Sixteen million bras are purchased every year, however an estimated 80% of us are wearing the wrong size bra! I’ve covered some of the pitfalls of the modern bra in this post, but today I want to discuss how to find the healthiest bra. It depends on several factors, some of which may surprise you. …
Continue reading How to Choose a Healthy Bra...
Make these crispy roasted red potatoes for breakfast, lunch, or dinner! They are perfectly crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. They are ready in under an hour and perfect for meal prep! When it comes to potatoes, we don’t discriminate! We love sweet potatoes, baked potatoes, and ...
The post Crispy Roasted Red Potatoes appeared first on Fit Foodie Finds.
What makes for a successful fitness and nutrition coach? It’s not just what you know… it’s what you do (every day). Here are some of the practices elite coaches use to get results. Keep track of how many you’ve mastered.
++
You know the type. It’s the coach that seems to have to it all together.
They have a long waiting list of eager prospects. Their client results are always impressive. They make great money doing what they love. And, just to make us all a little more jealous, they make it look effortless.
Welcome to the elite coach.
What is it that makes elite coaches so special?
Is it their training? Their hard work and commitment? Their passion? Or do they know something most others don’t?
The answer to all of those question is… yes.
Elite coaches do know something most don’t. But it’s not just knowledge. It’s a set of practices they work on daily.
And this set of practices helps them get better at forming strong relationships with their clients, fostering change, and improving their craft.
Here are the active habits that set elite coaches apart from the rest.
Better coaches aren’t just better at customizing workout and nutrition plans. They’re better with people.
Elite coaches don’t limit conversations to “here’s what you have to do”; they speak to clients in a way that nurtures real human connection.
By asking sincere questions, expressing compassion and being a steady source of support, they help guide their clients around obstacles so they can achieve their goals.
Ask leading questions that help clients open up and explore, imagine, or build on past successes. For example:
And once you ask, really listen to their responses. Let them sink in. Learn from them. (For more on this approach, check out: Effective coach talk: What to say to clients and why it matters).
You’ve probably seen it a million times.
New clients get a taste for how hard it is to change their eating habits, do the extra 10 squats, run another mile, and rearrange their lives for all of it… and suddenly they don’t want it so badly, after all.
Elite coaches have a way of inspiring their clients—in every single session—to want the hard work. They know how to unlock their clients’ deeper motivation, sense of purpose, and inner fire.
How do they do this? For one thing, they know how to ask their clients why.
Use the ‘Five Whys’ technique. Here’s how it works:
When establishing goals with your clients, you ask them why.
Q: “Why do you want to accomplish this?”
A: “Because I want to lose weight.”
Then, whatever answer they come up with, you ask why again.
Q: “And why do you want to lose weight in the first place?”
A: “Because I used to be thinner and am embarrassed by how heavy I’ve gotten.”
Continue asking why for a total of five times. It’s surprisingly challenging—and amazingly effective at getting to people’s core motivations.
(By the way, elite coaches use ‘the Five Whys’ on themselves. Because they know that getting to the heart of their own motivation is the best place to begin.)
Want to know a secret? To an elite coach, there’s no such thing as competition.
Elite coaches don’t feel insecure about what other coaches are doing because they know how to use their individuality as an advantage in their careers.
Rather than hiding and hoarding their knowledge, elite coaches share that knowledge and facilitate conversations, and in doing so build a trusted tribe around them.
Find your tribe and help make those in your tribe successful, and you’ll be more likely to succeed, too.
Get engaged with other people’s content and social feeds.
Take the extra few minutes to leave iTunes reviews on their podcasts; review their books on Amazon; share their Facebook posts; and so on.
These simple actions will help them build their expertise and broaden their reach. As a bonus, you might expand your own social networks in the process.
To take this concept up a notch, consider starting a Facebook group or other social community to serve as a source of mutual support, discussion, and inspiration. You’ll be able to answer questions and help your peers—and position yourself as an expert, too.
“Doing it all” is a myth.
Spreading yourself too thin is a first-class ticket to disappointment and failure. Instead, top-notch coaches figure out what’s truly crucial among their particular market and clientele, and do that.
Elite coaches also know their clients can’t do it all. They know that giving clients just one small habit at a time is far more effective than throwing an ambitious project at them and hoping for the best.
Give the ‘one habit method’ a try.
Of all the things your client wants to do and achieve, work with them to figure out which goal is most important to them right now. Then, based on their goal, help choose just one habit to start practicing today.
The habit should be so simple it almost feels “too easy” and it should be something they can do in just five or ten minutes, every single day.
Have your client practice that one habit every day for a minimum of two weeks. Ask them to check back in with you regularly to let you know whether or not they’ve completed the task.
(If you’ve completed any kind of PN coaching, you’ll recognize this ‘one-habit’ method. There’s a reason we recommend it: it’s integral to our coaching method, because it works.)
Bruce Lee said: “I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.”
Kick Guy never needed to have the perfect kick. All he had to do was focus on mastering the process and being excellent with all of the pieces. And that was enough to scare Bruce Lee. (Pretty scary.)
Elite coaches are like Kick Guy. They’re willing to practice techniques—even the basic ones—again and again so they can move towards true mastery.
They take this approach to their clients, too, helping them put their own foundation in place and acquire the skills they need to succeed in sustainable change.
Go back to basics with something you enjoy doing and consider yourself ‘pretty good’ at. Think back to the very first skills you learned to do that thing.
If you’re a boxer, for example, consider your stance, your hip movement, or your jab. Could you benefit from drills focusing on your core techniques?
Or, if you once struggled with poor eating habits, pay attention at mealtime. Do you still eat as slowly and mindfully as you once did? Would you benefit from paying more attention to how full you feel at the end of each meal?
Pick one elemental thing you could take from ‘good’ to ‘great’ or ‘great’ to ‘positively killer.’ Then work on improving that one thing. Solicit help from a colleague or peer if you like.
It may feel weird to act like a beginner again, but by doing so, you’re on your way to mastery.
Many coaches (quite logically) focus on trying to strengthen their clients’ motivation—the side of them that is interested in change.
But in the early stages of client development, it doesn’t work. Because that other side—the part that is scared of change and resistant to your efforts—is ridiculously strong. After all, it’s been preventing your client from changing for a long time.
In order to get your clients moving in the right direction, coaches have to do something that might sound a bit paradoxical: they have to hear out the resistance first.
Elite coaches listen for the resistance. They seek it out. Because they know they have to work with it, rather than against it.
Listen for your own resistance.
Think of something you’ve been wanting to change, but haven’t gotten around to yet. Tip: think of all the things you’ve been telling yourself you should or shouldn’t do.
Write down the thing you want to change. Then ask yourself:
Write down your answers.
How do you feel? Your resistance might feel a little calmer or quieter; you might feel a little more ready for change. Now that you understand your own resistance a little better, you can listen for it in client conversations, too.
Elite coaches have a lot of expertise, but that doesn’t mean they always vocalize it.
Think about it: When someone asks, “What should I eat after exercising?” an expert answers the question: “You should eat protein and carbs.”
