A nutritional guide to recovering from a festival by David Stache of S1 Supplements

A nutritional guide to recovering from a festival by David Stache of S1 Supplements

If there was a magi pill we could take that would instantly rid us of the monstrous hangover that precedes a full day and night’s drinking at a festival then I’m sure it would be pretty expensive, I also know I would have invested heavily over the years if such a thing existed! Unfortunately nothing quite so magical exists. However there are nutritional tips, tricks and strategies as well as supplements that you can use which will make the following day more bearable. Here’s your quick guide to making sure recovery is as painless as possible

A hangover is the end result of not only a good night but other physiological factors, here’s a look at the main one’s

Dehydration – the one everyone knows about and probably the most important. Once alcohol enters the bloodstream it stops the pituitary gland from creating vasopressin an anti diuretic hormone which tells your body it’s time to release fluid, resulting in all further liquid going directly to the bladder rather than being absorbed by the body thus leading to dehydration. Studies have shown that 250 millilitres of alcohol cause the body to expel four times as much liquid in waste. This dehydration is what leads to headaches the next day.

Electrolyte loss – as the consumed liquid goes straight to the bladder and your toilet visits become more regular you will literally be flushing electrolytes away, those being key salt and potassium. Ever woke up with muscle cramps the next day too, this is why.

Glycogen loss – stored within the liver and muscles this converted glucose (converted from carbohydrates) is converted back to glucose and sent out of the body in your urine, that not WKD you can smell, it’s your energy stores! This is why you feel fatigued, lack coordination and lack energy the next day.

Toxins – once alcohol is broken down in the liver it leaves behind the toxin acetaldehyde, as this is so toxic the body sends 2 compounds to attack this toxin (think angry doormen ejecting you from a club) known as acetaldehyde dehydrogenase (say that after a few Jaegers!) and glutathione. The problem arises in the fact the liver has only a limited amount of these compounds which leads to a build up of the toxins as you drink more which causes liver damage.

Glutamine loss – glutamine (an amino acid) is inhibited once alcohol enters the bloodstream and once you stop drinking the body tries to make up this loss and it is this which leads to the psychological side effects post alcohol consumption as Glutamine is a natural stimulant and source of energy for the brain and nervous system so the yo yo like effect leads to side effects such as anxiety, restlessness and tremors. This effect is also the reason you will not reach a deep enough sleep, which is vital for recovering.

What about vomiting? Well this effect comes from the stomach producing too much hydrochloric acid which tells the brain the stomach’s not happy, what happens after this a nauseous feeling and usually for most a couple of minutes praying at the porcelain altar.

So there you have the reasons for a hangover but what about the tips and tricks, well here’s my top supplement and nutritional tips to make the hangover a little more bearable

Food wise some people swear by a greasy full English breakfast which is not as crazy as it may first seem, the eggs contain cysteine which breaks down acetaldehyde in the liver’s depleted glutathione, plus you will get the benefits of the high calories resorting energy levels. A much better approach is to not drink on an empty stomach as with no food in the stomach the alcohol hits the bloodstream quicker, so a full English before you go out would be the better option.

To remedy the loss of electrolytes especially potassium then bananas should be your go to food, however a bottle of sports drink will also replenish stores very quickly.

With dehydration being key you simply must consume water to rehydrate the body, a pint of water before you go to bed might be too late and will almost certainly have you up using the toilet in the middle of the night but does help to fight against dehydration once your body has broken the alcohol down so either drink plenty of water between alcoholic drinks which acts to slow down your drinking and limit alcohol consumption or have a glass ready for when you wake up, getting rehydrated as quick as possible is the best way to ease a hangover.

Fruit/orange juice contains fructose and many vitamins and minerals, which were depleted the night before and are very quickly absorbed by the body, so are always a good option, as are quickly absorbed forms of Vitamin B and C.

Most people simply reach for some form of painkillers and wash down with their coffee but that is not an advisable way of dealing with a hangover, for a start coffee is a diuretic which will make you pass more fluid than you are taking on and many of the pain killers will have further effect on the liver, however ibuprofen and aspirin inhibit prostaglandins which are associated with increased hangover severity.

Supplements wise there are 3 which are key, however one which is the most common, that being Milk Thistle is really not needed or of any use to the weekend drinker as it does not work as a quick fix and is therefore best used by those who have long term liver damage.

