Ask the Experts: Ben Greenfield on post-holiday season nutrition and performance
15 January 2009Question: I notice that after eating a lot of junk over the holidays, my body just doesn’t seem to be performing up to par during my workouts. Is this just the extra weight, or is there more happening?
Answer: There can be quite a bit more damage than just weight gain when you’ve engaged in a continuous habit of poor eating. And by poor eating, I would include high processed sugar consumption, eating out of packages, cans and containers, not getting enough vegetables, and consuming foods to which your body may be potentially allergic.
One serious contributor to chronic fatigue and poor performance is the presence of fungal infection within the digestive tract. One particular culprit is Candida albicans, a yeast that appears everywhere on the planet, but can grow out of control within your body if you consume repeated series of antibiotics, live in a rainy climate, have an immune system infection, eat a high carbohydrate diet, or lack certain key minerals. As Candida grows, it forms holes in your small intestines, allowing toxins and other undigested debris to end up in your bloodstream and make you feel sluggish.
Your risk is certainly higher in the cold winter, with consumption of junk food, combined with colds and flus and the presence of antibiotics. So what can you do?
1. Eliminate foods that help yeast to grow in your digestive tract. This would include sugars and artificial sweeteners, alcoholic drinks, baked goods, processed meats, dairy products and excessive fruits. It will also be helpful to reduce carbohydrate consumption to no more than 50% of overall dietary intake.
2. Begin taking probiotics, which can help with the growth of good bacteria in your stomach, potentially suppressing the damaging bacteria.
3. Begin taking oil of oregano, a natural antibiotic. As a matter of fact, my father has done some very interesting studies on this potent germ killer than I will be discussing in upcoming podcasts at http:/www.bengreenfieldfitness.com.
4. Increase vitamin and mineral consumption by including large amounts of green vegetables, nuts, seafood, eggs, and plant-based fats like avocados.
The body is a complex piece of machinery, and sometimes we neglect to care for the interior. When that happens, external performance can lack! To take care of a car, you must do more than just add premium gas and drive carefully. You have to change the oil and clean the engine too!
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About the expert:
Ben Greenfield is recognized as one of the top fitness, triathlon, nutrition and metabolism experts in the nation. In 2008, he was voted as the Personal Trainer of the Year by the National Strength and Conditioning Association, an internationally recognized and respected certifying agency. Ben is Director of Sports Performance and oversees the physiology and biomechanics laboratory at Champions Sports Medicine in Spokane, WA, which offers metabolic-based weight loss, bicycle fitting, running gait analysis, swim stroke analysis, VO2 max testing, blood lactate testing, resting metabolic rate analysis, and other cutting-edge procedures for weight loss and performance.
Ben hosts the highly popular fitness, nutrition and wellness website at www.bengreenfieldfitness.com, which features blogs, podcasts, and product reviews from Ben. In addition to coaching and training for weight loss and sports performance at http://www.pacificfit.net, Ben serves as a business and marketing consultant to fitness professionals, and is the host of a weekly syndicated fitness business blog and podcast at http://www.trainfortopdollar.com. E-mail: ben@bengreenfieldfitness.com
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