But when a client asks “What should I eat after exercise?” a coach asks, “Tell me about your training program and what you feel you can manage?” Coaches even consider “What do you like to eat after exercise?”
A good coach doesn’t mind being quiet, asking questions or fading into the background a bit.
Many fitness professionals try to be both expert and coach at the same time. But that never works. You can’t talk and listen at the same time. You have to know how and when to switch back and forth between the two.
In other words: you need to know when to stop talking and listen.
Try using this ‘expert vs coach’ checklist on yourself:
With your clients, do you spend most of your time…
| Expert | Coach |
|---|---|
| Talking and telling… | or Listening and reflecting? |
| Telling them what you know… | or Sharing what you’re working on? |
| Answering questions?… | or Asking questions? |
| Letting the client set the tone?… | or Leading the client towards a decision or action? |
| Pointing and directing?… | or Guiding and accompanying? |
| Taking the spotlight… | or Fading into the background? |
If you find yourself more on the ‘expert’ side of things, try actively practicing some of the actions on the ‘coach’ side.
Lots of health and fitness professionals have high standards; most of us want to walk the walk. Moreover, we want to look like we walk the walk.
So we try to refine our own health habits, working practices, and self-presentation. We know that our bodies are often advertisements for our services, so we worry about looking our best.
But too often, we try to be perfect. And that becomes our downfall.
Sure, on the one hand, a little fire keeps you energized and sharp. But too much pressure is a parking brake on performance.
(Ever choked during a game or competition? You were probably overwhelmed by pressure. It happens to athletes all the time.)
So while elite coaches strive for excellence, they don’t try to be perfect—and they don’t expect their clients to be perfect, either.
Try sharing a little of your own imperfect experience with your clients.
When they’re fumbling with something, tell them about a time you felt awkward, embarrassed or uncomfortable yourself, either when working on your own fitness and nutrition journey or another time you were struggling to learn something new.
When they’re feeling like a failure, let them know everyone falls down sometimes: share one of your own mistakes—and maybe even how you fixed it.
If you work in the fitness and health industry, it’s easy to throw around a lot of ideas.
Stuff like this:
On the surface, it’s hard to argue against either. But really? Unless you’re living in a yurt somewhere and growing all your own food from the ground up, I doubt you’re always eating whole, unprocessed, local, seasonal, organic food.
Which means those nutrition ideals aren’t aspirational—they’re impossible. Even for the world’s top experts.
Elite coaches are willing to do a reality check. They realize that people don’t need a nutritional deity to follow. They don’t need strict codes of conduct that includes words like “should”, “always”, and “never”.
Instead of coaching from a place of fantasy, elite coaches stay grounded. They help their clients make progress, bit by bit.
Examine the rules you’ve set.
Consider all the “rules” and expectations around fitness, nutrition, and health. Write down as many as you can think of. Be sure to include words like “should”, “always”, and “never”.
Now read your answers and think about whether a client could reasonably “always” or “never” do them.
If you’re coaching other people, it only makes sense that you’ve experienced coaching yourself.
After all, if you’ve never been coached through something, you can’t possibly understand what your clients are experiencing, thinking, and feeling.
Elite coaches know this. They seek out mentorship and get coaching themselves. Sometimes it’s not even fitness related. It might be for their business, or their personal life (like how to be a better parent or partner), or a hobby they’re particularly passionate about.
The important thing is that that they are willing to ask for help, to make themselves vulnerable, to go through the process of change… just like their clients.
And they know how powerful that process of change can be.
Make your coaching checklist.
What areas of expertise do you seek?
What kind of a mentor or coach would you like?
Now think about people in your life (whether paid professionals, colleagues or friends) who may fit your criteria. If someone springs to mind, great. Ask if they’d be willing to lend their expertise and support to the thing you’d like help with.
Or if you need to do more research, that’s cool too.
Give some thought to which of these practices you’d like to try out for yourself.
Whichever you select, do you have the skills to incorporate them into your coaching style right now? If not, check out the PN approach to skill development for some inspiration to help you figure out your next steps.
As you’re coaching, be aware of your style. Are you speaking and giving advice when you could be asking questions? Are you actually hearing what your client has to say, or rushing to find the answer?
Don’t judge yourself too harshly—just start building awareness, for now. That way you can start to get clear on what you’d like to improve upon.
Moving from being ‘a good coach’ to being ‘an elite coach’ takes a lot of work, and it can’t be done alone. Look for people you can learn from. Maybe it’s a community member, an old mentor, or an experienced friend.
It’s no secret that master coaches develop over time, through education and consistent practice, usually under the guidance of a mentor or coach.
Precision Nutrition is the only company in the world that both works with thousands of our own nutrition coaching clients and teaches health, fitness, and wellness professionals our real-world methods for getting results.
And here’s some great news: Our next Precision Nutrition Level 2 Certification Master Class kicks off on Wednesday, October 2nd, 2019.
Want to achieve total confidence in your coaching skills? Get (and keep) more clients? Grow and strengthen your practice? If so, the Precision Nutrition Level 2 Certification is definitely for you.
It’s designed specifically for Level 1 students and grads who realize that knowing about the science of nutrition isn’t enough.
Part master class, part grad program, part mentorship, it’s the only course in the world designed to help you master the art of coaching, meaning better results for your clients and a better practice for you.
Since we only take a limited number of professionals, and since the program sells out every time, I strongly recommend you add your name to our VIP List below. When you do, you get the chance to sign up 24 hours before everyone else. Even better, you get a huge discount off the general price of the program.
[Note: The Level 2 Master Class is only for students and grads of our Level 1 Certification. So if you haven’t yet enrolled in that program, please begin there.]
We’ll be opening up spots in our next Precision Nutrition Level 2 Certification Master Class on Wednesday, October 2nd.
If you want to find out more, we’ve set up the following VIP list which gives you two advantages.
If you’re ready to take the next step in becoming a world-class coach, we’re ready to share our knowledge and help you master the art of coaching.
The post 10 things every successful fitness and nutrition coach does. The best coaches do them every day. How many are you doing? appeared first on Precision Nutrition.
Sweet potatoes vs. potatoes: A nutritional debate fueled by misinformation, baseless ‘superfood’ obsessions, and carbohydrate phobias. Here’s how these tubers compare — and why both deserve a place in your diet.
++++
A few years back, some crazy nutrition enthusiasts decided to figure out whether white or sweet potatoes were “healthier”.
One group compared the glycemic index and load of sweet potatoes vs. potatoes. They suggested that since white potatoes tend to be higher, they should be avoided.
Another group suggested that sweet potatoes are a vitamin A ‘superfood’, putting them way ahead of their white potato competitors.
And, of course, the carbophobes had their own take: All potatoes should be avoided because they’re too high in carbs and all those carbs will mess with your insulin regulation and cause fat gain.
Nonsense, all of it.
Both white and sweet potatoes, when eaten as part of a balanced and intentional diet, provide a fantastic array of nutrients while contributing to the satiety and deliciousness of any meal.
Check out this infographic to learn more about white and sweet potatoes, and why you should consider including both in your diet. (You can even download them for your printer or tablet).
Want to share this with family, friends, and clients? Click here to download the infographic and print it out, or save it on your tablet.
