170 health problems caused by something you probably eat everyday

In the article below, we're going dive deep into the inner walls of one of the most critically important organs of your body -- your gut.

Unfortunately, many people think of their gut solely as the mechanism by which your body digests food, which is at best an extreme oversimplification, and at worst an ideology massively contributing to the health problems, weight loss struggles, and auto-immune disorders of millions world-wide.

In reality, your GI tract is MUCH more than a digestion center; in fact, it is quite literally your second brain as well as being “home” to 80% of your immune system.

You see, within your gut reside roughly 100 TRILLION living bacteria…

That’s more than 10 times the number of cells you have in your entire body – and maintaining the ideal ratio of “good bacteria” (known as probiotics) to “bad bacteria” is now gaining recognition as perhaps the single most important step you can take to protect your health and further along your fat loss goals.

In fact, there are more than 200 studies linking inadequate probiotic levels to more than 170 different negative health issues, including obesity and weight gain.

To touch briefly on the weight gain and obesity consequences, virtually every study performed on the obese population analyzing gut bacteria found higher instances of “bad” bacteria and lower levels of probiotics (again, the “good” bacteria) within these individuals.

Perhaps you yourself are already experiencing some of the more advanced signs that your intestinal bacterial balance is beginning to spin out of control, such as:

 • Gas and bloating
 • Constipation and/or diarrhea
 • Acid reflux
 • Skin problems
 • Overall sickness
 • Headaches
 • Urinary tract infections
 • Trouble sleeping
 • An inability to lose weight
 • Sugar cravings, especially for heavily refined carbs

You see, the ideal healthy ratio of “good” to “bad” bacteria is 85% to 15%, or 9 to 1.

Unfortunately, due to lifestyle and environmental factors, the vast majority of the population is severely lacking when it comes to good probiotic bacteria, throwing their gut flora ratio completely out of whack.

And if that wasn't bad enough, believe it or not, the "bad" health-destroying bacteria further feeds and multiplies on something you probably eat EVERY single day: sugar
But here's the good news:  You can correct this imbalance by limiting the amount of refined carbohydrates in your diet, and by supplementing with a good probiotic, like Natureès Sunshine Probiotic Eleven.

Mike Westerdal Benches 405 for 5 Reps

Mike Westerdal Benches 405 for 5 Reps
Check Out The Program Mike Used To Increase his Bench

Improve Your Sleep With These Simple & Complex Solutions

You’ve undoubtedly heard that sleep is important for building muscle and getting lean. New research provides more evidence of the link between sleep deprivation,  metabolic disturbance, and excess body fat.

In this study, researchers took 19 healthy, lean men and cut their sleep time by 1.5 hours for three weeks. By the end of the study, the participants experienced severe reductions in insulin sensitivity, a state that is a precursor to diabetes and leads to an inflammatory state in the body.

The hormone leptin was also severely reduced. Adequate leptin is important because it reduces hunger and enhances calorie burning. Less leptin and poorer insulin health led the men to gain body fat due to this short-term drop in metabolism. Just think of what chronic exhaustion is doing to your body composition, let alone your stress levels.

The task of improving sleep quality can be broken into two categories: simple and complex solutions. You’ve surely heard of the simple solutions before, but a reminder is often helpful:

•     Make sure you are sleeping in a completely dark room—darken windows, cover or get rid of blinking lights, and turn off TVs, computers, etc.

•    Turn off your cell phone and get a regular alarm clock because cell phones emit radiation that has been shown to alter sleep cycles.

•    Expose yourself to bright light first thing after waking to improve your cortisol awakening response. Morning is the one time when a spike in cortisol is beneficial to raise energy levels. Research suggests that higher cortisol in the early morning will lead to better sleep at night.

•     Read something you enjoy for 15 minutes to relax before going to bed.

•     If you can’t quiet your thoughts at bedtime, try writing down the things that make you anxious. Finish each writing session by listing something you are grateful for.

More complex solutions include supplementation to aid sleep and adopting lifestyle practices that enhance sleep:

•    Do deep breathing, a relaxation practice, or meditation before bed to calm mental chatter.

•    Take inositol to help improve sleep and calm obsessive thoughts. Two to 10 grams of inositol in a cup of water 45 minutes before bed may help improve sleep.

•    Supplement with taurine, magnesium, thiamine, or melatonin since low levels of all of these have been linked to poor sleep.

Reference
Robertson, M., et al. Effects of Three Weeks of Mild Sleep Restriction Implemented in The Home Environment on Multiple Metabolic and Endocrine Markers in Healthy Young Men. Metabolism, Clinical and Experimental. 2013. 62(2), 204-211.

Source: http://www.lifestylebypoliquin.com/Lifestyle/StayHealthy/627/Why_And_How_To_Improve_Your_Sleep_With_These_Simple__Complex_Solutions.aspx

Top Thirty Tips to Lose Belly Fat

Know that you have complete control over what you put in your mouth. No one ever ate anything by accident. 

Muggings by donuts who force themselves into your stomach are a figment of your imagination.

Belly fat loss is about the following:

•    Intensity and volume of training—you must train with a near maximal metabolic intensity and perform a large volume of work
•    Decreasing inflammation in the body and enhancing the immune system
•    Managing stress and decreasing the body’s output of the hormone cortisol
•    Creating a healthy gut, which leads to lower cortisol and less inflammation
•    Managing insulin health and glucose tolerance with diet and regular physical activity
•    Elimination of foods that you are intolerant of
•    Elimination of foods that are wholly unhealthy
   
A few things you should know about belly fat to help you lose it:

•    Belly fat is made up of two kinds of fat: 
1) Subcutaneous fat is below the surface of the skin and can be pinched with fingers, or calipers when measuring body fat.
2) Visceral belly fat is inside the abdominal wall, below the muscles and can’t be measured with calipers. Losing visceral fat will decrease your waist circumference and make you look much leaner around the middle, but it won’t get rid of fat at the umbilical or suprailiac—that’s subcutaneous fat.
•    Visceral belly fat is considered a metabolically active “organ” because it releases substances called adipokines, which are cell-to-cell signaling proteins that increase blood pressure, raise LDL bad cholesterol, and alter insulin sensitivity, causing diabetes.
•    Adipokines released from visceral belly fat actually degrade muscle quality and turn it into fat!
•    Diabetes and large amounts of visceral belly fat are generally interrelated health problems that are closely linked with development of cardiovascular disease.

The Top 30 Tips to Get Rid of Belly Fat

1)    Strength train with a large volume (30 to 45 sets per workout) and short rest periods (10 to 60 seconds) to produce more lactic acid buildup and greater growth hormone response.
2)    Use  a hypertrophy-type protocol (8 to 12 reps, more than 3 sets, 70 to 85 percent of the 1RM load).
3)    Do modified strongman training at least once a week: Build muscle and lower body strength, while elevating growth hormone to enhance fat burning.
4)    Work hard but smart by manipulating rest, sets, reps & tempo: For example, 6 X 6 squats with 60 seconds rest and 12 X 3 squats with 25 seconds rest produce equal metabolic cost.
5)    Do sprint intervals for conditioning. For example, six 200-meter track sprints, 4 minutes rest, or 60 cycle sprints of 8 seconds each, 12 seconds rest.
6)    Do conditioning outside rather than on electric powered machines—the “dirty” electricity raises cortisol and alters energy use by messing with insulin sensitivity.
7)    Improve your mental outlook and commitment to excellence…
8)    Lose belly fat with total body training and sprints—avoid “15-minute ab” programs.
9)     Always eat breakfast and opt for a high-protein, low-glycemic meal.
10)     Don’t train on an empty stomach—this lowers the body’s use of fat for fuel and results in less calorie burn during recovery (excess post-exercise oxygen use).
11)     Eliminate all processed foods from your diet—don’t eat them ever.
12)     Don’t avoid fat—just be sure to eat smart fats such as those found in fish, wild meats, coconut oil, olive oil, avocados, and nuts.
13)     Eat a high-quality, high-protein diet to increase resting metabolic rate and the amount of energy required to digest food.
14)     Take leucine-enriched branched-chain amino acids to lose more visceral belly fat, while promoting muscle building and a high level of performance.
15)     Support insulin sensitivity: Take omega-3 fats to make your cells receptive to insulin, eat less than 120 g of carbs a day only from low-glycemic sources.
16)     Consider eliminating gluten, wheat, and grains to support insulin health and lose belly fat.
17)     Make sure your vitamin D level is over 40 ng/ml—take vitamin D if not. Low D status is linked to belly fat gain even in young, healthy subjects.
18)     Ensure you get adequate fiber—shoot for at least 25 grams a day. Low fiber intake leads to poorer insulin health and more belly fat gain.
19)     Eat seeds, especially flax seeds, because they promote elimination of chemical estrogens and will decrease belly fat gain even when eating a high-fat, high fructose diet.
20)     Ensure you have a healthy gut—compromised gastrointestinal health directly leads to elevated cortisol and belly fat gain.
21)    Take a probiotic to support gut health and ensure you have adequate stomach acid.
22)     Limit fructose in the diet to only fruit sources. Eliminate all fructose corn syrup.
23)     Get adequate sleep and if rest is a problem, opt for an early-to-bed, early-to-rise sleep schedule because this has been linked to better body comp.
24)     Use a grateful log  to lower cortisol. Here’s how I do it.
25)     Reduce stress: do yoga, do a martial arts, go for a walk, perform mental imagery, get a counselor or coach, do meditation, do whatever works.
26)     Drink at least 3 liters of water a day to stay hydrated and detox the body.
27)     Eliminate alcohol, juice, soda, and sports drinks. Stick to water, tea, and coffee.
28)     Eliminate ALL sugar and all sweeteners—cane sugar, agave, maple syrup—all of it.
29)     Take 500 mg of magnesium to calm the body and decrease cortisol.
30)     Eat antioxidant-rich foods like berries, dark chocolate, leafy greens, and olive oil to prevent inflammation.

Source: http://www.charlespoliquin.com/Blog/tabid/130/EntryId/1250/Top-Thirty-Tips-to-Lose-Belly-Fat.aspx

4x4 Programme 

This ‘Fitness Bundle’  is a TWO month supply and combines supplements, selected by fitness experts, that play a key role in supporting your weight management and fitness regime.

Supplementing your fitness and weight management programme with the best products plays an important part in your journey toward your goals.

This programme contains a two month supply of Four Zambroza, Two Super Omega-3 and One Super Supplemental Vitamins & Minerals.

ZAMBROZA (4)
Zambroza is a unique and powerful blend of juices that are naturally rich in vitamin C - a powerful antioxidant. The combination of caffeine and catechins’s in Green Tea have shown encouraging results when tested in their role as a weight management supplement, without any known negative effects. Green Tea extract is a key ingredient in Zambroza.
SUPER OMEGA-3 EPA (2)
The Essential Fatty Acids (EFA’s) found in Omega-3 Fish Oils appear to help speed up fat burning. This only happens when there is an excess of fresh EFA’s in the body, and they are of high quality.
Please Note - Absorption of this product will be inhibited by Nature's Sunshine's 'Fat Grabbers'. Therefore it is recommended that these products should be taken at least three hours apart.
SUPER SUPPLEMENTAL VITAMINS & MINERALS (1)
This potent multi-vitamin & mineral contains Zinc and B vitamins which are needed to create insulin, and Chromium. Vitamins B and C as well as the mineral Magnesium are also essential in helping the body turn glucose into energy instead of fat.
KEY SYSTEM PRODUCT
Enhance your programme by using one of Nature's Sunshine's unique Key System Products, which will help to support your chosen body system.  Complete the free online Lifestyle Analysis to discover which of the nine Key System Products would be most suitable for you.