The second and probably the most acute one is L-Methionine which works by bonding with the alcohol in the liver and producing citric acid thus removing the toxins, if you only give one supplement a try to ease your hangover it should be this one, it’s backed by science and really works, taking 1000-2000mg either towards the end of your night or before bed is the best method, just don’t get caught popping innocent pills in a club!

To complement this Vitamin B6 is a great addition as it acts as a diuretic to flush the leftover toxins from your body.

So the perfect pre-festival (tramlines) plan would look something like this:

Before your head off have a heavy meal containing fats, carbohydrates and some protein. This slows the absorption of alcohol down and also fills your bodies energy stores for the hard days/nights dancing ahead

While out make a conscious effort to drink water, this slows your drinking rate down giving the body time to process the alcohol consumed and deal with it, you’ll still get drunk but the after effects left behind will be dealt with easier.

Take 1000-2000mg of L-Methionine before you go to bed along with 100mg of vitamin B6 and a glass of water; leave a glass of water by the bed for when you wake up too.

First meal of the day have a banana and fruit juice, this replenishes vitamins, minerals and glycogen, follow this when ready with some heart poached eggs on whole meal toast with real butter and a cup of redbush tea (great for rehydrating).

Finally swear never to drink again and moan on Facebook just how your hangover is the worst ever and you require lots of sympathy.

If after reading all of that you still think Hair of the Dog is the best method then crack on and enjoy the further compounded hangover you are merely delaying!

Nobody ever got fat from eating too much fruit

Recently there has been a spate of negativity surrounding fruit, fat loss and obesity with the majority of it being negative, this article especially from the daily mail insinuated that fruit, is in fact 'fuelling the obesity' epidemic. daily mail article i wouldn't bother reading

The studies often cited in such articles are actually discussing fructose syrup which is found in soft drinks and processed foods, which you just have to ask yourself why are you even eating these foods in the first place, cut these foods out and you cut out the dangers of eating too much fructose in it's syrup form. Common sense really.

There's also been a 'hate' campaign against fruit in the performance nutrition field as well as from the physique consultant aspect of the market recently with some of the more vocal twitter guru's insisting fruit should be banned from the diet as you cannot lose fat with fruit in the diet.

One of the key studies cited when discussing fructose in the diet is one which compared 2 groups, one eating a high carb diet with a large portion from fructose and the other group eating a large portion of their carbohydrates from glucose. The fructose group gained predominantly visceral stomach fat (intra-abdominal fat) whereas the glucose group gained mostly subcutaneous fat which is just below the skin and easier to lose. Point of note: Visceral fat is associated with a greater risk of heart disease and diabetes. As well as the fat deposition the study also showed that during exercise when ingesting more fructose in the diet the body burns more carbohydrates initially during training than fat. Then there's the issue of insulin intensity which fructose has been shown to negatively affect. Insulin sensitivity is important as it is a key factor in how efficiently the body deals with carbohydrates.

So how and why does this happen?

Well fructose is processed in the liver and when there's an excess it is converted to fat which is then sent in to the blood stream, elevating blood triglyceride levels and it is this which causes an increase in LDL levels (bad cholesterol) and the decrease in insulin sensitivity, which as outlined above is not a good thing, it's important to note that high visceral fat (again outlined above) is linked to low insulin sensitivity too.

As you can see there is fair evidence to show that fructose specifically can have adverse effects if too much is consumed in an environment where too many calories are also consumed and that if eating it before training it can impair fat oxidisation.

However as with all things nutrition it is very much about context. It has become increasingly obvious to me that my job is simply about matching up the dots within clients diets, ironing out the consistent bad habits and replacing with consistently good dietary habits.

So is eating fruit really a bad habit? Of course it is not but add to the fact that not all fruits have the same nutritional profile and it's hard to understand why some feel a need to class 'all fruits as bad' anyway. It's actually a great habit to be eating a variety of fruit regularly. The problem arises when guru's, quacks and shit newspapers/magazines (i'd rather take advice on inter-racial gay marriage from the daily mail than their health advice) hand out advice based on research they don't really understand and are unable to present the context properly to improve the education of their audience. I will never understand why some people feel a need to speak on matter of which they do not understand, neither will i understand why some magazines and newspapers wish to lower their credibility by publishing sensationalist stories on nutrition, surely they should all be considering their social responsibility, however that's another article in itself.

