Websites
We got the beet
It seems like every year, there is a new superfood that will help your push harder during a workout, look better in a bathing suit and give you more energy. It can be time-consuming and frustrating figuring out what to take seriously and what you can dismiss as a gimmick. We at Top Trainer feel your frustration, so we've done the legwork for you on this latest trend to see if they are worth your time and money.
What's the deal with beets?
Beets are having a moment in the nutrition world for a good reason. Recent studies show that consuming beets, either whole or in juices or supplements, can help stave off dementia, diabetes and inflammation while helping to improve heart health, blood pressure, digestion and regularity. On top of that, results now indicate that they can help athletes improve performance and recover faster.
Everyone knows that vegetables are good for you, that's no secret. So let's first take a look at the nutrition info on beets. According to My Fitness Pal, one cup of beets contains roughly 74 calories, 16 grams of carbs, 2 grams of protein and 14 grams of sugar. They also have two percent of your daily vitamin A needs, one percent of your calcium needs, eight percent of the iron needed, and 10 percent of your vitamin C requirement. Beets provide much-needed folate and manganese, vitamin B-6, riboflavin, as well as many other minerals and nutrients.
The reason beets have recently gained interest among athletes is due to the high amounts of dietary nitrates they provide. When you eat beets, the nitrates mix with the healthy bacteria contained in the saliva in your mouth and form nitric oxide, which is absorbed by your digestive system when you swallow. These nitrites help improve blood flow, muscle contraction and neurotransmission throughout the body.
Beets have nitrates and nitrites. Doesn't one cause cancer?
You may have heard a lot of warnings about harmful, dangerous nitrites found in the preservatives of processed meats like hot dogs and bacon, but fear not because not all nitrites are created equal. Unlike chemically altered, highly processed foods, healthy vegetables like beets and spinach have naturally occurring nitrites, which are completely safe and filled with antioxidants. So eat with confidence.
What does this mean for athletic performance and exercise habits?
Supplementation of beet nitrates in the diet improves muscle oxygenation during exercise, enhancing ones' endurance and tolerance for physical activity. Meaning athletes, the chronically ill, or those simply out of shape and struggling for energy could benefit.
Studies show that after consuming beets, subjects required less oxygen, about 3 percent less, to maintain their level of exercise. Meaning they used less energy to complete their test. The beets helped increase their metabolic threshold, the thing that makes your oxygen readily available and able to convert to energy when you need it the most. So you have less fatigue slowing you down. And because your body is creating more oxygen within the muscle tissue, you rely less on what you inhale. This, in turn, increases your VO2 max, meaning you will do less huffing and puffing to complete your workout.
This same study, reported by Medical News Today, found that in a 4 km bicycle time trial, beetroot juice improved athletic performance by 2.8 percent, or 11 seconds. In the 16.1 km time trial, athletes improved their time by 2.7 percent, or 45 seconds. These results could mean the difference between silver and gold on an elite level.
Beets improve athletes' reaction time.
The carotid and cerebral arteries that supply oxygenated blood to your brain increase blood flow by about 25 percent when you exercise. As you increase the intensity of your workout, that oxygen-rich blood becomes less abundant, and your reaction time slows down. As we've just learned, beets increase your oxygen levels, helping improve the blood flow to your brain as your intensity increases, improving reaction time and mental sharpness. Just another way beets help combat fatigue during intense workouts.
How do you get it, and what are the side effects?
You can eat, drink, or take them in pill or powdered form. Beets are easy to get, but if you don't like the taste or have problems digesting all the fiber, it's probably best to stick to a supplement of some sort. That will also help cut down on the side effects, of which there are few. The carotenes that give beets their dark, rich color will also appear in your urine and stool. While the color may startle you at first, rest assured it's completely harmless. If the color bothers you, supplements are the way to go. It'll keep both your bowels and your toilet bowl clean!
