If you were to read the nutrition labels of most processed food products, you might find that refined carbohydrates top the ingredients list more often than not. The problem is, refined carbohydrates, such as pasta, rice and bread made from refined grains, provide little to no nutritional value. In fact, consuming too many refined carbohydrates has been shown in studies to cause obesity, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol and diabetes. Perhaps a more accurate nutrition label should include a warning: overconsumption of this product may cause multiple health problems.
Fortunately, you have a choice. You can say “no” to the countless nutrition-less “food-like” products and instead choose whole-food energy sources and high quality supplements.
“Whole foods … provide critical nutrients whereas refined grains are not only void of nutrients, they set your blood sugar on a roller coaster ride. High quality supplements are important in order to fill the nutritional gap … ” according to Lori Shemek, PhD, CNC and author of Fire Up Your Fat Burn.
Programmed for Survival
Humans are not biologically hardwired to deal with refined carbohydrates. We are however, perfectly designed to digest and extract nutrients from whole-food energy sources, such as whole grains, fruits and vegetables.
“We have been genetically programmed to consume whole foods because whole foods deliver micronutrients that are critical for keeping the body alive and healthy with sustained energy,” says Shemek. “Evolution has hardwired us for survival … storing energy … our body breaks down food into glucose then … stores whatever is not immediately burned as fat.
“In the case of chronic sugar consumption … the body doesn’t recognize insulin,” according to Shemek. “The sugar keeps circulating resulting in insulin resistance and inflammation, the core cause of most disease, illness, weight gain and faster aging. However, when we eat whole foods there is a gradual release of glucose due to the fiber and micronutrient compounds. Eating whole foods helps to minimize inflammatory health issues,” says Shemek.
Nutrients Lost
Probably the greatest health issue facing modern humans is obesity. More people are overweight than ever before as the consumption of increasingly common processed foods continues to grow. According to the Centers for Disease Control, more than one-third of U.S. adults are obese, the highest percentage in our history.
So how did this get started; why is this happening? A large contributor to the problem is our gradual and continuing shift from whole grains to refined flour. “Humans have been refining grains since at least the Industrial Revolution, favoring white flour and white rice even at the price of lost nutrients,” according to Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Foods. “Refining grains extends their shelf life (precisely because it renders them less nutritious to pests) and makes them easier to digest, by removing the fiber that ordinarily slows the release of their sugars.”
The fiber that would otherwise slow sugar absorption is destroyed as a byproduct of food processing. For example refining corn into sweetener makes it instantly digestible. High fructose corn syrup effectively becomes glucose, predigested food, how stomach turning is that? Eating bread made with refined flour or drinking a cola is just a small step away from injecting glucose straight into your blood stream .
Dangerous Duo
Two major contributors to our health woes are pretty clear: flour and sugar. There is no point in arguing the difference between high fructose corn syrup and sucrose, commonly known as table sugar. “They’re equally bad; they’re both poison in high doses,” says Robert Lustig, MD, a University of California, San Francisco pediatric neuroendocrinologist and the author of Fat Chance says. “Sugar both drives fat storage and makes the brain think it’s hungry, setting up a vicious cycle.”
Lustig believes that calorie for calorie, sugar causes more insulin resistance in the liver than other foods. Consuming sugar elevates blood glucose levels then the pancreas has to release more insulin to satisfy the liver’s needs. The researcher predicts that heart disease and other health problems will continue to grow in the future as long as the continued shift towards eating more refined flour and sugar-laden foods continues.
What To Do
The solution is simple; eat less refined carbohydrates, eat more whole-food sources of carbohydrates. “A vast number of diseases and lifestyle issues can be reversed with the elimination of refined carbohydrates,” Shemek says. “Conversely, whole foods enable us to tap into our true genetic potential.” As an athlete, isn’t this what it’s all about, unlocking one hundred percent of your potential?
If your workout objective is maximizing your athletic potential, you want to be sure that you’re getting all the nutrition your body requires. Optimal nutrition purely through whole-food sources sounds great however in practice, it is just not realistic. Not only do our busy schedules limit time for food preparation, as an athlete you require additional nutrition above and beyond what can be derived from a whole-foods only nutrition plan. Even if you had the time to prepare all your meals entirely from whole foods it’s not possible to get adequate quantities of certain micronutrients like creatine, glutamine and BCAAs to name a few.
Do you ever have a need for simple carbohydrates? Yes you certainly do, as an immediately accessible energy source before and during workouts as well as replenishing your muscle cells post working out. Supplement form carbohydrates boost performance if timed correctly. Max Muscle products like Max ACM and Carbo Max provide the fuel you need to optimize your training as well as other valuable nutrients that feed your muscles during the stress of exercise. Want to know when and what to eat including what supplements will elevate your training to the next level? Stop by your local Max Muscle store and speak with a certified nutrition coach. They can personalize a plan that’s right for you.
