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Episode-1848- Expert Council Q&A for 8-12-16 — 14 Comments

    • Sure it is but caffeine is so much more dehydrating than even alcohol. And as you drink too much alcohol you know it a lot faster than too much caffeine.

  1. Just to throw this out as a possibility – I had a situation a couple of times where I had an ammonia type sweat and I believe it was due to low magnesium levels. At least it went away about 3 or 4 days after I started taking magnesium. The first time it happened it had been going on for about a month before I thought to try the magnesium, I didn’t make any other changes, just to add the magnesium. The second time it happened I was out of magnesium and it happened again, sure enough it was resolved when I added it back.
    I can’t help but think that there is something in combination with this, maybe some macronutrient ratio that needs adjusting but given that most people are deficient in magnesium I don’t find it hard to fathom given it’s importance to the body.

    • Jackie, you are on to something as magnesium is a key electrolyte. If you are low in electrolytes you are also more in likely dehydrated as they go hand in hand. Caffeine and sugar are well known to deplete magnesium and other key micronutrients, that is why a lot of Americans are chronically dehydrates and micronutrient defficient.

      • Agreed if I was forced to recommend only two supplements for people in general they would be magnesium and vitamin E.

        Another magnesium issue that causes deficiency as I am sure Gary would agree on is the American unnatural obsession with Calcium. You need both but excess calcium with deficient magnesium, makes a bad problem worse.

        My personal supplement regime if anyone cares…

        Magnesium 200 mg twice a day
        Vitamin E 400 IU twice a day
        Vitamin C 250 mg once a day
        ALA 300 mg twice a day
        CO Q10 100 mg twice a day
        Turmeric 600 mg twice a day
        A Pro Biotic

        Perhaps I should do a segment on these and why I take them. With Turmeric and CO Q10 I take products that contain Bioperien (black pepper extract) because it makes both much more absorbable, specifically the active components of Turmeric.

        • That said it takes a long time to rectify a true magnesium deficiency with oral magnesium so your quick results do not indicate that the underlying deficiency is countered. Just blood serum levels which is not a true indicator or total levels and hence doesn’t by itself prove that you are not still deficient.

        • Yep totally agree magnesium, calcium, potassium and Vitamin D3 all work together. If you are deficient in just one it throws everything off. I think the last stat I saw was around 70% of Americans are deficient in magnesium.

  2. Snake cams can be uber cheap. They’re not the top of the line. But there are ones that are essentially USB Web cams.

    $20, connect to a laptop. And you’ve got a snake cam. Most of these are sold under several names but are clearly the same unit. The one I bought didn’t have drivers for my version of Window . But I was able to easily find suitable drivers online.

    http://amzn.to/2bcqaNr

  3. Ammonia production after exercise: You need to eat more fat and less protein. Protein is either used or metabolized. There is no such thing as stored protein analogous to stored triglycerides or glycogen. Protein is either used to replenish tissue or is metabolized.
    I am a cyclist, and a typical ride is 50-60 miles. I do a couple of centuries per year. I am 69 years old. I have been transitioning from the carb approach to the fat burning approach for athletic performance. I eat about 70-75% by kcal of fat per day, so my diet probably qualifies as ketogenic at this point. I no longer eat anything on a 60 mile ride and don’t fell any need to. The energy level is constant – no ups and downs. I drink water pretty much constantly, but only from thirst, no forced hydration, and certainly go through a replenishment when I have finished the ride. Temperatures in my area are usually in the low 90’s, high humidity. I also don’t eat until the next day, because I have found that it decreases my recovery time.

    A great book on low carb athletic performance is “The Art and Science of Low Carb Performance,” by Phinney and Volek. They did the research back in the 80’s on fat adapted athletic performance and the book provides the details. Magnesium and zinc deficiency is common, and if you are close to what I do you have to be especially careful to consume enough salt. I drink a cup of hot salt water having about 1g of salt with a high fat breakfast before I ride. I have never gotten any cramps or headaches.