​
Let’s talk gut health
Probiotics and prebiotics. You’ve no doubt heard of them, and you know they help people with tummy troubles, but other than throwing an occasional yogurt in your diet, you probably don’t think much about them. Essentially bacteria and bacteria food, these powerful organisms create a microbiome in your gut that helps keep you healthy.
The two need each other to maintain optimal gastrointestinal health. Prebiotics feed the probiotics, making the latter thrive and multiply. Both equally important, both needing their own nourishment.
What’s what, and what’s the difference?
Probiotics
Probiotics are live beneficial bacteria that you get from food or supplements and help improve “good” bacteria in the body. These bacteria are naturally created through fermentation in foods like yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut and kimchi, and when added to your diet, they help grow the microbiome population.
The two most common bacteria classified as probiotics are Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium. The former is most commonly found in fermented foods like yogurt and kefir and helps with diarrhea and lactose intolerance. Bifidobacterium is found in some dairy products, but it also occurs naturally in the large intestine, where it helps prevent constipation and boost your immune system by fighting harmful bacteria. Research has shown that it may also help with IBS symptoms.
If you’ve ever taken antibiotics, you’ve likely been told to eat some yogurt to help with the dreaded side effect of constipation. That’s because antibiotics often kill the good bacteria, or probiotics, in your gut, and you want to repopulate as quickly as possible to keep things moving.
Prebiotics
These high-fiber foods feed the probiotics and help them flourish. As you know, fiber is essentially sugar that your body cannot absorb. The process of traveling undigested through the small intestine allows it to ferment, so when it reaches the large colon, it becomes tasty food for the probiotic bacteria, encouraging them to get comfy and multiply.
Not all fiber is prebiotic, however. In order to qualify, the fiber must “resist gastric acidity, hydrolysis by mammalian enzymes and absorption in the upper gastrointestinal tract,” as well as ferment when in contact with the intestinal microflora. Since prebiotics aren’t affected by heat, time or stomach acid, they are far less fragile than the live bacteria probiotics and therefore easy to find and consume. Foods like bananas, beans, greens, whole grains, artichoke and garlic are excellent sources of prebiotics to add to your diet.
How do I get them?
While it’s easy to get prebiotics and probiotics with a diet of fresh, whole foods and dairy products, we know that the typical American diet doesn’t always provide enough. Short on time, people often fall into the routine of processed and packaged foods to get through a busy day. If this sounds familiar to you, make sure to include a good supplement for both prebiotics and probiotics in your diet. Your tummy will thank you.
​
The facts on L-Carnitine
One of the latest supplements to hit the gym circuit, a derivative of the amino acids lysine and methionine, was first isolated from meat, or carnis in Latin, around 1905. L-Carnitine helps reduce oxidative stress, the imbalance of cancer-causing free radicals, and your body’s ability to neutralize them, making it a popular treatment for many heart conditions. But the benefits of L-Carnitine don’t stop with heart disease.
How can it help me?
Anti-aging properties
As you age, your L-carnitine levels and mitochondrial function tend to decrease. In one study, rats with decreased levels were given acetyl-L-carnitine or a placebo. Rats with the supplement showed improved or reversed mitochondrial declines in cardiac muscle and skeletal structure. Clinical trials are still underway, but hopes are high for this age-fighting agent.
Cardiovascular disease
While L-carnitine alone isn’t enough to fight cardiovascular disease, the results are impressive when used in conjunction with the standard pharmacological treatments. In one trial, half of the 160 participants diagnosed with myocardial infarction, a clot caused by ruptured plaque in the coronary artery, were given 4 grams a day of the supplement as part of their treatment. One year later, the death rate was significantly lower than the non-supplemented group, and reported chest pains were also much lower.
Fights fatigue in cancer-treatment patients
Radiation and chemotherapy are exhausting treatments for most patients, and it often lowers L-carnitine levels. Several studies have shown that adding the supplement to their diets helped fight fatigue while improving quality of sleep and mood.