Professional trainer and Max Muscle Walnut Creek, CA franchisee Ken Tali, says, “You need a strong foundation to build a house. So if you’re going to train at one hundred percent, you need to recover to build that strong foundation. I personally use and recommend to all my clients, essential vitamins and minerals, glutamine, fish oil, BCAAs and protein supplementation. No matter what the sport, MMA, BJJ, cross fit, body building, triathlon or running, supplementing with high quality Max Muscle products is an essential part of anybody’s nutrition plan.”
If you haven’t already, get off the refined carbohydrate junk food roller coaster. Instead, build your nutrition plan with whole-food energy sources and high quality Max Muscle supplements.
Refined Sugar vs. Quality Supplements
White sugar and refined flour go through a refining process that strips the grain of its fiber and nutritional value. By contrast, Max Muscle adds whole-food based bioavailable nutrients to their high quality energy, recovery and meal replacement supplements. Instead of eating refined carbohydrate-laden junk foods and snacks, fuel your body with the following Max Muscle supplements. It’s the serious athlete’s intelligent choice.
Energy Drinks vs. Emerge
"Emerge is our premier weight-loss and/or pre-workout energizer,” reports Matt Cooper, a Certified Fitness Nutrition Coach at Max Muscle Marin. “For any of my clients who are overspending on caffeinated beverages, Emerge provides a cost-effective solution with natural ingredients that avoids the acidity and potentially-harmful ingredients of energy drinks, not to mention loads of added sugar.”
Dollar Menu Fast Food vs. Max Lean/Max Gourmet
"Processed meat, buns, cheese and vegetables? The price may seem right, but for ingredients that do no good for your body (unless you want to gain fat), even $1 is too expensive!” says Cooper. “Instead of stopping at the drive-thru, why not use a Max Muscle meal replacement? Whole foods are great but not always practical or available. As a nutritious meal substitute or even in between meals, why not use a lean, clean meal replacement? High protein, vitamin-fortified, inspected for quality and purity with nutrients that resemble a whole meal more closely than pure protein shakes."
Canned Vegetables vs. Green Synergy
"Obviously, eating fresh greens is optimal,” says Cooper, but, unfortunately this is not always an option. Instead of reverting to canned or “snack-pack” vegetables when on the go, or at work, reach for a scoop of Max Green Synergy for a natural boost of fruits and greens containing a multitude of antioxidants.
JD Griffin
NPC Men’s Physique Competitor
Fortunately, you have a choice. You can say “no” to the countless nutrition-less “food-like” products and instead choose whole-food energy sources and high quality supplements.
“Whole foods … provide critical nutrients whereas refined grains are not only void of nutrients, they set your blood sugar on a roller coaster ride. High quality supplements are important in order to fill the nutritional gap … ” according to Lori Shemek, PhD, CNC and author of Fire Up Your Fat Burn.
Programmed for Survival
Humans are not biologically hardwired to deal with refined carbohydrates. We are however, perfectly designed to digest and extract nutrients from whole-food energy sources, such as whole grains, fruits and vegetables.
“We have been genetically programmed to consume whole foods because whole foods deliver micronutrients that are critical for keeping the body alive and healthy with sustained energy,” says Shemek. “Evolution has hardwired us for survival … storing energy … our body breaks down food into glucose then … stores whatever is not immediately burned as fat.
“In the case of chronic sugar consumption … the body doesn’t recognize insulin,” according to Shemek. “The sugar keeps circulating resulting in insulin resistance and inflammation, the core cause of most disease, illness, weight gain and faster aging. However, when we eat whole foods there is a gradual release of glucose due to the fiber and micronutrient compounds. Eating whole foods helps to minimize inflammatory health issues,” says Shemek.
Nutrients Lost
Probably the greatest health issue facing modern humans is obesity. More people are overweight than ever before as the consumption of increasingly common processed foods continues to grow. According to the Centers for Disease Control, more than one-third of U.S. adults are obese, the highest percentage in our history.
So how did this get started; why is this happening? A large contributor to the problem is our gradual and continuing shift from whole grains to refined flour. “Humans have been refining grains since at least the Industrial Revolution, favoring white flour and white rice even at the price of lost nutrients,” according to Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Foods. “Refining grains extends their shelf life (precisely because it renders them less nutritious to pests) and makes them easier to digest, by removing the fiber that ordinarily slows the release of their sugars.”
The fiber that would otherwise slow sugar absorption is destroyed as a byproduct of food processing. For example refining corn into sweetener makes it instantly digestible. High fructose corn syrup effectively becomes glucose, predigested food, how stomach turning is that? Eating bread made with refined flour or drinking a cola is just a small step away from injecting glucose straight into your blood stream .