 

Magnesium Rich Foods and Their Benefits

Many don't get enough magnesium. This underestimated mineral can help:

*Relax muscles.
*With energy production.
*Support the nervous and structural systems.
*Support high blood pressure.
* Support quality of sleep.
* Support muscle cramping.
* Support blood sugar.


When the body becomes deficient in energy-producing fuel, it breaks down muscle protein to create energy. This process can cause fatigue and other problems. Researchers have found that many people with this type of discomfort respond to supplements containing Malic acid and Magnesium, the ingredients in Magnesium.
Malic acid, found naturally in high concentrations in apples and other fruits and vegetables, provides Magnesium, which plays in important role in producing energy for the cells and helping with the absorption of several other vitamins and minerals. Each capsule contains 80mg of Magnesium and 350mg of Malic Acid in a form which is quickly and easily absorbed into the body.

Sugar: The Bitter Truth

Robert H. Lustig, MD, UCSF Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology, explores the damage caused by sugary foods. He argues that fructose (too much) and fiber (not enough) appear to be cornerstones of the obesity epidemic through their effects on insulin..

Fibre is an important part of a healthy diet, but it’s not always easy to obtain as much daily fibre as you need. Just one scoop of TNT a day helps to boost your daily vitamins, minerals, fibre and protein intake, in a delicious orange flavoured drink. This ‘family favourite’ supplement is available only from Nature’s Sunshine.

BENEFITS OF TNT

• 18 different sources of soluble and insoluble fibre
• 12 vitamins and 11 minerals essential for healthy growth and good health
• Contains Vitamin C to help protect against free radical damage, maintain the normal functioning of the immune system and nervous system, and normal collagen formation. Increases iron absorption and contributes towards a reduction in tiredness and fatigue
• Antioxidants – contains beta-carotene, lycopene and other carotenoids
• Has a great orange taste that the whole family can enjoy
• Contains no added sugar

 

Do you drink green tea? Do you do it for health reasons or just because you like it?

Lately there seems to be no end to the health benefits of green tea. Here's a list of a few studies and articles about its benefits. (These are all third-party articles not associated with any Nature's Sunshine green tea product. It's for education and entertainment only):

Efficacy of a green tea extract rich in catechin polyphenols and caffeine in increasing 24-h energy expenditure and fat oxidation in humans http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/70/6/1040

Study: Green tea drinkers show less disability with age:
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/02/06/study-green-tea-drinkers-show-less-disability-with-age/

Really? The Claim: Drinking Green Tea Can Help Lower Cholesterol
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/22/really-the-claim-drinking-green-tea-can-help-lower-cholesterol/

Tea flavonoids and cardiovascular health.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20837049

9 Benefits of Matcha Green Tea: weight loss, alzheimers prevention, blood sugar regulation and more! http://www.grassfedgirl.com/9-benefits-of-matcha-green-tea-weight-loss-alzheimers-prevention-blood-sugar-regulation-and-more/

Green Tea Found to Reduce Rate of Some GI Cancers http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/10/121031110704.htm

Green Tea Fights Fat http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20050126/green-tea-fights-fat

More research on green tea and cancer
http://www.trueactivist.com/more-research-verifies-green-teas-cancer-fighting-abilities/

Green tea consumption and cognitive function: a cross-sectional study from the Tsurugaya Project 123 http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/83/2/355.full

Solstic Slim - MAY OFFER 10% Discount

Solstic Slim has been specially formulated to help you towards your target weight in a number of ways. The four key herbal ingredients have been chosen for their unique benefits and prepared in a way which maximises their potency.

BENEFITS OF SOLSTIC SLIM

• Solstic Slim has a great fruity Huckleberry flavour and is so easy to use. 
• It contains chlorogenic acid, a well-known slimming ingredient, and resveratrol, which has a number of health benefits.
• The Green tea extract contains epigallocatechin gallate which has been shown in studies to help weight management programs
• It also contains Yerba maté which is used in slimming supplements to help promote feelings of fullness

Prevent leaky gut, obesity, Alzheimer's, autism, heart disease, depression, infertility, cancer and diabetes. by making organic foods work for your body and your budget

In the above video, Dr. Stephanie Seneff explains how herbicide on our food & in the air causes these conditions.

In the article below, Poliquin Editorial Staff further explain the importance of eating organic and how to do this on a limited budget.

Eating organic is a challenge to everyone’s budget. With the explosion of marketing information and misinformation, you might wonder if buying organic is really necessary for wellness. Research shows that there are overwhelming benefits to selectively making the organic choice, including the following:

Less exposure to toxins.
A study of children living in Seattle found that five days of substituting organic fruits and vegetables for conventional produce effectively reduced pesticides in urine to non-detectable levels.

Higher nutrient content in meat and animal products.
A 2012 review found that organic meat and dairy both contain higher levels of all three omega-3 fats (EPA, DHA, and ALA) and more vitamin E and A than the conventional counterpart. On the other hand, produce tends to vary in terms of nutrient content.

Higher antioxidant concentration in produce and animal products.
A 2010 comparison of strawberries showed that the organic version had a much greater concentration of antioxidants and more vitamin C. Organic strawberries tended to be rated more flavorful and sweeter than conventional as well.

Support for a sustainable environment.
That 2010 strawberry analysis found that organic soil is of higher quality, more resilient to stress, and more diverse—all factors that contribute to a healthier ecosystem. By buying organic, you are supporting the infrastructure so that future generations can have access to safe, real food.

Support small farmers.
You don’t need me to tell you that buying locally grown food is the best choice for fresher, in-season food. Anyone who has bought their greens, eggs, or raw milk from the farmer knows it’s a completely different experience if you get to look the person in the eye who planted, watered, and collected the food.

Support agricultural workers’ health.
It can be eye-opening to watch an agricultural worker walk through a field with a canister of pesticide on their back spraying the crops without any protective clothing. Consider the health effects of such exposure—conventional agricultural workers have higher rates cancer and other illnesses than the general population.

No need to worry about consuming GMOs.
Organic foods cannot be genetically modified. You’ve probably heard that produce sticker codes beginning with 8 are GMO, whereas those beginning with 9 are organic. Nice idea, however, the GMO code does not get used in practice.

The Produce Marketing Association created the code starting with 8 because they figured that someday a retailer might want or have to distinguish between a GMO and non-GMO product. But, it’s not required and it hasn’t caught on.

Now let’s look at strategies for shopping organic on a budget. With the Environmental Working Group’s 2013 Guide to produce and pesticides leading the way, here are four tips for shopping healthy for a better body and earth.

#1: Invest In Organic, Pasture-Raised Meat

Organic, pastured animals are so much “cleaner” and more nutritious than conventional. Dr. Sean Lucan wrote in the in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition that factory-farmed beef “comes from animals raised on mixtures of genetically modified corn, chicken manure, antibiotics, hormones, and ground-up parts of other animals.” The effect is conventional meat that has a high content of pro-inflammatory omega-6 fat from the grains the animals consume, antibiotic resistance, and a high load of growth hormones that are biologically active when ingested by humans.

In comparison, organic, pastured beef comes from animals raised on grass and other vegetation. It consistently shows a higher concentration of omega-3 fats (EPA, DHA, and ALA) compared to grain-fed animals, providing a more favorable omega-6 to omega-3 fat ratio between 1.4 and 2.75. Conventional grain-fed beef tends to have an omega-6 to -3 ratio between 3.5 and 13.6.

The favorable omega-3 content has been shown to improve cardiovascular health. Organic and wild meats are also packed with glutathione—an amino acid composite that is enormously effective at protecting your DNA and cells from cancer. Organic beef and ham have the highest glutathione content of all foods, surpassed only by fresh vegetables like asparagus.

Organic chicken, goat, and pork also contain more omega-3 fat, and more conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), which is a potent cancer fighter that helps regulate body weight. Organic meat also has more than two times the vitamins E and A as conventional.

Health Tip: Do a web search for “local meat” and check out the following websites for information on safer sources of meat, www.eatwild.com, www.localharvest.org, and www.westonaprice.org/local-chapters/find-local-chapter.

#2: During Summer Always Choose Nutrient-Rich, Full-Fat Organic Dairy

A nutrient comparison of dairy products in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture found that organic dairy contains superior levels of all the omega-3 fats and CLA. It’s also high in vitamin K, which is fairly rare in the modern diet, but extremely important because of its role in calcium metabolism.

Organic dairy had the highest levels of these favorable nutrients during the summer months when the animals are fed outdoors with fresh forage versus indoors with “conserved forage” during winter. Still, organic dairy had so many more omega-3 fat and CLA that they are able to maintain their favorable “premium” nutritional quality year round.

Health Tip: Naturally, if you’re going to shell out the bucks to buy organic dairy, you want to opt for full-fat dairy to get the cancer-fighting, cardiovascular benefits of CLA and the omega-3s. CLA has also been shown to preserve muscle mass while losing body fat when used in conjunction with strength training.

Budget Tip: Buy organic dairy over conventional during the summer for the higher nutrition content. During the winter, it might prudent to decrease dairy intake and put that money into other organic foods.

#3: Mix & Match Produce Based on Local Options & The EWG Guide

When it comes to produce, you have more room to mix and match organic and conventional foods. Nutritional content in produce is influenced by soil quality, whether the food is native to the area it’s being grown in, and if it is in season. The priority is to choose produce that is local, ripe, and seasonal, adding organic to that list when possible.

The Environmental Working Group provides two lists as part of their guide to pesticide levels on produce: The Dirty Dozen plus Two of foods that are most contaminated by pesticides, and the Clean Fifteen that are cleanest.

Produce was tested in the way that it is typically eaten. For example, all produce was washed and in the case of a cucumber or banana, it was peeled.

The Dirty Dozen is apples, celery, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, grapes, hot peppers, imported nectarines, peaches, potatoes spinach, strawberries, and sweet bell peppers. The “Plus” foods, kale, collards, and summer squash, are three more that contain residues from highly toxic organophosphates that have been linked to cancer. The only change from the 2012 list is that green beans have been removed and replaced with squash because green beans are no longer being treated with toxic organophosphates.

The Clean Fifteen is made up of asparagus, avocado, cabbage, cantaloupe, sweet corn, eggplant, grapefruit, kiwi, mango, mushrooms, onion, papaya, pineapple, frozen sweet peas, and sweet potatoes.

Budget Tip: A quick analysis of the lists shows that most of the highly contaminated foods are readily available in organic form in most grocery stores, so go ahead and make the investment. The cleanest fruits and vegetables tend to be the more exotic and expensive foods, so you’ve got no choice but to go conventional.

Also, be sure to go organic for contaminated foods that you eat regularly—if you eat collards and apples every day, pick organic and consider diversifying to include cabbage and cleaner fruits.

#4: Shop Organic For Special Populations: Kids & Pregnant Women

Pregnant women and kids should eat organic whenever possible. Although adults may generally be able to handle the toxic load from a small amount of pesticides, kids with smaller bodies can’t. For instance, a study of Mexican American children living in an agricultural region of California found that mothers who had the highest urinary pesticide levels during pregnancy had children with much higher risk of ADHD and other behavioral problems by age 5.

