Health
Digestive issues are certainly not the most popular topics to talk about. Nevertheless, they affect us all. After all, flatulence and a bloated stomach have now become a "widespread disease". Bodybuilders in particular suffer from these symptoms. Large amounts of food are often to blame. However, individual foods can also cause increased bloating.
Women tend to label their bloated belly as "fat gain". However, in most cases this is absolutely incorrect. After all, many people also suffer from bloating when they are in a calorie deficit. This is caused by gases that form in our digestive tract. But what is the best way to avoid this?
7 tips against a bloated belly
It can be really frustrating when you look in the mirror and feel like you're 3 months pregnant. Not only visually, but also mentally, bloating is a real challenge for most people. After all, it doesn't necessarily improve your body image. It makes you feel uncomfortable, puts you in a bad mood and doesn't really make you feel better. So the next time you're struggling with a bloated belly, try our 10 best tips!
#1 Apple cider vinegar with lemon
If you drink a glass of apple cider vinegar with lemon and warm water in the morning, you will be less likely to suffer from bloating. The effect is said to be greatest if you drink it on an empty stomach. The combination can actually help your intestines and prevent unsightly gas build-up.
#2 Size of meals
If you tend to eat quite large amounts of food at once, this can be a cause of bloating. After all, your digestive system has to process large quantities for a long time. This strain is often too great and results in a bloated belly.
#3 Choice of food
There are some foods that tend to cause increased gas formation in the digestive system. First and foremost, legumes and beans. If you often have a bloated stomach, it would be advisable to avoid them. Nevertheless, you should always make sure that you eat enough fiber from fruit and vegetables. This in turn helps your digestion!
#4 Alcohol and caffeine
Bloated belly after a night of drinking? Unfortunately, this is no surprise. Alcohol upsets the environment in our digestive system and can therefore cause bloating for days after consumption. The same applies to caffeine! Too much can also lead to gas build-up.
#5 Probiotics and digestive enzymes
If your problems simply don't improve, probiotics and digestive enzymes can be a real boon. They support your gut and help it to digest food better. The bacterial environment in the digestive tract is often out of balance when bloating occurs frequently. Dietary supplements can help enormously in this case.
#6 Stress and sleep
Stress and lack of sleep are hugely important. Too little sleep can often promote digestive problems. After all, the body has less time to process food. A lack of sleep also has a major impact on hormones, especially the stress hormone cortisol. Increased cortisol accumulation not only leads to water retention, but can also promote gas formation. Sufficient rest is therefore absolutely crucial!
#7 Exercise
Even if you would prefer to hide somewhere with your bloated belly, the better option is exercise. This will make the gas build-up disappear much faster! After all, exercise can get the metabolism and digestion going and transport the excess air out of the body!
Here is a brief summary:
- The percentage of women between the ages of 18 and 59 who suffer from "sexual dysfunction" is nearly 50%. Much of this sexual dysfunction is related to a lack of testosterone.
- Women with low testosterone levels often find it harder to build muscle or burn fat.
- There are several potential causes for such a testosterone deficiency, which include the use of birth control pills, the use of antidepressants, the consumption of soy milk, a vegetarian diet or even psychological factors.
- Although it can be problematic for women to receive testosterone replacement therapy, there are different possible approaches, which include pharmaceutical approaches, the use of supplements, dietary changes and some simple lifestyle changes.
Have you got it?
Athletes who compete at the highest level, defense attorneys, CEOs of the Big 500 companies: all of them probably have it. Maybe you also know some of the women in your daily life who have it. They're the ones who might dress a little more flamboyantly or even extravagantly. They seem to build muscle faster and lose fat easier at the gym than many other women and there always seems to be one, two or three men trying to hit on them. Compare this to women who don't have it. They may lack ambition and may prefer to let others make their decisions. They may dress more inconspicuously and hope to blend into the crowd rather than stand out. They may not understand all the fuss about sex, and if they do agree to have sex (they rarely take the initiative), they usually don't experience satisfaction. And when it comes to exercise, they find it hard to lose fat or build curvy muscles and never seem to get the results they hope for.
The "it" I'm talking about here is high or at least normal testosterone levels. While testosterone replacement therapy for men has become big business, no one really seems to care about the role testosterone plays in women - at least as far as premenopausal or even young women are concerned.
With this in mind, it's worth remembering that some studies report that the percentage of women between the ages of 18 and 59 who suffer from "sexual dysfunction" is close to 50%. This dysfunction is usually attributed to underlying depression, leading to quick referrals to psychiatrists or psychotherapists, but more and more scientists and doctors are beginning to look at female testosterone deficiency as the culprit - and they may be right, because testosterone plays a major role in the physiology, psyche and sexuality of both women and men.
Hyenas, ovaries, and adrenal glands, my goodness!
One of the reasons that testosterone gets so little attention in discussions of female health is that women simply don't produce much of it, but this is one of the reasons that the whole subject is so often misunderstood. Sure, men usually produce 8 to 10 times more testosterone than women, but that doesn't mean that the average healthy man is 8 to 10 times more masculine than the average woman. No, in women, testosterone is just one part of a complicated chemical profile, which results in them being much more sensitive than men to the effects of testosterone. So a small amount will have a big effect. And even though oestrogen is considered by many to be the only important sex hormone in women, testosterone levels in healthy women are ten times higher than their oestrogen levels. Obviously, the overall hormonal picture is much more complicated than many people assume. About a quarter of a woman's testosterone production comes from her ovaries, while another quarter is produced by the adrenal glands. The remaining half is produced in the peripheral tissues from different chemical precursors produced in the ovaries and adrenal glands. The primary precursor is androstenedione. Much of this androstenedione is converted into estrone - a form of estrogen - but some can also be converted into testosterone.
If you need a real-life example of the power of these chemical precursors, think of a hyena - a matriarchal species in which the females call the shots. Normally, hyenas have perfectly usable levels of an enzyme that converts androstenedione to estrogen. During pregnancy, however, there is a drop in the levels of this enzyme, so that a lot of the androstenedione is converted into testosterone instead.
The resulting high testosterone levels affect the babies so much that females at birth have masculinized external genitalia with a penis-like clitoris and an empty scrotum that they could probably use to store discount stamps, change or hyena make-up. The result is a female mammal who is ruthless with the hapless male hyenas.
Obviously this doesn't happen in humans, but there is still some conversion of androstenedione to testosterone. All of this is important because all of these factors contribute to female health. Without adequate levels of testosterone (and therefore its precursors), women can suffer from declining energy levels and a poorer sense of well-being, regardless of their age.
Low testosterone levels (just like in men) also play a role in weight gain and the ability to build muscle, and they can also play a major role in libido. In fact, one of the surest signs of low female testosterone levels is HSDD - also known as hypoactive sexual desire disorder - which is characterized by "persistent or recurrent lack of or absence of sexual thoughts and fantasies and/or absence of desire for or receptivity to sexual activity, causing personal distress or interpersonal difficulties."
One of the earliest studies showing a link between female sexual desire and reduced testosterone levels was published in 1959, but acceptance was quite low. I guess this isn't too surprising, as at the time it wasn't even scientifically proven that women had orgasms until Masters and Johnson started fitting women's sexual organs with electrodes.
Fortunately, the link between testosterone and the female sex drive is now quite well established. Studies have shown, for example, that female testosterone levels increase during ovulation and that there is a corresponding increase in the frequency of sexual intercourse during this period. Even if women do not always initiate sex during ovulation, they are at least more receptive to sexual advances. It should also be noted that behavioral endocrinologists have noticed that women dress a little more provocatively during the ovulation phase to attract the attention of would-be sexual partners, although this probably occurs on a subconscious level.
