pate…
• carbonated drinks, fizzy drinks, soft drinks, energy drinks…

Note #1: There are lots of coaches and pro athletes who advise throwing away the yolk and eating only the egg white. That is the most stupid mistake you can do, because the yolk is considered to be a superfood which contains the best nutrients in high percentages and in proper ratios. So, why would anyone throw it away? Well, once before the yolk was wrongly accused for producing fat bodies due to a high level of cholesterol. That is not true and you should never throw it away - always eat the whole egg! Keep in mind that organic eggs from the free range chickens are one of the best sources of protein.

Note #2: Sea fish is healthier then freshwater fish, because the 20th century industrialization has polluted rivers and lakes. Unfortunately, seas and oceans are getting polluted nowadays too. Furthermore, almost all sea fish you can find in supermarkets is actually farmed, not caught in the wild. Finally, the most serious problem with all saltwater fish is related to mercury accumulation. The bigger the sea fish, the more mercury it contains in percents. This means you should choose smaller sea fish, like sardines or herrings and limit fish intake to no more then 3 meals per week.

Note #3: Soy is the main protein source for vegans and vegetarians. It is also used for feeding cattle, although that is not natural for them and can cause sickness. The main problem with soy is that almost all soy you can find today is GMO soy designed in labs, which means not a natural organism. Avoid GMO soy and any other GMO food at all costs. If you occasionally eat organic soy or use soy powder to make protein shake, there should be no negative consequences. Just don’t consume too much too often and you should be fine. Supposedly, soy may increase estrogen levels, but a healthy body will probably handle soy just like any other food, thus, without problems.

Note #4: Fruits are excellent food, but should be consumed moderately, due to a high amounts of fructose (sugar). Eating lots of sugar brings numerous negative effects and could make you fat. Always wash fruit with plenty of water, to get rid of sprayed chemicals.

Note #5: Probiotic foods are restoring and improving the gut flora, which is necessary for healthy digestive system. These foods contain live bacteria and yeasts, so they are also called a “good bacteria”. The best sources of probiotics are fermented foods: yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut (fermented cabbage), kombucha, kimchi, miso. Eat these foods on a regular basis and your gut will always be healthy. There are also probiotics in the form of supplements, but you should use them only if you can’t find any real probiotic food.

Note #6: Fats are good and healthy, but there are some fats that should be avoided. Basically, if the fat is in natural and unprocessed state, you can eat it, regardless if it is of animal or herbal origin. The fats that should be avoided at all costs are fats exposed to chemicals for extraction and fats cooked at high temperatures. Generally, seed oils are extracted with highly toxic chemicals and can not stand cooking temperatures without toxic degradation. Even if a healthy natural fat is cooked at high temperatures, it becomes unhealthy. For example, any oil fried in the pan or cooked in the friteuse cooker should not be consumed. When you put the oil in a pan, it is liquid and greasy, it makes the bottom of the pan slippery. When you fry it, oil becomes sticky and glue like, it binds to the pan so you should dig hard to wash it off. Guess you don’t want such a garbage in your bowels, right?

Note #7: It is very important to avoid all junk food, because it won’t do any good for your training, neither for your health. All it can do is make you fat, poison your body in a long term and eventually get you sick. If you eat a piece of chocolate every other day or a whole cheat-meal once a week, there won’t be any negative consequences.

Note #8: Healthy food is not always tasty, but you should eat it anyway. Cookies are very tasty, but you should not eat them. Anyhow, there are ways to make bland food more tasty. For example, you can boil broccoli, Swiss chard, Brussels sprouts or any other unpalatable veggie and then add garlic, olive oil and lemon juice. Be creative.

Note #9: Nettle is a fantastic green leafy vegetable. It was used as a food and for healing purposes since the ancient times. Egyptians treated arthritis and lower back pain with nettle, while Roman troops rubbed it on themselves to help stay warm. Be careful not to get burned: Nettle is covered with stiff tiny hairs that are stingy and release chemicals when touched. It is not dangerous, but the burning sensation is certainly unpleasant. Pick them up with leather gloves and you will be safe. When the nettle is cooked, steamed, dried or frozen, it becomes safe for consumption.

