1 00:00:09,040 --> 00:00:12,280 Hello everyone, and welcome to the Doctors of Running podcast, 2 00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:15,640 where we, a group of doctors of physical therapy, discuss the 3 00:00:15,640 --> 00:00:18,000 art and the science of the stuff we're putting on our feet. 4 00:00:18,560 --> 00:00:21,400 Today we will be discussing over a dozen commonly used 5 00:00:21,400 --> 00:00:23,960 supplements for runners, including looking at what 6 00:00:23,960 --> 00:00:26,760 research has to say about them and how to choose safer 7 00:00:26,760 --> 00:00:29,880 supplement sources. And to discuss that, we have a 8 00:00:29,880 --> 00:00:33,440 really awesome guest here. She was actually on almost three 9 00:00:33,440 --> 00:00:37,160 years ago, which is crazy. So we've got Jen Giles here. 10 00:00:37,160 --> 00:00:39,280 Jen, thank you so much for joining me. 11 00:00:39,280 --> 00:00:41,000 Again, I'm so excited to have you on. 12 00:00:41,280 --> 00:00:43,200 Thank you for having me. Yeah, I love being on the 13 00:00:43,200 --> 00:00:46,200 podcast and I love this topic. Excellent. 14 00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:48,600 Perfect. So just to tell you guys a 15 00:00:48,600 --> 00:00:52,080 little bit about Jen. Jen is a sports dietitian. 16 00:00:52,080 --> 00:00:57,040 She is a speaker, a writer, an exercise physiologist, triathlon 17 00:00:57,040 --> 00:01:01,520 coach, and RCA running coach. She's also an adjunct professor 18 00:01:01,520 --> 00:01:05,319 at Columbia University. She's authored 3 books on sports 19 00:01:05,319 --> 00:01:08,120 nutrition. And is this a faculty member of 20 00:01:08,120 --> 00:01:12,680 My Sports rd.com? Jen's also an athlete, so she 21 00:01:12,680 --> 00:01:16,120 really understands the needs of US runners because she is one 22 00:01:16,120 --> 00:01:18,840 herself. She's a multiple time Iron Man 23 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:21,440 finisher. She's run multiple marathons, 24 00:01:21,440 --> 00:01:25,000 including Boston. She's a three time All American 25 00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:29,240 triathlete, and she represented Team USA at the ITU World 26 00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:31,800 Championship. So Jen, again, you're just like 27 00:01:31,800 --> 00:01:34,440 the perfect person to talk about this topic and I know you're 28 00:01:34,440 --> 00:01:37,880 really passionate about it too. I'm such a geek, but I do. 29 00:01:37,880 --> 00:01:40,040 I eat, breathe and sleep. Sports Nutrition. 30 00:01:41,840 --> 00:01:46,120 So our subjective for today and your guys can leave a comment 31 00:01:46,800 --> 00:01:48,640 below. You can send us an e-mail, 32 00:01:48,640 --> 00:01:52,320 doctorsrunning@gmail.com. But we want to know, have any 33 00:01:52,320 --> 00:01:54,840 dietary supplements made a difference in your running? 34 00:01:55,160 --> 00:01:57,880 So let us know. Excited to hear what you have to 35 00:01:57,880 --> 00:01:59,840 say. But we're going to get right 36 00:01:59,840 --> 00:02:03,320 into the topics here because we've got a lot to talk about. 37 00:02:03,720 --> 00:02:07,480 But first of all, Jen, just in general, when we talk about 38 00:02:07,480 --> 00:02:11,480 dietary supplements, a big difference between supplements 39 00:02:11,480 --> 00:02:13,880 and medications is how they're regulated. 40 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:17,480 So what are the differences there, and how can runners pick 41 00:02:17,480 --> 00:02:20,880 better or safer supplements? Yeah, I think this is such a 42 00:02:20,880 --> 00:02:23,600 great place to start because I feel like a lot of runners just 43 00:02:23,600 --> 00:02:27,040 go to Walgreens or CVS or the grocery store and get 44 00:02:27,040 --> 00:02:28,960 supplements and they they think they're doing the right thing. 45 00:02:28,960 --> 00:02:31,320 But it really is the Wild West out there when it comes to 46 00:02:31,320 --> 00:02:32,920 supplements. Supplements are regulated by the 47 00:02:32,920 --> 00:02:37,040 FDA, which is this is the same way food is regulated. 