Unfortunately, there is not much data on what "normal" female testosterone levels are, but our current best estimate is that a total plasma level of less than 25 ng/dl in women under 50 can be considered a testosterone deficiency. The problem is that doctors don't typically measure women's testosterone levels. In fact, historically, the only time doctors thought about female testosterone levels was when they suspected that a woman's testosterone levels might be too high, perhaps manifesting in the form of excessive facial hair growth, hair loss, infertility or acne.
But things are starting to change and it's high time, as the number of women with reduced libido (and likely many of the other symptoms of low testosterone levels) is estimated at 10 to 15 million in America alone, and not all of these women are in their forties or above. In fact, many are in their twenties or thirties. If this is true, then this certainly represents an epidemic of low testosterone levels, but what could have caused this epidemic?
The irony of the birth control pill
In 1950, a woman named Margaret Sanger teamed up with a wealthy, like-minded feminist named Katherine Dexter McCormick to initiate and fund the development of the first birth control pill. This was a breakthrough for women all over the world. It liberated them sexually, but paradoxically, the birth control pill also contributed greatly to lowering female libido and inhibiting or even preventing female orgasm altogether. Even though women were now sexually free, they did not use this freedom to their advantage. Sales of cats, yarn and knitting needles increased dramatically. A side effect of the contraceptive pill (and also oestrogen therapy) is that it reduces ovarian testosterone production and at the same time increases the production of a chemical called steroid hormone binding globulin (SHBG) by a factor of 10. SHBG binds a large proportion of the remaining testosterone so that it is not available to the body. The result is a decreasing sex drive and the manifestation of other symptoms of low testosterone levels. Even more worrying, however, is the fact that the contraceptive pill can have long-lasting effects on female libido. A study of 125 young women from a sexual dysfunction clinic showed that women who had been off the pill for a year still had SHBG levels 7 times higher than women who had never used the pill. In America, about 11 million women use birth control pills, but there are numerous other medications that also affect testosterone levels. Tragically, doctors rarely - if ever - mention low testosterone levels as a side effect with these medications, which is especially true when these drugs are administered to women.
These medications include antidepressants - especially selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), antihistamines, blood pressure medications, antibiotics, gastrointestinal medications and sleep aids. (Recreational drugs and alcohol can also lower testosterone levels).
Women who use these medications often report delayed or absent orgasms, but many probably also suffer from some of the other effects of low testosterone levels (lack of energy, weight gain, an inability to build muscle, etc.) that they might not associate with low levels of this hormone. But there are also non-pharmaceutical causes of low testosterone levels in women that have to do with diet.
Soy milk and vegetarian diets
I don't know if it was the ad execs, the granola munchers, or a mass conspiracy perpetrated by a bunch of diabolical yoga teachers that convinced women that daily consumption of soy milk was healthy. The truth seems to be that chemicals found in soy milk, called isoflavones, play around with hormone levels in women (and men). Although it seems safe to say that soy may have some benefits in menopausal women, as it mimics some of the effects of estrogen and can relieve menopausal symptoms, some scientists have shown that soy, like the birth control pill, increases SHBG levels and negatively affects testosterone levels in younger women. In addition, there is some evidence that a vegetarian diet in general - whether or not it contains soy - may also affect testosterone levels. Many plants contain chemicals such as daidzein (which is also found in soy), enterolactone and equol, which dock onto hormone receptors and block them for testosterone (and also estrogen). Part of the reason for low testosterone levels may also have to do with zinc deficiency, which is commonly seen in vegetarians, as low levels of this mineral often correlate with low testosterone levels. While medication and diet can be clear potential causes of low testosterone levels in women, simply being overweight or not exercising could also cause low testosterone levels. There are also psychological and emotional correlates, and simply not being in a loving relationship and/or suffering from a chronic lack of intimacy can be enough to lower testosterone levels.
And of course, there are also numerous medical causes - some less serious, some more serious - which include adrenal gland insufficiency, hypopituitarism and premature ovarian failure.
How to get your testosterone mojo back
The pharmaceutical approach
Admittedly, treating low testosterone levels in women in their twenties and thirties is controversial, but considering the important role this hormone plays in physical and mental wellbeing, it may be worth considering given the numerous pharmaceutical, dietary or lifestyle factors that can contribute to low testosterone levels. In the pharmaceutical field, there are a number of different products that can be used by doctors to treat low testosterone levels. These include creams, patches, injection solutions and pellets that are implanted under the skin. Traditional testosterone injections have numerous disadvantages, including a common phobia of injection needles and regular visits to the doctor every 2 to 6 weeks. In addition, some women metabolize the depot solution faster than others, which would necessitate more frequent injections.
Dosages are also a bit problematic as there are no defined standards yet. Some doctors might inject 75 to 100 mg of a depot testosterone every 4 to 6 weeks, while other women might do better with just 15 mg every 2 weeks. Finding the perfect dosage would require some trial and error and perfect cooperation between doctor and patient.
Another alternative is the use of testosterone creams, which were actually developed for testosterone replacement therapy in men. These are products that contain a low amount of testosterone of 1% and are applied to the shoulders, upper arms or abdomen after showering. These creams provide a constant supply of testosterone for about 24 hours.
Ultimately, however, the treating physician must decide on the right form of potential testosterone replacement therapy.
The supplement approach
Another possible approach is to take testosterone precursors in supplement form. However, although there are numerous supplements that can increase testosterone levels in men, almost all of these supplements work by either directly or indirectly stimulating the testicles to produce more testosterone. In women, however, nothing equivalent exists to stimulate the ovaries or adrenal glands to produce more testosterone.
However, women do have the option of using DHEA. This substance is a hormone secreted by the adrenal glands and is a precursor of oestrogen and testosterone. As with testosterone, levels of this hormone peak in the twenties and begin to decline each decade thereafter. However, the use of a DHEA supplement can rapidly increase inadequate testosterone levels. A 2002 study of women between the ages of 35 and 55 reported increased desire, increased arousal, increased wetness and more intense orgasms in women who took 50 mg of DHEA daily.
An article published in 2002 in the World Journal of Urology suggests that women with low testosterone levels should start taking 50 mg of DHEA every morning. If there are no improvements after 2 to 3 months (the authors of course recommend that testosterone levels be measured by a doctor), the dosage can be increased to 75mg or even 100 mg per day if necessary.
DHEA is not a panacea for low testosterone levels. It may just as easily fail to significantly increase testosterone levels, or most of this chemical may be converted to estrogen instead of testosterone.
The lifestyle approach
There are several fairly simple lifestyle changes a woman can make that could increase her testosterone levels. The most obvious of these is to stop taking the birth control pill and use another method of contraception if a woman feels that her birth control pill may be causing a problem. She could also review the need for using the different medications I have mentioned and perhaps talk to her doctor about alternatives that do not affect testosterone levels. For example, there is evidence that some antidepressants can increase female libido, although it is not yet known whether this is related to an increase in testosterone levels or some other mechanism.
Exercise - more specifically, training with weights - is also reported to increase testosterone levels in both men and women. However, this increase is not long-lasting and only lasts for a few hours, but even a temporary increase in testosterone levels, if it occurs almost every day, could have far-reaching effects.
Sex itself can also increase testosterone levels, but whether this increase is more pronounced in women who are in a stable relationship than in women who only have a one-night stand is not known. However, it is known that women who are in a committed relationship often experience an increase in testosterone levels, while testosterone levels often drop significantly in men who are in such a relationship (perhaps to ensure that the man does not cheat).
There are also somewhat less clear psychological approaches to increasing testosterone levels in women. Men often experience an increase in testosterone levels after winning a competition of any kind. Also, when men lead a stress-free life and are satisfied with themselves, testosterone levels rise accordingly.
Self-esteem also seems to play a role in testosterone levels in women and although there is not as much research to support this, my experience leads me to believe that it is the same for women. Winning a competition should also lead to an increase in testosterone levels in women, even if only fleeting. In fact, anything that reinforces the feeling of being a "winner" should work in this direction.