Scientists think pesticides affect brain development and neurological function. Other health problems in children from pesticide exposure include hyperactivity and an increased risk of eczema.

Better nutrition and antioxidant content is another reason expectant mothers and children should eat organic. Consider that although organic produce is not always more nutritious, a rigorous 2008 review from The Organic Center in Washington D.C. found that when an organic produce item was compared to a conventional produce item, the organic food was more nutritious 61 percent of the time, while the conventional food was more nutritious 37 percent of the time.

Conventional food tended to score strongly with a greater content of protein, potassium, and phosphorous, whereas organic foods tended to be higher in vitamin C, quercetin, and other potent antioxidants. Of course, this review comes from an organization with an inherent bias toward organic foods, but it used a strong analytical method.

Budget Tip: If you can’t buy all your baby food organic, avoid green beans and pears in favor of sweet potatoes, which have tested pesticide free. Ninety-two percent of baby food pears tested positive for containing pesticides, whereas green beans contained the largest variety of pesticide contamination.

Health Tip: Although only strawberries are on the Dirty Dozen list, try to buy all berries organic because analyses shows that the antioxidant content skyrockets in organic berries because in order for them to survive organically without chemical protectants, they increase their internal production of protectants or antioxidants. Organic berries provide you with more antioxidants to help you metabolize other toxins, while cutting down on your overall toxic load.

See the EWG’s Full List of Fruits and Vegetables Here: http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/list.php

The Role of Zinc in Human Biology

Written by Ananda S. Prasad, MD

A Modern Detective Story

As presented at Wise Traditions Conference 2012
We know of eight trace elements that are essential to human health. Iodine, as we all well know, is essential for thyroid function; iron is essential for hemoglobin synthesis; and copper is essential for collagen synthesis. Chromium is involved in glucose metabolism, although it is not very well established how important it is for management of diabetes. Selenium is very important because it is a part of glutathione peroxidase, which works as an antioxidant. Fluoride is not essential for life but considered important for dental health. Manganese is also considered to be essential as it is involved in cartilage synthesis; however, it’s deficiency has not been observed.
As for zinc, its recognition as an essential mineral came only recently. The story of how zinc achieved acceptance is a very interesting one. Not long ago scientists derided the premise that zinc played a role in human health. Today we know that zinc plays many important roles. For example, zinc is a part of the super oxide dismutase enzyme, so it also has a role as an antioxidant. In addition, zinc takes part in neurotransmitters, and plays a key role in immune function, sound growth and development. In fact, zinc is really a miracle element in many ways.

EARLY ZINC RESEARCH

The first hint that zinc played an important role in life processes came in 1869, when the mineral was found to be essential for the growth of a fungus, Aspergillus niger. It was a chemist from the University of Lyon, France, Professor Jules Raulin, who reported in 1869 that zinc was needed for the growth of this organism. Prior to that zinc was not considered to be important for biology.
In 1926 scientists found zinc to be essential for the growth of higher plant life, and in 1934 Wilbert Todd, Conrad Elvehjem and Edwin Hart from Wisconsin reported that zinc was also important for growth in rats. In 1955, a disease called parakeratosis in swine was reported by Tucker and Salmon, who showed that zinc could cure skin lesions. And then O’Dell and Savage showed that zinc was needed for the growth of poultry in 1958.

HOW I CAME TO STUDY ZINC

I was born in India, and some years later I came to the University of Minnesota (USA) for my medical training. In 1958, I finished my training, received my PhD and became a hematologist. At that time, I was contacted by Professor Hobart Reimann, Chief of Medicine at Jefferson at that time and formerly Chief of Medicine at Minnesota. He was invited by the Shah of Iran, who was a personal friend, to set up a medical curriculum for a university in Shiraz, Iran. And he was looking for some young person who could go and help him set up the curriculum.
Cecil Watson, who was my boss, said that perhaps I might be interested in doing this job. Hobart contacted me, but I was reluctant because my research was going very well at the University of Minnesota, I was happy, I did not speak the Iranian language, and I had no interest in going to Iran. So I said to Hobart, “Hobart, why do you want to disrupt my career for two years for something that would be a waste of my time?”
But he was a very convincing person. He told me, “You’re a young man, you should go for two years. You never know what you will see in terms of diseases, and you’re a clinical investigator. You might enjoy seeing something new. If nothing else happens, you will at least see a different country.”
I finally accepted his challenge, went there and within two weeks of my arrival, an Iranian physician presented a patient to me in a medical center grand rounds. He was twenty-one years of age but looked like an eight- or ten-year-old boy. He had extremely retarded growth, he had hypogonadism, that is, no secondary sexual characteristics (his genitalia were infantile) and the skin on his face appeared rough.
Superficially, it looked as if he might have suffered from vitamin A deficiency, but we ruled this out later. He also had anemia; his hemoglobin was 5 gram percent. As a hematologist, my first job was to look at the red blood cells to see what was causing the anemia. I determined very quickly that the anemia was due to iron deficiency.
But there were two problems: by reading the Textbook of Medicine and Hematology I learned that adult males don’t become anemic to this extent unless there is a blood loss. And this patient had absolutely no evidence of blood loss, so my first question was; how did he become iron deficient?
And the second major problem was that I could not explain this extreme degree of growth retardation and hypogonadism based upon iron deficiency. If you take rats, pigs or even elephants and make them iron deficient, nothing happens to their growth or gonads. So those were the two puzzles that I could not easily resolve.
I also wondered how often these cases came to the attention of physicians. I was told by the Iranian physician who brought me the patient that such cases were very frequent in the villages around Shiraz; he said that if I wanted any number of cases like this they could bring them to my service.
I was located in Nemaze Hospital, a very modern hospital in Shiraz, Iran; it was actually a show piece for the Shah of Iran. I controlled twelve beds under my care, so I told them to bring me twelve patients.
And sure enough, within two weeks, I had twelve such patients. I studied them in great detail. One very interesting thing was their nutritional history. It turned out that they were eating only bread, made of unleavened flour. There was no animal protein intake; they had some vegetables but very little dairy products or animal protein.
And most interestingly, they were also eating a pound of clay every day. Shiraz is surrounded by hills and they would go there and get the clay and eat it. I’d never seen a clay-eater in all my life, not in Minnesota or anywhere else, and I did not quite understand why they were eating clay, but that was the story.

PUBLISHED PAPER

I studied these twelve patients in great detail. I did not have very good laboratory facilities in Iran but I did a very good clinical study. I put all the clinical findings in a paper entitled, “Syndrome of Iron Deficiency, Anemia, Hepatosplenomegaly, Hypogonadism, Dwarfism, and Geophagia.” I submitted this paper to Professor Gutman, the editor of the American Journal of Medicine, and it was published in Volume 31, 1961.
In that paper, I speculated that perhaps because of the high phosphate content in the clay and cereal protein, iron was being chelated. I also went to the periodic table, looked at the transitional elements and speculated that perhaps if iron is being chelated, other trace minerals may be be affected similarly. I suggested that zinc may be another mineral that is similarly chelated and thus unavailable for absorption.
Zinc was very attractive to me because of earlier studies showing that it was a growth factor for microorganisms, for plants and for animals. So I thought that if there were a zinc deficiency in humans, I was looking at it right there in Iran.
I included this speculation in the American Journal of Medicine article, and I also told the editor that if he thought that I was speculating too far or too much and he did not like it, I’d revise my article. Still, I urged him to publish the description of the syndrome because this syndrome did not exist in any textbook of medicine.
Well, Dr. Gutman was a very brave editor. He reviewed the paper himself. He wrote to me that the part he liked the most was the speculation about zinc and he did not want to remove anything I had written. The whole article was published completely unaltered. It’s a sixteenpage article with great detail and information, and includes my speculation about zinc. In 1983, this article was cited as a nutrition classic and republished in Nutritional Review. By then, zinc deficiency was an accepted phenomenon.

DWARFISM IN EGYPT

My paper attracted the attention of a lot of physicians, nutritionists and biochemists in the United States. One of them was Professor William Jefferson Darby, Chief of Biochemistry at Vanderbilt University. He liked my idea that zinc deficiency might be contributing to the symptoms and invited me to meet with him in Cairo, Egypt.
In Cairo, there is an institution called the United States Naval Medical Research Unit, which was established by Franklin D. Roosevelt for studying infectious diseases. Just before I arrived there, a Rockefeller group had worked on typhus fever. The American army used to be stationed in Egypt, and many soldiers died because of infections.
At that time, the Rockefeller group had left so the institute was available to study zinc. I went there and talked to Bill Darby, but my main concern was whether I would find these dwarfs in Egypt? I saw them in Iran but maybe this happens only in Iran and not in Egypt or any other country.
So I went with Bill Darby on a tour of several villages. I did not speak the language, but I had a translator with me. To my great surprise, I found that after visiting five villages that day, I saw three or four patients in every village who looked like eight- or ten-year-olds, but their chronological age was eighteen to twenty. It shocked Bill Darby completely. He asked me, “Why do you ask the ages?” But that was how I made my discovery.
At that point I decided to join Vanderbilt University to do the research on zinc in Egypt. I was helped by the National Institutes of Health, which gave me very good support, and also Admiral Galloway of the U.S. Navy was able to provide support for my research. In addition, I had help from the Egyptian Ministry of Public Health. With all that help I was able to set up a good laboratory where I could measure zinc.
I did not see females when I was in Iran and Egypt; the reason was that females would not come to me to be examined. They refused to come to my ward but later on I had an Iranian physician working with me who was able to examine these female dwarfs. He kept them in his own house and found that indeed they had ovarian hypo-function and were growth retarded. These results were reported in 1974 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Zinc deficiency not only affects males but also females. Other symptoms include rough skin, poor appetite, mental lethargy, and frequent infections. Now, this last symptom is very important: I never saw a dwarf beyond the age of twenty-five in the Middle East, either in Iran or Egypt. I went to the villages, asked the physicians what happened to them, and was told that they died of infections: pneumonia, meningitis, viral, parasitic, all kinds of infections. That convinced me that zinc probably has a very important effect on immune cells.

TREATING ZINC DEFICIENCY

Back in those days, in 1961-1962, the measurement of zinc was very difficult. We did not have the atomic absorption spectrometer, so you had to do the dithizone technique. That meant shaking the tubes all day for eight hours and at the end of eight hours, you’d get two results, two patients. It was very arduous and difficult, and the contamination problem was very difficult to deal with, but in spite of these problems we were able to study forty dwarfs in great detail. Not only did we measure zinc in the plasma, we also looked at zinc levels in the red cells, hair and urine. By use of Zn-65, we also measured the zinc turnover rate and exchangeable pool.
We put all these things together and showed for the first time that indeed zinc deficiency occurs in humans. Prior to this, all the textbooks said that zinc deficiency was never seen in human subjects.
We wanted to see whether by giving zinc we could make these dwarfs grow, although I had never seen any such example in the textbooks of medicine, any instance of someone aged eighteen or twenty years who would grow just because you are giving a simple inorganic element like zinc. I did not believe it was possible; nonetheless what we gave them 15 mg of zinc a day. We studied about forty dwarfs in Egypt.
At that time zinc capsules were not available in the market. I had to take zinc sulfate and put it into a capsule. I also needed special permission from the U.S. Navy and the Egyptian government to give the dwarfs zinc. I had to argue with them that the amount of zinc I was giving was not toxic.
To my great surprise I found that within three weeks they were developing secondary sexual characteristics, they started growing hair―mustache, beard and axillary hair―and within six months the genitalia became completely normal. Even more surprising, within one year the gain in height was five to six inches.
When I saw those results, I was truly thrilled. I knew that this was something very important for medicine. We published several papers from Egypt. One thing we were able to do was to discriminate between the effect of iron and the effect of zinc. When we gave them iron, just iron sulfate, we corrected the anemia, the hemoglobin became normal, iron became normal, iron binding capacity returned to normal, but nothing happened to their growth or gonads. But when we gave them zinc they remained anemic, hemoglobin did not change, but they grew in height and developed normal adult genitalia within six months.