48 00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:38,240 And we kind of know how that goes. 49 00:02:38,240 --> 00:02:41,760 How many, how many chemicals and artificial sweeteners and 50 00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:44,560 preservatives are in our food, right? 51 00:02:44,560 --> 00:02:46,920 Well, it's the same as supplements and no one's really 52 00:02:46,920 --> 00:02:49,440 checking the way that in my opinion, they should be 53 00:02:49,440 --> 00:02:52,600 checking. So we want to make sure that we 54 00:02:52,600 --> 00:02:55,280 choose smart ones. And the way to do that is make 55 00:02:55,280 --> 00:02:56,840 sure that they're third party tested. 56 00:02:56,840 --> 00:03:00,400 So seriously, a lot like you could actually create a 57 00:03:00,400 --> 00:03:02,880 supplement right now, put something in a little pail, put 58 00:03:02,880 --> 00:03:05,720 it in a nice bottle with a pre label and sell it and eat. 59 00:03:05,720 --> 00:03:08,840 No one's looking to see what you put in there, which is really 60 00:03:08,840 --> 00:03:11,080 scary. But if you are really 61 00:03:11,080 --> 00:03:14,320 responsible supplement manufacturer, you would have 62 00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:20,120 another third party test that supplement to put a a label on 63 00:03:20,120 --> 00:03:23,680 there saying that we tested this and what she says is in there is 64 00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:25,920 actually in there. So we want to look for a third 65 00:03:25,920 --> 00:03:30,840 party tested supplements, always just straight across the board. 66 00:03:30,840 --> 00:03:33,120 Every supplement you take, you want to be third party tested. 67 00:03:33,400 --> 00:03:37,480 And there are two important websites you can go to to make 68 00:03:37,480 --> 00:03:40,360 sure that your supplements are third party tested. 69 00:03:40,360 --> 00:03:45,560 One is NSF, so that's certified safe for sport and the other 70 00:03:45,560 --> 00:03:47,560 one's informed choice. So you could, you could 71 00:03:47,560 --> 00:03:49,560 literally, and I tell a lot of my athletes to do that, take 72 00:03:49,560 --> 00:03:52,080 every supplement out of your cabinet, put them in this 73 00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:53,920 website, make sure it's third party tested. 74 00:03:53,920 --> 00:03:55,800 If it is, keep it. If it's not, throw it away. 75 00:03:55,800 --> 00:03:58,000 That's how important it is because there could be banned 76 00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:00,200 substances in there. There could be heavy metals in 77 00:04:00,200 --> 00:04:02,880 there. There could be nothing in there 78 00:04:03,040 --> 00:04:05,480 that they say is in there. And when we've done random 79 00:04:05,480 --> 00:04:07,600 testing on supplements, we have found that that's actually the 80 00:04:07,600 --> 00:04:09,920 case. Some supplements have very 81 00:04:09,920 --> 00:04:11,560 little of what they say is in there, in there. 82 00:04:11,640 --> 00:04:14,360 So we're A, it's a waste of money, but B, it can be actually 83 00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:16,720 dangerous for your health and definitely for your performance. 84 00:04:17,120 --> 00:04:19,200 Absolutely. And also if you're an athlete 85 00:04:19,200 --> 00:04:23,960 who's very competitive and could be subject to drug testing, your 86 00:04:23,960 --> 00:04:27,400 protein supplement might contain a banned substance and 87 00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:32,960 unfortunately WADA USADA doesn't care if that's how the substance 88 00:04:32,960 --> 00:04:35,480 got into your body or not. A. 100%, yeah. 89 00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:39,480 And even my NCAA athletes, I just make sure that they're very 90 00:04:39,720 --> 00:04:42,040 responsible when it comes to that because I've seen it happen 91 00:04:42,040 --> 00:04:43,920 to athletes. They come up in a drug test and 92 00:04:43,920 --> 00:04:47,840 they have no idea because and it comes down to a they were taking 93 00:04:47,960 --> 00:04:50,080 that they that they just never knew. 94 00:04:50,360 --> 00:04:53,120 And there was something in there that red flagged the the drug 95 00:04:53,120 --> 00:04:54,720 test. So it's scary. 