It's time to recognize the important role that testosterone plays in women
However you look at it, despite its reputation in literature, folklore and popular culture, testosterone is not just for sweaty men for whom grunting has replaced several hundred words. It also plays an important role in female health, psyche and libido, just as it does in men.
FAQ on testosterone replacement therapy for women
Q: What specific benefits could I get from testosterone replacement therapy if my natural testosterone levels are low?
A: In general, women who increase their testosterone levels may experience an increase in bone and muscle mass, a reduction in excessive body fat and increased sexual desire, as well as increased sexual satisfaction along with more energy, more ambition and more enjoyment of life.
Q: Are there any dangers and risks associated with the use of prohormones or testosterone?
A: If a woman uses too much testosterone or testosterone precursors, this can result in unwanted growth of body hair and in extreme cases (when using too much testosterone over a long period of time) deepening of the voice, growth of the clitoris, acne, shrinking breasts, hair loss and increased aggression. Such an overdose can also result in more serious side effects, as often happens when you challenge Mother Nature too much. However, in studies of women using testosterone in clinical quantities, no adverse side effects have generally been observed with regard to blood lipid levels, carbohydrate metabolism, blood pressure or cardiovascular health in general. Nor have there been any reports of an increased risk of breast cancer associated with testosterone replacement therapy.
Q: Can testosterone help women build muscle and burn body fat?
A: Yes, women with low testosterone levels often find it harder to build muscle, burn fat or be successful at exercise. It's also worth bearing in mind that female bodybuilders, figure class athletes and even bikini athletes use varying amounts of anabolic steroids, which are ultimately little more than synthetic testosterone derivatives. Obviously, almost all female bodybuilders use amounts of steroids that cause socially undesirable and generally irreversible physical changes such as those mentioned above.
Q: Can using testosterone affect my fertility?
A: This can only happen if testosterone levels are raised above normal for a prolonged period of time. However, testosterone replacement therapy could very well affect the sex of the child. At least one study came to the conclusion that women who have professions that typically correlate with high testosterone levels - e.g. criminal defense lawyers - have 58% male children. In contrast, women with occupations that typically correlate with high estrogen levels and low testosterone levels - such as beauty queens - usually have twice as many female babies as male babies.
Q: Are there women who should not consider testosterone replacement therapy under any circumstances?
A: Women who are pregnant or may become pregnant should avoid any type of testosterone replacement therapy. The same applies to women who suffer from high cholesterol levels, heart or liver disease or breast or uterine cancer. Irrespective of this, testosterone replacement therapy should only take place under medical supervision.
From TC Luoma
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/female-low-testosterone-epidemic
Here is a brief summary:
- The bacteria in your gut affect your ability to get lean and healthy.
- Your digestive tract contains more than 100 types of bacteria, which together weigh about 1 kilo. They make up your gut flora and are important.
- Those with low microbial diversity have higher rates of obesity. They also feel worse.
- Studies have shown that some gut bacteria cause obesity and other gut bacteria can protect against it. "Bad" gut bacteria can cause cravings and hunger pangs that can derail your diet.
- Taking probiotics is not enough for most people and taking antibiotics can kill off the good gut bacteria.
- You can optimize your gut flora through certain foods, supplements and dietary strategies.
Intestinal bacteria: Where you get them and what they do
Bacteria begin to colonize your gut from the moment you are born. If you were born naturally, breastfed, ate raw fruit and vegetables and were allowed to play in microbial dirt, then you probably started life with a healthy, diverse gut flora. But what if you were born by caesarean section, fed formula and baby milk and grew up in the city?
Well, then you could be at a higher risk of allergies and autoimmune diseases, develop metabolic disorders and become obese. You also have a higher risk of developing diabetes and will suffer from more systemic inflammation. Fortunately, the choices you make as an adult can solve or prevent these problems.
Fat breakdown and gut bacteria
What happens when you breed mice that are completely free of bacteria and raise them in a sterile, bacteria-free environment? They benefit from a surprising advantage: they don't get fat - even if you give them food that makes ordinary mice fat: high-fat, high-fructose or high-sucrose.
Let's go one step further. Take a few bacteria from the overweight mice and give them to the bacteria-free mice. They will then also become fat - even if they are given healthy food. And as a final step, take gut bacteria from lean mice and give them to the above mice while continuing to feed them healthy food. They will become slim again. In other research, four pairs of identical human twins were found in which one twin was obese and the other twin was lean. Germ-free mice were colonized with the intestinal bacteria of these twins. The mice that were colonized with the intestinal bacteria of the lean twins remained lean.
The mice that were colonized with the intestinal bacteria of the obese twins also became obese. The resulting lean and obese mice were then kept together so that they could exchange bacteria with each other to a certain extent. After the obese mice came into contact with the lean mice with their "lean" human bacteria, these mice also became lean.
These experiments show that some bacteria can cause obesity and others can protect against obesity.
The surprising result of gastric bypass surgery
It turned out that even though the food intake is reduced by these operations, the benefits far exceed what can be observed in people who had an identical diet and had not undergone such surgery. Scientists found that the bacterial population of the digestive tract changed dramatically with gastric bypass surgery. One result of this is a cure or at least a significant improvement in type II diabetes. These changes occur before the weight loss rather than as a result of it.
Another benefit is increased energy expenditure relative to calorie intake. In the above-mentioned comparison between subjects with or without gastric bypass surgery, food intake and absorption were the same. The key difference seems to be the bacterial population of the gut.
Can antibiotics cause obesity?
On the other hand, taking antibiotics often causes obesity in previously non-obese patients. Stool samples show that taking antibiotics greatly reduces the amount of beneficial bacteria and greatly increases the amount of bacteria known to promote obesity. Furthermore, different digestive tract bacteria are associated with overweight people rather than lean people, even when diets are identical.
There are proven biochemical mechanisms for this causality. It is therefore likely that these bacteria contribute to increased body fat, impaired metabolism, insulin resistance and obesity-related inflammation when there is not a sufficient balance of beneficial bacteria.
How do these bacteria make you fat?
Scientists believe that both excessive body fat gain and body fat breakdown problems are largely a consequence of obesity-related inflammation. This inflammation results in fat cells being more prone to grow and send hormonal signals that result in impaired metabolism and reduced insulin sensitivity in muscle. One way in which this occurs is that gram-negative bacteria such as Enterobacter, Shigella, Klebsiella, Desulfovibrionaceae and Escherichia (including E. Coli) can release the endotoxin LPS, which can promote systemic inflammation and obesity. Another mechanism that may contribute to an increase in body fat is related to the fact that some gut bacteria can activate the endocannabinoid system. By doing this, they cause the host (that's you) to feel hungry, which results in the bacteria getting more food. This endocannabinoid system signaling also has negative effects on muscle cells, fat cells and insulin sensitivity. In addition, gut bacteria can increase fat storage in fat cells by suppressing FIAF (Fasting-induced Adipocyte Factor).
All of these actions contribute to advancing an individual towards obesity-related inflammation and metabolic impairment. They can also ultimately lead to obesity and/or diabetes. When the balance of bacteria in the digestive tract is unfavorable, gut bacteria have the tools necessary to effectively counteract fat loss or promote fat gain, as well as further exacerbate metabolic impairment. This is bad news for people with an unfavorable ratio of "bad" to desirable gut bacteria who are aiming for a lean, muscular body.
Gut bacteria can control you like a puppet
Metabolically unfavorable gut bacteria can cause cravings for junk food, which is the best food for them. They can make you feel bad when you deprive them of their favorite foods. This is achieved not only through the endocannabinoid system, but also through their ability to exert a strong influence on the vargus nerve and the enteric nervous system. This is not funny. The cravings and bad feelings can be powerful motivators for neglecting your diet plan or even abandoning your diet. The good news is that you can get out of their control pretty quickly by not giving in. If you consistently don't give in, the number of these bacteria will decrease, your metabolic health will improve and you'll feel better too - no cravings, no bad feelings.
