24 July 2018

Sports Nutrition - UPDATED

Rev. 1 - a few additions and corrections 13 August 2018
“Behind your thoughts and feelings, my brother, there stands a mighty ruler, an unknown sage--whose name is self. In your body he dwells; he is your body. There is more reason in your body than in your best wisdom. And who knows why your body needs precisely your best wisdom?” Nietzsche

Nothing has more enhanced my continuing performance as a hiker, trekker, mountain climber and cyclist than modern sports nutrition. The following are some of my opinions and experiences after almost 40 years of strenuous activity.

This is what is actually in my backpack on every hike:

2-3 liters of water
26 oz. bottle of pre-mixed Hammer Heed
5 oz. bottle of Hammer energy gel
3 oz. bottle of MCT oil
Small container of Electrolyte Stamina tablets, aspirin, Vitamin C, green tea pills
Small bottle of HydroxyCut caps

More details

0.   Water
I left this off earlier versions and didn’t want to re-number all the paragraphs. I try to saturate my body with water BEFORE I climb, exercise or hike. Some people begin hydrating the night before an event. The state I like to get to before a hike in very hot weather (105 degrees) is to feel like I have to both pee and throw up at the same time. When I camp in the desert in hot weather I drink a liter or liter and a half of water a half hour before breakfast.

1. Hammer Nutrition Heed sports drink - https://www.hammernutrition.com/products/heed-sports-drink/
The single most important supplement I take during exercise. Hydrates the body better than water alone. I sometimes add carnosine and chromium picolinate to it and extra minerals.
The Hammer website is a great resource for information.

My sports drink of many years, CytoSport CytoMax has been ‘upgraded’ by the company (Hormel, the pig people, SPAM, etc.) that bought them and severely wrecked, to the point that I get sick when I take it. Heed does not have any of the herbal lift supplements that were in CytoMax so I’m careful to take one of my green tea supplements.

2. Trace Minerals Research Electrolyte Stamina Tablets
I take 2 every hour while exercising. You MUST sustain your serum electrolytes (sodium and potassium) during continuous exercise. Mineral depletion is the main reason, IMO, people conk over dead at races, probably potassium and magnesium depletion. Read the label for the ingredients and note the serving size is 6.

3. Magnesium
Magnesium deficiency is probably the most common problem of most athletes. IMO the best supplement is Jarrow Magnesium Optimizer although other forms such as magnesium glycinate and magnesium aspartate are preferred by some. https://secure.endfatigue.com/store/products/publications/from-fatigued-to-fan/
Watch out for magnesium citrate as it has a laxative effect.

I am researching magnesium L-theonate as it purportedly gets more magnesium to the brain than other forms, promoting sleep.
IMO Take taurine with magnesium to facilitate absorption AND note overdoses of magnesium can cause kidney damage. That’s why I like the Jarrow and Trace Minerals Research forms of magnesium as they include taurine.

4. Post exercise recovery nutrition
After 2 or more hours of exercise I take a carefully crafted post exercise protein/mineral/carb drink. The components are:
A.   Garden of Life plant based protein – chocolate https://www.allstarhealth.com/f/garden_of_life-sport_organic_plant_based_protein.htm         
B.   200 mg magnesium
C.  200 mg calcium
        D. 500 mg. arginine/250 mg. ornithine
        E. ½ scoop Heed carb sports drink
         F. 500 mg. taurine
Taking this this post exercise drink within 20 minutes of completing exercise I NEVER get muscle soreness or ravenous food cravings 1 and 2 days after a big hike or climb AND I recover enough to do a big exercise again the next day. The research for this nutrition and recovery was done by cyclists who have to ride max every day.

5. Daily trace mineral supplement – Catalyzes the Kreb’s energy cycle in the body. Also smooths out heart and brain function IMO. https://nutritionreview.org/2013/04/krebs-cycle-intermediates/
Types I have taken are:
It may be important to take one WITHOUT iron and copper but I don’t know why. Search ‘Krebs cycle minerals’ and see what you come up with. I just got a deal on the Enzymatic Therapy stuff and bought 4 bottles.

6. Trace Mineral Research Concentrace Trace Mineral drops -- http://www.traceminerals.com/products/liquid-tablet-minerals/concentrace-ionic-minerals   
Take only 10-15 drops a day, allow at least a month for it to work. By itself this removed a heart arrhythmia I had for 40+ years and, IMO, greatly contributes to my being depression free, along with niacin, noted below. I have run an unsupervised ‘clinical trial’ of about 20 people on Trace Mineral Concentrace and niacin and none have resorted to mood or mind altering medications.

also improves heart function and cholesterol. Several people who have consulted me have avoided invasive cardiac procedures by taking niacin and Concentrace. My take on niacin is this: Anyone not taking niacin daily is shortening their lifespan by 10 years OR, the obverse, they are not lengthening their lifespan by 10 years.

