Author: Nutrition 4 Fighters

Well, this one has been a long time coming, welcome back to the vitamin break down series! It’s been a while since I’ve updated this series. These posts seek to explore the different vitamins, look why you need them and tell you where to get them.

So, today’s breakdown is a tad controversial, (in a very none controversial way), as we’ll be looking at vitamin B8. As it stands, B8 isn’t really known or considered as a true vitamin anymore. It is the former designation given to several distinct chemical compounds: Adenosine Monophosphate (AMP) and Inositol. Inositol however is how I’ve seen it referred to in the majority of the research I completed for this post.

Inositol is a type of sugar. Inositol can be found in many forms (called isomers). The most common forms are myo-inositol and D-chiro-inositol.While you likely need some inositol every day to maintain your health, its functions in your body are not as thoroughly investigated as those of other vitamins.

Inositol is found in many plants and animals. It is also produced in the human body and can be made in a laboratory. It is made inside the body by intestinal bacteria. Our body can make its own inositol from glucose with the help of intestinal bacteria. Hence, external sources are of help only in conditions when the body is incapable of making its own vitamin.

Such as it’s B vitamin brethren, it’s a water soluble vitamin. As it is a water-soluble vitamin, it is not stored from external sources in the body and excess ingested amounts of it are flushed out with urine.

Although B8 is required in very small amounts by the body, it’s important to ensure it’s still obtained daily through the diet. Don’t get too anxious though, followed by vitamin B3 (niacin), our body has the second highest store of inositol, likely owed to the fact it can produce it so easily.

Cellular Communication

One major function of B8 is aiding in cell communication. Cells interact with each other via chemical signals – one cell releases a signalling molecule, such as a hormone, and then another cell receives and interprets that chemical message. Inositol helps your cells to interpret the chemical messages they receive so they can react accordingly, for example, helping your cells divide when they receive chemical signals telling them to grow. Defects in inositol signalling cause a breakdown in cell communication, and these defects are linked to diseases such as cancer.

Metabolism

Vitamin B8 has many other important functions to its credit. It is required for the metabolism of carbohydrates, fats and proteins for the production of glucose. It is involved in the uptake and utilisation of glucose by the cells hence converting it to energy.

Not only does inositol, as a form of glucose, enhance the performance of cells as part of the membrane that surrounds all cells, it also helps in the processing of fat in our liver while keeping our muscles and nerves working properly.

B8 also acts as a mild lipotropic agent in the body meaning it can help to accelerate the breakdown of fat during metabolism. This has been seen in particular in overweight and obese individuals.

Immune & Nervous Systems

Inositol is required for maintaining a healthy immune system, thereby protecting the body against infection. Various research and clinical trials have suggested that inositol is necessary for the normal growth and survival of the human body. B8 keeps blood pressure in check, through its promotion of effective blood flow via the arteries.

Inositol is very important for the appropriate functioning of the nervous system.Its supplementation provides relief to patients suffering from multiple sclerosis. It plays an active role in maintaining the healthy functioning of the nervous system in diabetic individuals. This can be seen by how it provides relief to diabetic nephropathy patients suffering from pain and numbness in the hands and legs.

Mental Health & Hormones

Vitamin B8 might also help maintain your mental health whilst improving cognition. Brain cells have inositol in their cell membranes, and getting enough inositol helps your nerves respond properly to neurotransmitters, the chemicals your brain cells use for communication. It might also help the hormone insulin to work better, which goes back to B8’s supporting role in metabolism.

B8 has also shown potential for treating a host psychological disorders. What makes it effective in treating psychological conditions such as depression, bipolar disorder, Alzheimer’s disease, and a number of other conditions, is its ability to influence how much serotonin is available to be supplied to nerves in the brain. However, there is limited scientific evidence to support insostol’s uses for these conditions

Gynaecological

Vitamin B8 seems to help reduce the symptoms of polycystic ovary syndrome, or PCOS, a hormonal disorder that causes weight gain, irregular periods, infertility and diabetes.

It is also taken to prevent complications during pregnancy such as neural tube birth defects (birth defects that involve the brain and spinal cord) and for preventing the side effects of a drug called lithium.

B8 might also help relieve severe pre-menstrual syndrome, according to the NYU Langone Medical Center. Taking inositol under a doctor’s orders might also help treat metabolic syndrome linked to the syndrome as it lowers the high blood pressure and cholesterol.

Food Sources of Vitamin B8

Deficiency of vitamin B8 is unlikely. However, a word of caution for coffee lovers, excessive coffee can deplete the vitamin stores.