CONTROVERSY AND ACCEPTANCE

Those were the basic reports that we published from Egypt. Some of my colleagues praised the observation; they thought that it was a great discovery. But there were several scientists who thought that it could not happen, that zinc had no effect, and the topic became very controversial. I had to live with controversy for almost ten years. I constantly had to defend the thesis: why did I think it was zinc? As a matter of fact, some of my colleagues told me that I had become a lunatic to think that zinc was needed by humans.
In 1973, I got a call from National Academy of Sciences to appear before the National Research Council to talk about zinc. I told the chairman, “You read English, I have written everything in English, you can decide on your own whether my evidence is good enough or not.”
“We have done that,” he said, “and we all in the committee agree that zinc is important and is essential for humans, and we are planning to submit this to the U.S. Congress to declare zinc as an essential element. We need to establish the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) and we want you to tell us what the recommendation should be.” And that was a great relief for me, the controversy was ended and I had a peaceful life after that. Based on our input the RDA was set at 15 mg per day for adult males.

ZINC IN PARENTERAL SOLUTIONS

After my stay in Egypt, I came to the U.S. and started doing my work on zinc in the laboratory. At that time, there was a lot of research going on in developing parenteral solutions to give to patients who could not eat or who had malabsorption and could not sustain life. At that time, the rehydration solution and the parenteral nutrition solution (TPN) were almost as perfect as you could get for all the animo acids, vitamins, and so on. But if patients received this TPN for three months, they would die of infection.
I was shown one patient at Harper Hospital whose hemoglobin had dropped from twelve to nine. When I saw this patient, she was psychotic; she had a lot of parakeratotic lesions around her eyes, mouth and orifices, the same lesions as you see in severe zinc deficiency, in patients with acrodermatitis enteropathica. I told the resident not to worry about the hemoglobin but to worry about her life, and to give her zinc. He said, “Dr. Prasad, where do I find zinc to give parenterally?” There was no solution available so I got on the phone, called the FDA and asked their special permission to prepare parenteral zinc solution to give to this lady or else she would be dead within three to four days. They gave me permission to do that. My pharmacy helped me get the solution and the patient recovered completely.
This kind of experience had been observed by many other scientists throughout this country and also elsewhere. FDA, USDA, NIH and U.S. Pharmacopeia, they all decided to have a very urgent meeting in 1977 in Chicago, and at that time it was made mandatory for the physicians to include zinc in their parenteral solution, and this has continued to the present time. The addition of zinc has made TPN completely successful. Now you see patients who have been on TPN for five to ten years and are doing very well. This is a very important story in terms of the impact of zinc on health.

PREVALENCE OF DEFICIENCY

When I came back to the U.S., all my colleagues told me that I had described a very important disease, made some very interesting observations, but predicted I would never see zinc deficiency in the United States. “What are you going to do here?” they asked.
As a matter of fact, Professor William Bean, Chief of Medicine at Iowa University, wrote a book called Rare Diseases, and he included my syndrome in that book. I saw him in one of the meetings and I told him I liked his book very much but I thought he was wrong regarding zinc. I told him I believed that zinc deficiency was not a rare syndrome and that as time went on, we would find that zinc deficiency was more prevalent than we realized. In developing countries, zinc deficiency may affect as many as 50-70 percent of the population. The WHO estimate is that two billion people have zinc deficiency.
What about the United States? We have found that in the elderly population, 30 percent have zinc deficiency. For this reason they have immune dysfunction, they are oxidatively stressed, and they also generate increased amounts of inflammatory cytokines.
What about women during pregnancy, and the need for zinc for fetal growth? The requirement under those conditions, according to the RDA, is something like 25 mg; however, if we just look at the diet and examine how much zinc you get in a standard American diet, there’s no way that you can get 25 mg of available zinc. So there is a lot of zinc deficiency in that age group.
My colleague Harold Sandstead and I published a paper on the Mexican population of Galveston, Texas. We found that zinc deficiency affected Hispanic children and young women at rates of approximately 25-30 percent. And then Dr. Hambidge published a paper about a Hispanic group in Denver, Colorado, also showing widespread zinc deficiency. And I have seen a lot of Black Americans in Michigan, particularly the patients with sickle cell disease and others, where zinc deficiency is fairly common.
So to say that there is no zinc deficiency in the U.S. is wrong. There is plenty, but in most cases it is not recognized; you would have to be very alert to find it.
As Chief of Hematology making rounds in five different hospitals, I found that zinc deficiency was common in many other diseases. For instance, we found that patients with liver disease have hyperzincuria; alcoholics excrete a lot of zinc in their urine so they become zinc deficient; patients with malabsorption syndrome become zinc deficient very rapidly; patients with chronic renal disease also have hyperzincuria; and we find zinc deficiency in patients with nephrotic syndrome, glomerulonephritis and so on, even in several patients with malignancies.
An important question to ask is why the elderly become zinc deficient. When we started taking their history, it turns out that they rarely eat three meals a day. They have a quick breakfast, maybe a doughnut and coffee, no lunch and then they will have a meal they don’t cook themselves, often eat at a restaurant. And the intake as we calculated, in Michigan, would be around 8-10 mg of zinc per day.
Now this is not only my experience in Michigan but the same thing has been reported in the elderly from Australia, Europe and many other countries. The ainc intake is not optimal among the elderly subjects, that’s the major problem. Also it turns out that the absorption of zinc is also not optimal in this age group.

MORE RESEARCH

My next project was to set up a human experimental model of mild zinc deficiency where there was nothing abnormal except zinc intake. I succeeded in producing that model in Michigan, and we studied that model for many years, publishing many significant papers on the functions of zinc in humans.
What I did was to restrict zinc in the daily diet to around 3-5 mg. If you consider the elderly eating some 8-10 mg, it was a marginal deficiency that we were after, and that’s what we developed in the volunteers. But in spite of the fact that the deficiency was very marginal, they had a lot of evidences related to zinc defciency. For instance, neurosensory changes: they had abnormal taste, called dysgeusia. They could not taste sugar, salt and bitter properly. They had problem with dark adaptation; they had decreased serum testosterone; they developed low sperm count; and most interestingly we found that the ammonia levels went down.
It turns out that zinc is involved and zinc-dependent enzymes are required to utilize ammonia. We later proved this in our animal studies.
The subjects in our experiments had a lot of immunological changes. We found that they had decreased production of interleukin-2, a very important cytokine generated by T- helper cells. T-helper cells are a type of white blood cell that play an important role in the immune system.
The patients had decreased thymulin activity. Thymulin is a hormone produced by the thymus gland that is very important for the proliferation, development and differentiation of T-helper cells.
The thymulin story is very interesting. This hormone was isolated and found to be a nano peptide that is zinc dependent. This work was done by Jean-Francois Bach and Mireille Dardenne in France, and I went to visit them. The discovery was reported, and I wanted to see whether or not it is true in the deficiency model that I had set up.
In collaboration with Bach and Dardenne, we did a study on thymulin in our patients here. It turns out that thymulin activity is highly sensitive to zinc restriction. When we restricted zinc, within eight to ten weeks, thymulin activity declined, even though there was no change in plasma zinc. Blood levels of zinc stayed normal for twenty-four weeks because we were restricting zinc slightly, but thymulin activity was affected; interleukin-2 was affected as well.
These findings indicate that the immunological functions are far more sensitive to zinc than anything that you can measure in the laboratory.
Regarding cognitive deficiencies, my colleague Professor Harold Sandstead did some work on Chinese dwarfs, and he found that they had impaired cognitive functions which were improved by zinc supplementation.

ZINC THERAPY FOR ACUTE DIARRHEA

We went through the first stage where we thought that zinc was not important for humans, then the second phase where we thought that deficiency was very rare. Now we know that zinc deficiency is common. And now we have learned that there are some very important therapeutic effects of zinc in certain conditions.
The first one has to do with infants and children in developing countries, where they frequently suffer from acute diarrhea and respiratory tract infections. I was invited to Bangladesh about twelve years ago, and I was shown a ward of one thousand babies with acute diarrhea. The physicians told me that ninety percent would die within three weeks. They were being given oral rehydration solution, which was developed almost thirty years ago for treatment of diarrhea, but this oral rehydration solution did not save their lives.
Professor Bob Black from Johns Hopkins University, became very interested in zinc; he said since zinc is essential perhaps we should add some zinc to the solution. He had his colleague Ken Brown and others set up a program in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Indeed, they found that once they added zinc to the oral rehydration solution, the children lived, and the mortality went down very dramatically. They published this important observation in several papers.
One interesting side story is that when Bill Gates was visiting Bangladesh, he was told the story that these children with the diarrhea would have died, but we are giving them zinc and with zinc they would live. He went to India and he heard the same story; he went to Pakistan and heard the same story; so he went back to Seattle and asked his foundation to contact a zinc expert.
I got a call from his foundation to advise him about zinc. I went to the foundation, and they were asking all kinds of questions as to why they should invest money in treatment of diarrhea with Bill Gates Foundation funds.
I told them that if you give twenty million dollars and go to twenty countries, you would save millions of kids, you would see the result very quickly. They bought the idea and they gave twenty million dollars, and studies were done in twenty different countries.
A reporter for Time magazine was visiting Africa, going from one village to another talking to families. The families would tell them that they lost four children but the fifth one was living because they received a small tablet of zinc. She published her article on zinc in Time magazine. Now WHO has a program in seventy countries where zinc is mandatory for treatment of acute diarrhea. Truly, zinc is a life-saving element.

WILSON’S DISEASE

Wilson’s disease is a fatal genetic disorder. Normally the disease expresses itself by the time you reach twenty, thirty or forty years, and copper accumulates in the liver, brain and the kidneys. The patients die by the time they reach forty or fifty years old. But we discovered that if you give them zinc, you can decrease the copper burden.
This was an accidental discovery. In sickle cell anemia you find zinc deficiency, and I was interested in giving zinc to decrease the sickling of the red cells because when the red cells sickle, they produce pain all over the body. They clog up the blood vessels and there’s a pain crisis. In order to reduce the copper burden, however, I had to give them 150 mg of zinc a day. At that level, we found that the copper went down. Only then do you see low serum copper, low ceruloplasmin and microcytosis (small red blood cells).
We published these finding in The Journal of the American Medical Association in 1978 or so, and this gave us the idea that perhaps in Wilson’s disease and similar genetic disorders, we could use zinc to decrease the copper burden.
Dr. Brewer, my colleague, has been working with this premise for twenty years; he’s following about three hundred patients all over the country. What he’s found is that zinc is a very effective mode of therapy for Wilson’s disease.
The FDA has approved zinc as a therapy for Wilson’s disease, which used to be fatal but now can be managed very well.