8. CoenzymeQ10 – increases the blood hemoglobin’s capacity to dissolve oxygen. I currently take 100 mg. of Jarrow’s Q-Sorb http://www.allstarhealth.com/f/jarrow-q-absorb_coq-10_100mg.htm    [equivalent to a larger dose of another brand/formula] per day. My performance noticeably drops off if I stop taking this. A few months after I first began taking CoQ10 I went to the Himalayas and was tested by a scientific expedition and I had the highest dissolved oxygen of anyone they tested including all the Sherpa [97% while walking at 13,000’, the Sherpa ran 95% and lower].

9. Vitamin C 100 mg. – Calcium ascorbate or Ester C. The only one I can currently recommend is http://www.allstarhealth.com/f/solgar-ester-c_plus_1000mg_vitamin_c.htm  . I take 1000 mg. per day AND one 1000 mg. tab every 2 to 4 hours of a big climb or hike. I’m convinced the vitamin C assists sugar metabolism preventing muscle soreness but I can’t prove it by the literature or any health “professionals” I’ve talked to, even Olympic trainers.

10. Green Tea extract – a nice energy boost. I usually go to the dollar store and look in the weight loss section. Green tea works better for me than green coffee. Most come with additional ingredients that are VERY effective. The supplement I got today has:
·       Calcium
·       Chromium
·       Green tea leaf extract with EGCG
·       Eleuthro (Siberian ginseng)
·       Caffeine
·       Fo Ti
·       Garcina
·       Guarana
·       Bladderwrack
·       Gotu kola

Fo ti is worth your time researching or just trying if you have any kind of energy problems.

11. MUSCLETECH Hydroxycut Hardcore Elite http://www.allstarhealth.com/f/muscletech-hydroxycut_hardcore_elite.htm  is a spectacular energy boost, mostly from caffeine. I sometimes take ½ a capsule 4 hours or more into a long climb or hike. This stuff has some INTERESTING ingredients, like coleus! Having a logy day? Take ½ cap [approx. = 1 espresso shot of caffeine] The only problem with this stuff is sometimes I have to go to bed at like 6:30 PM the next day to catch up on the energy I ‘paid forward’ to today.

12. White Willow Bark extract http://www.bulksupplements.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=White+Willow+Bark+Extract+ All the many benefits of aspirin with none of the substantial drawbacks. I currently take this daily and have several other people on it all reporting great results. Actually, I’m taking 1 or 2 Wal-Mart 88 mg. aspirin before just about every hike.

13. NALT –
http://www.bulksupplements.com/n-acetyl-l-tyrosine-nalt.html I don’t want to say too much here for any potential liability reasons. I take it daily. When I hiked 10 miles yesterday, 10 miles the day before that, it’s 95 degrees outside at 2 PM and the ‘market’ is not going my way, I take NALT and take another hike. Trust me, it’s on my list here for a reason. NALT is a dopamine and adrenaline precursor.

14. Green coffee extract

15. Clark’s Minerals
https://www.amazon.com/T-J-Clark-Legendary-Colloidal-Mineral/dp/B0052C0P4W/ref=sr_1_1_s_it?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1465870389&sr=1-1&keywords=T.J.+Clark+Legendary+Colloidal+Mineral I recently set a weekly distance record hiking. I noted I was taking Clark’s mineral daily during that time. I believe there may be an important trace mineral in here in higher quantity than my Kreb’s minerals that boosts my energy. Eg. there are only minuscule amounts of vanadium in my Kreb’s complexes. It could be a higher quantity in Clark’s that’s important or some other mineral not normally in mineral complexes. Who knows what yttrium, ytterbium, niobium, etc. do for energy? All these are in Clarks.

16. Rhodiola
This stuff definitely improves my long term trail stamina. I’m currently taking a heaping teaspoon of https://www.mountainroseherbs.com/products/rhodiola-root-powder-north-american/profile
Schisandra is another powerful herb, especially in cold weather. Siberian fur trappers use it. It’s astringent so I don’t like to mix it with other stuff.

17. Other supplements I am currently taking but cannot comment on in detail yet:
         1. L-Citrulline DL-Malate – malates are VERY important for the sugar burning cycle in the body. See: https://www.hammernutrition.com/products/supplements/anti-fatigue-caps/
         2. L-theanine – I take it daily and I’m sure it boosts me somehow but haven’t discerned its exact impact.

18. Hammer ANTI-FATIGUE CAPS
These things work! I just began taking some in the Himalayas.

My current view is that minerals are more important than vitamins. I have a lot of other opinions and things I have tried. Email me, call me. This is one of the FEW subjects on which I am accessible.


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