For an even more comprehensive take on this topic, check out our accompanying article, “Sweet vs. regular potatoes: Which are really healthier?”.
When it comes to better health and fitness, focusing on nutrition is the most important and effective step. But there’s a big problem: Most people don’t feel qualified to coach nutrition.
That’s where we come in. If you’d like to learn everything you can about nutrition—especially how to use it to help yourself and others—consider the Precision Nutrition Level 1 Certification. The next group kicks off shortly.
What’s it all about?
The Precision Nutrition Level 1 Certification is the world’s most respected nutrition education program. It gives you the knowledge, systems, and tools you need to feel confident and qualified to coach nutrition with anyone.
Developed over 15 years, and proven with over 100,000 clients, the Precision Nutrition curriculum stands alone as the authority on the science of nutritionand the art of coaching.
Whether you’re already mid-career, or just starting out, the PN Level 1 Certification is your springboard to a deeper understanding of nutrition, the authority to coach it, and the ability to turn what you know into results—for yourself and your clients.
[Of course, if you’re already a student or graduate of the Level 1 Certification, check out our Level 2 Certification Master Class. It’s an exclusive, year-long mentorship designed for elite professionals looking to master the art of coaching and be part of the top 1% of health and fitness coaches in the world.]
We’re opening spots in the brand-new Precision Nutrition Level 1 Certification on Wednesday, October 2nd.
If you want to find out more, we’ve set up the following presale list, which gives you two advantages.
If you’re ready for a deeper understanding of nutrition, the authority to coach it, and the ability to turn what you know into results… this is your chance to see what the world’s top professional nutrition coaching system can do for you.
The post Sweet potatoes vs. potatoes: Which are really healthier? [Infographic] appeared first on Precision Nutrition.
Raspberry chocolate pie is one of my favorite dessert recipes of all time. It is one of those awesome no-bake recipes that is the perfect blend of rich and refreshing. Raspberry Chocolate Pie: A Quick and Easy No-Bake Dessert Fresh fruit combined with protein-packed almonds, healthy-fat coconut oil, decadent cocoa, and lightness from whipped cream. It’s a …
Continue reading No-Bake Raspberry Chocolate “Pie” Recipe...
Can you drink wine if you’re Paleo? In this article, I’ll share my tips for choosing a Paleo wine and I’ll explore whether or not the beverage is a healthy addition to an ancestral diet.
The post Paleo and Wine: Should You Drink? appeared first on Chris Kresser.
This lovely baked bone in pork chop recipe is made with a delicious lemongrass ginger marinade that I just know you will love. First, marinate your pork chops and then pan sear them for a few minutes on each side before finishing them off in the oven! Marinated Chops = ...
The post Lemongrass Ginger Baked Bone In Pork Chops appeared first on Fit Foodie Finds.
When trying to make diet changes in order to improve health, nitrates are one of the additives most of us try to avoid. In general, additives and preservatives aren’t ideal, and we want to avoid them when possible. But in the healthy living community there are many differing opinions on nitrates, whether we should eat …
Continue reading Nitrates in Food: Is Nitrate-Free Worth It?...
We live in a world of ‘quick-starts’, ‘how-to-guides’, ‘career hacks’. This article is none of those. It’s a different kind of success story. And a powerful lesson on how to get ahead in health, fitness, and wellness, or any other field.
++++
Success secrets.
Productivity hacks.
Tips, tricks, and quick formulas.
I’m often asked to share these as advice; the requests come when I’m being interviewed on podcasts, speaking at conferences, talking to journalists.
People who want to get ahead in health and fitness — or just about any other field — want to know:
How did you go from starting a health and fitness website with your buddy…
… to running a 200-million dollar company with about 100 team members and over 100,000 clients across 120 countries.
… to advising companies like Apple, Equinox, Nike, and Titleist.
… to being selected as one of the smartest/most influential people in the field?
And they really want to know:
What tip, method, shortcut do you recommend to help others do the same?
As you can probably tell, I’m not a big fan of these kinds of questions.
Can’t blame people for asking, though.
After all, I also want to learn from the people who’ve gone before me, the people who’ve succeeded in the way I hope to succeed.
But here’s the problem:
I could rhyme off a bunch of tips about my morning routine that allow me to run a business while being a father of four. But I don’t think they’ll matter much unless you’re also a father of four and already running a successful business.
Likewise, I don’t believe it was magical morning routines, or growth hacks, or tricks and tips that put me on the road to success in the first place.
In fact, I think it was something completely different.
Something that isn’t often talked about.
I remember it like it was yesterday.
It was a fresh Autumn day.
I was 21 years old, it was my first semester away at University, and I had an appointment with my first-ever guidance counselor.
I was ambitious, I had big goals, and I was excited to get some advice on how to plan my future.
I assumed the meeting would go something like this: He’d listen to me talk about my passions, about my goals, and he’d help me create an academic plan. Maybe even make suggestions for volunteer or internship opportunities.
As I gushed about my love for all things exercise and nutrition, about how it was my goal to have a successful career working with pro sports teams, athletes, and exercisers looking to eat, move, and live better, his face was stolid.
I was completely unprepared for what he said next:
“That’s nice… but there’s not much of a career in that for you. We have to be realistic here. There are too few jobs and the chances you’ll get one of them is almost zero. You’re a smart guy. Why don’t we sign you up for Pre-Med? Med school will be a great path for you.”
I walked out, head down, backpack dragging the ground behind me.
Days went by and, yes, the fog eventually lifted.
I figured… maybe he was wrong. Maybe I needed a second opinion. So, over the next few weeks, I asked around. Looking for a glimmer of hope.
Almost everyone gave the same advice.
Be sensible. Become a doctor. Forget this weird exercise obsession.
I was a 21-year-old from a blue-collar immigrant family. Who was I to not take advice from all these educated people? So I did the responsible, sensible thing. I signed up for Pre-Med, and I plotted my course to medical school.
At the same time, a part of me was mad. Really mad.
Who were they to tell me what my potential was? To squash my dream?
So, partly out of spite, but mostly out of this magnetic draw I felt towards health and fitness, sport and performance, I began living a double life.
I scraped together every dollar I had. During evenings and weekends I attended seminars covering fitness, nutrition, and sport related topics. I read everything. I wrote articles for free; I volunteered with gyms and sports teams.
Throughout, I still fully expected to attend med school.
But, eventually, some strange and interesting paths opened up.
I found a peer group that was passionate about the things I was interested in. (Surprise: I didn’t find them in my 4th year Chemistry and Physics classes.) And I stumbled upon formal and informal mentors.
Almost magically, more opportunities appeared, including offers to attend grad school in Exercise Science and Nutritional Biochemistry. Invitations to coach high-level athletes. Contracts to write for influential publications.
Still, after graduating with my Pre-Med degree (and minors in Philosophy and Psychology), it was no small feat to turn down the Med School offers. The voices were still in my head. But I did.
And instead of going to Med School…
…I fell down the health, fitness, and nutrition rabbit hole.
Before Doctor Berardi, before Precision Nutrition, before I could have ever seen where it all would take me, I did something that many people felt unwise: I followed my passion.