ZINC AND THE COMMON COLD

Now a bit about zinc and the common cold. In 1984, George Eby from Texas reported for the first time that if you take zinc acetate or zinc gluconate lozenges, you can decrease the severity and duration of the common cold. But between 1984 and 2000 many studies were carried out, and the subject remained controversial. Half the reports said it works, the other half said it doesn’t work.
I came into the picture in the year 2000, when I did two studies, one published in the Annals of Internal Medicine and the other in The Journal of Infectious Diseases.
There were a lot of problems with the previous studies. In the first place was that the salts they were using for zinc lozenges were not appropriate. You must have something where zinc is released properly in the mouth when you take it as a lozenge. We found that gluconate or acetate was the proper salt to use.
The second thing we found was that if you start within twenty-four hours of the onset of a cold―there are eight to ten symptoms, and if you have two symptoms you start immediately―the lozenges are effective, but if you wait three or four days after the cold starts, then zinc is no longer an effective mode of therapy, and the cold will last eight days.
The final thing that we found was that in the chemical formulation, a lot of lozenges on the market have citric acid and many other binders; all these binders prevent zinc from ionization and therefore render it unavailable for action.
If all these three factors are taken care of we found that zinc is very effective; it will reduce the duration of a cold by 50 percent and severity by 50 percent. Recently, a big Cochrane review on zinc for the common cold was published, and it was picked up by The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times among many others. The review confirmed our results that indeed zinc will be effective if all these precautions are taken.
Zinc works by decreasing the adhesion molecules where viruses attach. So it makes sense that zinc works in the early stages of a cold, but not later after the viruses have attached to adhesion molecules.

SICKLE CELL DISEASE

Sickle cell disease is a genetic disorder. It turns out that these patients hemolyze red cells at a higher-than-average rate. The hemoglobin is very rich in zinc so they lose all the zinc in their urine, and they becme very deficient. Zinc can be very helpful for the the treatment of sickle cell patients.

MACULAR DEGENERATION

As we get older, at least 50 percent will develop macular degeneration, and this causes blindness. The National Institutes of Health has been conducting a study on eye diseases and zinc and other antioxidants for the last ten years. It turns out zinc is very effective in the prevention of blindness and the progression of macular degeneration.
But most interestingly, they also observed that mortality was decreased in those subjects who were receiving zinc alone versus those who were receiving other vitamins and antioxidants.

CARBON MONOXIDE POISONING

In Russia, a zinc histidine compound called Acyizol is being used for carbon monoxide poisoning very effectively. In mining and related industries, people are already using zinc histidine for carbon monoxide poisoning in Russia.

ZINC IN THE ELDERLY

The elderly are prone to pneumonia and upper respiratory tract infection; the incidence is something like 5-6 per year. Our recent study has shown that by supplementing them with zinc, you reduce the incidence by 66 percent.
Zinc has three major effects on immunology. First, it affects cell-mediated immunity; second, it is an antioxidant; and third it works as an anti-inflammatory agent. Why are these observations so important? Because if you look at the current concept of many chronic diseases including atherosclerosis, cancer and some neuro- degenerative disorders, it is oxidative stress and chronic inflammation that are implicated in these conditions. I suspect that zinc may be very helpful as a preventive agent for these diseases.

ZINC AND ENZYMES

When I started my research I knew of only three enzymes that required zinc: carbonic anhydrase, carboxy peptidase and alcohol dehydrogenase. Today, we know of over three hundred enzymes that require zinc, and we know of two thousand zinc-dependent transcription factors that are involved in cell biology.
One example of a zinc-dependent enzyme is super oxide dismutase, which converts the super oxide into hydroxy ions. Zinc generates metallothionein, and this protein detoxifies hydroxylione. Zinc is also an inhibitor of NADPH oxidase, which is involved in generation of free radicals.
In the past ten years we have learned that zinc works like a molecular signal. Once zinc goes from outside to inside the cell, it takes part in phosphorylation of many of components and participates in very important roles in the cell biology.

THE ACCEPTANCE OF ZINC

From an ignored mineral, zinc has now become so important in fifty years that a new society of molecular zinc cell biology has been formed. It has one hundred fifty members internationally. Our last meeting was in Australia. More and more scientists are now interested in the study of zinc, and there is considerable research on this subject. No doubt we will be learning a lot more about zinc in the future.
(Source: westonaprice.org)

5 Nutrition Strategies For Injuries & Recovery

by Rick Kaselj

I’m known as the exercise for injuries guy. I rarely discuss the nutrition side of injury prevention and recovery. Today I have a very special article for you written by my friend Lori Kennedy RHN, CEO of WOW! Weight Loss Inc.
Today she is sharing her 5 Nutrition Strategies for Improving Recovery after an Injury. Take it away Lori…
================================================================
Hi everyone!
Thanks for having me back on the blog again Rick. I read Rick’s blog diligently because my client demographics are mostly baby boomers. A lot of my clients have injuries that prevent them from engaging in exercise or even being active in their daily lives.
While exercise and rehab routines are a necessity to recover from injuries, the nutrition side of recovery often gets ignored. Being that I am a Registered Holistic Nutritionist and not an expert in exercise recovery I turn to food to help my clients. I’ve been using some fairly simple, yet really powerful healing nutrition strategies with my clients that I wanted to share with you.
Strategy #1: Focus On Mono-Unsaturated Fats
Examples of mono-unsaturated anti-inflammatory fats are Omega 3 essential fatty acids like olive oil, fish oil, avocado, salmon, certain nuts/seeds like walnuts, flax oil and flax seeds. In order to keep inflammation in check it’s important that clients consume these foods on a daily basis.
While we don’t want to greatly limit the inflammation process because it’s required for healing, we want to make sure inflammation doesn’t become a problem that can then lead to the reduction of blood flow and lack of mobility.
The most popular solution I use is to have clients take between 3 to 9 grams (based on body size) of an Omega 3 supplement daily. The chances of them eating the appropriate amount of mono-unsaturated foods every day is slim. You will experience better compliance with the supplements recommendation.
Strategy #2: Add In Strategic Foods Or Supplements
Research shows that there are some well-known foods that can aid in injury recovery. While these foods are readily available it’s highly unlikely that your clients are going to remember to consume them daily.

• Bromelain: (from pineapple): 1 cup daily OR 500 – 1000mg daily
• Garlic: 2-4 whole cloves daily OR 600 -1200mg extract daily 
• Turmeric: 1 tsp daily OR 400 – 600 mg daily

I suggest that they aim to include these elements as food sources but supplement on days when they can’t. Most clients are not going to have 4 cloves of garlic per day.
Strategy #3: Ensure Adequate Daily Caloric Intake
It’s quite common for appetite to decrease when clients are injured. It’s also common for injured clients to have the mindset that they need to eat less because they are unable to exercise to burn off calories.
This is faulty thinking. During an injury period resting metabolic rates actually increase between 15 – 50% depending on the injury. If the client decreases their caloric rate they could actually be slowing down the repair and recovery process because the body is not getting enough energy to cover the metabolic healing demands.
This can be remedied by getting your clients to do a simple 3-day diet diary. You can survey your clients’ intake over a 3-day period to make sure they are taking in enough calories.
Strategy #4: Getting Enough Protein
When appetite is already low and the client is in pain they will most likely consume a diet full of carbohydrates. We know that just like the anabolic training process requires protein the healing and remodeling process does too.
If I were to explain to my clients that they need 1 gram of protein per lean pound of body weight they would look at me like I had 2 heads. Instead I give them a very simple visual representation of the portion size of protein they should be consuming 3 times per day.
2 closed palms for men or 1 closed palm for women. Flat palms, not closed fists.
I provide a small list of quality proteins, things like eggs, chicken, turkey, beef, fish, bison, BioTrust protein powder and Greek yogurt.
Strategy #5: Compliance Checklist
While it’s all well and good to be giving your clients this helpful information it only serves them if they actually follow it. How do you get your clients to remember to take the supplements and eat the foods when they are in pain and angry about their injury?
I create a very simple checklist that they print and post on their fridge as a reminder. Each day it lists what supplements they need to take and the foods they should be eating. When they complete their goals for the day they put a check mark.
Download my sample Compliance Checklist HERE (<== When you click this, the file will download to your computer)
As you can see these are easy nutrition strategies you can recommend to your healing clients. You don’t need any fancy certification or credentials to be able to give these basic tips.
================================================================
Thanks Lori.

How To Gain 20 Pounds In 28 Days

Written by Tim Ferriss

The Extreme Muscle Building Secrets of UFC Fighters

Georges St. Pierre vs. Anderson Silva: The Superfight

For the past couple of years, there have been rumors of a super-fight between current UFC Welterweight champion Georges St Pierre and current Middleweight champion Anderson Silva.
If the fight becomes a reality, it will easily be the biggest fight in UFC history.
Fans want it. Sponsors want it. UFC president Dana White wants it. The only people who seem like they don’t want it?
St Pierre and Silva.
And it’s easy to see why when you look at the stats:
St Pierre, who’s 5’10″, fights in the 170-pound division. Silva, who’s 6’2″, fights in the 185-pound division.
After reading Part 1, you know how elite fighters use weight manipulation to strategically lower their body weight before official pre-fight weigh-ins. You also know that they quickly rehydrate to get back up to their real weight.
In GSP’s case, that would be about 190 pounds. In Silva’s? 230 pounds.
So for the super-fight to go through, and for it to be a reasonably fair fight, one of two things would need to happen: either St Pierre would have to gain 20-30 pounds to move up a weight class, or Silva would have to lose 20-30 pounds to move down a weight class.
Both are very difficult.
In fact, it’s enough of a weight disparity to make even the most enthusiastic MMA fans chalk up the super-fight to a pipe dream, something that will likely never happen.
But here’s the thing: That kind of extreme weight manipulation isn’t impossible. Far from it.
In fact, it’s entirely possible to gain 20 pounds of quality mass in as little as 28 days.
That’s what Nate did recently with some help from GSP’s nutrition coach, Dr. John Berardi and Martin Rooney, a strength coach who regularly trains UFC athletes.
And in this post, we explore how a guy like GSP could gain 20-30 pounds in a short period of time, increase his power, boost his strength, and maintain his athleticism and (mostly) endurance.
And maybe — just maybe — these techniques will make this super-fight a reality.
Take it away, Nate…

Enter Nate

I recently decided to try and gain 20 pounds of quality mass in 28 days.
Why?
For starters, a lot of people in the fitness world don’t think this is possible without taking steroids. Fortunately, this isn’t true. With the right program and world-class advice, it’s attainable. I wanted to prove this beyond the shadow of a doubt.
Dr. John Berardi wanted a guinea pig to show exactly how someone like GSP could–if he wanted to–gain enough muscle to move up an entire weight class and take on a fighter like Anderson Silva.
I started the official experiment at 169 pounds and 28 days later, weighed in at 190.
This post detailed exactly how we did it.

Here’s a breakdown of the strategies I used to put on 20 pounds in 28 days.

6 Strategies for Rapid Muscle Gain

[Note from Tim: Nate shares the exact meal plan and workout program after outlining the six strategies/principles. Again, after reading once, this is probably a post you'll want to print out for reference.]

