Caffeine: - a Position Stand

by Neil Anderson

What is my position on caffeine?  Caffeine is a gift from God.  We shouldn't question gifts from God.

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Caffeine Provides Muscle-Boost for Athletes - (newscorp)
Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Athletes who drink a lot of caffeine can improve their performance by as much as six percent, British scientists were due to announce Wednesday.

A new study found high doses of caffeine boosted muscle power and endurance when the body was not being pushed to the limit, such as in long-distance running.

“A very high dosage of caffeine, most likely achieved via tablets, powder or a concentrated liquid, is feasible and might prove attractive to a number of athletes wishing to improve their athleticperformance,” said Dr. Rob James, lead researcher at Coventry University, in central England.

“A small increase in performance via caffeine could mean the difference between a gold medal in the Olympics and an also-ran”, added James, who was due to announce the results at the Society for Experimental Biology Annual Meeting in Prague.

Caffeine was removed from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) banned substance list in 2004 but Coventry University scientists believed their findings may have implications for the use of caffeine in sport.

Even without taking concentrated doses, people who drink large amounts of coffee or tea could benefit from an enhanced power output.

"Seventy micro-Mols per liter caffeine concentration is the absolute maximum that can normally achieved in the blood plasma of a human, however concentrations of 20-50 micro-Mols per liter are not unusual in people with high caffeine intakes," said James.

Caffeine in the bloodstream could act as receptors on skeletal muscle, making the body temporarily more powerful, the scientists said.

Vitamin D

by Neil Anderson

This year on the advice of  friend, I began taking vitamin D.  My friend told me about a professor who was convinced that those who live around the 45th parallel (like we do in N. Utah) are almost completely deficient of vitamin D throughout most of the year (winter months).  This professor conducted an experiment on himself to prove it.  

The experiment this professor devised was to expose as much of his bodies' surface to the sun (your body makes vitamin D through sun exposure) as often as possible throughout the winter.  So, for several hours per day (whenever it was sunny) he would strip down to his bare chest and go outside on the roof of his building (no matter how cold it was) and expose himself to the sun in an attempt to help his body produce Vit D.  To lend more credibility to this experiment, he then would go in and take his blood and try to measure the amount of Vit D in his system.  He did this throughout the winter.  Wanna know what he found?  

NOTHING.

In essence, his body, and therefore yours, produces NO Vitamin D throughout the winter months above the 48th parallel.  So what?  

Vitamin D is essential to your health in several ways.  First of all, we all know vitamin D aids in calcium absorption.  This leads to strong bones.  What you may not know is; Vit D is essential for keeping your immune system humming.  Without adequate Vit D you may be less immune to colds and flu's.  In fact, since I began my Vit D supplementation back in November of 09, I have only been sick one time (knock on wood).  This is a big deal for me.  Last year by this time I had many infections.  Even had treatment for "walking pneumonia" in Feb of 10.  

Vitamin D is thought to have other healthy benefits.  Here are a few of them:

1. Prevents Rickets 
2. Prevent pre-eclampsia
3. Improve nerve function
4. Improve immune function
5. prevent bowel cancer by 40% 
6. Helps prevent type 1 diabetes. 
7. Heps prevent Alzheimer's disease  
8. Protects cells from oxidative stress (fights aging and disease).
9. Prevents Osteoporosis
10. Prevents hypertension and heart disease.  

These are just SOME of the benefits.  For more reading click HERE.  

How to get vitamin D? 

Simply go out in the sun.  Most scientists agree that 15 mins of exposure per day is ideal.  However, if you have darker skin, you may need more time - like 20-30 depending upon your complexion.  

Here are some other natural sources according to Wikipedia:

• Fish liver oils, such as cod liver oil, 1 Tbs. (15 ml) provides 1,360 IU (one IU equals 25 ng)
• Fatty fish species, such as:
  • Herring, 85 g (3 ounces (oz)) provides 1383 IU
  • Catfish, 85 g (3 oz) provides 425 IU
  • Salmon, cooked, 100 g (3.5 oz]) provides 360 IU
  • Mackerel, cooked, 100 g (3.5 oz]), 345 IU
  • Sardines, canned in oil, drained, 50 g (1.75 oz), 250 IU
  • Tuna, canned in oil, 85 g (3 oz), 200 IU
  • Eel, cooked, 100 g (3.5 oz), 200 IU
• A whole egg, provides 20 IU
• Beef liver, cooked, 100 g (3.5 oz), provides 15 IU
• UV-irradiated mushrooms (Vitamin D₂)^[30][31]

How much Vit D should you shoot for?  

USRDA is set at 400 IU per day.  I think this is too low for you.  I have seen more benefit around 1000-2000 IU.  The NIH has determined that the upper safe limit for Vit D is around 2000.  

GPP workouts are FRICKIN rough.  They demand much from your system.  It is my oppinion that you should give your body every advantage it needs to recover and contribute to your outstanding and optimal health.  If you have been sick this winter, and you live above the 48th...You may consider a Vit D supplement. 