    I measure my blood glucose and blood serum ketone level before and after a ride of 60 miles. I have never depleted my glycogen stores on a 60 mile ride. How do I know? When the glycogen stores are depleted your blood glucose level will plummet into the 50-60 range or maybe lower. If you are fat adapted, and this may take months, your blood serum ketone level rises so what you end up with is something approaching a 50-50 blood serum mix based on equal molarity. This is a drastic change in blood serum composition and there are profound implications, think cancer cell stress. Also, consider that a majority of brain and nervous system is using the ketones as fuel. My mental clarity actually picks up as the day progresses.

    You brain does need some glucose, and once the glycogen is consumed your liver steps in to provide the glucose from the glycerol backbone of triglycerides or amino acids from excess protein. Of course if you do not train this way, then this transition does not occur very rapidly and you “bonk,” not enough fuel for the brain, and your body begins to shut down,

    Fat adapted athletes don’t bonk. They have lower respiratory quotients, and they basically are much better at using their fat stores.

    I don’t know if I would use all of my glycogen stores by riding 100 miles – no food. It takes me about 48 hours of fasting to fully expend my glycogen stores. If you want to verify all of this buy a blood/ketone tester, prick you finger and test. There is nothing mysterious about it. Here is a movie about fat adapted athletes, https://youtu.be/8fpYZ1KaDFI. Intro only.

    I wish I had known this stuff 30 years ago. I am never, ever going back.

    • Hey Samuel,

      Thanks for sharing, I love how you have adapted your diet to your training and lifestyle. I think we all wish we knew this stuff 30 years ago haha. You also bring up a point by how and what you are doing as far as physical activity. It is much easier for endurance athletes once fat adapted to use your approach for their fueling and recovery needs. For those who use more strength and speed in their physical activity, the high fat approach just will not work. They will need more protein in order to maintain and build muscle for their type of activity, such a football player or competitive weight lifter. They will also need their glycogen levels to be high, because they will use it for quick burst of energy, which is not possible when relying mostly on fat as an energy source. We are all different in our goals and energy outputs, so we must adapt accordingly.

      As I discuss often, there is no one way, and you have to adapt your macronutrient profile to what you are doing day by day in most cases.

      I hope I can still ride 50-60 miles when I’m 69. I applaud you, and you inspire the rest of us.

  4. The Laprie’s segment, and Jack’s response reminded me of one of my favorite aphorisms:

    It’s easier to put on a pair of slippers, than to carpet the entire world.

    (Despite what the web-mind says, Stuart Smalley wasn’t the first person to say this. It’s amazing how the internet echo chamber is creating these sorts of ‘facts’)

    Teacup mentality is: my feet are soft, the world must be carpeted! Which is of course focusing/spending your time focusing on things you have no control over.

    IMO for success, we (and our children), must become expert at recognizing, and adapting to the world AS IT IS.

    This is of course trickier than it at first appears. We fool ourselves (There is no expedient to which a man will not resort to avoid the real labor of thinking) and we stop learning when we THINK we understand how the world works.

    This is an issue, as the world is not a static system.

    This is why IMO, ALL science needs to be taught as PROVISIONAL (this is our best guess about how things work, but it’s very likely that we’re wrong) to reinforce that ‘knowing’ is not something that is ever ‘done’.

    (I really enjoy all of the Laprie’s segments =)

    • Ran into this while trying to find the original source of the above:

      A vacant mind is open to all suggestions as a hollow building echoes all sounds.
      – Chinese proverb

      The thing I find interesting about ‘media’ is how its memes echo thru the empty heads of its listeners.

      Whatever is on the news TODAY comes echoing back out of their mouths. But the minute the noise about something stops, is the minute the ‘listeners’ suddenly experience permanent amnesia about the subject.

      In a way, you can see how government schooling is a training ground for this:

      We tell you something, you echo it on a test (points for how accurately you repeat what we’ve told you), you forget what we told you to regurgitate.

      Since I’m thinking Chinese today:

      Study without reflection is a waste of time; reflection without study is dangerous.
      – Confucius