I believe that one of the reasons diet plans like the Velocity Diet or the Paleo Diet work so well is because they break this cycle, which results in better metabolic health.
How can good gut bacteria help you improve your body composition?
Beneficial gut bacteria can help you improve your body composition and metabolic health by suppressing other bacteria - or rather their proliferation - that have the negative effects described above, by improving the integrity of your gut lining and by producing short-chain fatty acids. Short-chain fatty acids reduce systemic inflammation, contribute to satiety, up-regulate leptin gene expression, reduce stress-induced corticosteroid levels, improve insulin sensitivity in muscle and reduce insulin sensitivity in adipose tissue by activating FFAR2 (Free Fatty Acid Receptor 2).
How can I improve my gut flora?
There is a very strong correlation between the diversity of your gut bacteria and your metabolic health. The more types of bacteria you have in your gut, the better - at least in terms of bacteria that you have naturally ingested. So one way to improve your gut flora is to achieve a greater diversity of bacteria. Another way is to change your diet in a way that supports the function of beneficial gut bacteria and shifts the balance in favor of these bacteria.
You can also take nutritional supplements that work towards improving the balance of bacteria in your gut and/or increase the production of short-chain fatty acids.
Forget the yogurt and eat some "dirty" vegetables
As convenient as it would be to simply buy a few capsules or a bulk pack of yogurt, this won't increase the diversity of your gut bacteria very much. How many strains of bacteria are in yogurt? Maybe six? In contrast, you probably have a thousand or more types of bacteria that have colonized your gut. Six more types of bacteria would only be a minimal increase in this diversity in percentage terms.
The only way to really increase microbial diversity is the natural way, which is the way all humans have always used. Consume these bacteria through food and your environment.
As a species, we have become accustomed to being exposed to a very substantial amount of bacteria that comes from plants and dirt - and especially the dirt that our food crops grow in.
It is historically abnormal for vegetables to have been boiled, baked, fried or cleaned to a point close to complete sterilization, as is the case with commercial produce today.
By increasing your consumption of locally grown vegetables, such as those purchased at a farmer's market, most of which should be eaten raw, the variety of bacteria you are exposed to will be more in line with what humans have adapted to over the course of evolution.
Fermenting these vegetables, which you can easily do at home, can increase the value of these vegetables even further. (Commercially fermented foods often contain no beneficial bacteria at all). And don't be afraid of a little dirt from a good source. Vegetables from a farmer you trust don't need to be scrubbed to death. A light rinse will suffice. Our ancestors always had some dirt on their food and primitive peoples all over the world are not afraid to eat their food in a fairly natural state. Studies show that their gut flora is more diverse than ours.
Useful nutritional strategies
In addition to this, some dietary techniques are likely to increase the number of types of bacteria living in your gut:
Improve the quality of your carbohydrate intake
Try replacing products that contain refined wheat flour with slow-cooked oatmeal, buckwheat, sweet potatoes, parsnips, carrots, beets, pumpkin, potatoes, rye, brown rice or parboiled rice.
There are a variety of options and you will experience real benefits by changing your choices.
Eat a variety of different macronutrient compositions rather than meals that all have a fairly similar macronutrient combination
By eating some meals that are protein and fat and low in carbohydrate and others that are protein and carbohydrate and low in fat, different bacteria with different food preferences and different bile acid tolerance will all get their chance. Plan periods of no or low food intake, such as a 10 or 12 hour break between the last meal of the day and breakfast, or occasional days of reduced calorie intake.
One reason for this is that certain beneficial bacteria, unlike other bacteria, thrive during these times.
How do I feed my good bacteria?
A diet for good digestive health does not require specific macronutrient ratios. People all over the world have eaten the foods that were available to them and have been healthy. People and their gut bacteria are flexible and can be healthy on a wide range of diets. Most reasonable ratios can be fine - anything but high carbohydrate combined with high fat - if the carbohydrates are from traditional sources and the fats are not high in linoleic acid.
When it comes to better nourishing the beneficial gut bacteria, fiber from vegetables, fruits, tubers and whole grains have an excellent effect in increasing the number of these bacteria and supporting the production of short-chain fatty acids. Polyphenols, phenolic acid and anthocyanins from fruit and vegetables are also very beneficial for digestive health.
What about probiotics and fermented foods?
Many probiotic products currently available do not contain sufficient amounts of bacteria or enough different types of bacteria to make a big difference to what you already have. In addition to this, many of these products only contain bacteria that are potentially suitable for the small intestine, although the bacteria of the large intestine are also crucial. Furthermore, studies have shown that many bacteria administered in this way typically fail to colonize the gut and are no longer detectable after 3 hours.
It should also be remembered that if these are bacteria that have already colonized your gut, as you have been exposed to them before, these bacteria will already be present in your gut in a natural balance dependent on your diet. So why give more of them unless there is a need to shift this balance?
This could explain why many probiotics on the market do quite little for the average person.
However, there are exceptions. Some probiotic strains of bacteria can help with diarrhea, constipation, irritable bowel syndrome, pouchitis, urinary tract infections, Clostridium difficile infection, enteropathy and eczema. If you suffer from any of these problems, then a suitable product could help you.
If you are considering using a product to treat a condition, then you should ensure that it contains the same strain of bacteria that was used in the underlying study. If the species is the same but the bacterial strain is different, then the study is irrelevant. Unfortunately, many probiotic manufacturers cite irrelevant studies.
Prebiotics, anthocyanins and other supplements
The first category of supplements we will look at are prebiotics or fiber, which support beneficial bacteria. If you are already eating plenty of vegetables and some fruit, then there is no need to supplement with prebiotics. Your beneficial bacteria will already be getting what they need.
However, if you are eating less of these foods than humans have traditionally eaten, then supplementation makes sense. I recommend a combination of inulin and arabinogalactose in a total amount of 6 grams per serving. You can take this fiber several times a day, preferably with meals. I would like to emphasize that supplementing with prebiotics alone will generally not make a profound difference. It should be part of an overall plan. Another way is through anthocyanin supplementation. Greens and superfood blends provide plenty of polyphenols and phenolic acid, which have positive effects on the intestinal flora. If you want to use a specific polyphenol instead of a combination of extracts, quercetin is an excellent choice. Polyphenols from red wine are also very effective. Resveratrol does not have a major effect on gut bacteria, but when taken before a meal with substantial amounts of fat and calories, it blocks the pro-inflammatory TLR-4 signaling produced by some bacteria in response to such meals.
Berberine, a plant extract, also has some extraordinary properties when it comes to modulating gut bacteria. It works in part by inhibiting pro-inflammatory bacteria and shifting the balance of gut flora towards beneficial bacteria. It works so well that significant reductions in blood sugar can often be observed in people with impaired insulin sensitivity, and substantial fat loss often occurs.
Last but not least, a magnesium deficiency affects the balance of the intestinal flora. This is where a magnesium supplement or a ZMA® product can help.
References:
- Bäckhed F1, Ding H, et al. The gut microbiota as an environmental factor that regulates fat storage. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2004 Nov 2;101(44):15718-23.
- Cani PD, Osto M, et al. Involvement of gut microbiota in the development of low-grade inflammation and type 2 diabetes associated with obesity. Gut Microbes. 2012 Jul-Aug;3(4):279-88.
- Cani PD, Amar J, et al. Metabolic endotoxemia initiates obesity and insulin resistance. Diabetes. 2007 Jul;56(7):1761-72.
- Geurts L, Neyrinck AM, et al. Gut microbiota controls adipose tissue expansion, gut barrier and glucose metabolism: novel insights into molecular targets and interventions using prebiotics. Benef Microbes. 2014 Mar;5(1):3-17.