Are Thermogenic Fat Loss Aids For You?

by Neil Anderson

If you are like the rest of us, you are always open to some extra help when it comes to fat-loss.  One of the reasons you come to GPP is to get the most effective and efficient program possible to achieve optimal health.  For most of us, this includes fat-loss.  So, where do thermogenic fat-loss aids (pills/liquids you take to help lose weight) fit into our program, if at all?  Some of the more popular brand names for these are:  Lipo-6, Hot Rox, Syntrax, Hydroxy Cut.  Do they work? Or, are they simply scams which are harmful to both our health and our wallets? 

As you can expect, the official GPP stance on fat-loss aids is: There is nothing you will ever need to comsume that is a substitute for quality nutrition and completely effective exercise.  This is where you head should be at all times along your journey to optimal health.  This being said, the question remains...can a fat-loss aid help you somewhere along the path to optimal health? 

Maybe.

Everyone is different, and the word "help" is very broad.  It is our experience that fat-loss aids can be relied upon for support in some instances.  It is also our experience that when used as a substitute for proper nutrition and effective exercise these aids will ALWAYS fail.

We all know those who swear by them.  Some of these people (most do not) even exhibit optimal health and look terrific.  This may be due to some real physiological affect (the studies on these things are "junk science" at best), or it may be due to another psychological process (this has my vote).  If, for whatever (healthy) reason, you decide to try a fat-loss aid here is some info that may help you decide if these are for you. 

Before we get into it, we think it is important that you do the following:

1)  Use common sense when choosing whether or not you will use a thermogenic aid.
2)  Never consume anything that may harm you. 
3)  Do your research. Be sure you know exactly what it is you are taking and how that will effect you specifically. 
4)  Be sure you know that what is on the label is also in your product.
5)  Realize that "aid" does not mean "substitute."

There are many different categories of fat-loss aids on the market.  The most popular of these, by far, are the thermogenics.  Of these, there are also more brand names than you can list.

Thermogenics

Thermogenesis means, "to produce heat."  This category of fat-loss aids is devoted to increasing your bodies core temperature.  The theory here is; increased body temp = increased calorie burn. This is generally accomplished by stimulating your central nervous system through variants of caffeine (guarana, green tea, yerba mate) and ephedra (synephrine, ma huang).  

Pros:  short-term energy boost, feeling of euphoria, appetite suppressant & diuretic effect (also a Con). 

Cons: may have harmful side effects including: heart attack, increased blood pressure, stroke, heart palpitations, dehydration, depression, anxiety & other psycologic conditions.  If you have a known heart, vascular, or psycological condition - these are NOT recommended. 

The problem, as you can see, is the harmful side effects can be potentially devastating.  The worst thing about these central nervous system stimulants and their side-effects is; it is impossible to know if you will suffer from them until you actually - DO! 

Other Ingredients

Most thermogenics have proprietary blends to differentiate themselves from the others. These "other ingredients" may include vitamins (Mainly the B's and C), minerals (like chromium, calcium, manganese & Zinc) Herbs & Spices (garlic, paprika & chilies) and Fiber. Of course, what they tell you is that purpose of their specific proprietary blend is to improve your chances of being successful.  What they probably mean is, "If we don't do SOMETHING to differentiate our plain old stimulant from the rest of the pack, we have a harder time selling this to you." The cool thing is that due to this, some of these companies have discovered some chemicals and compounds found in nature that may actually be helpful (articles on these to be found on this site).  

Conclusion

So, do they work?  Yep.  We've seen people lose weight while using them when combined with proper nutrition and completely effective exercise.  We have NEVER seen thermogenic aids work without these.

Are they a scam?  Well, if you buy a product to help you lose weight, and you did so safely... then, no.  It is not a scam, right?  Not so fast.  Many of these products are marketed to you in scheisty ways.  Beware of products making claims of easy results with little effort.  Usually, the more flagarant the claim, the more scheisty the product and deal is going to be.  While many manufacturers are well meaning, scientific agencies who are simply trying to help you in exchange for a small profit, many companies are pure scammers.  Not only will they sell you a bogus product, but sometimes they will rope you into expensive financial deals unrelated to the product.  Look for fine print in the deal (this usually occurs on the internet).  If there is fine print, you can be assured that the deal will be a scam (it may actually cost you hundreds more) and that the product is very likely bogus.  

A thermogenic fat-loss aid may help you.  It may also harm you.  The harm may affect more than just your health.  If you decide that using a thermogenic fat-loss aid will help you, we suggest finding a reputable health food/supplement store that gives money-back guarantees on the quality and quanties of it's products.  Many of the smaller, locally owned shops have passionate, expert, nutritional professionals that can help you sort through products and match them to your specific needs.  We also suggest you find products with fewer ingredients meant for very specific purposes.  That a supplement can help you lose weight is suspect enough without adding to it the implication that any ONE product could have the type, quality and quantity of ingredients in one dose that you may need for an endeavor as important as weight loss is to you.