The very simple fact is that people who are overweight did not get there by eating too much fruit, it is more than likely they got there by not eating enough fruit, simply because if they had eaten more fruit they would have more than likely had a much healthier set of dietary principles all round.

Fruit has many benefits, including being rich in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants; rich in fibre, a quick and easy snack and it can help satisfy any sweet cravings. It also tastes great and is very versatile so i don't know why everyone wouldn't want the variety and benefits from fruits in their diet.

So how should you approach fruit?

If you're overweight and have no intention of changing your diet apart from adding fruit to your diet, then apart from being extremely stupid, don't, obviously as you're just adding more calories, if however you are looking for healthy snacks to replace the cans of fizzy drink, bag of crisps and chocolate bar then yes, choose fruit as a replacement.

If you're looking to get in to single digit body fat and your metabolism is shot due to months of dieting then you're unlikely to be able to cope with fruit and achieve your goal, this is from my experience of working with fitness models and bodybuilders who eliminate carbs as soon as they start a diet for a show/shoot, sometimes months out!

If you're a performance athlete then fruit can easily be accommodated in your diet as it is likely and should be the case that your overall calorific turnover is high anyway. Should you be a performance athlete that has to make weight then you'll have to be conscious of your overall calorie intake and you may wish to choose to limit fruit in your diet in order help you cut the calories.

If however you want to eat a healthy varied diet, high in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants then include fruit in your diet when you fancy it, however if you're changing your diet to lose weight then simply opt for fruits with lower fructose content such as avocado, berries, grapefruit, pineapple, lemons and limes and limit the amount of high fructose fruits which include; bananas, apples, pears, grapes, melons, cherries and prunes. Most other fruits have a moderate fructose content, so only eat a moderate amount. If you simply opt for the lower fructose options for the bulk of your fruit intake you'll never have a problem anyway.

Take home message:
Fruit is not just pure fructose, it is also high in water content and fibre, most fruits per piece will still have a relatively small amount of fructose and carbohydrates, therefore use common sense, fruit is not bad, too much of anything is bad when you're overeating anyway and there are many other foods you should be eliminating from your diet before you vilify fruit.

Here's the research i refer to in this article:  Cox, C., Stanhope, K., et al. Consumption of Fructose-Sweetened Beverages for 10 Weeks Reduces Net Fat Oxidation and Energy Expenditure in Overweight/Obese Men and Women. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. September 2011

Chia Seed dessert

While away on training camp with Kell Brook the diet focus is always on performance food and weight loss, however that doesn't mean it has to be boring and bland. I'm always looking for ways to make the meals interesting and full of flavour and yet keep them within the macronutrient requirements for the day as well as sticking to the key diet principles of lean and clean.

I have over 8000 recipes on my pc, some days i simply sit when i have an hour looking for recipes with key foods and add them to my folders so i always have options and recipes to try out when my diet gets a little boring. When it comes to dieting myself i miss dessert, i have a sweet tooth which i can ignore but i don't feel like i should, therefore i look for healthy alternatives and with this Chia Seed recipe i definitely found one!

Chia Seeds are a great food and very versatile, some of the benefits include:

• high omega 3 content 
• good protein content with19 essential amino acids
• high in fibre
• good source of calcium and iron
• low in carbohydrates

Now the protein and omega 3 content can be debated as the absorption of these may not be great compared to say oily fish for omega 3 or chicken for protein but the important point is they're a seed and their content is a bonus to what is already a very healthy product.

As mentioned they're also very versatile, for this recipe you leave them to soak as the seeds form in to a gelatinous mix.

Chia Seed dessert:

2tbspn chia seeds

1/3 can of coconut milk

1teaspoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon honey

Method:

Add all ingredients into a bowl and mix together, leave in fridge for at least 30 minutes and then split in to 4 servings.

Here's the macro breakdown for 4 servings:

Calories: 352kclas

Protein: 4g

Carbohydrates: 26g

Fat: 27g

I added a tablespoon of blueberry quark too as i needed to use it up, got to say this was a great dessert enjoyed by Kell, Dave Hembrough and myself!

Here's a photo i took of mine!

I will be adding fruit such as blueberries and cherries next time i make this.

As always any thoughts you have on this let me know!

