Are Carbs more addictive than Cocaine?

I love this article and it touches on some of the points that i made in one of my earlier posts here.
I've spoken to many people about the addictive qualities of Carbohydrates and particularly grains and dairy. I even had one friend who tried to go Paleo, but suffered immense headaches and gave up after just a couple of days. This friend is definitely a sugar girl. She loves her chocolates, her breads, and her lollies. Hmmm, withdrawal symptoms anyone?

Check out the article here:

This is a quote just to get you thinking:

"In 2007, researchers at the University of Bordeaux, France, reported that when rats were allowed to choose between a calorie-free sweetener and intravenous cocaine, 94 percent preferred the sugar substitute. The researchers concluded that "intense sweetness can surpass cocaine reward. . . . The supranormal stimulation of these receptors by sugar-rich diets, such as those now widely available in modern societies, would generate a supranormal reward signal in the brain, with the potential to override self-control mechanisms and thus to lead to addiction."

I'm Back

OK, I've been away for a while but I've decided to come back and do some more writing. I'm going to take a bit of a different approach this time. I'm only going to post once or twice a week and, as well as posting my own thoughts and ideas, I'm also going to point you in the direction of various articles and research papers on paleolithic nutrition that I read. In this way we can get educated together. Brilliant.

So here is a little something to get us started:

How the media sensationalizes Paleo

And a little something about cholesterol


PS: Reading a great book called The Vegetarian Myth. Needed some info so that I can try to convince the moral vegetarian that they are in the wrong. Some really interesting insights.

Till next time, 

Lift Heavy, Move fast, Eat Well Sleep Lots!

Is normal now abnormal?

Have you ever been to a shopping centre and taken a moment to look at the people around you? What did you see? What did the peolpe look like? Were they overweight or not? I'm willing to bet that you saw more overweight or obese people than you saw people of a "normal" weight. Is normal becoming abnormal. Is a person with a healthy looking (just because you look healthy doesn't mean you are!) body becoming the rarity?

I know body composition is only one marker of health but I think there is a worrying trend occuring. People look at others around them. They can justify the little bit of fat around their mid-section because,"Everyone else has that", or "This is just what happens when you get older", or even worse, "I'm not as fat as _____, so I must be pretty healthy"

This article is interesting and while the study they talk about relates only to women, I think most men have this same problem too. Have a read an post thoughts to comments.

Well Done!

Congratulations. Your 30 days is up! Now what changes,  if any , did you notice? For me I experienced a number of changes. Here is a quick summary.

Look:
Leaned out quite a lot without any loss of muscle mass
Weight down to 77.8kg from 83kg the last time I weighed myself before beginnning Whole 30.

Feel:
Recovery from exercise was fantastic. Very little soreness.
A general feeling of lightness.
Much more energy.
Better able to deal with stressful situations - particularly importand over the last couple of weeks.
No shoulder pain.

Perform:
Beat longstanding PB's in CrossFit workouts - Fran (3:01), Helen (7:51)
Increased strength/Power - Hang Power Snatch PB - 67.5kg, Push Press triple @ 80kg
Due to lessening of shoulder pain was able to perform movements such as Muscle Ups, Handstand Push Ups, Ring Dips, Push Press that I had been unable to do without pain previously.

These are just a few of the changes that I noticed. When you put these all together, I am sure that you would agree I am a fitter and more healthy individual now than I was when I started the whole 30 back in October.

I hope you have experienced some great changes as well. Let us know in the comments section.

I will be back to posting some of the more technical posts over the next few days. I want to write some more on Cholesterol as I think this is an area where a lot of people are misinformed.

The Coffee problem! Zane's reply

I've been agonising over this post for a couple of days. You see the problem is, I agree with a lot of the stuff that Bjorn says in his post. However, my own personal experience does not match up.  I guess the best way to tell this story is to talk a little about my history with coffee.

I have not always ben a coffee drinker. Both of my parents are regular coffee drinkers without being massive consumers. I used to have the odd coffee when I lived at home with them, but nothing serious. At the age of 16 I left home and went to boarding school. Being the rather social butterfly that I am, I would often spend a lot of study time chatting with my mates rather than working on assignments and projects. Then the night before they were due, I would stay up late and work until they were done. A lot of the other kids would drink coffee to help them stay awake, so I tried it. Unfortunately It didn't quite have the same reaction for me. While my mates were talking about the fact they were so wired from their numerous coffees they would never be able to sleep, I was still just as tired.

I wasn't a great coffee drinker through University (alcohol was my drink of choice then!!!!). However, during my time living in London I was drawn to the numerous coffee shops and became a regular drinker. At that stage I noticed some interesting bodily reactions to coffee. I would need to have a bowel movement after every coffee. My coffee of choice then was a cappuccino. However, there was still no buzz from the coffee.

