Everyone older than 40 is naturally losing muscle at a rate of ~0.8% per year (1). If you do not eat high quality protein and do not workout, your quality of life will be significantly decreased when you get old by falls and loss of ability to perform activities of daily living. The roles of skeletal muscles are not only locomotion and power production but include metabolic regulation so that loss of muscle mass increases risks of metabolic syndromes including type II diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

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Whey protein is a common dietary supplement for increasing muscle mass and reducing the risk of obesity, type II diabetes, high blood pressure, inflammation, and oxidative stress. It is typically isolated from acidic liquid (whey) created during the cheese making process, making it a cheap and easily accessed commercial supplement. Whey protein is rapidly and effectively digested since it is water soluble, and it provides a high content of balanced essential amino acids (EAAs) with high dose of leucine.

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When you are working out, your body is fueled by two forms of stored energy, fat stored in adipose tissue and glycogen, a polymer of glucose, stored in muscles and in the liver. Fat is a long-lasting and an almost limitless energy source. For example, a person weighing 100 pounds with 10% body fat has 10 pounds of stored fat, which can theoretically produce more than 30,000 calories (Cal), which is equivalent to 15-20 days amount of daily requirement.

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Dehydration is the number one enemy of all levels of athletes. The way you hydrate makes the greatest impact on your training, performance and recovery. A daily water intake (including from food) of 3.7L (~ 1 gallon) for adult men and 2.7L (0.7 gallon) for adult women meets the needs of most of people (1), while endurance sports and heat stress can greatly increase daily water needs. For example, endurance athletes can sweat 1 to 2L (34–67 oz) per hour and elite athletes can sweat 4L (~ 1 gallon) per hour in extreme conditions.

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When you are exercising for long durations and at a high level of intensity, your body requires more than water; sodium and other electrolytes that are lost in sweat and simple sugars that fuel working muscles. When you are sweating a lot, drinking simple water may dehydrate yourself because the kidneys sense the diluted sodium levels and begin filtering excess water to let you pee more. The following formula was created based on Skratch Lab’s Hydration Mix.

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When you are dehydrated, your athletic abilities, including strength, endurance, coordination, mental acuity and thermoregulation, are decreased. Hyperhydration is a method created by Van Rosendal et al (1) aiming to increase body water content before exercise in case that dehydration cannot be prevented when starting from a state of euhydration (the normal state of body water content). Benefits From this hyperhydrated status, athletes have a greater capacity to tolerate fluid loss before becoming dehydrated.

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Obesity is a pandemic in the United States. About 61% of adults, or an estimated 108 million adults, are overweight or obese, a condition known to increase their risk for chronic diseases including hypertension, type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart diseases, osteoarthritis, gallbladder disease, sleep apnea and endometrial, breast, prostate, and colon cancers. The mainstream strategy on weight loss is a low-calorie and low-fat diet. A diet of 500-1,000 kcal/day reduction from usual intake (with lower than 30% of the calories as fat) is recommended by the American Heart Association and other experts (10).

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Dietary fiber (DF) has so many health benefits for us. DF is indigestible for us but is fermented by beneficial bacteria that work in the colon to promote our health. There are two forms of fiber; soluble and insoluble. Soluble fiber attracts water and turns to gel during digestion. Insoluble fiber adds bulk to stool. All fibers can work as prebiotics that increase good bacteria in the colon. Gut bacteria harvests energy from fibers and we absorb the byproducts such as B vitamins, vitamin K and short chain fatty acids that have been linked to health promoting effects, including a reduced risk of inflammatory diseases, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.

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People ask me if they should avoid phytic acid, which is commonly found in nuts seeds, beans and grains. My short answer is “No” if you are not vegan. Phytic acid is sold as IP6, an antioxidant with many health benefits. In fact, phytic acid is a nutrient that can act as both “friend and foe”, depending on the circumstances. What is Phytic Acid (a.k.a. IP6)? Plants store phosphorus as phytic acid, known as inositol hexakisphosphate (IP6), which is bound to a mineral in the seed and create phytates.

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