SuppVersity - Nutrition and Exercise Science for Everyone

Image 1:  "If we have not somehow pimped it, it can never be good enough!" appears to be one of the credos with which mankind approaches almost every health-remedy nature has provided for us. In the past this approach was not particularly healthy, though... is phenol-enriched olive oil going to be the exception to the rule? Being the health-conscious person you obviously are (why else would you visit the SuppVersity ;-), chances are that olive oil, or, to be specific, extra virgin olive oil is one if not primary source of of mono- and polyunsaturated fats in your diet. But do you actually know why? I mean why olive oil? And why extra virgin? What? "Mediterranean diet", "high MUFA content", "lower incidence of coronary heart disease and cancer"? All right, you have done your homework on olive oil , but what about the "extra virgin"? The polyphenols , right. The phenolic content is in fact what distinguishes a "good" olive

Image 1: They are both sourced from cow's milk, but which is the better part? Whey, the byproduct of cheese production, or casein the cheese protein, itself? A recent study would suggest that it's the "waste product" you would have to chose if you could only have one. " Whey is the way to go! " I suppose even I have had a headline like that in one or even several of the daily news items, here at the SuppVersity - and rightly, so! With it's high content of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) this fast-digesting protein source is certainly the #1 choice for anyone whose goal is to build lean muscle tissue . Whey's slow-digesting brother casein, on the other hand, is often hailed as the "muscle-preservative", the 24h-protein source that will prevent muscle catabolism, when for whatever outrageous reason (like sleep, for example) you cannot ingest your bi-hourly protein shake... well, I guess those of you who have been following the Intermi

Image 1: Pure baking soda is not (yet?) a staple of the supplemental arsenal of many athletes. The scientific evidence with regard to its immediate ergogenic effects is ambigious and the mere presence of the word "sodium" in "sodium bicarbonate" scares the hack out of those athletes (bodybuilders and figure competitors) who may benefit most from a few grams of this potent alkalizer. "Sodium"! This word alone is usually enough to scare bodybuilders and fitness athletes to death. "Sodium!? Isn't that the stuff that makes me look bloated?" The answer is easy: No! While sodium will help you retain enough water in your body to perform in the gym , the amount of sodium you ingest usually has little impact on the amount of water you will be holding, only when you start modulating your sodium intake, your body will react with changes in the renin-andiotensin-aldosterone system and you will be fluctuating "nicely" back and forth from su

Image 1: You may call it "toning" or "shaping", but in the end it's bodybuilding in the literal sense. Assuming that you are all " lean and mean " by now and thus ready to build some serious muscle (for those who missed it, read last week's installment on " Why you better lean out before bulking "), we can finally delve into your first steps on your way to ... wait. I hope you did not forget your "motivational elevator pitch" from the first part of this part of the Intermittent Thoughts , where I asked you to come to terms with what it actually is that you want to achieve . Now, the good news is that regardless of whether you are just sick of that lose skin on your upper arms or want to compete against Phil Heath at the 2012 Mr. Olympia, there are a few fundamental principles that apply regardless of whether you are striving for "toned" 11 inch arms or Coleman-esque 22 inch guns. Gaining weight? Yes! Getting fat?

Image 1: Is it really time to buy some revolutionary new exercise equipment to time your time under tension? Or should you keep pumping away like there was no tomorrow? If you have been following the SuppVersity news for some time now, you know that I am a "fan" of the research Stuart Phillips and his colleagues at the Department of Kinesiology at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, are doing. Before I get to some details on their latest coup, I must yet express some concerns about Phillips' focus on immediate changes protein synthesis. Yes, amino acid ingestion and particularly leucine increase protein synthesis , yes, bolus ingestion of whey protein increases protein synthesis over sipping and yes, training with low loads (30%) and slow reps, as in the study at hand, increases protein synthesis ,... but hey. Do you really give a damn about protein synthesis? No, you don't. Either you want to gain muscle or you want to get stronger and exactly here I am m

Image 1: Just as about everything, these days, you can buy the semisynthetic non-fermentable viscous fiber Hydroxpropyl-Methylcellulose pound-wise from China - this is probably also where the producers of the junk food you hopefully are not eating get their E464 from ;-) If the health and fitness community on the Internet was a battlefield (personally, I sometimes think it is ;-) one of the ongoing skirmishes would certainly be fought over the question whether the deliberate ingestion of great amounts of dietary fiber was a good or rather a bad thing. I must admit that I have not really made up my mind on the benefits and caveats of increasing or decreasing your fiber intake, partly because the available science appears to be quite inconclusive. This, obviously does not hinder the "ANTI faction" in the fitness and nutrition world to add "fiber" as the 1001 item on their never-ending list of ultimate dietary evils. My gut feeling does yet tells me this has more

Image 1: Adelfo on Wednesday before the feast began. We will see how he looks next week ;-) I guess, this blogpost should actually begin with the words " Happy Thanksgiving " in big, bold letters, but for us Europeans - and me as a German, in particular - today is a regular working day. Nevertheless, it is a day to celebrate, because THIS is actually post #600 here at the SuppVersity and I am in fact grateful (and thusly giving thanks) that you, my dear students, readers, followers or however else you want to refer to yourselves, are still interested in my perspective(s) on what is going on in the world of fitness, bodybuilding, sports and exercise science. That being said, I do still hope that all of you (who actually have a holiday) are having a good time with your friends and family , just like my friend Adelfo, who has sent me his weekly contest-prep update and his best wishes to all of you last night, already .... Turkey, pie, ... pie, turkey, ... turkey ... an

Image 1: This is where HMB could actually make a difference, the two more reps, the one more sprint, which after weeks and months of training can decide over victory or defeat. Sometimes, or I should say, time and again (!), it amazes me how the same people who are willing to invest hundreds of bucks in a supplement, which (according to the patent holder) "has been shown in scientitfic studies" (which were conducted by the researcher and a buddy of his at a remote lab, only to file the patent) to " increase testosterone by up to 147.34% ", keep telling me that they "would never waste their hard earned money on supplements like HMB... " hello? Am I missing something, here? I mean, right; HMB does not produce the steroid-like effects the same sort of shady businessmen who are now promoting a new natural testosterone booster as legal alternative to Anavar on a monthly base once claimed it would have, but in all  honesty, the scientific research on HMB is