Heart failure
The addition of L-carnitine to the standard course of treatment for patients with heart failure has shown promising results. Not only has it increased survival rates for several participants, but it also improved measures of exercise tolerance and showed a significant decrease in the left ventricular size, meaning the heart’s pumping as it should. Another study found that patients with mild heart failure had improved function with just 1.5 grams of L-carnitine a day for three months.
Physical performance
While studies are still ongoing, researchers have found that short-term use or even pre-workout doses of 2-4 grams of L-carnitine supplements increased oxygen uptake. Meaning you recover faster and decrease lactate, resulting in less soreness post-workout.
So how do I get it?
Sources of L-carnitine
As the “carni” in the Latin name suggests, meat is a rich source of L-carnitine, specifically beef and lamb. You can also get it through poultry, fish and dairy products. Fruit, vegetables, and grains contain only trace amounts of L-carnitine, so vegetarians and vegans or those with a limited diet often need supplements to meet their needs.
As with all supplements, talk to your doctor or nutritionist if you have questions about whether L-carnitine is right for you. If used correctly, adding this to your diet could aid in heart health and help with endurance and recovery.
Let's Spill the (Green) Tea
Legend has it, the 2737 BC Emperor of China, Shennong, was sipping freshly boiled water one day while strolling the grounds of his palace when leaves from a nearby tree fell into his cup, thus creating a new beverage – green tea.
True or not, this herbalist made popular one of the most healthful beverages, still to this day. Sweet or not, liquid or powdered, with or without dairy, green tea provides a host of benefits that you should be getting in on.
Where does it come from?
All tea comes from the same tree, the Camellia Sinensis. Black tea is fully oxidized, while green tea is quickly heated and dried to prevent it from fully oxidizing. This process helps green tea maintain lots of cancer-fighting antioxidants, improve cardiovascular health and reduce inflammation. It didn't take long for people to get creative with this flavorful leaf. You'll find green tea baked in foods, in pill and powder form for convenient consumption, as well as added to many nutritional supplements.
How can it help me?
Cancer prevention
While research is still in the early stages, studies have found that the polyphenols in green tea may help destroy cancer cells and stop their progression in the body. One researcher found that women with breast cancer experienced less spread of disease when drinking 5 cups of green tea a day. They also had fewer cases of cancer coming back after treatment. Other studies found equally promising results with colon and prostate cancers.
Heart health
Powerful antioxidants called flavonoids can prevent LDL (bad cholesterol) from oxidizing, improve blood vessel function and prevent blood clots. As you've probably guessed, green tea is full of flavonoids, meaning it can lower your risk of heart attack and increase your performance as an athlete. A study completed at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston showed that the death rate of patients recovering from heart attacks dropped by 44 percent when they consumed at least two cups of tea a day compared to non-tea drinkers.
Anti-inflammatory
Green tea also contains quercetin, a chemical compound that works as an anti-inflammatory, which helps prevent many aches and pains. It also helps prevent arthritis, as well as aiding in recovery. The Iowa Woman's Health Study found that women who drank at least three cups of tea a day were 60 percent less likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis.
Brain Boost
Feeling the afternoon slump? Skip the coffee and reach for a cup of tea. Researchers found that the mix of L-theanine and caffeine found in green tea increased levels of attention and alertness in subjects while simultaneously increasing levels of GAMA and dopamine. Meaning you can get the pep without the jitters. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition also found that drinking as little as one cup a day made people 55 and older 38 percent less likely to experience a decline in their mental abilities, while adding a second cup increased it to 54 percent. This improved mental clarity can also help young people get the focus they need to get the most out of their workouts or late nights at the office.
Green tea is no doubt a powerful addition to your diet. Whether you simply want to stay young and vibrant or are looking for increased mental focus and help with recovery, slurp it, eat it or mix it in with your favorite supplement to reap the benefits.