B8 is found in several healthy foods. Sources of vitamin B8 consist of the following:

▪ nuts

▪ whole grains

▪ egg yolk

▪ legumes

▪ banana

▪ yeast

▪ mushroom

▪ sardines

▪ cauliflower

▪ swiss chard

Other sources include the following:

▪ lecithin

▪ liver

▪ wheat germ

▪ raisins

▪ peanuts

▪ cabbage

▪ all citrus fruits except lemons

▪ cantaloupe

▪ lima beans

Alrighty, hope that this post has given you a little insight into another vitamin on the vitamin alphabet, even if this one is hanging around on the vitamin status peripheries. Please like, share and comment if this was of any help whatsoever! Till next time.

Alrighty, welcome back to the What Supp Blog. As standard, prepare yourself for some information gold nuggets to help supercharge your overall performance.

Today’s post is bought via the wisdom of Dr Mike T Nelson. Dr Mike has a PhD in Exercise Physiology, a BA in Natural Science, and an MS in Biomechanics. He’s an adjunct professor and a member of the American College of Sports Medicine.

Dr Mike presented a pretty good looking program on a recent podcast. This program is a basic template to look at how you can amp up your fitness, body composition and general health goals. He discussed how results can be achieved by having an exercise routine that cycles carbohydrates in and out the diet alongside fasting.

The nutrition component, where we’ll discuss carb cycling, is in order to promote the much heralded ‘metabolic flexibility’. This essentially means promoting your body’s ability to access both fat and glucose for fuel. Carb restriction can also promote ketone production, both an energy source and serious neuro protector. Lastly we have the fasting element, great for everything from weight loss to gut health, to cellular functioning.

So, the programme. For three days a week, let’s purpose Monday/Wednesday/Friday, you will lift heavy weights, (check part 3 of my strength post for some unique body weight exercises and the MSP heavyweight protocol: http://whatsuppblogblog.com/2017/12/27/strength-training-why-what-and-what-next-to-achieve-your-goals-part-3/ )

On these 3 days you ensure you eat up to 200 grams of carbohydrates. Although Mike wasn’t specific on timing to best ingest your carbs, I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest these are predominantly back loaded post exercise with a small amount included in your first meal of the day. If you miss a workout though or aren’t working at intensity, drop the number of carbs accordingly.

200g is the amount of carbohydrates Mike calculates is needed for an average athletic build male with some muscle, although maybe less are required, especially for women. This can be better calculated by the individual, starting at 200g and playing up or down depending on individual size and your body composition goals, (ie go down for greater weight loss/up for maintaining a higher muscle mass).

Next we have a little look at those in-between days Tuesday and Thursday. On these two days look to complete low intensity cardio. This should ideally be done in a fasted state first thing in the morning for the absolute best results. Again, going out on a limb. I’d suggest nose breathing jogging, cycling, swimming or other low impact exercise.

The carb total on these days should be 100 to 120 grams on each day. This is below metabolic no mans land, which is not enough to fuel you with glucose but too much for any ketone production. Once fat adapted, this should be enough to support the production of ketones in fitter individuals.

Protein consumption should be around 0.7 g per pound of body weight on any day, (excess protein does not equate to excess muscle building).

Fat consumption should be at 50/70g per day although Nelson notes the athlete should start at the lower end (around 50g) and add to it. I’d suggest the best indicators would be if body composition or being satiated and energy levels on lower carb days, are effected negatively.

If considering upping the fat quantity in the plan, ask what food would be added if you could add anything, is it fat or carb based? Now adjust the ratios accordingly. This can result in better compliance.

On the days where you are not training hard, fasting should be implemented. 12 – 14 hour overnight fasts should be undertaken depending on when they got done training or ate your last meal. Again, adjust accordingly to fit your lifestyle. Once you are comfortable with the fasting protocol, start to lengthen out the fasts. Mike highlights you could even work up to the Tuesday/ Thursday being fully fasted days or up to 19 to 24 hours.

I hope this has given you some idea how to implement an exercise programme which includes a weight management system, metabolic flexibility and the much heralded benefits of fasting. Should you have any questions, please drop me a comment! Till next time.

Alrighty, got a a bit of a different one for you today. Ben Greenfield is a pretty smart cookie. He’s released a number of books around triathlon training, low carb training and even how to raise tiny superhumans. He has an awesome podcast with many a biohack and is consistently at the cutting edge of wholistic human optimisation.

This short post will give you Ben’s recipe for how to cook the perfect steak that he gave on Joe Rogan’s JRE podcast. And actually, it’s a pretty damn good one. So below I’ll break it down step by step..