Note #10: Ketchup, mayonnaise and other sauces and dressings, always contain added sugar, preservatives, additives, artificial colors and many other toxic chemicals. Try to avoid them whenever possible. On the other side, you can eat home made sauces and dressings, because you will put only healthy ingredients inside.

Note #11: You can eat some milk products like butter and all kinds of aged cheeses. Unlike other milk products, butter and aged cheeses contain very small amounts of lactose (milk sugar), which is one of the most common allergens among adults. Examples of low lactose cheeses with less then 1% of lactose, are: Parmigiano-Reggiano, Grana Padano, Romano, Muenster, Cheddar, Camembert, Brie, Provolone, Emmental, Gouda, Gorgonzola, Roquefort, etc.

Note #12: Here is the list of perfectly healthy snacks: walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts, almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, pistachio, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, etc. Eat them in a hurry and carry them in your backpack wherever you go. It will be much better to Chew on them instead of eating a donut or slice of pizza, it will be better beyond compare.

How to Eat

First and foremost - slowly! For a proper digestion, eating slowly is essential. Each bite needs to be chewed properly. Softer foods like banana or potato need to be chewed 5-10 times. Dense foods like meat or cabbage should be chewed 20-30 times before swallowing. Otherwise, food won’t be prepared for further digestion in your stomach and nutrients won’t be completely absorbed.

If you have a hard time eating enough food or you are experiencing digestion issues, try separating protein, carbohydrates and fat dominant foods from each other. This should help you in eating more food, digesting meals more easily and even in reducing possibility of acid reflux (aka heartburn). Here is how some typical foods are sorted by content of dominant macro nutrients:

• Protein: meat, eggs, caviar, milk, milk products, legumes…
• Carbs: grains, bread, pasta, potatoes, sugars…
• Fat: butter, animal fat, oils, avocado, nuts, seeds…

Even if you don’t have problems with eating enough or digestion issues, still it would be wise to implement one basic food separation: avoid mixing fat dominant food and carb dominant food in the same meal. To maximize training progress, improve muscle synthesis, bring up energy levels and loose fat, follow this simple eating pattern during the day:

• protein & fat: in the morning (eggs & bacon)
• protein & complex carbs: around 1 hour before the training (meat & brown rice)
• simple carbs: in liquid form during the training session (natural fruit juice)
• protein & complex carbs: right after the training session (meat & potatos)
• protein & fat: in the evening (fish & olive salad)

Proper utilization of carbohydrates in athlete’s diet is usually the main problem, but this is a very good general approach for establishing good eating habits. On days without a training session, don’t eat carbs at all or at least don’t eat a lot of carbs. Try this approach and get used to it. If you haven’t tried such eating patterns before, you may be pleasantly surprised with the results. There are many other, more complicated diets for different goals and specific needs, like “carb loading” and “carb cycling”, but you probably won’t need them. If you wish to experiment with carbs, read about these diets on the Internet.

If you wonder which foods are rich in complex carbs and which are rich in simple carbs, here are the typical examples:

• complex carbs: fruit, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, bananas…
• simple carbs: fruit juice, chocolate, honey, candy, cookie, cake, ice cream…

Simple carbs should be always avoided. If you feel weak during the training session drink some fruit juice or eat a piece of chocolate. The same applies if you get sleepy while driving long distances or studying science the whole night. Simple carbs are refreshing and give instant energy. You can also consume simple carbs prior to hard training session to boost energy in advance.

To make things perfectly clear, it is not forbidden to mix protein, carbs and fat in the same meal. Actually, these 3 macronutrients are already mixed together in almost all natural foods, just in different ratios. If you want more efficient, easier and faster digestion, together with less accumulation of body fat, then separate fat dominant foods and carbohydrate dominant foods in different meals. Enzymes should have an easier job to do and it is possible that nutrients would be better absorbed. Further separations are also possible, like eating protein foods on their own in a meal, but that may not be practical and effective. As stated before, you probably don’t need to go that far, unless you are experiencing digestion problems or have difficulties eating enough food. On the other side, if you want to eat less and feel fed for a longer time or to slow down the digestion, then you should mix all 3 macro nutrients in each and every meal. After all, it won’t hurt if you experiment and see what works for you personally.