Not because it was part of some master plan. But because everything I learned about health, fitness and nutrition made me want to learn more.
So, although I didn’t quit my day job, I didn’t quit dreaming either.
Instead of fighting my own intrinsic motivation, I went with it.
Instead of paddling upstream, I went with the current.
I rode the horses in the direction they were going.
I went down the rabbit hole.
And here I am today.
When it comes to our careers, our relationships, even our health and fitness, we’re often taught to plot very strategically.
Whether it’s from guidance counselors, business advisors, teachers, courses, e-books, blogs, podcasts, well-intentioned parents, or (seemingly) the whole Internet, we’re taught that we need to plan our path down to every step.
(“Life hackers” and proponents of “accelerated learning” teach us that we can even leapfrog a few of these steps. Bonus!)
So, that’s what we do.
We make checklists, knock off each item, rush to completion, and pray that our calculated maneuvering will lead to success or accomplishment or connection (or whatever we think we’ll need to feel happy).
Unfortunately, this particular approach may have a cost.
It might prevent us from experiencing some of the best, brightest, and most unexpectedly rewarding moments in life.
Even worse, it might prevent us from deep learning and mastery, which has been proven to give us satisfaction, meaning, and, if you’re a competitive person, a “leg up on the competition”.
I’ve found that there’s tremendous joy — and surprising, unexpected rewards — that come from “going down the rabbit hole”.
From looking deeply, intensely at something you’re really passionate about.
From learning everything you can about it.
And from going “all in”.
If there is a formula for the kind of success most people want, even if they don’t know what that looks like yet, it might be something like this:
Strong personal mission
+
High competency
+
System for execution
=
Personal and career satisfaction
Have a look around.
You’ll find there’s almost nothing more powerful than someone with a deeply held motivation to do their work plus high level of skill plus a blueprint or system for executing every day.
Most people (in any field) have only one or two of those.
In some cases, that might be enough.
However, if you have all three, you’ll be amazed at what happens.
It’s interesting to note that most of the people on the Precision Nutrition team started in totally different fields:
Then there are the thousands of Precision Nutrition Certification graduates.
In the last 6 months I’ve met:
None of these folks would have guessed their future would include working in health and fitness, coaching clients, and changing lives.
But here they are today.
And let’s not forget the reason they’re here…
They went “all in” on learning about their passion.
Even before they quit their day jobs.
Even before deciding:
“Yes, this is going to be my next career!”
They learned everything there is to know for the sheer joy of it. They talked to the best experts. They did courses and certifications.
They went down the rabbit hole.
And they had a blast doing it.
Then came the unintended, unexpected rewards.
The inevitable paths and opportunities that seem to magically appear; the stuff you can’t possibly know about when you’re just starting out.
Stuff like:
However, that’s all stuff for later.
For now, you just have to start, from wherever you are.
Take whatever your passion is, whatever you’re excited about, whatever you’re hesitating on, whatever your inner voice tells you to explore and…
…go explore THAT thing.
Go down the rabbit hole.
You won’t be worse off.
Chances are, it’ll change your life.
You probably already know what that ‘thing’ is; the one that lights you up and makes you tick.
It’s the thing you can’t stop reading about and researching, just for fun, even when it’s late at night and you know it’s really time to go to bed.
It’s the thing you can’t stop talking about… maybe the thing you’re driving your family members nuts about because you just can’t shut up about it.
It’s the thing you’re totally hooked on. You can’t get enough. You might even say you’re a little bit obsessed.
That thing? Embrace it.
You don’t necessarily have to plan a career change or do anything drastic. Just give yourself permission to ‘go down the rabbit hole’ of learning, exploration and experimentation.
Who’s already doing what you would like to be doing? Who is inspiring or fascinating to you?
Watch for the people who are involved in the field or a subject that interests you.
Is there a way to learn from them, watch them, talk with them, or ask questions?
Don’t just expect them to give you the magic formula. But take advantage of every opportunity to observe and learn.
And don’t discount people who aren’t on Instagram or getting all the attention, either. Ask yourself: Who else is working in this industry? Who else can I learn from?
Cast a wide net. Aim to observe and learn all you can.
Look for opportunities to ask questions, get feedback, and learn all you can.
Attend a lecture and participate in the Q&A.
Write letters to your role models.
Volunteer.
Do stuff: Write articles, join projects, conduct experiments. Do it for free, in your spare time. Do it in the name of learning, and for the joy of it.
Don’t worry too much about the payoff now. Just plant the seeds.
Education doesn’t just have to come from traditional schooling (not that there’s anything wrong with that). These days, plenty of options are available, for just about any industry.
If you ask me, there’s never been a better time to learn anything. Courses, books, certifications, master classes… the world is your educational oyster.
The trick: choose educational opportunities from places that are proven, who you trust and respect. Take your time and do your research.
And then, after you’ve signed up, make sure to show up.
And go all in.
When it comes to better health and fitness, focusing on nutrition is the most important and effective step. But there’s a big problem: Most people don’t feel qualified to coach nutrition.
That’s where we come in. If you’d like to learn everything you can about nutrition—especially how to use it to help yourself and others—consider the Precision Nutrition Level 1 Certification. The next group kicks off shortly.
What’s it all about?
The Precision Nutrition Level 1 Certification is the world’s most respected nutrition education program. It gives you the knowledge, systems, and tools you need to feel confident and qualified to coach nutrition with anyone.
Developed over 15 years, and proven with over 100,000 clients, the Precision Nutrition curriculum stands alone as the authority on the science of nutritionand the art of coaching.
Whether you’re already mid-career, or just starting out, the PN Level 1 Certification is your springboard to a deeper understanding of nutrition, the authority to coach it, and the ability to turn what you know into results—for yourself and your clients.
[Of course, if you’re already a student or graduate of the Level 1 Certification, check out our Level 2 Certification Master Class. It’s an exclusive, year-long mentorship designed for elite professionals looking to master the art of coaching and be part of the top 1% of health and fitness coaches in the world.]
We’re opening spots in the brand-new Precision Nutrition Level 1 Certification on Wednesday, October 2nd.
If you want to find out more, we’ve set up the following presale list, which gives you two advantages.
If you’re ready for a deeper understanding of nutrition, the authority to coach it, and the ability to turn what you know into results… this is your chance to see what the world’s top professional nutrition coaching system can do for you.
The post Forget “career hacks”… Here’s the real key to career success that almost no one is talking about. appeared first on Precision Nutrition.
If you like tacos, you’ll love this taco soup! This taco soup recipe is ready in only 30-minutes and it is a great healthy soup to make for meal-prep. Skip the spoon and scoop this soup with your favorite tortilla chip! We have so many amazing soup recipes on Fit ...
The post Taco Soup appeared first on Fit Foodie Finds.
Wondering how to cook butternut squash? Don’t be intimidated! It’s a lot easier to peel, cut and roast butternut squash than it seems! Learn how with step-by-step instructions here. And spoiler: there’s only 3 steps! You’ll be making butternut squash recipes in no time — like these butternut squash buddha ...
The post How to Roast Butternut Squash (3 Easy Steps!) appeared first on Fit Foodie Finds.