David

Book review - Mike Dolce 'Living Lean'

Book review – The Dolce diet – Living Lean

Mike Dolce is arguably the go to guy when it comes to nutrition and making weight for mma fighters and as I have worked with quite a few mma fighters in prep for their fights I admired how he had positioned himself and his client base. However what put me off buying the book was what I’d read on forums about it, that it was nothing of note and that many of Dolce’s claims in the book about what he’d achieved were actually massively overblown and it was mainly an ego flexing book and not a worthy nutrition book. Still, following Dolce on twitter and Facebook I thought while away on a training camp I’d be able to sit down and give it a good read (it took me a mere 2 hours!) and for only £6.23 on Kindle I chanced it wouldn’t be a great loss and I’d maybe pick a few nuggets of advice I could use or try myself, after all I’d read 3 weeks to shredded and liked some of the principles such as mindfully goal setting and writing goals down to encourage progress, both of which are good tools everyone dieting can utilise to good effect.

First of all it should be made clear that this book is not specifically aimed at fighters at all, if anything it is merely a book for the average person to who needs a nudge in the right direction or needs some fresh diet ideas to kick processed foods out of their diet and just wants to lose weight, nothing wrong with that right? Well it wouldn’t make a good book review if I wasn’t slightly honest about just how I felt about it, would it.

So the book starts with Mike Dolce’s life story, from his childhood and how he was inspired by the magazines featuring arnie, frank zane et al and his family’s poor health to hit the gym. It’s here that the tone is set, Mike Dolce reminds me of the kid who wanted to be liked by everyone, some things may have happened but all stories you take with a rock of salt because nobody is that awesome, but this book is about ‘Living Lean’ right so let’s not dwell on my opinion of the author too much.

The book’s first 6 chapters are all about Dolce, I’ll save you the time of reading them, he’s fricken awesome bro….  as he’d have you believe. As the book gets to the real important bits of educating you on diet and helping you plan meals around your daily activities, the paragraphs and chapters become smaller and the content a little less catchy. All of a sudden it seems Mike Dolce ran out of things to say.

The diet principles Dolce preaches are great though, however they are nothing more than Paleo principles and we all know that cutting out processed foods is a very positive step to losing weight and you must be creative with food if you’re to ‘live lean’ as boredom easily overrides good health in nutrition these days, hence we reach for a high fat/high sugar snack all too often. Eating clean is a huge part of controlling calories BUT Dolce like many others states calories don’t count. This is where it becomes obvious this book is not aimed at anyone competing in sports at all, calories really do count if you’ve got to make a specific weight (that’s for another article though). Switching from eating what is now a standard diet for most people to the principles Dolce instils will help you lose weight, it will make you feel better physically and mentally too because you’ll be taking control back of your diet and eating much better foods. But that’s a no brainer surely, this is nothing new. Stop eating crap and prepare your meals, cook them yourself and eat a wide variety and you will function better than if you ate highly processed foods.

The meal plans outlined in the book are scarce, there’s just the 1. So that’s one meal plan for every person reading it, the same meal plan for those 100lbs overweight and the one’s 10lbs overweight. That ignores so many variables you need to consider when dieting, added to the fact he gives you no inclination on how to manipulate these factors and again it shows the real information needed is a little light. It’s the same with the recipes, although it’s now apparent why this is so as Dolce has released a new book titled ‘Living Lean – Cookbook’ with all of his recipes in them, which you're expected to buy, the recipes however will be easy to find on the many Paleo blogs.

So on to the training section, which is quite comprehensive, however for anyone that trains skip to the dumbbell deadlift photo demonstration for a quick look at what’s in store!

The routine’s look simple enough, there’s reference to an mma HIIT training sessions which must have been thrown in there to add some credibility. It doesn’t though. The training plans are nothing new, easy to follow and will get results to a certain extent as most readers will be sedentary and any sort of training os better than no training, just ask the P90X fans about that. in Living Lean however there’s no overall training plan or advice on how to structure your week. There’s also zero mention of pre or post workout nutrition which I find really odd considering the proven scientific research out there on these hotly debated areas of performance nutrition and Dolce’s positioning in MMA.

So there you have it, my view on Mike Dolce’s Living Lean book. There are some great principles for the average person in there but that’s it, there’s not much you can actually take from the book. Eat healthy non-processed foods and get creative in the kitchen, that’s about it.

The rest is about Mike himself, who obviously likes himself and is proud of what he’s done, maybe if he didn’t choose this path he would be selling second hand cars, that’s the impression I get of him.

