Category: Supplements (Page 11 of 17)

Fat = Health If you eat the right type

June 15, 2009 / Mike Furci

The best advice I can give concerning fat consumption is to increase your intake of omega 3s, like EPA and DHA found in fish oil, and reduce your consumption of polyunsaturated fats like vegetable oil.? Polyunsaturated fats contain high amounts of omega 6 fatty acids, which in excess are detrimental to our health. Probably most importantly however, is to eliminate trans fats if your like most Americans who consume processed foods. By switching the fats one consumes you can increase your overall health, prevent heart disease, cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, ulcerative colitis, depression, Alzheimer’s, and a host of other diseases..

These two types of fat, omega-3 and omega-6, are both essential for human health. However, the typical American consumes far too many omega-6 fats in their diet while consuming very low levels of omega-3. America’s consumption of vegetable oil has increased by 437% in the past 80 years.? We evolved on a fairly high fat diet. The problem is that the types of fats we were eating back in the Paleolithic days were quite a bit different from the fats we eat now.

In the Paleolithic era, our ratio of omega 6s to omega 3s was very close to 1:1. We ate like this for millions of years. These days it has been suggested that this ratio is 30:1 up to 50:1! So why should we be concerned? The change in the ratio of omega 6 to omega 3 plays a role in pretty much every major disease that’s killing us in Western civilization. The primary sources of omega-6 are corn, soy, canola, safflower and sunflower oil. These oils are overabundant in the typical diet, which explains our excess omega-6 levels. Avoid or limit these oils. Omega-3, meanwhile, is typically found in flaxseed oil, walnut oil and some fish.?

By far, the best source of omega-3 fats are those found in wild fish. Wild caught fish like salmon is high in two omega-3 fatty acids crucial to human health, DHA and EPA. These two fatty acids are pivotal in preventing diseases as mentioned earlier. The human brain is also highly dependent on DHA. Low DHA levels have been linked to depression, schizophrenia, memory loss and a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s. Eat more salmon

Anti-Aging, Cancer, Cholesterol, Diets, Fatty acids, Food preparation, Foods products, Heart disease, Medical Issues for Men, Men's Health and Wellness, Nutrition, Prostate health, Sexual Health, Supplements

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A bacteria deficiency?

June 1, 2009 / Mike Furci

Whether you know it or not the body needs certain types of bacteria in order to maintain optimum health. Within our digestive tracks live all types of bacteria. There is a constant battle being waged in our intestines between “good” and “bad” bacteria. The “good” bacteria are called probiotics and fight bad bacteria like E. coli and other pathogenic types.

When our probiotics start to loose the battle in our intestines, one can develop a disorder called dysbiosis. This disorder has been linked to a number of problems including; indigestion, bloating, IBS irritable bowel syndrome, gas, diarrhea, lactose intolerance, bladder infections, skin rashes, colon and breast cancer. Is a probiotic deficiency common? The answer, yes. Many factors can cause a deficiency including; stress, antibiotics, poor diet, infections and aging. Many experts feel without supplementation it’s hard for the average person to have a sufficient amount of probiotics.

When probiotics are winning the battle they perform a number of functions. They are essential in the proper digestion and absorption of food. They keep our immune systems functioning properly – prevent food allergies – repair and maintain the GI tract lining – and suppress “bad” bacteria.

I have found the best product out there to be Theralac. Take 2 capsules per day for the first 2 weeks and once the GI tract has been colonized you can reduce the dose to 2 caps per week.A

Medical Issues for Men, Men's Health and Wellness, Nutrition, Supplements

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Eat fat to lose fat

May 18, 2009 / Mike Furci

Fat is it friend or foe? Well if you ask most, including health care professionals, they’ll say foe. It’s time for people to wake up! The current ways of eating aren’t working. Just a few years ago, for the first time in history the top six books on the New York Times Best Seller list, were about the same subject: diets low in carbs, moderate to high protein, high in fibrous carbs (vegetable), and moderate fat. Why is this topic so popular? They work!