STRATEGY #1: CYCLE THE AMOUNT OF FOOD YOU EAT.
We kept things simple here. My nutrition plan was split into two different kinds of days: High-Calorie or Low-Calorie.
On my weight-training days, I ate more food. This ensured I was getting a huge influx of nutrients on the days where my muscles could put them to use. On the days I did interval workouts or took off from the gym, I ate a little less food. This helped me to add weight without adding lots of body fat.
It’s important to note that even my “low calorie” days still involved eating more food than I was previously used to. So, no matter the day, I was always in a positive energy balance. Except for Sundays. Which brings me to the second strategy.
STRATEGY #2: USE INTERMITTENT FASTING.
Every Sunday I did a 24-hour fast to offset the inevitable fat gain that would normally come with an eating plan like this. The goal was for me to be in a caloric surplus – an anabolic state – six days per week, eating more calories than I burn which would lead to muscle growth.
And then I’d be in an extreme caloric deficit one day per week, which would help reset my insulin sensitivity, boost growth hormone secretion, and help stimulate fat loss while preserving my lean mass.
STRATEGY #3: GIVE YOURSELF ROOM TO GROW.
Making a big change is all about small incremental improvements. You try something for a little while, see how it works, and if you need to, make a small change and repeat the steps.
For this experiment Berardi started me off with a lot of food, enough to where I’d be in a caloric surplus and gain muscle. But he didn’t overload me as much as he could have. Not at first, at least. He wanted to leave a little wiggle room to make changes if needed.
In both Weeks 3 and 4 we strategically added more calories to help push me past a plateau when my weight stalled at 178 pounds. (You’ll see how we did that below.)
STRATEGY #4: EAT MORE FOOD. MUCH MORE.
My weight-gain nutrition plan called for way more food than I was used to eating. So instead of focusing on counting calories — which would have been a nightmare — we turned our attention instead to making sure I was in a positive energy balance.
When you eat more calories than you burn, you gain weight. Dr. Berardi knew all I’d have to do to gain weight was eat more food than I was eating before we started the experiment. And that was easy to do, since I was eating enough to only maintain a 170-pound body.
So how much food does it actually take to gain 20 pounds? I went through and added everything I ate in 28 days. Here it is:

• 65 pounds of meat
• 54 bananas
• 84 scoops of protein powder
• 72 pieces of bread
• 36 sweet potatoes
• 7 jars of almond butter
• 5 jars of fruit jam
• 8 jars of sauerkraut
• 144 cups of vegetables
• 36 pieces of fruit
• 72 squares of dark chocolate
• 8 bags of frozen blueberries and raspberries
• 7 cans of coconut milk
• 4 cartons of heavy whipping cream

STRATEGY #5: TRAIN YOUR ASS OFF.
Most guys think the training program is the most important part of gaining muscle. Well, most guys are wrong. If I didn’t eat enough food I could have trained as hard or as long as I wanted and not much would have happened.
Of course, the workout program is important. So Martin Rooney hooked me up with a variation of his Training For Warriors routine that he uses for high-level UFC athletes like brothers Jim and Dan Miller.
Here’s what it looked like:
Monday: Upper Body Strength
This workout focused on compound exercises and used heavy weights to build strength and target fast-twitch muscle-fibers, the ones most primed for growth.
Tuesday: Hurricane Day – Sprints
An intense total-body workout that promoted rapid fat burning and power development. Martin calls them “hurricanes” because the workouts are like a brief, powerful storm that create disruption in the muscular, cardiovascular, and neurological systems.
They’re also some of the hardest workouts I’ve ever done in my life. (I nearly passed out after my first Hurricane session; I took a 5-minute nap next to the treadmill.)
Wednesday: Off – Recovery
A much-needed rest for my muscles and mind.
Thursday: Hurricane Day – Energy Circuit
A brief, intense workout comprised of five unconventional exercises (like sledgehammer slams, medicine ball work, and rope climbs) all done in circuit fashion.
Friday: Upper Body Hypertrophy
A second upper-body day that used less complex exercises and higher reps to promote more muscle growth.
Saturday: Lower Body Strength
Just like the Upper Body Strength day, this workout focused on compound exercises and used heavy weights to build strength and target fast-twitch muscle-fibers.
Sunday: Off – Recovery
Another rest day.
So when you put it the weight-gain nutrition plan and workout program together, this is what you get:
Monday: High Calorie / Upper Body Strength
Tuesday: Low Calorie / Hurricane Sprints
Wednesday: Low Calorie / Off
Thursday: Low Calorie / Hurricane Energy Circuit
Friday: High Calorie / Upper Body Hypertrophy
Saturday: High Calorie / Lower Body Strength
Sunday: Fast / Off
STRATEGY #6: USE STRATEGIC SUPPLEMENTS.
We like to say “Supplements are supplements.” In other words, they’re ingredients you add to a smart eating and training program. They don’t replace them.
Despite what the supplement ads say, no guy has ever built a good body by taking a weird powder with a stupid name and doing nothing else.
For this experiment, however, Dr. Berardi decided I should use a few supplements strategically to maximize the amount of muscle I could build on such a short time-frame. With only 28 days to gain 20 pounds, I had to look at every opportunity to take in more calories.
The following surely didn’t “make the difference”. But they did help.
Multivitamin: Helps fix small decencies of vitamins and minerals and enhance energy metabolism.
Protein powder: Makes eating large quantities of protein easier. I used Optimum Gold Standard Casein (for my Breakfast Pudding) and Jay Robb Egg-White Protein (for my Super Shakes).
Vitamin D: Even though natural sunlight allows our body to create Vitamin D, many of us are still deficient, which can lead to loss of muscle strength and mass and low levels of immunity.
Creatine monohydrate: Helps regenerate muscle energy stores and can improve strength, boost performance, and increase muscle mass.
Fish oil: A key source of omega-3 fatty acids that helps improve mood and motivation while boosting fat-burning and dampening inflammation.
BCAA capsules: Helps reduce the chance of muscle tissue breakdown while stimulating protein synthesis, leading to better recovery and preservation of lean muscle mass. I used Optimum BCAA capsules primarily on my fasting days.
Greens powder: Veggies, fruits, algaes and/or grasses that have been compacted and distilled into powdered form and contain vitamins, minerals, fiber, and phytonutrients.
Peri-workout drink: Supplies essential amino acids to help re-build muscle and acts as a performance-enhancing stimulant. I used Purple Wraath by Controlled Labs.
Post-workout drink: A mixture of high-quality protein and fast-acting carbohydrates that helps your body recover and rebuild quickly. I used Universal Torrent.

The Weight Gain Menu – Weeks 1 and 2

Now that we know the strategies, let’s get to the actual menu.
HIGH CALORIE DAY (MONDAY, FRIDAY, SATURDAY)
Breakfast
Breakfast pudding
The following was all put into a blender and blended into a pudding.
2 frozen bananas, blended until creamy
1/4 cup of almond milk
3 scoops casein protein powder
2 squares high cacao chocolate
Side dish
4 pieces whole grain bread
2 Tbsp peanut or almond butter
2 Tbsp jam
multivitamin
3,000 IU vitamin D
1 tsp creatine in coffee or green tea
Immediately Pre-Workout
500ml water
10 grams BCAA’s
Sip During Workout
1L water with
1 scoop of workout drink
Immediately Post-Workout
1L water with
3 scoops post-workout drink
Post-Workout Meal
1.5lb any type of lean meat
3 cups of favorite veggies
½ cup sauerkraut*
2 large sweet or white potatoes
1 Tbsp Udo’s 3.6.9 oil
Anytime Meal
1lb any type of lean meat
3 cups of favorite veggies
½ cup sauerkraut*
2 servings of your favorite fruit
1 Tbsp fish oil
*Your body has a mixture of good and bad bacteria in it. Fermented foods like sauerkraut are rich in enzymes and help increase the amount of good bacteria in your intestines. You’ll notice my diet contained a cup of sauerkraut per day. That’s not in there by chance.
LOW CALORIE DAY (TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY)
Breakfast
Breakfast pudding
2 frozen bananas, blended until creamy
1/4 cup of almond milk
3 scoops casein protein powder
2 squares high cacao chocolate
Side dish
2 pieces whole grain bread
1 Tbsp peanut or almond butter
1 Tbsp jam
multivitamin
3,000 IU vitamin D
1 tsp creatine in coffee or green tea
Lunch
1.5lb any type of fattier meat
3 cups of favorite veggies
1/4 cup mixed raw nuts
½ cup sauerkraut
1 large sweet or white potato
1 Tbsp Udo’s 3.6.9 oil
Dinner
1lb any type of fattier meat
3 cups of favorite veggies
½ cup sauerkraut
1 servings of your favorite fruit
1 Tbsp fish oil
FASTING DAY (SUNDAY)
I fasted every Sunday with the goal to reboot my insulin sensitivity and carb tolerance before another 6 days of big eating. The rules were simple:
Rule 1: Stop eating by 10pm on Saturday.
Rule 2: On Sunday, have 3 “meals” consisting of the following:

• 1L water with 1/2 serving greens powder
• 15g BCAA’s
• 1 cup of green tea

Why have these fake meals? According to Dr. Berardi, we release a hormone called ghrelin about 30 minutes before our normal meal times, which stimulates hunger pangs and gets us ready for the upcoming meal.
So it was psychologically comforting to have some kind of eating routine. The BCAAs and greens powder made it feel like I was still “eating”, which helped curb those hunger signals. (Plus the BCAAs helped preserve my lean muscle mass.)
Also, the caffeine in green tea (or coffee) helped to liberate stored fats. This helped my body eat the “food” that was stored in my love handles instead of requiring me to actually have a meal.
Rule 3: Break the fast at 10pm Sunday night by eating 1 pound of any protein with 3-4 cups of veggies.

The  Weight Gain Menu – Weeks 3 and 4

My menu on Weeks 3 and 4 followed the same base menu as above but we strategically added calories. In Week 3, we introduced a Super-Shake (basically a fancy protein shake) because by this time I was tired of chewing. Drinking a shake was much easier.
Here’s what we added:
WEEK 3 ADDITIONS
High-Calorie Day Super Shake (Monday, Friday, Saturday)

• 8 oz unsweetened almond milk
• 2 Tbsp heavy cream/whipping cream
• 1 scoop protein powder
• Handful frozen raspberries
• Handful frozen blueberries

Low-Calorie Day Super Shake (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday)

• 8 oz unsweetened almond milk
• 2 oz coconut milk
• 1 scoop protein powder
• 2 Tbsp cacoa nibs or 99% chocolate
• 1 Tbsp favorite nut butter

WEEK 4 ADDITIONS
We continued to add more food to my existing meals in Week 4.
Additions to High-Calorie days

• 1 banana to my breakfast pudding (for a total of 3 bananas)
• 1 chocolate square to my breakfast pudding (for a total of 3 chocolate squares)
• 1 scoop Purple Wraath to my workout drink (for a total of 2 scoops)
• 1 scoop Universal Torrent to my post-workout drink (for a total of 4 scoops)
• 2 Tbsp nut butter to my breakfast toast side-dish (for a total of 4 Tbsp)
• 1 Tbsp of jam to my breakfast toast side-dish (for a total of 2 Tbsp)
• 2 Tbsp heavy cream to my Super Shake (for a total of 4 Tbsp)
• 1 scoop protein to my Super Shake (for a total of 2 scoops)

Additions to Low-Calorie days

• 1 banana to my breakfast pudding (for a total of 3 bananas)
• 1 chocolate square to my breakfast pudding (for a total of 3 chocolate squares)
• 1 Tbsp nut butter to my breakfast toast side-dish (for a total of 2 Tbsp)
• 2 oz coconut milk to my Supe Shake (for a total of 4 oz)
• 1 scoop protein to my Super Shake (for a total of 2 scoops)
• 1 Tbsp chocolate to my Super Shake (for a total of 3 Tbsp)
• 1 Tbsp nut butter to my Super Shake (for a total of 2 Tbsp)

These were seemingly small changes that made a big impact on how much weight I gained this week.

