Does the Results and Recovery Formula work?
At the end of each P90X or Insanity Workout, you'll see either Tony Horton or Shaun T tell you to drink your Recovery Formula, and then they'll grin and take a swig from their glass of exactly that. 'Results and Recovery' formula sounds pretty good, but what does it do, exactly, and why should you drink it? Is it meant to just hydrate you, or is it some fancy kind of protein shake, or what? Should you invest in this drink, or give it a pass? Well, today we're going to look into the science behind this drink, and give you the low down. So read on!
When it comes to post-exercise habits, sports nutrition is concerned with various things: glycogen replenishment, enhancing your body's recovery and adaption to your training, and re-hydration. If you take a look at any supermarket shelf, you'll see scores of energy drinks, recovery drinks, and sports drinks, each more fantastically colored then the next, and all of them promising to turn you into the next athletic superstar if you just drink them. Which is best? Is classic water better, or milk, or do Powerade and Gatorade really hold the secret to optimal re-hydration?
Steak is a national pastime. From the established and renowned steak houses of NYC to the backyard bbq's across the country, from restaurants that serve steak strips on salads to the Tex-Mex fajitas that serve them in tortillas, steak is consumed everywhere. However, of late much has been said of studies linking the high consumption of red meat to the development of cancer, leaving people in the lurch--should they continue to consume steaks? Given the maxim 'everything in moderation', perhaps we should consume less steak, but of higher quality. But how to know what to look for? Price isn't a sufficient indicator, nor is the fact that it's served in a fancy steak house. Read on to learn what to ask for, and how to tell if what you're putting inside you is the perfect steak, or some expensive imitation rip-off.
The consumption of fats has been a controversial topic ever since the American Heart Association linked it to heart disease in the 1950’s. At first all fats were condemned, and then only saturated fat, and today we have a host of different guidelines, ranging for urgings to consume healthy omega-3’s to the avoidance of all red meats. One of the most popular oils and sources of fat are polyunsaturated fats, which can naturally be found in nuts, seeds, fish, algae, leafy greens and krill. However, by the far the greatest source of PUFA’s in most American diets come from vegetable oils such as canola and sunflower oil. People consume these oils in great quantities—but is this a good idea?
In 1977, a series of tariffs and quotas imposed by the United States on the importation of cane sugar caused sugar prices to rise and US producers to seek another source of sweetener. Simultaneously, farm subsidies sponsored by the US Government ensured that the price of corn dropped, resulting in a huge incentive for those same producers to use high-fructose corn syrup, an artificially derived product that was vastly cheaper than table sugar. Coincidentally, obesity rates began to rise precipitously over the course of the last three decades, with about 59 million Americans now reportedly obese, which is classified as 30lbs or more over their healthy weight. Statistics show that if this trend continues, 2 in 5 Americans will be obese within the next five years.
Why is everybody so excited about Super Greens? What are Super Greens, and just why are they so super? If you're like me, you've probably occasionally strayed into the supplement aisle (aisles) of a Whole Foods store or the like, and seen endless bottles and boxes and tubs of all sorts of enigmatic and obscure supplements. A whole bunch of them fall under the 'Super Greens' label, and include such suspicious sounding substances like 'Spirulina' or 'Chlorella'. Green powders, basically, and people claim they can work miracles. Others sound pretty mundane, like 'Wheat Grass' or 'Wild Barley', and are common additives to smoothies and shakes. So why are they so popular with people who seem to be in the know?
America is a nation of beef eaters. From massive burgers oozing fat over our fingers to thick ribeye steaks lying heavy on the plate to meatballs to hotdogs to Bolognese sauces to beef stir fries, we eat beef in all its flavorful, near infinite variations. Entire restaurant chains are dedicated to beef, from Ruth Chris to Morton’s Steakhouse, to the best restaurants in NYC such as Del Frisco’s or Peter Luger’s. Cowboys are an iconic American image, as is the independent rancher watching his herds out West, eyes always on the horizon. Beef is an American pastime, lover affair and obsession. However, nothing we have comes close to the fanaticism that the Japanese approach their Kobe beef with. What is Kobe beef, why is it so expensive, and is it worth the price?
You know the drill. As soon as you start to sneeze and feel congested, as soon as you start to feel run down and tired, everybody tells you to start taking Vitamin C. Some people talk of it as a miracle cure, as if a few tablets will immediately reverse the cold, stop it dead in its tracks, and so off everybody goes to the store to buy supplements.
Tea time is not only a delightful and civilized ceremony (ask anybody from England, India, China, Japan or any other number of places) but a way to keep your teeth health, prevent dental caries, perhaps aid in weight loss, prevent cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis. So set that Coke aside, brew yourself a pot, and kick back and enjoy yourself a cuppa!
Here at Extreme Fitness Results we're dedicated to living as healthy a life style as possible. That involves eating well, exercising, and getting our sleep (surprisingly tricky). Given how hard it can be to find healthy, nutritious food, we decided to turn the backyard behind our office into a vegetable garden, and after some discussion, got to work digging and planting. It's surprising how rewarding and satisfying it can be to dig your hands into the dirt and tear up roots and weeds, how good it can feel to just plop seeds into little holes you've shaped with your fingers. The brains behind the operation was Esteban Bressan, our CEO and a man with 8 years of experience as a professional agronomist out in California, where he worked with organic foods and oversaw industrial sized projects. So, after we'd washed the dirt from our hands and had a glass of water, I sat down with him to ask a couple of basic questions.