This Healthy Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala is savory, hearty and made completely in the slow cooker. Prep a batch and you’ll have dinner in no time, or meal prep and freeze for the perfect freezer meal at a later date. Slow cooker meals are perfect for back to school ...
The post Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala appeared first on Fit Foodie Finds.
I’m a huge fan of green smoothies because they are an easy way to pack a lot of nutrition into a tasty drink (and kids love them!). I still love my green smoothies, but I’m also experimenting with green juices for their health benefits. Celery juice recipes have been popular, so today I want to …
Continue reading Why I Drink Celery Juice (& How to Make It)...
This BLT Chicken Salad offers a fun twist on the traditional chicken salad! Get that perfect BLT flavor with shredded chicken, Greek yogurt, bacon, tomato slices and kale. You can’t go wrong with this healthy lunch! If you’re on the lookout for more healthy lunch ideas, check out these bento ...
The post BLT Chicken Salad appeared first on Fit Foodie Finds.
Meal prep is a dream with this amazingly colorful Mediterranean Vegan Buddha Bowl Recipe! This vegan meal is packed with delicious plant-based ingredients like roasted sweet potato, quinoa tabouli, and a homemade hummus making it high in protein and fiber! Big buddha bowl fans over there? Us too! Whether it’s ...
The post Mediterranean Vegan Buddha Bowl Recipe appeared first on Fit Foodie Finds.
Conventional treatment for PTSD often means suppressing the symptoms associated with the disorder, rather than treating the underlying cause. In this episode of Revolution Health Radio, I talk with Dr. Michael Mithoefer about how MDMA, given in conjunction with psychotherapy, can address the root cause of PTSD for some individuals.
The post RHR: Treating PTSD with MDMA, Dr. Michael Mithoefer appeared first on Chris Kresser.
News flash… sometimes I get stuck in a rut when I’m making dinner. It’s a struggle to come up with different side dishes instead of always relying on the same ones. This creamy lemon tarragon zucchini is a different way to use zucchini and makes a nice change. Zucchini Anyone? I like to garden and try …
Continue reading Creamy Lemon Tarragon Zucchini...
I have a feeling today’s episode will be especially personal and eye-opening for all of us. My guest today is my dear friend, Razi Berry, who is the founder and publisher of the journal Naturopathic Doctor News & Review as well as the premier consumer-based website of naturopathic medicine, NaturalPath.net. Razi is also the host of …
Continue reading 283: A Whole-Person Approach to Health With Naturopath Razi Berry...
Our homemade Honey Ginger Chicken Stir Fry is a great alternative to takeout! The sauce is made with fresh ginger, soy sauce/tamari, honey, and sriracha. This healthy chicken stir fry is flavorful, made with real ingredients, and everyone in the family will be begging for this recipe every night of ...
The post Honey Ginger Chicken Stir Fry appeared first on Fit Foodie Finds.
If you believe the buzz, ketosis—whether via the almost-zero-carb ketogenic diet or via ketone supplements—can curb appetite, enhance performance, and cure nearly any health problem that ails you. Sound too good to be true? It probably is.
++++
Maybe with a side of guacamole and some shredded cheese on top?
“I’m doing this for my health,” you could purr virtuously, as you topped your delectably marbled, medium-rare steak with a fried egg.
Well, many advocates of the ketogenic diet argue exactly that: By eating a lot of fat and close to zero carbohydrates you too can enjoy enhanced health, quality of life, performance, brain function, and abs you can grate that cheese on.
So, in this article, we’ll explore:
If you’re just curious about ketogenic diets:
If you want to change your body and/or health:
If you’re an athlete interested in performance:
If you’re a fitness pro, or interested in geeking out with nutritional science:
If you’ve called Client Care at Precision Nutrition, you might have spoken to Lindsay.
Aside from being an incredibly helpful and friendly voice on the other end of the phone, Lindsay is also a tireless advocate for a health condition that has shaped her life in many ways: epilepsy.
Epilepsy is an ancient brain phenomenon, known to medicine thousands of years ago. To manage it, our Neolithic ancestors drilled holes in one another’s skulls, perhaps trying to let the bad stuff out—a practice known as trepanation.
Around 400 BCE, the ancient Greek doctor Hippocrates observed a man who had seizures for five days. On the sixth day, he noted, as the patient “abstained from everything, both gruel and drink, there were no further seizures.”
About 1,400 years later, in 1000 CE, the famous Persian physician Avicenna—who coined the term “epilepsy”, from the ancient Greek verb epilambanein (to seize or attack, as the neurological condition caused seizures), speculated that “overfeeding” might be a risk factor for epilepsy.
By 1911, a pair of Parisian doctors were trying fasting as a treatment for children with epilepsy, and in the United States, physical culturist Bernarr McFadden was claiming that fasting for three days to three weeks could cure anything.
Despite not having the tools and insight of modern neuroscience, these and other people who explored fasting and dietary prescriptions for neurological disorders were on to something.
We now know that there may be a dietary connection—not just between epilepsy and what we eat (or don’t), but also with many other brain disorders.
Unfortunately, fasting isn’t fun. We evolved with a pretty strong aversion to starvation, and our brains and GI tracts have lots of ways to make sure we eat enough.
Which raises the question:
Could we get the health benefits of fasting another way?
In other words:
In 1921, two things happened.
One: Endocrinology researcher Rollin Woodyatt noted that the same chemical environment happened with both starvation and a diet that was very low in carbohydrates and very high in fat.
Two: Dr. Russell Wilder wondered:
Could a person get the health benefits of fasting without actually fasting?
He and other doctors at the Mayo Clinic experimented with what Wilder called the “ketogenic diet” during the early 1920s. Not only did children with epilepsy seem to improve overall with this type of diet, they seemed to think and behave better as well.
Proven by several notable medical authorities, a ketogenic diet as a treatment for childhood epilepsy found its way into medical textbooks by around 1940, and stayed there throughout the 20th century.
Nowadays, aging, contact sports, and modern warfare present us with new populations of people whose brains might benefit from a ketogenic diet:
There was another group of people who became curious about ketogenic diets some time in the 1980s and 1990s: bodybuilders and physique athletes.
These folks weren’t too concerned about brain health or longevity. They wanted to be ripped.
The ketogenic diet seemed like a magic bullet: a way to eat butter, bacon and cream, and still get abs.
Physique- and performance-conscious people, as well as people looking to maximize lifespan and life quality, have rediscovered this old-school dietary paradigm and are wondering:
The answer?
It depends. (Don’t you hate that? But it’s true.)
To understand why, we’ll look at:
Let’s start by clarifying just what a ketogenic diet is.
It might be hard to translate “low carb, high fat” into everyday foods.
To give you a better idea of the ketogenic diet in real life, here’s a comparison:
| Protein | Carb | Fat | |
|---|---|---|---|
| PN Mixed Meal | ~30% | ~40% | ~30% |
| Paleo Meal | ~40% | ~20% | ~40% |
| Low-Carb Meal | ~40% | ~10% | ~50% |
| Ketogenic Meal | ~20% | ~5% | ~75% |
And here’s what that might look like translated into meals.
Notice a few things.