Upon my return to Australia I stayed a coffee drinker. Now however, I had found the Paleo diet and the milk was gone from the coffee. Strangely so were the bowel movements. It appears that it was the warm milk that was doing me in rather than the lovely bean. So now I drank my coffee black and strong. And yet, still I had no buzz from the coffee. I could easily finish a meal with an espresso and then go straight to sleep.

Coffee became a 2 a day habit for me. I bought my own espresso machine for home and also put in with a group of collegues to buy one for work. I would have one coffee on the way to work and then have another one at lunch time. At no time in my coffee drinking did I ever suffer from an inability to sleep or feel anything like the buzz others described after they finished their coffee.

Then Bjorn challenged me to go without my coffee.

At first I was reluctant but I gave it a go. Now, here is where Bjorn's experince and mine differ. I stoped drinking coffee for 14 days straight. I experienced no withdrawal symptons at all. No headaches, no mood swings, no improved sleep (in fact sleep got worse but there may have been other mitigating factors for that). Basically there was no noticeable affect. Did my performance improve? Well during my coffee free period I certainly made performance gains, but I was already making gains from cleaning up my food intake. How much of a role did coffee play? I missed the taste of coffee, but I didn't crave it. I could comfortably sit with others while they had a coffee and was never tempted to get one myself.

I analysed all of this and decided that there was only one thing I could do to see if coffee really affected me. I decided to have a coffee. Now there was some logic to this. I had spoken with others who had given up coffee for a period of time and they told me that their first coffee back nearly blew their head off. They got a massive caffeine hit. Surely I would experience this too.

I fired up my espresso machine and got to work putting the coffee into the little handle thing (that is the technical term). I thought about some cocaine addicts I have known who always talked about the theatre of cutting up the coke and rolling up the note. Of the enjoyment they took in the preparation for the hit. Was that what I was feeling as I prepared to turn on my machine, or were the butterflys in my stomach more from a fear that Bjorn was going to jump out from behind my fridge and demand to know what I was doing to myself. I made my coffee and then hopped into my car for the drive to work.

I took my first sip. The taste was delicious. But no great rush of caffeine. As I slowly continued to sip away at my coffee, I kept waiting for the almighty rush that must be coming. Then all of a sudden I was at the end of my cup and .....NOTHING. No rush, no shakes, no wired eyes. Nothing. I felt absolutely no different. I had another coffee later in the day (4:30pm) and still nothing. That night I slept like a baby.

And that's where I sit today. I am back on the coffee. Drinking it purely for the taste as it appears I get nothing out of it. But here is where I have a problem. I can already hear all of you coffee lovers screaming,

"See, there is nothing wrong with coffee!".

But that is not the point of this post. I went into detail about my history with coffee so you could see that I have never been a responder to caffeine. Perhaps I am lucky to be that 1 in 100 that is a non responder. I drink my coffee simply because I like the taste. But I have conducted an experiment to see that for myself. I have gone without coffee for a reasonable period of time so I can be sure of my body's response. You don't get to say you're just like me unless you to are willing to test this for yourself. You can't be critical of Bjorn and agree with me unless you can provide me with evidence. If, like me, you want Bjorn to be wrong, prove it in the only way possible. Give up coffee and see how you look feel and perform. Only then can you make a sound judgement. The bad news is, the statistics say your experience is probably going to be closer to Bjorn's than it is to mine. Don't believe them? Prove them wrong.

Post thoughts to comments:

PS: I have been thinking long and hard about a way of truly testing coffee's affect on my performance. I plan to give up coffee again when my body has totally adapted to my diet. In that way I will have a greater ability to recognise if the changes in performance are due to diet or coffee consumption.

The Coffee problem! By Bjorn

You may remember that Bjorn challenged me to give up coffee. He said that coffee has detrimental effects on people's health. I asked him to write a blog post explaining his take on the coffee problem and here it is.


(Note: Bjorn sent this to me as a word document. I have had all sorts of trouble with the formatting and trying to get the post up. As such some pieces of Bjorn's original post have been left out. These pieces included a wonderful picture of Bjorn's Oma (Grandmother), and a mind map/flowchart that Bjorn made as a support to his information. If you would like a copy of the flowchart, email me and I will email you this post in word format. I don't feel that I have weakened Bjorn's post in any way by leaving these pieces out and I'm sure you'll agree his post makes for interesting reading.)
 
From Bjorn.....

Coffee….Why-Oh-Why Can’t We Just Be Friends?