Dangerous Duo
Two major contributors to our health woes are pretty clear: flour and sugar. There is no point in arguing the difference between high fructose corn syrup and sucrose, commonly known as table sugar. “They’re equally bad; they’re both poison in high doses,” says Robert Lustig, MD, a University of California, San Francisco pediatric neuroendocrinologist and the author of Fat Chance says. “Sugar both drives fat storage and makes the brain think it’s hungry, setting up a vicious cycle.”
Lustig believes that calorie for calorie, sugar causes more insulin resistance in the liver than other foods. Consuming sugar elevates blood glucose levels then the pancreas has to release more insulin to satisfy the liver’s needs. The researcher predicts that heart disease and other health problems will continue to grow in the future as long as the continued shift towards eating more refined flour and sugar-laden foods continues.
What To Do
The solution is simple; eat less refined carbohydrates, eat more whole-food sources of carbohydrates. “A vast number of diseases and lifestyle issues can be reversed with the elimination of refined carbohydrates,” Shemek says. “Conversely, whole foods enable us to tap into our true genetic potential.” As an athlete, isn’t this what it’s all about, unlocking one hundred percent of your potential?
If your workout objective is maximizing your athletic potential, you want to be sure that you’re getting all the nutrition your body requires. Optimal nutrition purely through whole-food sources sounds great however in practice, it is just not realistic. Not only do our busy schedules limit time for food preparation, as an athlete you require additional nutrition above and beyond what can be derived from a whole-foods only nutrition plan. Even if you had the time to prepare all your meals entirely from whole foods it’s not possible to get adequate quantities of certain micronutrients like creatine, glutamine and BCAAs to name a few.
Do you ever have a need for simple carbohydrates? Yes you certainly do, as an immediately accessible energy source before and during workouts as well as replenishing your muscle cells post working out. Supplement form carbohydrates boost performance if timed correctly. Max Muscle products like Max ACM and Carbo Max provide the fuel you need to optimize your training as well as other valuable nutrients that feed your muscles during the stress of exercise. Want to know when and what to eat including what supplements will elevate your training to the next level? Stop by your local Max Muscle store and speak with a certified nutrition coach. They can personalize a plan that’s right for you.
Professional trainer and Max Muscle Walnut Creek, CA franchisee Ken Tali, says, “You need a strong foundation to build a house. So if you’re going to train at one hundred percent, you need to recover to build that strong foundation. I personally use and recommend to all my clients, essential vitamins and minerals, glutamine, fish oil, BCAAs and protein supplementation. No matter what the sport, MMA, BJJ, cross fit, body building, triathlon or running, supplementing with high quality Max Muscle products is an essential part of anybody’s nutrition plan.”
If you haven’t already, get off the refined carbohydrate junk food roller coaster. Instead, build your nutrition plan with whole-food energy sources and high quality Max Muscle supplements.
Refined Sugar vs. Quality Supplements
White sugar and refined flour go through a refining process that strips the grain of its fiber and nutritional value. By contrast, Max Muscle adds whole-food based bioavailable nutrients to their high quality energy, recovery and meal replacement supplements. Instead of eating refined carbohydrate-laden junk foods and snacks, fuel your body with the following Max Muscle supplements. It’s the serious athlete’s intelligent choice.
Energy Drinks vs. Emerge
"Emerge is our premier weight-loss and/or pre-workout energizer,” reports Matt Cooper, a Certified Fitness Nutrition Coach at Max Muscle Marin. “For any of my clients who are overspending on caffeinated beverages, Emerge provides a cost-effective solution with natural ingredients that avoids the acidity and potentially-harmful ingredients of energy drinks, not to mention loads of added sugar.”
Dollar Menu Fast Food vs. Max Lean/Max Gourmet
"Processed meat, buns, cheese and vegetables? The price may seem right, but for ingredients that do no good for your body (unless you want to gain fat), even $1 is too expensive!” says Cooper. “Instead of stopping at the drive-thru, why not use a Max Muscle meal replacement? Whole foods are great but not always practical or available. As a nutritious meal substitute or even in between meals, why not use a lean, clean meal replacement? High protein, vitamin-fortified, inspected for quality and purity with nutrients that resemble a whole meal more closely than pure protein shakes."
Canned Vegetables vs. Green Synergy
"Obviously, eating fresh greens is optimal,” says Cooper, but, unfortunately this is not always an option. Instead of reverting to canned or “snack-pack” vegetables when on the go, or at work, reach for a scoop of Max Green Synergy for a natural boost of fruits and greens containing a multitude of antioxidants.
JD Griffin
NPC Men’s Physique Competitor
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