For the first three meals, protein is more or less the same, with a little variation.
Ketogenic diets, on the other hand, include less protein—usually closer to 10 or 20 percent of total daily intake.
The Precision Nutrition plate suggests high-fiber, slow-digesting carbohydrates, such as whole grains, beans and legumes, fruits, and starchy vegetables.
The Paleo plate may contain slightly fewer carbohydrates (early human diets often had plenty of them), but eliminates the grains and beans / legumes.
The “low carb” plate will have fewer carbohydrates than the first two, but still have a small amount, likely from vegetables.
The ketogenic meal shoots for near-zero carbs. Most estimates suggest around 10-15 grams of carbs a day. To give you an idea of what this looks like, that’s about one fist-sized portion of cooked carrots, or about 10-15 grapes. For the whole day.
The Precision Nutrition plate suggests about 1-2 thumb-sized portions of fat-dense foods (like nuts, cheese, avocado, olive oil, etc.) per meal, depending on body size, activity level, and goals.
The Paleo and low-carb plates may be roughly similar, with a little variation.
We might call all three of these “moderate fat”. Indeed, some indigenous diets (aka variations on the “Paleo” concept) are often quite low in fat, especially saturated fat.
The ketogenic meal, on the other hand, is high fat—even up to 90 percent of total energy intake. That means if you’re eating a 500-calorie spinach and mushroom salad, you get about 2 thumb-sized pieces of chicken breast on top, and then pour about 3-4 glugs of olive oil on top… Yum yum!
A ketogenic diet is the most restrictive and limited of all four of these styles of eating. Here’s what you can eat on a ketogenic diet:
A small amount of protein, such as:
A large amount of high-fat foods, such as:
A very small amount of very-low-carbohydrate vegetables, such as:
Here’s what you can’t eat on a ketogenic diet:
So, let’s recap:
Ketogenic menus:
So why go to all this effort?
Well, for particular groups of people, ketosis may indeed be helpful.
(For other people, of course, it may not be helpful… and it may be actively harmful. We’ll talk more about that in a moment.)
To understand why this is true, let’s look at how ketosis actually works.
Ketones are a group of organic compounds with a specific structure.
The term “ketone” was actually coined around 1850 by German chemist Leopold Gmelin, along with the term “ester”. (See? Not as new as you’d think!)
We can use two types of ketones as energy sources, acetoacetate and D-β-hydroxybutyrate. (The β sign means “beta”.)
Our body can make ketones through a complex biochemical pathway.
Put very simply, when the conditions are right (for instance, during starvation or fasting, or when our carb intake is very low):
The shape and orientation of molecules is important.
Stereoisomers are molecules with the same chemical makeup, but different shapes and configurations. You can imagine your right hand as a “stereoisomer” of your left: they both share the same components, just arranged differently.
Shape and orientation matter to molecules and their actions, just like having right-handed and left-handed gloves or shoes matters.
The ketone D-β-hydroxybutyrate is not the same as its stereoisomer L-β-hydroxybutyrate.
This difference in molecular configuration matters for several parts of the conversion process.
For instance, when D-β-hydroxybutyrate is converted back to acetyl-CoA, its intermediate form D-β-hydroxybutyrate-CoA isn’t the same thing as L-β-hydroxybutyrate-CoA (an intermediate of β- oxidation).
Each stereoisomer uses different enzymes for conversion, much like each lock has its own unique key.
This difference also matters for ketone supplementation (see below).
You want to supplement the right stereoisomer, rather than a random pile of ketone types. Usually in test tube chemistry, you get a mix of stereoisomers (often around half one type, and half another type), unlike our body, which only uses and makes one version.
Ketosis happens when blood ketones are higher than normal either through dietary changes (which lead to very low blood glucose) or through supplementation (independent of blood glucose concentrations).
Some people like to think of ketone bodies as the fourth energy source for humans (in addition to carbohydrates, fats and proteins).
That’s technically true, but the alcohol in booze (aka ethanol) can also be used for energy. Just because we can metabolize something doesn’t always mean we should.
Ketosis, which just means having more ketone bodies than normal, should not be confused with ketoacidosis, which is a potentially dangerous metabolic situation of uncontrolled ketosis.
Normally, our body is very good at self-regulating.
If it senses acid levels rising (as happens in ketosis), it responds by buffering with more alkaline molecules (such as bicarbonate), changing blood levels of CO2, absorbing hydrogen ions, or telling the kidneys to excrete more dihydrogen phosphate and ammonium ions.
However, if for some reason our body can’t compensate, and blood pH drops below about 7.35 (in other words, becoming more acidic), we’re in trouble.
This usually happens in diabetics and alcoholics, since their normal metabolic mechanisms may not work properly.
For the average healthy person, dietary ketosis or even brief fasting is generally safe.
We can make our own ketone bodies naturally, through the process of ketogenesis.
Our ancestors kicked off ketogenesis the good old fashioned way: by starving. About 72 hours into starvation, ketogenesis is happening and you’re in ketosis. Congratulations!
Ketosis is essentially an effect of fasting. This means that many of the health effects of fasting may be due to ketosis itself, rather than something like energy restriction.
Interestingly, how quickly ketosis happens varies by age and species.
Other mammals don’t seem to go into ketosis nearly as quickly as humans (your friendly neighborhood hibernating bear or squirrel who doesn’t eat for weeks to months at a time? No ketosis.)
Babies, on the other hand, go into ketosis within a few hours of not eating.
This may have to do with our energy-hungry human brains. About 20 percent of our overall energy intake is devoted to feeding our brains. Although bears and squirrels are clever enough to get into the garbage, they don’t have brains as large as we do.
It seems that ketogenesis is a human backup system that provides enough energy (via ketone bodies) to the ol’ noggin in times of starvation.
And it may be this particular evolutionary adaptation—which perhaps began as a way to keep the thinking factory upstairs working when food was scarce—that also enables the brain-benefiting effects of the ketogenic diet.
Stored glucose (our sugar-based fuel) is actually rather heavy. We don’t carry around much of it. Our body prefers to store most of our excess energy as body fat.
When we eat normally, our brain gets enough energy from glucose that can easily pass the blood-brain barrier.
When we stop eating, we run out of stored glucose (as glycogen) within 2-3 days (faster if we’re active), and have to find some other fuel source.
By the way, the relative heaviness of stored glycogen is why many people report fast weight loss on a ketogenic or low-carb diet: their body has dumped a little extra weight in the form of glycogen and water (which tags along with glycogen in a 3 parts water to 1 part glycogen ratio). Unfortunately, this water and glycogen comes right back once we start eating normally again.
Most people frown on starving children with epilepsy, so a ketogenic diet is the next best thing.
By cutting off the body’s carbohydrate (aka glucose) supply, but providing energy and nutrients in the form of fat (plus a little protein), we can get the same effects as straight-up starvation: ketosis.
As with starvation, it usually takes some time to get into ketosis once we stop eating carbs.
Many people like to measure their ketosis with Ketostix, which test for ketones in the urine. This is not always a reliable indicator, since all it tells you is whether you’re excreting excess ketones, not whether you’re actually in ketosis per se.