I intended on writing a long-winded, ‘science based’ document heavy with references, waying up the pros and cons of the xanthine alkaloid ‘caffeine’ found in coffee beans, and other plant sources. I thought I would summarise the biochemistry of caffeine and its impact on the human body in one concise document to assist the reader in putting together an educated decision, potentially answering the question as to whether or not coffee was for them, once and for all. But for that info you could just click here, or here. Instead of referencing studies on caffeinated beverages such as coffee and green tea (which are generally rubbish due to big-bucks and business getting in the way) I decided to write a piece on my personal and clinical experience with the delicious beverage.

I should say from the outset I LOVE COFFEE! She’s like a seductive succubus that comes and goes from my life. Every time she arrives, I fall madly in love. Then, when the party’s over, I want more. And if I don’t get her, I get withdrawals in the form of headaches and apathy. I also have a strong childhood connection to happy times spent with my European family enjoying coffee and cake in the afternoon. Oh the memories…

But enough about me….

As we know in this forum, the best way to gauge your health is to pay attention as to how you Look, Feel and Perform. “But!?” you say, “when I’m drink coffee, I don’t look much different”. Unless I haven’t had my daily coffee, in which case I look tired and grumpy, and what the hell are you looking at anyway!?. “I don’t feel any different!?”. Unless I haven’t had my morning coffee. Then I feel like crap – I’ll have a double ristretto thanks. “I don’t perform any different”. Unless I haven’t had my coffee, in which case I really couldn’t be bothered performing at all!….Hang on a second….this sounds like some kind of dependence….doesn’t it?

I don’t care what anyone says, coffee is damn addictive, and I believe giving it up is harder than other habits for a number of reasons.

1. It tastes and smells great (Cigarettes do not. Yet coffee and a ciggie – a delight).

2. It’s more than just socially acceptable. It’s a means of being social (“we should catch up, grab a coffee!?”)

3. It integrates itself into our daily routine nicely. (The term ‘smoko’ really is a cover for that mid-morning/afternoon coffee hit to get through that hypoglycaemic episode of the day. Nobody actually smokes anymore!? Its coffee and facebook now isn’t it?).

4. It has fairly subtle but unpleasant withdrawals. (You feel tired, foggy-headed and incomplete. Grumpiness and headaches are so easily relieved by that hot, invigorating, socially acceptable, tasty beverage).

In my clinical and personal experience, albeit limited, I have noticed people who consume coffee daily, or who have an addiction, whether its drugs, medications, tabacco, or refined carbohydrates - 

- are more tired and irritable when they haven’t had their ‘hit’

- tend to have higher levels of anxiety and stress, especially if they already have a psychological condition.

- have altered behaviour such as impatience and intolerance. I call it “Road-Ragey”. (This Behaviour video posted in an earlier blog describes this phenomenon in relation to hypoglycaemia).

- have a greater propensity towards skin issues (psoriasis, eczema, hormonal acne etc).

- have trouble reaching body composition goals (unless your Kate Moss. in which case stick with the champagne, cocaine, caffeine and nicotine).

On a kind of funny-not-so-funny side note. There are many tribes around the world that coffee is an integral part of their culture. For example, the tribes of the Omo valley (Suri, Mursi, Nyangatom etc) in Ethiopia love a good cuppa. They also live on sorghum, beer from sorghum, milk and blood from cattle, with meat generally saved for special occasions. These tribes all appear to be happy and healthy as long as draught hasn’t led to famine. They live very different lives to us. Not to say they are stress free, but their stresses are more physical in nature, and can be exerted physically as opposed to behind a computer writing lengthy blogs making them sick (cough, cough – just kidding). The other thing you may note about these tribes is that they are all constantly at war with one another. They love to fight. They are (without being too blasé) always trying to kill each other….. Too much coffee and grains perhaps??

Bjorn had a really great mind map inserted here. However, due to formatting issues I was not able to copy and paste it. Leaving it out has not changed the gist of the post.

Whether its increased stress hormones, hypoglyceamia, reduced sleep, increased inflammation, or altered behaviour, coffee seems to act as a spanner in the metabolic-works. I have especially noticed this in cases of people shifting from the traditional refined-carb diet, to the more wholesome Paleo type diet while still drinking coffee. People seem to ‘fall-off-the-wagon’ more easily and their goals are never quiet reached. Remove that coffee from their monkey-like-grip and results start to unfold.

So I know what the daily coffee does to me, and a lot of my clients. But of course there are the 1 in 100 who don’t seem to be affected by the substance like the majority do. Perhaps this is their genotype? And then there are those who desperately want to be a part of that unaffected minority, and ignore all the signs of dependence. Not surprisingly they offer the same excuses I hear when trying to get someone to give up the refined carbs. If you are one of the lucky few who can take it or leave it with no immediate change in health. Or you just enjoy the flavour. Why not leave it? 