When to Eat

Eat whenever you are hungry - it’s that simple. Like everything else, Nature has regulated this mechanism perfectly. If your body need nutrients, it will send you a hunger signal and you should start eating as soon as possible. When you have eaten enough, you will receive a filled up signal from your stomach. Quite simple indeed, but it is amazing how people tend to neglect these natural signals.

You should pay a special attention to next few details if you want to maximize the results of your training:

• As stated above, to boost energy for training you should increase carbohydrates intake prior to workout, during and after the workout. For example, you can eat rice 1 hour before the training session, then drink fruit juice during the session and finally eat rice again right after the session. Avoid carbs in all other meals during the day. This way you should have more energy, be able to train harder, build more muscle and loose fat at the same time.
• To have protein readily available for muscle synthesis, you need to eat some protein prior to training session. Finish that meal around 1 hour before you start to train or you may end up with mess on the floor.
• Trigger for protein synthesis and muscle growth is a high intensity training. Time frame for protein synthesis opens up immediately after the training session and lasts for about 24 hours. Then it decreases gradually, but somewhat elevated ability to synthesize protein may last up to 2 days. You should take advantage of this time frame to eat highly nutritious food full of protein.

It may happen that you have a hard time falling asleep or waking up with feeling of a brick stuck in your stomach or you are experiencing heartburns. First thing to try is to avoid large meals in the evening, especially those rich in carbs and fats. Rather eat the last big meal earlier in the afternoon. Later in the evening, eat only protein dominant food with salad. Ideally, it would be a lean steak with salad or green leafy veggies. Forget eating pizza or pasta late in the evening.

Another eating habit worth experimenting is eating protein before carbohydrates in the same meal. This means you would first eat the beef steak or chicken breasts and then proceed with eating rice or potatoes. Proteins may be better absorbed and glucose and insulin levels may be lower if you eat this way.

How Often to Eat

Eating 3 times a day is the most usual eating regime. Adding 2 snacks between these 3 meals would make a nice frequent eating pattern for athletes, Lots of muscle building programs are advising eating even more often, like 6-8 times a day. On the opposite side, there are athletes and coaches propagating only one meal a day. This may sound crazy, but there are results as a proof of effectiveness. You should test everything between these extremes and find out what works for you.

Eating too often may not be productive, because you will never feel hunger, which means body doesn’t need more food and probably won’t use it to build muscle and fill energy depots. Getting hungry first and then eating a meal is more natural and should work better for majority. Anyway, you can experiment and listen to what your body is saying.

How Much to Eat

Again, listen to your body signals. Eat when you are hungry and stop when you feel fed up. You have to eat enough if you are training hard, because your body will need a lot of nutrients, but you should never force-feed yourself. There are no benefits in overeating and you will never get stronger or powerful that way. Your body will use only the amount of nutrients needed for building muscle and restoration of energy reserves, while the rest of the nutrients probably won’t be utilized. If there are not enough nutrients, a hunger signal will be sent to your brain. Nature regulates this process on the best possible way and all you have to do is listen and comply.

There is always some kind of duality in the Universe, like night and day, Yin and Yang, war and peace. For every beneficial aspect there has to be some down side. This is especially true when you push to the extremes from the equilibrium. For example, the more weight you put on the bar, the greater the risk of injury will be. As far as the food, the more you eat, the more fuel you get to train harder, but your inner organs may get overloaded. If eating a lot of food is prolonged, regardless if it is a healthy food, it may cause some damage to inner organs and serious health issues.