- Cox LM, Blaser MJ. Pathways in microbe-induced obesity. Cell Metab. 2013 Jun 4;17(6):883-94.
- Puddu A, Sanguineti R, et al. Evidence for the gut microbiota short-chain fatty acids as key pathophysiological molecules improving diabetes. Mediators Inflamm. 2014;2014:162021.
- Larsen N, Vogensen FK, et al. Gut microbiota in human adults with type 2 diabetes differs from non-diabetic adults. PLoS One. 2010 Feb 5;5(2):e9085.
- Underwood MA. Intestinal dysbiosis: novel mechanisms by which gut microbes trigger and prevent disease. Prev Med. 2014 Aug;65:133-7.
- Cotillard A, Kennedy SP, et al. Dietary intervention impact on gut microbial gene richness. Nature. 2013 Aug 29;500(7464):585-8.
- David LA, Maurice CF. Diet rapidly and reproducibly alters the human gut microbiome. Nature. 2014 Jan 23;505(7484):559-63.
- Xiao S, Fei N, et al. A gut microbiota-targeted dietary intervention for amelioration of chronic inflammation underlying metabolic syndrome. FEMS Microbiol Ecol. 2014 Feb;87(2):357-67.
- Lakhan SE, Kirchgessner A. Gut microbiota and sirtuins in obesity-related inflammation and bowel dysfunction. J Transl Med. 2011; 9: 202
- Fei N, Zhao L. An opportunistic pathogen isolated from the gut of an obese human causes obesity in germfree mice. ISME J. 2013 Apr;7(4):880-4.
- Ridaura VK, Faith JJ, et al. Gut microbiota from twins discordant for obesity modulate metabolism in mice. Science. 2013 Sep 6;341(6150):1241214.
- Parnell JA, Reimer RA. Weight loss during oligofructose supplementation is associated with decreased ghrelin and increased peptide YY in overweight and obese adults. Am J Clin Nutr. 2009 Jun;89(6):1751-9.
- Turroni F, Ribbera A, et al. Human gut microbiota and bifidobacteria: from composition to functionality. Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek. 2008 Jun;94(1):35-50.
- Scher JU, Sczesnak A. Expansion of intestinal Prevotella copri correlates with enhanced susceptibility to arthritis. Elife. 2013;2:e01202
- De Filippo C, Cavalieri D, et al. Impact of diet in shaping gut microbiota revealed by a comparative study in children from Europe and rural Africa. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2010 Aug 17;107(33):14691-6.
- Wu GD, Chen J, et al. Linking long-term dietary patterns with gut microbial enterotypes. Science. 2011 Oct 7;334(6052):105-8.
- Ho JTK, Chan GCF, Li JCB. Systemic effects of gut microbiota and its relationship with disease and modulation. BMC Immunol. 2015; 16: 21.
- Keenan MJ, Zhou J, et al. Role of resistant starch in improving gut health, adiposity, and insulin resistance. Adv Nutr. 2015 Mar 13;6(2):198-205.
- Alcock J, Maley CC, Aktipis CA. Is eating behavior manipulated by the gastrointestinal microbiota? Evolutionary pressures and potential mechanisms.Bioessays. 2014 Oct;36(10):940-9.
- Mayer EA. Gut feelings: the emerging biology of gut-brain communication.Nat Rev Neurosci. 2011 Jul 13;12(8):453-66.
- Li JV, Ashrafian H. Metabolic surgery profoundly influences gut microbial-host metabolic cross-talk. Gut. 2011 Sep;60(9):1214-23.
- Trasande L, Blustein J, et al. Infant antibiotic exposures and early-life body mass. Int J Obes (Lond). 2013 Jan;37(1):16-23.
- Fanaro S, Chierici R, et al. Intestinal microflora in early infancy: composition and development. Acta Paediatr Suppl. 2003 Sep;91(441):48-55.
- Blustein J, Attina T, et al. Association of caesarean delivery with child adiposity from age 6 weeks to 15 years. Int J Obes (Lond). 2013 Jul;37(7):900-6.
- Liou AP, Paziuk M. Conserved shifts in the gut microbiota due to gastric bypass reduce host weight and adiposity. Sci Transl Med. 2013 Mar 27;5(178):178ra41.
- Muccioli GG, Naslain D, et al. The endocannabinoid system links gut microbiota to adipogenesis. Mol Syst Biol. 2010 Jul;6:392.
- Harris K, Kassis A, et al. Is the gut microbiota a new factor contributing to obesity and its metabolic disorders? J Obes. 2012;2012:879151.
- Parkar SG, Trower TM, et al. Fecal microbial metabolism of polyphenols and its effects on human gut microbiota. Anaerobe. 2013 Oct;23:12-9.
- Martínez I, Lattimer JM, et al. Gut microbiome composition is linked to whole grain-induced immunological improvements. ISME J. 2013 Feb;7(2):269-80.
- Kim KA, Gu W, et al. High fat diet-induced gut microbiota exacerbates inflammation and obesity in mice via the TLR4 signaling pathway. PLoS One.2012;7(10):e47713.
- Zhang X, Zhao Y, et al. Structural changes of gut microbiota during berberine-mediated prevention of obesity and insulin resistance in high-fat diet-fed rats. PLoSOne. 2012;7(8):e42529.
- Cani PD, Bibiloni R, et al. Changes in gut microbiota control metabolic endotoxemia-induced inflammation in high-fat diet-induced obesity and diabetes in mice. Diabetes. 2008 Jun;57(6):1470-81.
- Cani PD, Neyrinck AM, et al. Selective increases of bifidobacteria in gut microflora improve high-fat-diet-induced diabetes in mice through a mechanism associated with endotoxaemia. Diabetologia. 2007 Nov;50(11):2374-83.
- Zhang Y, Li X, et al.Treatment of type 2 diabetes and dyslipidemia with the natural plant alkaloid berberine. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2008 Jul;93(7):2559-65.
- Ding S, Chi MM, et al. High-fat diet: bacteria interactions promote intestinal inflammation which precedes and correlates with obesity and insulin resistance in mouse. PLoS One. 2010 Aug 16;5(8):e12191.
- Parnell JA, Reimer RA. Prebiotic fiber modulation of the gut microbiota improves risk factors for obesity and the metabolic syndrome. Gut Microbes. 2012 Jan-Feb;3(1):29-34.
- Ramirez-Farias C, Slezak K. Effect of inulin on the human gut microbiota: stimulation of Bifidobacterium adolescentis and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii.Br J Nutr. 2009 Feb;101(4):541-50
- De Palma G, Nadal I, et al. Effects of a gluten-free diet on gut microbiota and immune function in healthy adult human subjects. Br J Nutr. 2009 Oct;102(8):1154-60.
- Miyazaki K, Masuoka N, et al. Bifidobacterium fermented milk and galacto-oligosaccharides lead to improved skin health by decreasing phenols production by gut microbiota. Benef Microbes. 2014 Jun 1;5(2):121-8.
- Kim SW, Suda W, et al. Robustness of gut microbiota of healthy adults in response to probiotic intervention revealed by high-throughput pyrosequencing.DNA Res. 2013 Jun;20(3):241-53.
- Jernberg C, Lofmark S, et al. Long-term impacts of antibiotic exposure on the human intestinal microbiota. Microbiology. 2010 Nov;156(Pt 11):3216-23.
- Walter J, Martínez I, Rose DJ. Holobiont nutrition: considering the role of the gastrointestinal microbiota in the health benefits of whole grains. Gut Microbes. 2013 Jul-Aug;4(4):340-6.
- Hidalgo M, Oruna-Concha MJ, et al. Metabolism of anthocyanins by human gut microflora and their influence on gut bacterial growth. J Agric Food Chem. 2012 Apr 18;60(15):3882-90.