Workout Program – Week 1

MONDAY – UPPER BODY STRENGTH
Warm-up
3 sets jumping jacks x 10
3 sets pogo jumps x 50
3 sets of wide outs x 10
2 sets of 20 yard skips
2 sets of 20 yard side shuffle
2 sets of 20 yard carioca
2 sets of 20 yards backward run
1 set of fire hydrants x 8
1 set of forward hip circles x 8
1 set of backward hip circles x 8
1 set of side leg raise x 8
2 sets of band shoulder external rotation x 10
2 sets of band shoulder row x 10
2 sets of band shoulder extension x 10
Weights
Bench Press
Warm-up sets of 5 reps up to the weight of your 5RM (5 Rep Max)
Perform 5 sets of 5RM.
Weighted Chin-up
Warm-up set of 8 reps.
Second set with 25 pounds of 6.
Perform 4 sets of 6 reps with 6RM.
Weighted Dips
Warm-up set of 10 reps.
Second set with 30 pounds for 8.
Perform 4 sets of 8 reps with 8 RM.
Overhead Press
Perform 4 sets of 10 with 10RM.
Barbell Curls 
Perform 4 sets of 10 with 10RM.
Abs of your choice
(I did 3 sets of 8 reps of weighted crunches.)
TUESDAY – HURRICANE SPRINTS 
Warm-up
3 sets jumping jacks x 10
3 sets pogo jumps x 50
3 sets of wide outs x 10
2 sets of 20 yard skips
2 sets of 20 yard side shuffle
2 sets of 20 yard carioca
2 sets of 20 yards backward run
1 set of fire hydrants x 8
1 set of forward hip circles x 8
1 set of backward hip circles x 8
1 set of side leg raise x 8
5 sets of quick steps for 5 yards
5 sets of high knees for 5 yards
Hurricane Category 2
Round 1
Sprint on treadmill at 10 mph and 10% grade incline for 25 seconds.
Jump off treadmill and perform the following:
1 x 20 regular crunch
1 x 20 table-top crunch
Repeat from beginning for a total of 3 rounds.
Rest 2 minutes before moving on to Round 2.
Round 2
Sprint on treadmill at 11 mph and 10% grade incline for 20 seconds.
Jump off treadmill and perform the following:
1 x 20 knee-grab crunch
Repeat from beginning for a total of 3 rounds.
Rest 2 minutes before moving on to Round 3.
Round 3
Sprint on treadmill at 12 mph and 10% grade incline for 20 seconds.
Jump off treadmill and perform the following:
1 x 20 bicycle crunch
Repeat from beginning for a total of 3 rounds.
WEDNESDAY – OFF
THURSDAY – HURRICANE ENERGY CIRCUIT 
Warm-up
3 sets jumping jacks x 10
3 sets pogo jumps x 50
3 sets of wide outs x 10
2 sets of 20 yard skips
2 sets of 20 yard side shuffle
2 sets of 20 yard carioca
2 sets of 20 yards backward run
1 set of fire hydrants x 8
1 set of forward hip circles x 8
1 set of backward hip circles x 8
1 set of side leg raise x 8
5 sets of quick steps for 5 yards
5 sets of high knees for 5 yards
Training For Warriors Circuit 
Complete each station of the circuit for 1 minute for 5 total minutes. Rest for 3 minutes and repeat.  Rest for 3 minutes and perform the last round for 30 seconds each station.
1. Rope
Begin standing holding one end of the rope in each hand. Start by performing 10 double arm swings by bringing the arms up and down as violently as possible. Then perform 10 alternating swings by bringing each arm up and down one at a time. Then perform 10 rotations by bringing each arm up and out to the sides and back down. Once all 30 reps are completed as fast as possible, start back at the beginning for the allotted time.
2. Kettlebell Swing
Begin standing with the kettlebell in both hands. Swing the bell between the legs. Extend at the knees and hips and swing the bell forward to shoulder height.  Repeat for 10 reps.  Then perform 10 more reps using each arm (single-handed swings). Once the 30 reps are completed, start back at the beginning with two hands for the allotted time.
3. Medicine Ball Slams
Begin holding the medicine ball in both hands overhead. Fire the ball into the ground as hard as possible. Recover the ball and repeat for as many reps as possible in the allotted time.
4. Sledge Hammer Swings
Begin facing the tire with both feet forward holding the hammer. Bring the hammer back and over one side of the body and hit the tire as hard as possible. Return the hammer over the other side of the body and repeat for as many reps as possible in the allotted time.
5. Ladder
Begin standing inside of the ladder with both feet.  Jump and land with your feet outside of and forward one box. Jump your feet back into the box and repeat for the length of the ladder and back.  Once completed, begin running with high knees using one foot in each box, down and back the length of the ladder. Once this second set is finished, perform side steps through the ladder using two feet in each box down and back up the ladder.  Once the third set is completed, start at the beginning and complete as many reps in the allotted time possible.
FRIDAY – UPPER BODY HYPERTROPHY
Warm-up
3 sets jumping jacks x 10
3 sets pogo jumps x 50
3 sets of wide outs x 10
2 sets of 20 yard skips
2 sets of 20 yard side shuffle
2 sets of 20 yard carioca
2 sets of 20 yards backward run
1 set of fire hydrants x 8
1 set of forward hip circles x 8
1 set of backward hip circles x 8
1 set of side leg raise x 8
2 sets of band shoulder external rotation x 10
2 sets of band shoulder row x 10
2 sets of band shoulder extension x 10
Weights 
Close Grip Bench
Do 3 warmup sets of 5 reps.
Perform 4 sets of 8 with your 8 RM.
Cable High Pull
Do 4 sets of 10 reps after a warmup set.
Band Triceps Pushdown
Do 4 sets of 15 reps.
Cable Rows
Do 4 sets of 8 reps with 8RM.
Dumbbell Curls
Do 3 sets of 8 each arm.
Abs of your choice.
(I did 3 sets of 5 reps on each side of half-kneeling chops.)
SATURDAY – LOWER BODY STRENGTH
Warm-up
3 sets jumping jacks x 10
3 sets pogo jumps x 50
3 sets of wide outs x 10
2 sets of 20 yard skips
2 sets of 20 yard side shuffle
2 sets of 20 yard carioca
2 sets of 20 yards backward run
1 set of fire hydrants x 8
1 set of forward hip circles x 8
1 set of backward hip circles x 8
1 set of side leg raise x 8
Weights
45-degree back raise
Perform 1 set of 10 with bodyweight.
Perform 1 set of 8 with 25 pounds.
Perform 1 set of 8 with 45 pounds.
Perform 1 set of 8 with 70 pounds.
Barbell Squat
Do 3-4 warmup sets.
Perform 5 sets of 8 reps with 8RM.
Deadlift
Do 3-4 warmup sets.
Perform 5 sets of 8 reps with 8RM.
SUNDAY – OFF

WORKOUT PROGRAM – WEEK 2

MONDAY – UPPER BODY STRENGTH
Warm-up
Same as Week 1.
Weights
Bench Press
Warmup sets of 6 reps up to the weight of your 6RM.
Perform 5 sets of 6RM.
(The goal is to use heavier weight in last few sets than Week 1 at 5 reps.)
Weighted Chin-up
Warmup set of 8 reps.
Do second set with 25 pounds for 8 reps.
Perform 4 sets of 8 reps with 8RM.
(The goal is to use heavier weight in last few sets than Week 1 at 6 reps.)
Weighted Dips
Warmup set of 10 reps.
Do second set with 30 pounds for 10.
Perform 4 sets of 10 reps with 10RM.
(The goal is to use heavier weight in last few sets than Week 1 at 8 reps.)
Overhead Press
Perform 5 sets of 6 with 6RM.
Barbell Curls
Perform 5 sets of 8 with 8RM
Abs of your choice
(I did 3 sets of 10 weighted crunches.)
TUESDAY – HURRICANE SPRINTS 
Warm-up
Same as Week 1.
Round 1   
Sprint on treadmill at 9.5 mph x 10% grade for 25 seconds.
Jump off treadmill, grab a 65-pound barbell and do the following:
Push Jerks x 10
Close Grip Snatch x 8
Repeat from beginning for a total of 3 sets.
Rest 2 minutes before performing Round 2.
Round 2   
Sprint on treadmill at 10.5 mph x 10% grade for 25 seconds.
Jump off treadmill, grab a 65-pound barbell and do the following:
Wide Grip Bent Over Row x 10
High Pull x 10
Repeat from beginning for a total of 3 sets.
Rest 2 minutes before performing Round 3.
Round 3  
Sprint on treadmill at 11.5 mph x 10% grade for 25 seconds.
Jump off treadmill, grab a 65-pound barbell and do the following:
Biceps Curl x 10
Cleans x 10
Repeat from beginning for a total of 3 sets.
Curl into a ball and try not to throw up.
WEDNESDAY – OFF
THURSDAY – HURRICANE ENERGY CIRCUIT 
Warm-up
Same as Week 1.
Training For Warriors Circuit 
Complete each station of the circuit for 1 minute for 5 total minutes. Rest for 3 minutes and repeat. Rest for 3 minutes and perform the last round for 30 seconds each station.
1. Farmer’s Walk   
Begin standing holding a heavy dumbbells in each hand with the elbows extended. Walk for 20 yards down and back as many times as possible in the time allotted.
2. Sandbag Drag   
Begin facing the sandbag while gripping the bag with both hands.  Drag the bag backward for 20 yards, using a toe-heel foot contact. Repeat for the distance as many times as possible in the time allotted.
3. Hand-Over-Hand Rope Pull 
Begin standing with the single rope in each hand. Pull the rope to the hip with the far hand and then grab further down the rope with the opposite hand. Repeat for as many times as possible in the allotted time.
4. Prowler Push or Sled Push
Begin using the high grip on the Prowler. Taking as big of steps as possible, push it 20 yards. Run around to the other side and push it back using the low grip. Repeat for as much distance as possible in the allotted time.
5. Tire Flip 
Begin facing the tire. Bend down and grab both hands under the bottom rim. Using the legs, lift the tire onto one side while keeping the elbows extended.  Turn the hands over and push the tire down as hard as possible. Run to the opposite side of the tire and flip it back to the other side. Repeat for as many reps as possible in the allotted time.
FRIDAY – UPPER BODY HYPERTROPHY
Warm-Up
Same as Week 1.
Weights
Close Grip Bench
Do 3 warmup sets of 5 reps.
Perform 4 sets of 10 with your 10RM.
Cable High Pull
Do 4 sets of 8 reps after a warmup set.
Band Triceps Pushdown
Do 4 sets of 20 reps.
Cable Rows
Do 4 sets of 8 reps with 8RM.
Dumbbell Curls
Do 3 sets of 8 each arm.
Abs of your choice.
(I did 3 sets of 6 reps on each side of half-kneeling chops.)
SATURDAY – LOWER BODY STRENGTH
Warm-up
Same as Week 1.
Weights
45-degree back raise
Perform 1 set of 10 with bodyweight.
Perform 1 set of 8 with 25 pounds.
Perform 1 set of 8 with 45 pounds.
Perform 1 set of 8 with 90 pounds.
Barbell Squat
Do 3-4 warmup sets.
Perform 5 sets of 8 reps with 8RM.
Deadlift
Do 3-4 warmup sets.
Perform 5 sets of 8 reps with 8RM.
SUNDAY – OFF