Pay a special attention not to eat too much protein. While eating enough protein is necessary for progress in power, strength, speed and muscle mass, consuming more then necessary in unhealthy and can lead to numerous health problems. It can put a strain on your kidneys and liver. Car engine oil filters are changed on regular basis, but your liver and kidneys never get a replacement. Take a good care of them, avoid overeating and eventual dysfunction. Too much protein can also deplete calcium reserves and eventually lead to osteoporosis. Certainly something to think about. If nothing else, eating too much protein will make you fat. All natural sources of protein are accompanied with fat (meat, eggs, milk, cheese). If the fat is not utilized for energy, it will be stored around your belly. While fat is essential for production of testosterone and vitamin D, you probably don’t want a chubby body.

As a general guideline, around 30g of protein in a single meal is the maximum body can absorb and use for protein synthesis. This means you don’t have to eat more protein then it is necessary. If you train regularly, aim your daily protein consumption at 1 gram per pound of body weight (or 2 grams per kilogram of body weight). Less then that would be ok too, but more then that is not necessary. Fats and carbs are basically two forms of fuel: slow burning and fast burning. Regulate their intake to feel energized, but avoid gaining too much body fat.

Common Food Intolerances

Unlike food allergy, food intolerance or food sensitivity is not dangerous for health, but certainly could cause some serious digestive and metabolic problems on the long run. Lots of people have some intolerance, but simply don’t know it yet or can not correlate symptoms to a specific food in a diet. Read this paragraph even if you don’t have any gastric issues. By eliminating some of incriminated foods you can do wonders for your health and significantly improve quality of life. It will cost you nothing to test yourself with a very simple food elimination method: pick any of the most susceptible foods, don’t consume it for a period of time, then reintroduce it in large amounts and watch for the reactions.

Food intolerance can occur suddenly at any age and with no special cause. Also, it can occur after viral or bacterial infection. Sometimes intolerance suddenly disappears without any treatment. Symptoms could begin immediately after eating the food or could be delayed and manifested after a few days. Symptoms can last shortly or for hours or even days, but sometimes may not be obvious at all. Everything depends on the type of intolerance, degree of sensitivity and amount of the eaten food. The most common symptoms are:

• diarrhea
• loose stool
• smelly stool
• sticky stool
• bloating
• rash
• headache
• nausea
• fatigue
• abdominal pain
• runny nose
• acid reflux
• flushing of the skin

Quite often it is difficult to be sure which specific food is causing problems. The easiest method for detection would be through the following procedure:

1. Completely remove from your diet one of the susceptible foods, commonly associated with food intolerances.
2. Don’t consume it for a week or a month, depending on the type of tested intolerance.
3. Reintroduce eliminated food back to your diet and this time consume it in large amounts for a whole day.
4. Monitor your body reactions for typical intolerance symptoms.

Here are the 3 most common intolerance and foods that are causing them. Experiment with the method described above to find out if there is any influence on your health or mood. If you find a culprit, search the Internet for further medical information or talk to a qualified nutritionist. There are many other food intolerances, but checking these 3 would be a good starting point.

1. Lactose

   Around 70% of World’s population have lactose intolerance, but it goes up to 98% in Vietnam and other Asian countries. It is caused by loss of lactase enzym, which normally occurs at some point in adult age. That is a Nature’s mechanism to protect newborn calves from starvation, because adult humans should hunt and gather food, instead of stealing milk from young animals. Lots of people have no clue about being lactose intolerant and can not recognize symptoms, especially if they are mild. Symptoms usually start to appear around 1-3 hours after ingestion of milk or milk products: stomach cramps, bowel movement with loose stool or explosive diarrhea.

   • Food: Milk, milk products (yogurt, cheese), products containing milk (chocolate).
   • Symptoms: Abdominal pain, bloating, smelly stool, diarrhea, gas, skin rush.
   • Test: Eliminate all milk products for 7 days. Then reintroduce milk and milk products for one whole day and in large amounts. Monitor for symptoms.

   If you are lactose intolerant, there are many milk products that are completely lactose free or very low in lactose, so you should be able to eat them with no problems. For example, any mature cheese with carbohydrates less then 1% like Parmigiano, Pecorino, Feta, Mozarella, Brie, Gorgonzola, Roquefort and many others.