1. Remove steak from fridge/freezer. Allow it to reach room temperature for about 45/60 minutes.

2. During this time, pre coat the steak by rubbing in a liberal amount of a decent sea salt. Then add cayenne pepper, if using pepper corns, roast them first. Lastly add rosemary, again liberally. Rosemary is best for steak’s flavour but is also reduces the cargonagins that are caused from cooked charred meat. If no rosemary available, you can use thyme, (also anti carcinogenic). Coat and press both sides.

3. Pre heat cast iron skillet in the oven for 5/10 minutes. Once heated to touch, take the skillet out and put on a medium to high heat on the hob. Coat pan with a very good extra virgin olive oil (try a bold flavour choice) for a maximum 2 minutes.

4. The skillet needs to be heated enough so the steak will sizzle when it hits. This allows it to crust on outside but not cook to much on inside. Cook for 3.5 minutes on each side for medium rare.

5. Place your oven on broiler heat (or the grill for everyone else not in the US). Now place the cast iron skillet in oven under broiler/grill and allow the steak to cook 1 minuet each side.

6. Take out the skillet from the oven and remove steak. Put a generous slab of grass fed butter in skillet and let it become liquid but don’t let it burn.

7. Place steak back in skillet with melted butter and cook for 1 more minute each side under grill and remove. Poor juices and melted butter over when serving and enjoy!

Sleep. We all do it. Some love it, some struggle with it, most feel they could probably do with more and some just don’t feel it’s needed. This post will beg to differ that view, offer some expert views and suggest a couple of moves that could be made to improve it.

Health

So, is it that important? Hell to the damn yeah it is. Sleep guru Mathew Walker, whose done a pretty awesome podcast on the Joe Rogan Experience, highlights that lack of sleep correlates with all cause mortality. In fact the very act of being awake is causing low level brain damage, which sleep mitigates against. Walker states that the lack of sleep correlates to both altzimers disease and cancer.

Ryan Munsey, host of the Better Human Project podcast and writer of F**k Your Feelings, highlights that a lack of sleep makes the imigula – the part of brain that makes you act impulsively – more active by up to 60%. This has clear implications on motivation and all kinds of decision making processes.

So we can fairly say, which those with young children can surely attest to, that lack of sleep does have a negative impact on overall health.

There are some differences of opinion regarding how to find these extra hours sleep which many will loose in our 24 hour all systems go society. Many will point to the weekend lie in to find the extra hours back. Dr Rhonda Patrick, another perennial Joe Rogan guest, echoes this view. She has stated research suggests that long weekend sleep may compensate for short weekday sleep. Adding that short weekday sleep was not a risk factor for increased early mortality if it was combined with medium to long weekend sleep.

Sleep & Exercise

A leading light in the field of sleep is Nick Littlehales. He was sleep consultant to Alex Ferguson’s Manchester Utd and Cristiano Ronaldo’s Real Madrid, and is the author of the super practical book Sleep. Nick warns against the lie in however if you’re looking to improve overall sleep, advocating a consistent get up time. This is especially if viewing sleep through the lens of exercise and recovery.

Exercise and sleep do come hand in hand to a degree with the side effects of a heavy gym session, run, etc, often being perfect for setting you up nicely to hit the hey. Couple of points to consider though.

Ben Greenfield, bio hacker kingpin and previous personal trainer of the year, states if you exercise any closer than 3 hours to the end of your day, it elevates core temperature to the point it can effect deep sleep cycles.

Ben proposes a cold shower as it decreases your core temperature following strenuous exercise and could result in better sleep. Be aware though as it may decrease the efficacy of the work out, especially if you have been doing resistance training. This is as the cold will reduce inflammation, which although generally positive, it’s also what’s wanted for adaptations to get stronger/faster. If you want a little more info regarding cold exposure, check out my previous post: http://whatsuppblogblog.com/2017/09/24/the-power-in-a-cold-shower/

Anyways, let’s crack on with some practical tips as to how you can improve your sleep. I’m going to present a bunch of suggestions, but first, I want to introduce you to a little game changer..

Measuring Sleep

Right, this strategy was presented by Nick Littlehales and it had a pretty big impact for me. Nick points out that the “8 hours sleep” mentality is essentially just an arbitrary number, not the most effective for recovery and not actually based on the cycles we sleep in. A full cycle, he states, is 90 minutes. Nick argues a more productive way to think about sleep is in these 90 minute cycles spread throughout the course of a week as opposed to just one night.

These are his key points:

– First, aim for 35 full cycles of 90 minutes in a 7 day week

– Get up at the same consecutive time each morning

– Aim with 5 cycles a night, however play with 4 and 6 cycles, different people will have different needs

– If you miss your usual bed time, wait until the next 90 minute cycle to come round

(example – missing 11pm for usual 6:30am get up, go to bed at the next cycle, 12:30am). This can be tough if tired but try doing some light exercise for example.