- Bushman FD, Lewis JD, Wu GD. Diet, gut enterotypes and health: is there a link? Nestle Nutr Inst Workshop Ser. 2013;77:65-73.
- Queipo-Ortuño MI, Seoane LM, et al. Gut microbiota composition in male rat models under different nutritional status and physical activity and its association with serum leptin and ghrelin levels. PLoS One. 2013 May 28;8(5):e65465.
- Turnbaugh PJ, Bäckhed F, et al. Diet-induced obesity is linked to marked but reversible alterations in the mouse distal gut microbiome. Cell Host Microbe.2008 Apr 17;3(4):213-23.
- Van den Abbeele P, Gérard P, et al. Arabinoxylans and inulin differentially modulate the mucosal and luminal gut microbiota and mucin degradation in humanized rats. Environ Microbiol. 2011 Oct;13(10):2667-80.
- Nielsen TS, Laerke HN. Diets high in resistant starch and arabinoxylan modulate digestion processes and SCFA pool size in the large intestine and faecal microbial composition in pigs. Br J Nutr. 2014 Dec 14;112(11):1837-49.
- Terpend K, Possemiers S. Arabinogalactan and fructo-oligosaccharides have a different fermentation profile in the Simulator of the Human Intestinal Microbial Ecosystem (SHIME ®). Environ Microbiol Rep. 2013 Aug;5(4):595-603.
- Lopez-Siles M, Khan TM. Cultured representatives of two major phylogroups of human colonic Faecalibacterium prausnitzii can utilize pectin, uronic acids, and host-derived substrates for growth. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2012 Jan;78(2):420-8.
- Pachikian BD, Neyrinck AM, et al. Changes in intestinal bifidobacteria levels are associated with the inflammatory response in magnesium-deficient mice. J Nutr. 2010 Mar;140(3):509-14.
- Han J, Lin H, Huang W. Modulating gut microbiota as an anti-diabetic mechanism of berberine. Med Sci Monit. 2011 Jul;17(7):RA164-7.
- Yin J, Xing H, Ye J. Efficacy of berberine in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Metabolism. 2008 May;57(5):712-7.
- Qiao Y, Sun J, et al. Effects of resveratrol on gut microbiota and fat storage in a mouse model with high-fat-induced obesity. Food Funct. 2014 Jun;5(6):1241-9.
- Etxeberria U, Arias N. Reshaping faecal gut microbiota composition by the intake of trans-resveratrol and quercetin in high-fat sucrose diet-fed rats. J Nutr Biochem. 2015 Jun;26(6):651-60.
By Bill Roberts | 07/28/15
https://www.t-nation.com/diet-fat-loss/is-gut-bacteria-making-you-fat
Here's a quick summary:
- There are four things you need to consider when trying to build muscle: Hormones, psychology, health and strength.
- Gaining mass when you are already overweight can affect your ability to build muscle, and gaining too much weight can interfere with different exercises.
- Endomorphic exercisers should not perform a mass-building phase if they have a body fat percentage of over 15% and they need to build muscle slowly. Ectomorphs need to be more aggressive with their bulking phase and calorie intake.
- Use mirrors to assess your progress rather than having your body fat percentage measured
Stay lean while trying to gain mass
How lean should you get before you start a bulking phase? Is there a point at which you are too fat to gain mass? And while we're on the subject, how lean can you stay while still being able to build muscle?
These are big questions. Here are the answers.
4 factors of hypertrophy
Train with weights, eat well, recover and repeat. The "how" of building muscle is no big secret. The questions come with the details.
There are 4 primary factors involved in building muscle: Your hormones, your mental well-being, your physical health and your body structure.
No two individuals are the same and no two bodybuilding programs should be the same. Let's examine the factors and then develop a battle plan for you.
Hormones: Factor #1:
We all have different metabolic and hormonal profiles in addition to different nutritional needs. When we talk about bodybuilding, these differences play a big role in how fast we build muscle and how fat we get in the process.
A genetic ectomorph (a skinny guy with a lean physique) will obviously have different nutritional needs and responses than a genetic endomorph (guys with a chunky physique who build fat easily).
If the endomorph tries to stay as lean as the ectomorph while trying to build muscle, he will waste a lot of time and make no progress.
Hormones such as testosterone, estrogen, cortisol, thyroid hormones and insulin all play very important (and independent) roles in the process of manipulating body development. If we look at each hormone in isolation, we get the following:
|
Hormones |
Too much |
Too little |
|
Rarely a problem |
Increase in body fat, decrease in muscle mass |
|
|
Increase in body fat |
Joint problems, health problems, slower muscle gains |
|
|
Cortisol |
Slower metabolism, decrease in muscle mass, increased fat gain |
Rarely a problem |
|
Thyroid hormones |
Difficulty gaining weight, muscle weakness, fatigue |
Slower metabolism, fatigue, increased body fat percentage |
|
Insulin |
Insulin resistance, increase in body fat, increased blood pressure |
Type I diabetes |
For men based on diet and body fat:
- High body fat levels: typically correspond with an increase in estrogen levels, insulin levels and cortisol levels.
-
Optimal body fat levels: Barring any abnormalities, this is the range where most people's hormone levels are balanced and optimized.
- Very low body fat levels: For most, very low body fat levels will result in sub-optimal hormone levels - such as reduced testosterone levels and increased cortisol levels - which will interfere with long-term muscle gains.
Obviously, competitive bodybuilders will get much leaner for their competitions than this, but this is not something they will maintain all year round - especially if they are trying to get more muscular.
And remember that hormones are linked. Change one hormone and you change a number of other hormones at the same time. When something gets out of balance, it can cause a hormonal cascade that results in a variety of problems, which can make it difficult to achieve results.
It can also be difficult to pinpoint the root of the problem due to the ripple effect nature of hormones.
Psychology: Factor #2:
You also need to consider the mental and social aspect of weight gain. If you are an ectomorph who is uncomfortable eating 6000 kcal a day, then your life can be hard. You need to keep things reasonably comfortable if you plan to play this game long term.
Health considerations:Factor #3:
Overdoing it with mass building and getting fat will potentially raise blood pressure, blood sugar, and blood lipid levels (cholesterol and triglycerides).
Make mass gaining your lifestyle and these problems can lead to diabetes, cardiovascular disease, kidney problems and other serious health issues. They will also cause hormonal imbalances that can slow down your gains.
This is a situation where you can only lose. You are out of shape, your health is suffering and you are hindering your bodybuilding goals.
Remember that bodybuilding is more like a marathon than a sprint. The guys with the most longevity have the most success. Ronnie Coleman won his last Mr. Olympia title at the age of 41. Three of the seven winners of the last national championships were over 40.
If you ignore your health by getting too fat, your body may be too broken to run the hypertrophy marathon in the long run.
Strength and leverage ratios: Factor #4:
In general, the bulkier you are, the stronger you are. Increased body weight not only helps from a muscular point of view, but also from a mechanical point of view.
Leverage ratios are more optimal for most exercisers when they are bulkier, and a bulky core will help you with exercises like squats (for stabilization) and bench presses (by reducing range of motion).
One exercise that usually suffers from weight gain is the deadlift. For most exercisers, the leverage ratios on this exercise get worse as they gain weight. A leaner core helps to get into position when deadlifting so that more power can be used from the legs and it becomes easier to get 'behind the bar'.
So we know that getting bulkier generally makes you stronger - and getting stronger is a great way to build muscle - but at what point will the benefits start to diminish?
Obviously, the extra ten pounds you add on bench presses and squats won't mean much if you're upsetting your hormonal balance at the same time - especially when the time comes for you to diet all that flab off again and see what's hiding underneath.
If you continually chase higher weights on the bar and on the scales without taking the mirror and your health into account, then your gains will be very short-lived. Sagging skin is not particularly cool either.