In addition, Ketostix only measure the presence of excreted acetoacetate, not the presence of D-β-hydroxybutyrate.
Over time, our body’s excretion of ketones can change, even if we’re still in ketosis. Therefore, you may see different readings on the Ketostix, regardless of what is actually happening in your body.
If ketones are what we want, why not just take them instead of making our own by fasting or cutting out carbohydrates?
Great idea, and totally new… except it isn’t.
As early as 1953, there were studies looking into whether we could “artificially” produce ketosis by supplementation.
Today, we know that by supplementing with ketone bodies (usually D-β-hydroxybutyrate or certain esters) you can raise the level of ketone bodies in the blood without being in ketogenesis.
This has a lot of cool possibilities. If ketone supplementation can give us the health benefits of ketosis without us having to fast / starve or follow a very restrictive diet, that could be a win-win.
Unfortunately, we still don’t have conclusive human studies on this that would give us clear direction. Check back in 10 years.
The buzz is that ketone supplements can make you thin and cure whatever ails you. But what you read about in the media or on the interwebs isn’t always what scientists actually found in the lab.
If you didn’t know better, you’d think ketone supplementation just started. Actually, research on this topic goes back to the 1950s. All of it has been conducted using rats. Here are the findings.
Weight loss
D-β-hydroxybutyrate supplementation made some types of rats eat less and lose weight, but not other types of rats.
Some evidence kinda sorta indicates that D-β-hydroxybutyrate supplementation might activate brown fat (a metabolically active fat that is, in part, responsible for thermogenic adaptations) via the sympathetic nervous system, but there was no follow-up.
Blood glucose regulation
Another showed that ketone supplementation with either 1, 3-butanediol acetoacetate diester or sodium/potassium β-hydroxybutyrate decreased blood glucose with no changes in cholesterol or blood triglycerides (the not-so-great side effects of the ketogenic diet).
Traumatic brain injury
In one study, infusing D-β-hydroxybutryate into adult rats after traumatic brain injuries showed improved energy (ATP) levels.
In another study, D-β-hydroxybutryate didn’t improve things and actually caused damage to the blood-brain barrier, even in healthy rats.
Epilepsy
New evidence suggests that it may not be D-β-hydroxybutryate or acetoacetate preventing seizures; rather, it might be the relatively short-chain fatty acids (nanoeic and decanoic acids) in the diets when on a ketogenic diet crossing the blood-brain barrier, inhibiting seizures.
But in another study that exposed rats to high-pressure oxygen containing ketone esters such as R,S-1,3-butanediol acetoacetate diester, the rodents saw increased blood β-hydroxybutryate and decreased seizures.
Cancer
A recent study found that ketone supplementation extended survival in mice with metastatic cancer. But while it’s true that most cancers have a highly anaerobic metabolism, this in not universal. If proven to be effective, it’s likely that ketone supplementation would be an additional treatment rather than a stand alone treatment for cancer, because of its robust nature.
For now, almost no studies on ketone supplementation have used human clinical trials. So if anyone tells you that ketone supplementation is a miracle cure, ask if you can get some for your pet rat… if it’s the right kind of rat.
Ketogenesis and ketosis are easy to study.
All you have to do is starve people, or feed them a high-fat/low-carb diet, and wait. Then you see if it changes whatever you’re interested in fixing.
Since we’ve known about fasting and ketosis for quite a long time, and it’s relatively easy to research, there are probably good reasons why it’s not yet considered a miracle cure.
And it’s not because Big Pharma or Carbohydrate Corporation or The Cancer Conspiracy have vested interests. (Trust me, we scientists can barely keep the grad students from contaminating the super-purified water by leaving the lid off the jug, never mind organize an evil cabal of ketosis deniers.)
To be fair, the introduction of anti-epileptic drugs in the late 1930s onward did lead to less interest in dietary ketosis as a treatment for epileptic children.
But we don’t yet use ketosis (or ketone supplementation) to fix everything from muffin tops to hangnails because:
That being said, here are some interesting and promising new avenues for ketosis… as well as some “don’t bother” examples.
We know that fasting is often an effective short-term treatment for metabolic dysfunction such as poor glucose control / early Type 2 diabetes, chronic inflammation, or hypertension.
We don’t know for sure yet whether this is because of ketosis or some other mechanism (such as programmed cell death, aka apoptosis).
However, research suggests that in some cases, such as type 2 diabetes, ketosis may be useful as a short-term treatment or a “boost” that helps return metabolic processes back to a more normal and well-regulated state.
In these specific situations, a ketogenic diet or a structured intermittent fasting program done under close medical supervision for a specific objective, may be a useful as part of a multi-pronged treatment program that probably should include other therapeutic tools such as medication or other well-established health procedures.
Notice all our italics here. What we mean is:
Verdict: Could help in some cases, but should be done with a clear purpose and carefully monitored. Not a long-term “cure-all” for most people.
Why does ketosis seem to help some types of metabolic dysfunction?
Ketones may help, in part, because they decrease oxidative stress, boost antioxidants and scavenge free radicals.
Oxidation is a natural part of cellular metabolism, but too much oxidation, too fast, without the balance of antioxidants, contributes to many metabolic and other diseases.
Many metabolic disorders are related to this process of oxidation, in which our cells essentially “rust” from the inside. If we can slow and regulate oxidation, it may improve our health and longevity.
We know ketosis for epilepsy is a win—can ketosis help other types of brain illnesses and injuries?
Recent research suggests that many brain disorders (such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, among other neurodegenerative diseases) are related to other metabolic disorders such as diabetes, obesity, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).
These metabolic and neourodegenerative diseases show common features, such as oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, and inflammation. In fact, Alzheimer’s is now often described as “diabetes of the brain”, or “Type 3 diabetes”.
The presence of ketones also seems to improve outcomes from traumatic brain injury (TBI). However, right now, most of these studies have been done on rats.
Still, based on what we’ve seen with epilepsy and rat studies, chances are good that ketones may be a low-risk treatment—and perhaps even a preventive strategy—to improve brain health. See above about getting medical supervision from someone other than Dr. Google.
Verdict: Probably can’t hurt, might help people with neurodegeneration and/or mild to moderate brain injury.
We know that caloric restriction (CR) improves longevity in most organisms studied. We know that intermittent fasting seems to have some of the same benefits, sometimes.
But right now, we don’t know if ketosis works the same way.
The real question here is: Who’s willing to find out?
Would you stick to a ketogenic diet in the name of advancing knowledge, achieving scientific glory as a “ketonaut”? Most of us wouldn’t.
Plus, without a control group (say, your identical twin who lives exactly the same lifestyle as you, in the exact same environment, with only your diets being different), it’s hard to know for sure whether your 100th birthday was due to ketosis or something else.
For now, any longevity benefits would be mostly speculative. And your 100th birthday cake would have to be a block of butter.
Verdict: You could try this one and get your next of kin to report back… but most people wouldn’t want to.
Athletes need fuel to perform.
Could we possibly enable people to tap into their stored body fat more effectively, and require less re-fueling from stuff like sugary energy gels?