– Missed cycles can be added in over the course of the week if needed. Just keep to the same get up time and work back 90 minutes each time.

– Try to avoid 3 conservative nights of less than 5 cycles unless you’ve already determined you only need 4 cycles a night to perform optimally

– Aim for 4 nights of 5 90 minute cycles a week minimum. Again, unless you really can perform optimally on less and are having trouble getting off to sleep and waking up long before the alarm.

– In the midst of working your weeks out to incorporate your different sleep cycles, look where possible to incorporate 30 / 90 min CRP controlled recovery periods, (CRP), in the middle of the day between 12 – 2pm. I can appreciate this is an indulgence many won’t have so even try a 30 minute CRP around 5pm.

Nodding Off

So what about getting off to sleep? That is often the biggy for many. Well firstly, a non active digestive system will greatly help. Try to leave 3 hours after your last meal before bed or at least 90 mins following a light snack before bed.

Coming back to the sleep cycles. Nick Littlehales highlights some people can just operate on less sleep so firstly do play with the 90 minute cycles and extend them to going to bed later.

A good supplement combination is magnesium citrate and potassium citrate. Try 200 mg of magnesium citrate an hour before bed. If this isn’t enough try stacking with 400/500mg potassium citrate.

If you have any reservations in taking supplements (and those recommended are all natural mineral based), then there are other strategies to incorporate.

Ryan Munsey recommends gratitude journaling before bed. Keep this to only 3 things to avoid any negativity creeping in at a struggle to find many. Gratitude helps with shifting the mindset away from anxiety and into a more relaxed mode for sleep. Read more on my previous post to learn about the benefits of having a gratitude practice: http://whatsuppblogblog.com/2017/10/15/snack-hack-12-having-a-gratitude-practice/

A hot bath can raise your body temperature to that of when it usually shuts down to sleep. However, keep your room cool and avoid socks or excessive layers. This helps to regulate blood flow and keep it circulating around your core. Another little tip, according to Nick Littlehales, the ideal sleeping position is the fetal position on your non dominant side. This is something to do with the phycology of you covering your heart with your strongest side which helps gives an internal subliminal calming message.

Breathe

So the next big tip to clean up your sleep is ensuring you’re nose breathing. The importance of this concept in sleep was introduced to me by breath work guru Patrick Mckeown. Patrick enmphasies nose breathing for both athletic performance and overall health and well-being.

Nose breathing when sleeping acts to ensure a deep good quality sleep by activating the parasympathetic nervous system, (rest and digest). Mouth breathing activates the sympathetic nervous system, (fight or flight) which stimulates homones connected to a heightened state.

If you’re a snorer or are waking up with a dry mouth, you’re mouth breathing in your sleep. Now Patrick advises taping your mouth closed with breathable tape but I have great results using a nostril dilater. This simple little tool you can stick up your nose and will cost about £2:50 (including postage!) from eBay.

Where the Magic Happens

Other considerations are how your room is set up. Firstly, is it serene, minimal and calming, or rather a shrine to Apple technology and abstract art? Essentially the less stimulating factors, whether it be art, photos, electronics or general clutter, the better. Electronics can particularly have a negative effect with excessive screen time (phone/laptops) emitting blue light which will serve to stimulate you. Most phones have a night mode so try to ensure it’s on, or better still, stick it on airplane mode outside of the room.

If you are looking to spruce up your sleeping space however, and more importantly help improve your sleep, think about getting more plants. Shaun Stevenson (sleep messiah) recommends NASA’s top recommended air filtering plant – English Ivy – it’s nocturnal and releases oxygen during the night rather than the day, helping to improve your air quality.

Lastly, a couple more tips via Nick Littlehales on the all important sleep kit AKA bed & bedding. Super king size is the minimum size for mattress for a couple. The frame is effectively a decorative item so spend your money in the mattress as a priority. Try to buy hypo-allergenic bed clothes or minimum 300 thread count. Clean regularly.

Conclusion

Ok, I’m going to leave you with this little analogy via Nick Littlehales. I want you to picture a scene. You’re on a deserted desert island. The sun has gone down and its pitch dark aside from the stars in the sky. You have no electronics just you and your tent. You’ve got a log fire going and it’s burning down. Once it’s out, you’ll pick yourself up and head to bed. Now this is exactly what the ideal wind down bedtime routine would look like when considering how we evolved. Everything and anything that can be put in place to get a step closer to this image is a step in the right direction of better sleep. Till next time.