WORKOUT PROGRAM – WEEK 3

MONDAY – UPPER BODY STRENGTH
Warm-up
Same as Weeks 1 and 2.
Weights
Band Bench Press
Warmup sets of 5 reps up to the weight of your 5RM.
Perform 5 sets of 5RM.
(I used mini-bands. Here’s a video of how they work.)
Alternating Grip Weighted Chin-up
(One hand using a overhand grip, and the other hand using an underhand grip.)
Warmup set of 8 reps. (4 reps with each grip.)
Do second set with 25 pounds for 8 reps. (4 reps with each grip.)
Perform 4 sets of 8 reps with 8RM. (4 reps with each grip.)
Weighted Dips
Warmup set of 6 reps.
Do second set with 40 pounds for 6 reps.
Perform 5 sets of 6 reps with 6RM.
Overhead Press
Perform 5 sets of 5 with 5RM.
Barbell Curls
Perform 4 sets of 8 with 8RM
Abs of your choice
(I did 3 sets of 10 of reverse crunches.)
TUESDAY – HURRICANE SPRINTS 
Warm-up
Same as Weeks 1 and 2.
Round 1   
Sprint on treadmill at 9.5 mph x 10% grade for 25 seconds.
Jump off treadmill, grab a 65-pound barbell and do the following:
High Pull x 10
Bent-over Row x 8
Repeat from beginning for a total of 3 sets.
Rest 2 minutes before performing Round 2.
Round 2   
Sprint on treadmill at 10.5 mph x 10% grade for 25 seconds.
Jump off treadmill, grab a 65-pound barbell and do the following:
Close-Grip Snatch x 10
Repeat from beginning for a total of 3 sets.
Rest 2 minutes before performing Round 3.
Round 3  
Sprint on treadmill at 11.5 mph x 10% grade for 25 seconds.
Jump off treadmill, grab a 65-pound barbell and do the following:
Cleans x 10
Repeat from beginning for a total of 3 sets.
WEDNESDAY – OFF
THURSDAY – HURRICANE ENERGY CIRCUIT 
Warm-up
Same as Weeks 1 and 2.
Training For Warriors Circuit 
Same exercises as Week 1 but with different time parameters  Complete each station of the circuit for 30 seconds for 2.5 total minutes. Rest for 1 minute and repeat. Do 4 total sets.
FRIDAY – UPPER BODY HYPERTROPHY
Warm-Up
Same as Weeks 1 and 2.
Weights
Incline Barbell Bench Press
Do 3 warmup sets of 5 reps.
Perform 4 sets of 10 with your 10RM.
One-Arm Dumbbell Row
Do 4 sets of 8 reps after a warmup set.
Cable Triceps Pushdown
Do 4 sets of 12 reps.
Bent-Over Reverse Fly with Dumbbells
Do 4 sets of 8 reps with 8RM.
Dumbbell Curls
Do 3 sets of 8 reps.
Abs of your choice.
(I did 3 sets of 8 reps on each side of half-kneeling chops.)
SATURDAY – LOWER BODY STRENGTH
Warm-up
Same as Weeks 1 and 2.
Weights
45-degree back raise
Perform 1 set of 10 with bodyweight.
Perform 2 sets of 8 with 45 pounds.
Perform 2 sets of 8 with 90 pounds.
Barbell Squat
Do 3-4 warmup sets.
Perform 5 sets x 6 of 6RM.
Deadlift
Do 3-4 warmup sets.
Perform 5 sets x 6 of 6RM.
SUNDAY – OFF

WORKOUT PROGRAM – WEEK 4

MONDAY – UPPER BODY STRENGTH
Warm-up
Same as Weeks 1, 2, and 3.
Weights
Band Bench Press
Warmup sets of 8 reps up to the weight of your 8RM.
Perform 5 sets of 8RM.
Weighted Pull-Up
Warmup set of 8 reps.
Do second set with 25 pounds for 8 reps.
Perform 3 sets of 6 reps with 40 pounds added.
Weighted Dips
Warmup set of 6 reps with 25 pounds added.
Do second set with 40 pounds for 6 reps.
Perform 5 sets of 6 reps with 80 pounds added.
Overhead Press
Perform 4 sets of 8 with 8RM.
Barbell Curls
Perform 4 sets of 10 with 10RM
Abs of your choice
(I did 3 sets of 12 of reverse crunches.)
TUESDAY – HURRICANE SPRINTS 
Warm-up
Same as Weeks 1, 2, and 3.
Round 1   
Sprint on treadmill at 10 mph x 10% grade for 30 seconds.
Jump off treadmill, and do the following with light weight:
Cable Row x 10
Cable Triceps Pressdown x 8
Repeat from beginning for a total of 3 sets.
Rest 2 minutes before performing Round 2.
Round 2   
Sprint on treadmill at 10.5 mph x 10% grade for 30 seconds.
Jump off treadmill, and do the following with light weight:
Cable High-Pull to Chin x 10
Repeat from beginning for a total of 3 sets.
Rest 2 minutes before performing Round 3.
Round 3  
Sprint on treadmill at 11.5 mph x 10% grade for 30 seconds.
Jump off treadmill, and do the following with light weight:
Cable Lat Pull-Down x 10
Repeat from beginning for a total of 3 sets.
WEDNESDAY – OFF
THURSDAY – HURRICANE ENERGY CIRCUIT 
Warm-up
Same as Weeks 1, 2, and 3.
Training For Warriors Circuit 
Same exercises as Week 2 but with different time parameters  Complete each station of the circuit for 30 seconds for 2.5 total minutes. Rest for 1 minute and repeat. Do 4 total sets.
FRIDAY – UPPER BODY HYPERTROPHY
Warm-Up
Same as Weeks 1, 2, and 3.
Weights
Incline Barbell Bench Press
Do 3 warmup sets of 5 reps.
Perform 4 sets of 6 with 6RM.
One-Arm Dumbbell Row
Do 4 sets of 8 reps after a warmup set.
Cable Triceps Pushdown
Do 4 sets of 10 reps.
Bent-Over Reverse Fly with Dumbbells
Do 3 sets of 10 reps.
Dumbbell Curls
Do 3 sets of 8 reps.
Abs of your choice.
(I did a basic plank for 3 sets of 30 seconds.)
SATURDAY – LOWER BODY STRENGTH
Warm-up
Same as Weeks 1, 2, and 3.
Weights
45-degree back raise
Perform 1 set of 10 with bodyweight.
Perform 2 sets of 8 with 45 pounds.
Perform 2 sets of 8 with 90 pounds.
Barbell Squat
Do 3-4 warmup sets.
Perform 5 sets x 10 of 10RM.
Deadlift
Do 3-4 warmup sets.
Perform 5 sets x 8 of 8RM.
SUNDAY – OFF

Girth, Body Fat, and Performance Metrics After Gaining 20 Pounds

So let’s say Georges St Pierre wanted to put on 20 pounds to move up a weight class to fight Anderson Silva. (Granted, he probably wouldn’t do it in 28 days.)
What would happen to his performance? Would he get slow and fat? Or even more powerful and agile?
We can only speculate with GSP, but here’s what happened to me.

Baseline After Weight-Gain
Weight 169.6 190.2
Girth Measurements
Neck 15.25 15.38
Shoulder 48 49.25
Chest 41.5 44
Upper Arm 14.75 16
Waist 31.5 32.25
Hip 38 39.5
Thigh 23.13 24.25
Calf 15.5 15.38
Body Fat Measurements
Mid-Ax 2.8 3.8
Cheek 2.8 5.7
Chest 2.8 4.7
Ab 7.6 3.8
Subscap 5.7 7.6
Triceps 2.8 3.8
Suprailiac 2.8 4.7
Knee 5.7 2.8
Hamstring 3.8 4.7
Calf 9.5 6.7
Body Fat (%)3.03 (probably ~6) 4.1 (probably ~7)
GIRTH MEASUREMENTS
Expected: We were confident every part of my body would increase in size, and for the most part, that was true.
Surprised: My calf measurements actually went down. We believe it had something to do with the resultant fat loss from doing the Hurricane sprint days.
BODY FAT PERCENTAGE
A quick note about the body fat test: We used calipers and a 10-site skinfold test. All measurement days were done at the Missoula Underground Strength Training Center and performed by trainer Mike Scialabba.
When testing body fat with calipers, there’s always a 2 – 3 percent margin of error. Mike, who’s done this same test on hundreds of his clients, ended up with skinfold measurements that indicated the obviously wrong numbers of 3.03 and 4.1 respectively. Adding a 3% margin of error, the real numbers were probably more like 6-7% and 8-9%.
All of this to say, my body fat percentage went up, but very minimally.
Surprised: I expected to gain more body fat than this (but was pleasantly surprised that I didn’t). Also, while most of my individual sites increased, there were a few that went down (ab, knee, calf). Those were three of the places that had the highest body-fat percentage on the initial Day 0 test.
And here are the performance metrics:
STRENGTH TEST: DEADLIFT MAXIMUM
Baseline: 405 pounds
After Weight Gain: 475 pounds
POWER TEST: VERTICAL JUMP
Baseline: 28 inches
After Weight Gain: 31.7 inches
STRENGTH ENDURANCE TEST: 225-POUND BENCH PRESS
Baseline: 8 reps
After Weight Gain: 15 reps
ENDURANCE TEST 1: MAX VELOCITY ON TREADMILL (VMAX)
Baseline: 9 minutes and 32 seconds of sprinting at 8mph, working up to an incline of 8%
After Weight Gain: 7 minutes and 38 seconds of sprinting at 8mph, working up to an incline of 6%.
ENDURANCE TEST 2: MAX TIME ON TREADMILL (T-MAX)
Baseline: 3 minutes and 11 seconds of sprinting at 8mph with 6% incline
After Weight Gain: 3 minutes and 14 seconds of sprinting at 8mph with 6% incline
STRENGTH/POWER/MUSCLE ENDURANCE TESTS
Expected: We expected to improve performance dramatically in all three of my non-endurance tests (vertical jump, 225-bench, max deadlift).
Surprised: No surprises here.
V-MAX AND T-MAX
Expected: I wasn’t too sure what to expect here, honestly. I felt like I was in better shape than on our baseline testing day, but I didn’t know if my short duration Hurricane sprint training (25 second sprints) would translate to better endurance.
Surprised: What surprised me about both the VMax and the TMax was that I actually felt like I had more endurance. However, I was much heavier and I felt it during the endurance testing. Perhaps I didn’t have enough time to adapt to my new body weight.
Now, this is something GSP may not have to deal with, since he’d likely gain weight over a longer period of time and his body would have more opportunity to adapt.

Closing Words

During each phase of my experiments, I pushed my body to its physiological limits.
I ate as much as I could for 28 days straight. I fasted for a full 24 hours multiple times. I purposefully dehydrated myself and robbed my body of water. I lifted heavy weights and sprinted as fast as I could.
I proved that it’s possible to for a regular guy to gain 20 pounds of (mostly) lean mass in a month. That it’s possible to then lose those 20 pounds in a week. And that it’s possible to gain them all back in a day.
In the process, I hope I’ve demystified the process of muscle building, weight cutting, and rehydration. In the end, there’s no voodoo and witchcraft here. Just the right advice, expert guidance, and a ton of hard work.