Slimming all year round
While excessive body fat can certainly interfere with optimal muscle gains, I'm also not an advocate of staying in contest shape all year round. If you're afraid of losing your six-pack and gaining some extra weight, then you won't get much further.
A middle ground between the two extremes is best. Build enough weight to allow consistent, realistic gains in strength and muscle mass without compromising your health or disrupting your endocrine system.
But remember that there is no "one size fits all" strategy that is optimal for everyone. Much depends on your natural body type.
A guide for the big, bulky guys (endomorph body type):
Trying to stay too lean will sabotage your gains. Trying to gain too much weight too quickly will also backfire. You will build fat at an astonishing rate.
Endomorphic strength athletes should aim for a weight gain of half a pound to a pound per week to ensure that most of the gains are of a quality nature. Due to fluctuations in glycogen and water, these will not always be linear gains, but try to keep the trend at one pound or less per week.
Heavier individuals (over 115 kilos) can aim for a slightly higher rate of weight gain, where I'm talking about one to one and a half pounds per week.
Warning: If your body fat percentage is over 15%, you need to get this under control before you think about gaining weight. I recommend keeping your body fat percentage between 10 and 15% during the bulking phase.
A good method is to use a bulking phase - averaging about a pound a week - until you reach your upper limit of body fat percentage for your body type and then diet (smartly) for a while until you get back to the lower end of the range.
So build up until you reach a body fat percentage of 15%, then diet down to 10% and repeat.
The guide for skinny guys (ectomorph body type):
If you are an ectomorph, you should use a slightly more aggressive approach. An ectomorph will typically not only need more calories for muscle growth due to their faster metabolism, but will also burn fat faster, so putting on some extra flab shouldn't be a big problem for them.
Ectomorphically inclined strength athletes should aim for faster gains than endomorphically inclined ones - perhaps one to two pounds per week or more, depending on the situation. The truth is that their fast metabolism will usually make this difficult anyway unless they really increase their calorie intake significantly.
As with endomorphically predisposed people, a weight gain of half a pound to a pound is what we will usually see in practice. It's rare to see endomorphically predisposed strength athletes reach a body fat percentage of more than 12%, so their goal should be to use their mass-building phase until they reach a body fat percentage of 12% - at an average weight gain of one pound per week - and then slowly diet down to 8 to 10% body fat.
We hate you - No advice for mesomorphic strength athletes:
Mesomorphically inclined strength athletes are the ones who just have to look at a barbell to grow. And they stay reasonably lean regardless of their diet. If you're reading this article, you're probably not one of these athletes.
Set Point Considerations
The human body has numerous internal thermostat-like control processes that help it maintain a state of homeostasis. It tries to maintain a reasonably "normal" state of body processes and it can be quite difficult to change this so-called set point.
Have you ever noticed that when you finish a diet, your body tries to get back to the weight you started with? It's what your body is used to and it's trying to get back to that state.
One way that might help shift this setpoint is to maintain the new weight for a longer period of time to try to get your body to adopt that weight as its new setpoint.
Shifting your setpoint can take months. So instead of getting your weight up to a certain level and then immediately dieting down again, it might make sense to maintain this new weight for six months or longer. This will help you maintain more of that new muscle mass when you eventually diet again.
Of course, this doesn't mean getting fat and staying fat! It means building muscle, keeping your body fat percentage under control and then maintaining the new weight for a while before slowly getting leaner again.
The competition form
For those who regularly compete in a body sport such as bodybuilding, staying in shape during the off-season is even more important. It takes too much time to lose that excess weight before a competition and you risk losing too much muscle mass in the process.
And too often I see guys go up to 25 kilos over their competition weight because they think they're making massive progress (sure they look massive in a sweatshirt). Then they diet down and compete the next year at the same weight as before.
The bullshit stops when they take off the sweatshirt. If you compete on a regular basis - at least once a year - then monitoring your body fat is a must if you plan to improve year on year and climb the competition ladder.
Assessing your progress
Use mirrors to assess your progress. Sure, body fat percentage is important. But to be honest, it can be expensive and inconvenient to have your body fat percentage measured accurately on a regular basis. So instead of going by specific numbers, I prefer to use the mirror and take photos to assess my progress.
Your lower back and core usually don't lie. They will tell you if you are building up too much fat. Once your love handles reach the point where they hang over the side of your belt, you've gone too far.
A little extra flab is okay, and a lot of what accumulates during the day is water, but you should never reach the point where you can measure a fold of flab more than 2.5 centimeters thick.
And as for your midsection, you should always be able to see at least a rough outline of your abs (no great detail, just the general contours) and always have a visible serratus.
Stress control and sleep
It's easier said than done, but reducing the stress in your life can help you tremendously in your muscle building efforts. A lot of stress increases levels of the hormone cortisol, which limits your muscle gains and promotes fat gain. Try to get plenty of sleep and don't get too worked up about unimportant things.
Conclusion
There is no magic number when it comes to the optimal body fat percentage for building muscle. By using the guidelines from this article, you can develop your personal best method for optimal hypertrophy while staying healthy and fit.
By Shelby Starnes
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/diet-fat-loss/perfect-body-fat-percentage
The complete guide to caffeine:
- What is caffeine?
- How does it work?
- How does it affect the CNS?
- What are the risks and benefits?
- What is the optimal dosage and timing?
In our Starbucks-driven world, it's no surprise that caffeine is the most commonly used (or abused) over-the-counter stimulant. Walk into any gas station and you'll likely find an entire shelf reserved exclusively for energy drinks: Rockstar, Red Bull, Jolt, etc. Oh yeah, don't worry if you missed that shelf because there will be a whole line of energy shots waiting for you at the register (replace the term energy with caffeine and you've got what's at the top of the most commonly used stimulant list).
Most people aren't even aware of their caffeine intake - they simply follow the social norms of a morning cup of coffee and give in to the temptation to fight the afternoon slump at the office...But then it happens. You wake up, drink a triple espresso and don't feel that familiar boost you crave. Your heart starts pounding, you feel lethargic, unmotivated, irritable and wonder why.... Well, in a generic sense, you are no different from a heroin junkie going through withdrawal symptoms. You have become addicted. For most people, this isn't much of a problem because they just sit at their desk all day long and probably worry more about who in the office might have a birthday so they have an excuse to eat cake. For strength athletes and fitness enthusiasts, however, this can spell disaster for performance.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not out to demonize caffeine consumption, but rather to give you an idea of how this widely used stimulant can take your athletic performance to a whole new level when used correctly.
Caffeine: what it is and how it works
A brief summary:
Caffeine (sometimes referred to as 1,3,7-trimethylxanthine) is an organic, alkaline substance and a derivative of xanthine. It is primarily found in tea leaves, coffee beans, guarana, various fruits and other sources. Its homologs -- theobromine (aka 3,7-dimethylxanthine) and theophylline (aka 1,3-dimethylxanthine) - are primarily found in kola nuts and the cocoa plant. While caffeine is metabolized in the liver to its homologues (albeit not in substantial amounts), which have slightly different effects in humans, we will focus primarily on the physiological effects that caffeine has on athletic performance.
Methylxanthines act as stimulants of the central nervous and myocardial systems and are often used therapeutically to treat conditions such as COPD and asthma due to their bronchodilator properties. They act as acetylcholinesterase and phosphodiesterase (PDE) inhibitors, with the latter of the two being of most interest to us from a performance perspective. PDE enzymes serve to break phosphodiester bonds such as those in cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) and cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP). Thus, inhibition of the PDE enzymes prevents (delays) the degradation of cAMP and cGMP. This is an important mechanism because cAMP and cGMP both serve as secondary messengers in signal transduction channels. In short, cAMP and cGMP transmit signals from different hormones and other substrates from cell membrane receptors to intracellular targets. When these signals are amplified by cAMP and cGMP, metabolic processes, which we will look at below, occur more rapidly.
