Author: Andrew Custard

Some athletes preparing for a big event will attempt to carbohydrate load or carbo load. These events include marathons, triathlons, bicycle centuries or longer, and long-distance swimming. The desired outcome is achieving the highest possible level of muscle glycogen just prior to the onset of the competition by coordinating a high carbohydrate intake (over 60 percent) for at least a week prior to competition while at the same time tapering both the intensity and duration of training sessions. Theoretically, if you start out with more glycogen you should be able to perform longer. A more common method of carbo-loading would…

Colon cancer is one of the three leading causes of cancer deaths in the United States—some 50,000 people die from it each year. You can sharply cut your odds of getting colon cancer by eating more fiber. That’s because fiber increases the bulk of your stool and makes it pass through your colon more quickly. All sorts of toxic stuff passes through your colon: your own wastes, bile acids, pesticides, food additives and preservatives, heavy metals, and chemical pollutants of all sorts. One of the jobs of your stool is to move this stuff through and out of you quickly.…

Formula Every second of every day, your body makes damaging free radicals. And every second your body makes a powerful substance called glutathione (abbreviated GSH) that grabs hold of those free radicals and smothers them. high-fiber diet also picks up any toxic substances (from air pollution, say) that have found their way into your body and escorts them out. Glutathione is a tripeptide—a small protein made from just three amino acids. Molecules of cysteine, glycine, and glutamic acid combine in your cells to make glutathione. Of the three aminos needed to make glutathione, cysteine is the most important, because cysteine contains sulfur,…

The one carbohydrate which is essential to muscular growth is called lactose. For example a supplement called Blair’s protein contained 7 grams of carbohydrate per 1/4 cup serving — and that carb was lactose, or natural milk sugar. While Blair generally frowned on carbohydrates, only rarely eating fruits or vegetables, he believed lactose was essential to muscular growth. As an animal carbohydrate, lactose is chemically different from other carbohydrates. It digests much more slowly than carbs from fruit, grains, vegetable and other plant sources. Blair believed milk sugar was vital as it allowed the body to produce a host of…

Keep your average calorie intake equal to your average calorie expenditure (take in as many as you burn). To find out how many calories you need, click here. To find out how many calories are in your favorite foods, click here. Enjoy a variety of healthy foods, exercise regularly, and you will maintain your present weight. Drink plenty of water (8-10 glasses a day is the standard amount). If you are fairly active, a good formula is to multiply your weight in pounds by 16. This number is the number of calories you need each day. If you find you…

Taking fish oil supplements can lower your triglyceride level if it’s too high. One drawback is that fish oil supplements might lower your overall triglycerides but raise your LDL or bad cholesterol. There’s a way around this problem. Combining fish oil with garlic supplements seems to lower your triglycerides and lower your LDL cholesterol. You need a lot of both for the treatment to work: about 5 to 15 grams of fish oil and 1 gram of garlic. Large amounts of fish oil (over 5 grams a day) can cause your blood to become dangerously “thin” and make you bleed…

Citrus bioflavonoids contain natural properties that may block estrogen. They are abundant in the white, spongy layer of the peel. Soy flavones have mild estrogenic properties. They bind to estrogen receptors in the tissues and block them from estrodiol, the most potent estrogen hormone. Estrodiol is called the bad estrogen because of its occasionally powerful effects on the body, such as bloating, water retention, fat gain, feminization of men (such as “bitch tits”), fat under the skin and stubborn fat gain around the chest and the belly. Experiments in Italy have shown that combining citrus bioflavonoids with soy flavones resulted…

While it is interesting to know how much water, protein, fat, carbohydrate, and minerals are found in the body, it is often more helpful to take it up a level and look at the contributing tissue. In fact, the contribution of various tissues explains the relative contributions made by the different molecules and minerals. Muscle and fat (adipose tissue) are typically the greatest contributors to body weight. For instance, a generally lean man will be about 40 to 45 percent muscle and 14 to 18 percent body fat. That means that muscle and fat make up half to about two-thirds…

We’ve known for a long time that colon cancer and breast cancer are more common among people in northern climates—places where it’s too cold for part of the year to get much sun. Is there a Vitamin D connection? Yes, when it comes to colon cancer—and maybe also breast and prostate cancer. According to recent studies, people who get a lot of Vitamin D from their food and supplements are much less likely to get colon cancer. To get the protection, you only need to get 200 IU from your diet—the amount in just two cups of milk. Do you…

In 1997, the FDA decided that oatmeal makers could make this health claim on their packages: “May reduce the risk of heart disease.” That’s because eating oatmeal, oat bran, or foods that are high in oats helps lower your cholesterol. Most important, it lowers your LDL cholesterol without also lowering your HDL cholesterol. How do oats accomplish this miracle? Through their unique soluble fiber. Here’s why. Your liver uses cholesterol to make digestive juices called bile acids. The bile is squirted out from your gall bladder into your small intestine to help you digest your foods, especially fats. If you…