Q&A Two views of workout and sports nutrition

What to have for maximum recovery from training and when to have it

I recently was asked to join James Collier on stage at the BodyPower expo at the NEC for a nutrition Q&A. By way of introduction James is a ex dietician and now a Registered Nutritionist and probably the UK’s foremost specialist nutritionist for bodybuilders. Various topics were covered in the seminars we gave but here is a short excerpt on sports nutrition.

James (in the distance) kicks off going into good detail about the products available to the trainee like whey protein, various carbohydrates. I follow (in the foreground) up talking a little on the timing aspects of the issue. My view is that whilst you should look into things like hydrolyzed whey, vitargo, waxy maize starch etc but keep in mind that the timing dogma often followed “drop the weight and start on the recovery nutrition” is a little short sighted.

So there we go, the sports nutrition question covered from two different angles by two different nutrition specialists:

(starts 20 seconds in)

James & Drew at BodyPower Expo

Supplement or snake oil: Spirulina, blue green algae, Chlorella

Step into a supplement shop and you are bound to see Spirulina, blue green algae, Chlorella and the like on the shelves. These are all microscopic plants that have been collected and dried and are sold in three main forms, powders and tablets and capsules. They are also very expensive so what do they really do, could there be any harm in taking them and are you being ripped off?

Possible Benefits.

Aquatic plants have been eaten form many thousands of years, most notably seaweed and can be a very positive addition to an individuals diet being relatively high in many vitamins and minerals, but these types of supplement have some quite extraordinary claims made about them.

Its a little bit unfair but lets look at these oft-quoted (by the manufacturers, that is) benefits one by one;

They have nutritional profiles uniquely beneficial for the human body.
How so, and in what context? Does this does mean that they are more beneficial than any other food source?

It is a completely natural whole food
So like fruit, veggies, Meat, Fish, grains, nuts and seeds then?

It is easily absorbed by the body.
As is table sugar

It is low in calories, sodium and cholesterol.
Well, the a usual recommended dosage is 4-10 grams a day!

They contain more calcium than milk, more protein than meat, more iron than spinach and more beta-carotene than carrots
These food stuff mentioned are MUCH cheaper even the highest grade, organic sources!

Other touted benefits include cancer treatment and prevention, detoxification, immune support, memory improvements, beneficial effect upon attention deficit type disorders and on, and on. In truth there is no peer reviewed scientific research that shows that these types of supplement are of more benefit than whole food, whole food being much cheaper…

“Its my money though and Ill spend it on this if I want”

Be my guest

Take a cursory glance a supplement stores and you’ll see prices like £13 for 30g of powder (tablets and capsules usually cost significantly more gram for gram). The supplement industry has come a long way in the last 20 years and is now a huge industry ($18.8 billion in 2002 in the USA alone – and rising) and also a highly competitive one (no company has more than a 10 percent of the market), what this means in practice is that hyperbole, unsubstantiated claims and hard sell are the order of the day. Companies producing these particular products have been forced to retract statements about their health benefits.

“So you’re saying apart from cost though, there’s no problems?”

Understand, if the makers claim fantastic health benefits and the consumer is foolish enough to subscribe to this to the detriment of a healthy diet or delaying seeking medical attention for a health complaint then yes, that it a problem, however there is a much more direct and serious issue….

Of great concern are toxic effects from blue green algae. These types of products are essentially repackaged pond scum. Nothing wrong with that, but what is a problem is that if these ponds are loaded with toxins like heavy metals and microcystins. The algae readily absorb these types of toxin which are concentrated by the drying process. This is such a problem that the US Food and Drug Administration has seen fit to issue a warning to consumers.

The Bottom Line

These types of supplements are a rarely (if ever) recommended by those other than the makers of the product and those from associated companies. In essence they are just another type of food stuff usually preferred by fish and wading birds dried and sold on for huge sums. If you decide to buy these types of supplement find a high quality, uncontaminated product, and be prepared to spend a lot of money to take it home. However be prepared to spend a lot more on high quality, whole food otherwise you have totally missed the point.

Sources
University of California at BerkleyBallantine
The trial of the blue-green algae eaters. FDA Consumer 20(6):33-34, 1986.
Pubmed
Supplement Business report 2003. San Diego, CA: Nutrition Business Journal; 2003
Gilroy GJ et al. Assessing potential health risks from microcystin toxins in blue-green algae dietary supplements. Environmental Health Perspectives 108:435-439, 2000.

My top 5 – lifestyle and sports supplement choices

Supplements are just that, additions where required to a solid healthy diet that suits you and your lifestyle. There’s a lot of money to be made out of these products and so a bewildering array of and classes of supplement have sprung up.

Here are my opinions on the top 5 of both sports and lifestyle supplements formed from working with athletes and busy health conscious people.

Top 5 ‘lifestyle’ supplements

These types of supplements are the ones used to aid your diet, they are essentially readily usable ‘functional food’ that allow you to easily bridge a gap having a concentrated serving of the desired nutrient(s) or food type

1) Fish oils
2) Milk protein concentrate
3) Greens powder
4) Flax seed powder (omega 3, lignans and fibre)
5) Unflavored whey (cooking etc)

Top 5 sports supplements

Sorts supplements are ones that are going to aid training and recovery as part of a suitable nutriton plan, they sit on top of the required amount of healthy foods as an adjunct.

1) Recovery drinks (usually whey, matodextrin and dextrose mix)
2) Fish oils
3) Beta alanine
4) Nootropics and some neurostimulants (DMAE and the like more info in an article I wrote here)
5) Creatine monohydrate (not creatine ethyle ester? Why? Look here..)

Not everybody should use these supplements, in fact most people don’t need to and some just should not so check first if you are considering using any supplements. All the above are ADDITIONS to a solid healthy diet, right for you and your goals so get that sorted first, whole food is much more important than the above.