2. Gluten

   Unlike a full blown celiac disease, gluten sensitivity can be very subtle and may pass unnoticed for decades. However, it could be dangerous to consume something that your body can not digest properly and can cause bowel inflamation. Unusually foul smelling stool is a sure sign that something is not properly digested and one of the main suspects is gluten, a type of protein found in wheat and grain products.

   • Food: Wheat, spelt, barley, rye, oat, bread, pasta, cookies, cereals, beer, sauces.
   • Symptoms: Loose stool, sticky stool, smelly stool, abdominal pain, bloating, diarrhea or constipation, headaches, fatigue, joint pain, skin rash, depression.
   • Test: Eliminate all grains and grain products for at least 30 days. Then reintroduce wheat in the form of white bread and pasta, start eating it in big amounts and monitor for symptoms that may manifest in the next several days.

   If you are gluten intolerant, avoid all above mentioned food. Grains that are gluten free are corn, rice, millet, quinoa, buckwheat and few others.

3. Caffeine

   Caffeine sensitivity is state in which common effects of caffeine are manifested more strongly then usual. It can be caused by genetics, medications and lifestyle factors such as smoking or it can come with aging and decreased efficiency of metabolic enzymes.

   • Food: Coffee, carbonated fizzy soda drinks, energy drinks, tea, chocolate.
   • Symptoms: Rapid heartbeat, arrhythmia, anxiety, jitters, insomnia, nervousness, nausea, headache.
   • Test: Eliminate coffee and other drinks that contain caffeine for a while. After several days reintroduce coffee in larger amounts and watch for symptoms in the next 24 hours.

   If you have a caffeine intolerance, you can drink caffeine free coffee or decaffeinated coffee. The same goes for tea.

Beside these 3 common intolerances, there are many other foods that may cause food sensitivity, intolerance or allergy. Some of them are peanuts, soy, eggs and shellfish (shrimp, crab lobster, octopus, oysters, mussels, etc). You should also pay attention to apples, pears, plums, grapes and other fruits, since they can cause diarrhea when eaten in larger amounts. Testing procedure is always the same: eliminate food for a while, then introduce it back in large amounts and watch for symptoms. This type of testing is very reliable, won’t cost you a dime and you can do it without any medical supervision.

Acid reflux

Acid reflux is a very common digestive disorder among sportsmen who need to eat large amounts of food. It is also known as heartburn, although it has no direct relation to heart. It can be manifested as an unpleasant burning sensation in chest and/or throat, when acidic stomach content evaporates back to esophagus and throat. Much worse manifestation is when highly sour-bitter stomach acid flows back to throat and mouth. It can be painful and can cause serious health damage.

If you occasionally experience the acid reflux, it may be a sign that you are eating too much food high in carbohydrates and fat. Try reducing amounts of carbs and fat until an improvement can be noticed. Also avoid eating too much carbs or fat in the evening to prevent acid reflux during sleep. Particularly avoid eating large meals before sleep. Pizza or bowl of pasta are examples of food that should be avoided late in the evening. If you must eat large meal before the bedtime, at least avoid drinking a lot of water right after the meal. If the stomach content is not too liquid, it won’t flow back easily. If you always experience acid reflux lying on the bed no matter what, then avoid eating anything within 2-3 hours before the bedtime. If you feel hungry, try eating just a tiny amount of food, low in carbs and fats. The perfect evening meal is a lean meat with any kind of non-starchy vegetable salad. Eat that and you will be sleeping like a baby. Another advise would be to stay awake at least two hours after the supper. For easier digestion of a large meal, light walk may be an excellent solution.

Instant solution for acid reflux is a tea spoon of sodium bicarbonate (aka “baking soda”) dissolved in a glass of water. Drink slowly. Even if you have eaten a huge meal of hard digesting food, you can drink a small amount of baking soda with water and unpleasant acidity will disappear from the throat. Keep in mind that this is just a temporary remedy, not a cure for illness. If you regularly have acid reflux, you should visit a competent doctor.