One of the biggest reasons protein diets work is the consumption of fat. That is, fat minus the abundance of carbs. Fat has many functions outside of being used as an energy source, and certain fatty acids are essential. Without eating them you’d literally get sick and die.

But how does fat help our diet? Well, fat satiates the appetite, and helps to stop the cravings for sugar. And probably most importantly, fat when combined with a low sugar intake actually aids in burning fat as fuel. That’s right, fat helps burn fat. When fat is restricted, our bodies have a defense mechanism built in through evolution for survival. Our bodies will actually stop using fat as fuel in an effort to preserve our stores for future use.

Bodybuilders have known this for years through trial and error, while dieting for shows, they would reach a certain body fat percentage and suddenly plateau for no apparent reason. We found that by adding fat to the diet like olive oil, or coconut oil, would jump-start the body to burn body fat. It’s not the amount of food you consume that is the problem. It’s the types of food you’re consuming.

Sounds bizarre doesn’t it.

Anti-Aging, Diets, Fat burners, Fatty acids, Food preparation, Foods products, Men's Health and Wellness, Nutrition

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Did you know…

May 9, 2009 / Mike Furci

In my latest “Did you know…” column I discuss more sunshine vitamin benefits (below); the link between obesity and bad sex; the relationship of soy foods and low sperm counts; decreasing your risk of infection in the gym, and cardiologist’s admissions.

… there are more than 800 scientific articles showing the effects of vitamin D on cancer? Some researchers point out that increasing vitamin D levels world-wide could prevent numerous diseases that claim nearly 1 million lives per year. Vitamin D, or the ?sunshine vitamin,? is really not a vitamin, but a powerful hormone precursor that has an enormous influence on our bodies. Receptors that respond to the vitamin have been found in almost every human cell. Researchers have found that vitamin D has a direct influence on 3,000 of your 30,000 genes.
The health benefits of optimal vitamin D levels are absolutely extraordinary. The main reason it?s not more widely promoted is there is no money to be made from it by the medical and pharmaceutical industries.

Anti-Aging, Cancer, Heart disease, Medical Issues for Men, Men's Health and Wellness, Supplements, Vitamin D, Vitamins/Minerals

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Muscle Armor

April 30, 2009 / Mike Furci

A training program in the form of progressive resistance exercise builds muscular size and strength. In order for a training routine to be productive, however, it must first provide the correct stimulus to induce an adaptive response. Second, a workout that stimulates and adaptive response must provide for recovery. Third, in order for recovery and subsequent size and strength increases to occur, nutrients, which are of limited supply in our bodies, must be provided. It is clear that the most important nutrient for recovery is protein. In particular, essential amino acids contained in complete protein sources; dairy, meats, and fish. It is well documented that essential amino acids consumed before, during, and after resistance training boost strength and size gains.

HMB is a metabolite of the essential amino acid L-leucine. During many studies on protein effects, L-leucine seemed to be the single greatest contributor to muscle protein synthesis. A recent study examined the effects of an essential amino acid based product, Muscle Armor (MA); manufactured by Abbott Laboratories contains beta-hydroxy beta-methylbutyrate (HMB).

Seventeen healthy men were randomly assigned to one of two groups and performed twelve weeks of periodized heavy resistance training while supplementing with either MA or an isocaloric, isonitrogenous placebo (Control group (CG)). Every two weeks the subject?s strength and power were measured and blood was drawn. More-over the blood draws taken were performed pre, mid and post-training. Researchers found the MA group affected training induced changes in muscular size and strength to a significantly greater extent than the CG. Also found, was reduced levels of circulating muscle damage markers creatine kinase and malondealdehyde compared with the CG. In addition, the MA group experienced increases in resting and exercise-induced testosterone and resting growth hormone levels with reduced pre-exercise cortisol levels.
(Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. 2009;41(5):1111-1121)

Anti-Aging, Bodybuilding, Endurance, General fitness, General training, Power lifting, Product review, Protein, Supplements, Weight training

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