A brief introduction - What happens when your central nervous system (CNS) is stimulated The CNS in humans consists of the brain and spinal cord and is the pathway for sending and receiving signals between all parts of the body. When the neurons of the CNS are stimulated and cAMP/cGMP is activated, various bodily functions are switched into a kind of turbo mode. The primary acute effects of this are:
- An increased heart rate
- A constriction of the veins
- Psychostimulation
- Stimulation of the metabolism
- Increased urination
Some of these effects are indeed beneficial for sporting and physical goals. Many studies have investigated the benefits of caffeine on cardio and resistance training and how caffeine can increase aerobic and anaerobic performance. There appear to be several mechanisms by which caffeine can act as a performance enhancing compound. These include, among others:
- Increased exogenous carbohydrate metabolism
- Increased fatty acid oxidation
- Increased epinephrine (adrenaline) levels
- Dilation of the bronchi
- Reduced interstitial muscle potassium levels
All of these would be desirable benefits for anyone looking to increase their athletic performance and fat loss. Simply put, increased carbohydrate metabolism allows for more efficient use of carbohydrates for energy. Increased fatty acid oxidation means more of your life preservers are used for your workout, increased epinephrine levels give you that "cloud nine" feeling and can provide a psychological boost, bronchodilation allows for increased oxygen uptake and reduced interstitial muscle potassium levels may delay the onset of fatigue during intense exercise.
The benefits and risks of caffeine before exercise
Caffeine is indeed a useful addition to your pre-workout arsenal, but ultimately it depends on your goals and circumstances. Recreational and competitive bodybuilders can gain many benefits from the correct use of caffeine. Taken before cardio training, it will improve fat oxidation, carbohydrate utilization and your mental focus, helping you to train at a higher intensity. All of this is also desirable for anaerobic performance, which is why caffeine also has its place before training with weights. However, certain sport-specific skills require precise motor coordination and technique, which is why caffeine could impair athletic performance during a competition. For this reason, you should be cautious about using caffeine before sporting events if caffeine makes you feel anxious.
If these are some of the positive and pronounced effects of caffeine on athletic performance, you may wonder if caffeine is some kind of miracle drug. However, caffeine can also have numerous side effects, which are typically dose-dependent (i.e. the more caffeine consumed, the more severe these side effects become). Such side effects include:
- Dehydration and cramps
- headaches
- Nausea, dizziness and lightheadedness
- Digestive problems
- Frequent urge to urinate
- Palpitations
- Increased blood pressure
- Mental problems such as irritability, anxiety, nervousness, depression, etc.
- Reduced fine motor skills
- Increased plasma cortisol levels (although this effect is reduced in healthy individuals)
After seeing these possible side effects, you might be thinking of starting an anti-caffeine campaign. But before you write this substance off as something that does more harm than good, remember the old adage: the difference between medicine and poison is the dose. As with most things in life, moderation is the key. The good news is that most of these side effects are avoidable if you use caffeine correctly.
The proper use of caffeine in your exercise program
Caffeine is a little more complicated than other supplements when it comes to optimizing the benefits while minimizing the side effects. Most studies have concluded that there is no significant dose-dependent link when it comes to caffeine and performance. Increasing caffeine dosage beyond a certain point does not provide additional performance benefits and may instead lead to more side effects. The key to proper caffeine use is to find the point of optimal dosing and use caffeine cyclically to resensitize the CNS.
Dosage and timing
The general dosage recommendation for increasing performance with caffeine is 1 to 3 mg per kilogram of body weight. For an athlete weighing 80 kilograms, this corresponds to a dosage range of 80 to 240 mg. Within this range, each athlete must find their own optimal dosage through trial and error, depending on their goals and sensitivity to caffeine. Caffeine is a relatively fast-acting compound with a short half-life of 4 to 6 hours (assuming your liver is working properly), so it is generally recommended to take caffeine 30 to 60 minutes before training or competition. If you take caffeine on an empty stomach, it may even be sufficient to take caffeine 10 to 15 minutes before training, as food will slightly reduce the absorption rate. If you are someone who prefers to eat a sensible pre-workout meal, I would aim to take caffeine one to two hours after that meal. The main reason for this is that this approach should help to minimize any potential digestive discomfort from combining the caffeine with your pre-workout meal.
If you train in the morning before your first meal, you can also combine caffeine with some whey protein/casein and/or branched-chain amino acids and consume this mixture on the way to the gym (if you need carbohydrates, you can also add some Gatorade or some simple carbohydrates to the mix). Again, timing and dosage will need some fine tuning until you know how you react to caffeine.
The best source of caffeine
Since caffeine is an isolated chemical, it won't make much difference whether you consume caffeine in its natural form (i.e. coffee, tea, chocolate, etc.) or in the form of synthetic sources (tablets, powders, energy drinks, supplements, caffeinated soft drinks, etc.). Personally, I like to take my caffeine in the form of pre-workout supplements that list caffeine in the form of anhydrous caffeine on the label.
When it comes to controlling dosage, I tend to prefer caffeine in supplement form over natural sources of caffeine, as the caffeine content can vary from coffee bean to coffee bean and tea leaf to tea leaf. On the other hand, if you're one of those all-organic freaks (no offense), then enjoy your coffee.
How to deal with desensitization
The most feared characteristic of caffeine is that it is addictive and that the dosage required to achieve performance benefits gradually increases as you become accustomed to caffeine. This is why most coffee drinkers can down a triple espresso without feeling a thing - or they get a short-lived burst of energy followed by a slump 20 minutes later.
If you have reached such a point, then I would strongly recommend reducing your coffee consumption gradually or cold turkey (if you can live with the withdrawal symptoms for a few days). The length of time required to achieve desensitization is debatable as the number of variables that come into play is too great. A general recommendation is that you should take 1 to 2 weeks off caffeine (and other over-the-counter stimulants) for every 8 to 12 weeks that you have been using caffeine.
This will be another case of trial and error. However, if you find that you are doing well with caffeine and are still getting positive effects after 4 to 5 months in a row, then listen to your body and continue to use caffeine. On the other hand, if you feel terrible after 3 weeks of supplementing with caffeine (or without your daily dose), then it's time to rethink your approach and stop your caffeine consumption for a while.
The time it takes for your body to become sensitive to caffeine again will be affected by how often you've used caffeine and how much you've used. If you only use it two to three times a week in moderate doses, then you can probably use it indefinitely - or until you feel a little limp without it (i.e. you need caffeine to function). If you're the type of person who likes to push the envelope, you may become desensitized to the effects of caffeine within a few weeks. In general, you'll probably notice when it's time to give yourself a break, as you'll experience many of the side effects already mentioned: headaches, irritability, lethargy, reduced motivation, etc.
At this point, it's time to give your CNS and adrenal cortex a break (also consider reducing your exercise intensity so that it is in line with your caffeine cycles).
Is caffeine for you?
As with any other supplement, everyone needs to find out for themselves through research or anecdotal experience whether or not the benefits will help them achieve their goals. If you're the naturally energetic type who doesn't feel like they need more stimulation from exogenous sources, then I don't think you need caffeine. However, I also think that most athletic endeavors can be supported by caffeine supplementation. Ultimately, the user needs to know whether or not they like the way caffeine affects them.
Some people do not tolerate caffeine particularly well, so it would have a devastating effect on their performance and it would make no sense to recommend caffeine use to these people. Adolescents and people suffering from a medical condition should consult their doctor before using stimulants such as caffeine. And yes, caffeine can be fatal in high enough amounts (> 5 grams), which is why it should be treated like any other drug and not abused.
Source: https://www.muscleandstrength.com/articles/caffeine-good-bad-risks-benefits