I would recommend ‘The Paleo diet for athletes: a nutritional formula for peak athletic performance’ for fighters or athletes who are looking to drop weight and get in shape. This is a much better resource than the dolce diet.

For anyone else looking to eat well based on the same principles as Mike Dolce then look no further than the 1000’s of blogs out there on the Paleo principles of eating.  Rob Wolff would be a great start point.

As always I welcome your comments.

Next up will be The Renegade Diet by Jason Ferruggia 

Know your macros

Know your macros

Here’s a quick article on the key benefits of each macronutrient for your training. Many people get hung up on eliminating certain macronutrients however the reality is they have their place in everyone’s diet, the key thing is to find which ratio suits you and your body type best to assist with your training to achieve your goals.

Protein – the building blocks of muscle, protein from the diet increases protein synthesis within the body and also improves recovery from training. Also worth noting for when dieting is that protein is thermogenic meaning it causes greater fat loss. Increased muscle mass, improving performance and recovery are the key benefits of protein from the diet.

Carbohydrates – the single most affected macro when dieting, to cut or not is usually the question and as outlined this depends on the individual, no one size fits all. The role of carbohydrates is to increase muscle glycogen for energy and also spare dietary and muscle protein from being used as energy so they can be used for their main role as outlined above, after all to create a physique to be proud of you need to let protein do it’s job, carbohydrates allow this to happen optimally.

Fats – the main role of fats in the diet is at cellular level and for energy, again it is protein sparing but is also key for all the hormonal responses created through your training. EFA’S also need to be consumed, as they cannot be synthesized in the body.

Make yourself a winner - As featured in Alpha Fit issue 4

There is nothing particularly different about the kind of nutrition you need to become a super athlete. It’s just a case of having the willpower and following David Stache’s four golden rules.

I am often asked what the differences are between the diets I write for elite athlete clients and those of the average gym user wanting to perform or look better. The truth is the same foods work for both – there are no secret foods that elite athletes are eating, nor are there any supplements they have access to that your average gym user cannot get access to. However there are differences between elite and non-elite that I see too often when it comes to nutrition. Here is an overview of those differences.

1. Consistency is the key
This is the number one difference and without doubt the biggest issue when it comes to diet. Eating consistently well brings results – there is no doubt about that. Sticking to a diet requires willpower, but when that diet brings you results that earn you a living, the willpower struggle diminishes. If your salary depended on eating the right foods and sticking to a diet, I’m sure you would.

2. Understand how food works
Either the athlete or their nutritionist they work with will have a good understanding of why they are eating specific foods, why their meal timings are set out as they are and what the implications are of straying from the diet. I’m not saying you have to have a qualification in nutrition, but an understanding of at least what foods are needed and when will improve your performance. [Keeping up with AlphaFit should be a good way to start if you are not sure – Ed.]

3. Plan, plan, plan
Lack of planning: After consistency this is the biggest issue I see for results not coming quick enough. If you don’t plan your foods out and take the time you will stray from your diet. As a good friend Chris Evers – one of the most committed gym members I have – commented: “The engagement with food and the time and the effort you have to put in has to go up if you are to be the best you can be.” To really be the best you have to live the life in the kitchen too.

4. Don’t forget about micronutrients
So often I see how yoing guys are using a protein powder, creatine and a pre-workout formula but completely ignore micronutrients either from their diet or from supplements. At the very least you should use a multivitamin. Other micronutrients such as zinc and Vitamin D are excellent for both body composition and sports performance, yet these are often ignored too. Contrast this with the elite and they will at the very least be covering all bases either through food or supplementation. I recently ran my own mini-research in to zinc deficiency of 37 males who bought a tub of protein. Some 28 were deficient in zinc, yet only four bought zinc supplements. Begs the question: why did they bother with any supplements?

There’s nothing radical there. All these are just behaviours which elite athletes adhere to and that is what sets them apart in terms of their diet from the average gym user.
So what does it take to be the best? Well, apart from genetics and great skill, the importance of nutrition is not to be underestimated. If you’re not planning out your diet then you won’t ever be the best you can be as you will never see where you could improve. This is integral to constant progress.
So try and implement the above key differences for three months and you will be surprised how much progress you will make.
Follow David on Twitter @totalbd or on his website www.totalbodydevelopment.co.uk.