Ketosis lets you avoid glycogen depletion (aka bonking, hitting the wall), because you aren’t using glycogen as your energy source, so you don’t need to take in carbs as you compete. Instead you’re using fat and ketone bodies. You increase fat oxidation, spare glycogen, produce less lactate and use less oxygen at submaximal rates.
All this sounds great, but the exercise physiologists’ consensus is that while all these adaptations are true, the problem is that with fat and ketone bodies as fuel, you’re not going to go as fast as you can when using with glucose and carbohydrates.
The bottom line for athletes is performance, and so far there is only one very new study showing a small improvement in cyclist’s performance with ketone supplementation combined with carbohydrate supplementation (compared to just carbohydrate supplementation alone).
It seems that combining ketones with carbs, rather than exclusively using one or the other, might offer some benefit.
A recent study compared the effect of drinking just carbs to drinking carbs + ketones in male and female elite cyclists.
After not eating overnight (about 16 hours) the cyclists came to the lab and drank either a carb drink or a carb + ketone (c + k) drink.
Carb drink:
C + k drink
Total amount of substrate in both drinks were 573 mg/kg body weight.
The cyclists drank half of their drink, rode for 1 hour at 75% of their max power output. Then they drank the other half of their drink and biked as far as they could in 30 minutes.
After a week, the cyclist repeated the experiment with the opposite drink.
Results
When drinking the c + k drink the cyclists biked, on average, 2 percent (400 meters) farther longer over the 30 minutes.
There were some metabolic differences to note in with the c+k drink:
Bottom line: Supplementing with a combination of carbohydrates and ketones may improve performance in aerobic competitions.
Verdict: Some intriguing possibilities, particularly for aerobic performance, but to date there very little evidence to improve overall athletic performance.
Oh, insulin, you naughty monkey! You have been getting yourself in so much trouble lately!
Low-carb advocates in the late 1990s and early 2000s thought maybe they had stumbled on the key to fighting flab: insulin. Insulin is mainly a storage hormone: Its job is basically to help nutrients get into cells.
The low-carb / insulin hypothesis, dramatically oversimplified, went like this:
Now, this theory did have some merits.
For one thing, it got some of us unhooked from processed sugary and starchy treats, and thinking more about fiber content and healthy fats.
Unfortunately, insulin is not the only player. There’s never only one player in the team sport and complex system that is your body.
Nor does insulin act alone. Energy storage is governed largely by our brain, not a single hormone.
The other upside to the low-carb approach was that people often ate more protein and more fat. When we eat protein and fat, we release satiety hormones, particularly CCK, which is one of the main hormones that tells us we’re full.
More protein and fat means we’re often less hungry. Which means we eat less. Which means we lose fat. It’s the “eating less” part (not the insulin part) that actually matters.
On top of this, if you’ll recall, carbohydrates are relatively heavy to store. Lower the carb intake, and our body will eventually release some water and glycogen.
Result: Weight loss. Magic!
Yet being in ketosis doesn’t seem to have any special advantage for losing body fat (rather than just weight), especially if we consider the lifestyle and behavior aspect to this.
You may find it easy to eat less when all you can eat is protein and fat. But after a while, you may grow tired of bringing your own whole salmon to parties, and wonder what the other 95% of the grocery store is up to. You may start to have fantasies about a threesome: you, Oreos, and chocolate sauce. Not only that, you may be getting some serious scurvy and other nutrient deficiencies.
For women in particular, lowering carbohydrate intake seems to have negative effects.
Women’s bodies go on high alert faster when they sense less energy and fewer nutrients coming in. Many women have found that the low-carb diet that worked great for their husband not only didn’t work for them, but it knocked out their menstrual cycle on the way out the door.
Verdict: We don’t recommend the ketogenic diet for sustainable fat loss.
As part of the carb-insulin hypothesis, people thought that maybe metabolism would also increase during ketosis.
A recent study looked at whether or not there was a significant increase in metabolic rate when going from a high-carbohydrate diet (48% carbohydrate) to a ketogenic diet (6% carbohydrate), with protein being the same (around 16-17%).
With this dietary change, insulin went down while fatty acids and ketone bodies went up. Basal metabolism (energy expenditure) went up by about 100 kcal per day.
Seems obviously good—but not so fast.
Figuring out what this actually means is complicated.
Researchers had to correct metabolism based on body weight, which as you’ve read, tends to drop when water is lost on low-carb diets.
The authors concluded that while there was a small increase in metabolism initially, that disappeared over the four weeks while insulin levels were still low.
So their study didn’t support the insulin-carb hypothesis.
Is protein actually the key factor?
The authors of the study think that differences found in other studies comparing high and low-carb diets are because of differences in protein intake rather than carbohydrate intake in those studies.
Protein promotes satiety and takes the most energy to digest and absorb, so differences in weight loss may be net calories absorbed, rather than decreases in insulin or increases in metabolism.
As you may have read above, insulin is mainly a storage hormone. It’s also considered an anabolic hormone. As in building things. As in getting swole.
For the most part, we need insulin—along with other hormones, such as growth hormone and testosterone—to create an anabolic, muscle-building environment. Trying to build muscle while in ketosis is like stepping on the gas and the brake at the same time.
However, as with athletic performance, we may discover that there is some benefit to supplementary ketones while building muscle. We don’t know yet.
Verdict: Build muscle with a more appropriately anabolic diet that includes carbohydrates (particularly around training), and supplement with ketones if you want to experiment.
After reading this article, you might feel like nutrition is more complex than you thought. We get it. In the age of 24/7 health news and fitness-celeb podcasts, it’s tough to get the real story.
If you’d like to learn more about nutrition, consider the Precision Nutrition Level 1 Certification. Our next group kicks off shortly.
What’s it all about?
The Precision Nutrition Level 1 Certification is the world’s most respected nutrition education program. It gives you the knowledge, systems, and tools to really understand how food influences a person’s health and fitness. Plus the ability to turn that knowledge into a thriving coaching practice.
Developed over 15 years, and proven with over 100,000 clients, the Level 1 curriculum stands alone as the authority on the science of nutrition and the art of coaching.
Whether you’re already mid-career, or just starting out, the Level 1 Certification is your springboard to a deeper understanding of nutrition, the authority to coach it, and the ability to turn what you know into results.
[Of course, if you’re already a student or graduate of the Level 1 Certification, check out our Level 2 Certification Master Class. It’s an exclusive, year-long mentorship designed for elite professionals looking to master the art of coaching and be part of the top 1% of health and fitness coaches in the world.]
We’re opening spots in the brand-new Precision Nutrition Level 1 Certification on Wednesday, October 2nd.
If you want to find out more, we’ve set up the following presale list, which gives you two advantages.
If you’re ready for a deeper understanding of nutrition, the authority to coach it, and the ability to turn what you know into results… this is your chance to see what the world’s top professional nutrition coaching system can do for you.
If you’re ready for a deeper understanding of nutrition, the authority to coach it, and the ability to turn what you know into results… this is your chance to see what the world’s top professional nutrition coaching system can do for you.
Click here to view the information sources referenced in this article.
The post The Ketogenic Diet: Does it live up to the hype? The pros, the cons, and the facts about this not-so-new diet craze. appeared first on Precision Nutrition.