 Don’t get me wrong…I love coffee. And some people may be happy with there ritual coffee. But for me whether or not there are negative, physical side effects acute or chronic, my concerns are coffee’s impact on life in the long run. Why not keep coffee as a special treat, like alcohol and birthday cakes. Consider what relying on any substance (whole-foods, water, love and oxygen excluded) will do to the course of your life on a more esoteric level. A splash of anxiety, mixed with a drizzle of grumpiness and irritability makes for a concoction destined for crappy decision making. Like all drugs it becomes a problem when we rely on it, we get use to it, or desensitised. And slowly but surely one cup every now and then turns to one-a-day without fail, then two. And now you’re hunting it down, in strange back alleys looking for the finest brew. If you can’t get on with the day without it… sounds like a life-hampering drug addiction to me.

Tips for getting off the drugs….coffee that is –

- replace it with a green or herbal tea. (Yes there is still caffeine in Green Tea, but its different)

- incorporate some cacoa nibs in with your nuts/berries

- get an early morning workout in before the headaches come on

- take a paracetamol ( I normally would never recommend taking medictions. But if taking it once to stop the headaches on day one will get you off the drugs, the longterm benefits are better.)

So if you’re doing a 30 day challenge. Go the whole 9 yards for real and get off the drugs too. 

I will post a reply to this piece in the next couple of days. You can post your thoughts to comments.

The Kitavan Study

It's a double post day today as I will be away all wekend and won't be able to post. I hope you enjoy.

I recieved a great question from Clemells the other day:

 

Hi Zane just wondering if you or Bjorn had any comments about the Kitavan people of New Guinea. They are apparently lean& disease free, yet eat a diet of 70% CHO.

 

For those of you who have never heard of the Kitavan Study check it out here.

 

I love the Kitava Study because it is one of the many studies that really supports eating a Paleolithic Diet. The study was conducted by Steffaan Lindberg, and compares the Kitavan Diet and Medical issues with those of his native Sweden. A summary of the diference in diet can be found here:

 

The residents of Kitava lived exclusively on root vegetables (yam, sweet potato, taro, tapioca), fruit (banana, papaya, pineapple, mango, guava, water melon, pumpkin), vegetables, fish and coconuts [27-29]. Less than 0.2% of the caloric intake came from Western food, such as edible fats, dairy products, sugar, cereals, and alcohol, compared with roughly 75% in Sweden [30]. The intake of vitamins, minerals and soluble fibre was therefore very high, while the total fat consumption was low, about 20 E% [28], as was the intake of salt (40-50 mmol Na/10 MJ compared with 100-250 in Sweden). Due to the high level of coconut consumption, saturated fat made up an equally large portion of the overall caloric intake as is the case in Sweden. However, lauric acid was the dominant dietary saturated fatty acid as opposed to palmitic acid in Sweden. Malnutrition and famine did not seem to occur.

As you can see the Kitavan diet consisted of wild seasonal fruits and vegetables, wild caught fish, and healthy saturated fats. This is exactly the prescription that I would advocate all followers of the paleo diet eat. Sure their level of Carbohydrate consumption is high, but these are a native people who have lived in the same area for ever. They have been eating the same diet for hundreds of thousands of years and are therefore genetically adapted to eating that level of carbohydrate.

Some of the most interesting things I took from the study are:

• Despite a fair number of older residents, none of whom showed signs of dementia or poor memory, the only cases of sudden death the residents could recall were accidents such as drowning or falling from a coconut tree... 
• The main results of the Kitava study, that there is no ischaemic heart disease (and no stroke, see Chapter 4.2), are unanimously confirmed by medical experts with knowledge of the Trobriand Islands or other parts of Melanesia. Likewise, Jüptner noted no cases of angina pectoris, myocardial infarction or sudden death during his 5 years as a provincial doctor on the islands at the beginning of the 1960s, when the population was roughly 12,000. (Jüptner H, unpublished data)... 
• No indications of stroke, diabetes, dementia or congestive heart failure
• No overweight
• Excellent blood pressure
• No acne
• The elderly residents of Kitava generally remain quite active up until the very end, when they begin to suffer fatigue for a few days and then die from what appears to be an infection or some type of rapid degeneration. Although this is seen in western societies, it is relatively rare in elderly vital people. The quality of life among the oldest residents thus appeared to be good in the Trobriand Islands.
• Less than 0.2% of the caloric intake came from Western food, such as edible fats, dairy products, sugar, cereals, and alcohol, compared with roughly 75% in Sweden [30].

So, from the results of this study we can assume that if we avoid the standard diet of grains, legumes, dairy; Stay active and keep moving in later life; and eat a diet that is consistent with our traditional diet then we can expect to avoid heart disease, stroke, diabetes, dementia, high blood pressure and acne, stay lean and have a high quality of life.

Sounds OK to me.

Thoughts to comments.