96 00:04:55,040 --> 00:04:57,960 It is scary and we'll throw those two websites in the show 97 00:04:57,960 --> 00:05:01,240 notes so our listeners can take their supplements out of the 98 00:05:01,240 --> 00:05:05,560 cabinet and check them out. Any other risks of taking 99 00:05:05,560 --> 00:05:09,240 dietary supplements as compared to like a medication that your 100 00:05:09,240 --> 00:05:12,600 doctor might have prescribed? Specifically, I'm thinking like 101 00:05:12,600 --> 00:05:15,480 drug interactions. If you're taking medications, 102 00:05:16,040 --> 00:05:20,080 are there some supplements that maybe you should avoid because 103 00:05:20,120 --> 00:05:22,600 of potential interaction? What should people do about 104 00:05:22,600 --> 00:05:23,920 that? Yeah, I think, I mean, 105 00:05:23,920 --> 00:05:26,400 everything is so individualized. So yeah, there's certain ones 106 00:05:26,400 --> 00:05:27,920 like Omega threes. If you're in a blood thinner, 107 00:05:27,920 --> 00:05:29,480 you probably should be taking Omega threes. 108 00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:32,400 There's definitely other supplements that can interact 109 00:05:32,520 --> 00:05:35,480 with either another medication or just a health risk that you 110 00:05:35,480 --> 00:05:37,760 have. So always check with your doctor 111 00:05:37,760 --> 00:05:40,840 and make sure you cross check to make to ensure that whatever 112 00:05:40,840 --> 00:05:44,080 you're taking is OK for your body to be taking. 113 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:46,440 Right. It's so common when I have 114 00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:49,560 patients and, you know, part of a PT evaluation is talking about 115 00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:53,040 medications and they'll say, oh, I don't take any medications, 116 00:05:53,040 --> 00:05:57,600 but I take 20 supplements. And hopefully people aren't 117 00:05:57,600 --> 00:06:00,000 doing that when they go to their doctor where they're just like, 118 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:02,920 oh, I don't take anything. You need to tell your doctor all 119 00:06:02,920 --> 00:06:06,680 the supplements you're taking, and a lot of supplements, like 120 00:06:06,680 --> 00:06:10,320 for example, some magnesium supplements contain some other 121 00:06:10,320 --> 00:06:13,720 substances in them that might interact with a blood thinner or 122 00:06:13,720 --> 00:06:16,280 whatever. So you really should actually 123 00:06:16,280 --> 00:06:19,560 bring your bottles to your doctor's appointment so they can 124 00:06:19,560 --> 00:06:22,480 see everything that's in the supplement you're taking. 125 00:06:22,480 --> 00:06:24,520 Yeah, yeah, for sure. Even just if you don't want to 126 00:06:24,520 --> 00:06:26,720 bring all your bottles, you can just snap pictures of everything 127 00:06:26,960 --> 00:06:29,160 and have them in a file in your notes section on your phone or 128 00:06:29,160 --> 00:06:31,920 something so that you have that information handy when you do go 129 00:06:31,920 --> 00:06:33,440 to your doctor. It's important to keep track of 130 00:06:33,440 --> 00:06:36,480 all of that. So let's move on to some 131 00:06:36,480 --> 00:06:40,240 specific supplements that you know you and I might take. 132 00:06:40,240 --> 00:06:43,640 I certainly get asked asked questions about a lot of these 133 00:06:43,640 --> 00:06:46,080 supplements. So let's start with possibly 134 00:06:46,080 --> 00:06:49,640 everybody's favorite dietary supplement, caffeine. 135 00:06:50,600 --> 00:06:54,120 So can you tell our listeners who don't know, what are the 136 00:06:54,120 --> 00:06:58,520 potential benefits of caffeine? What are the sources besides, 137 00:06:58,800 --> 00:07:01,240 you know, just taking a caffeine supplement and what should 138 00:07:01,240 --> 00:07:05,120 people be on the lookout for? Yeah, so you're right, caffeine 139 00:07:05,120 --> 00:07:09,120 is my favorite supplement. Oh, I also, before I get 140 00:07:09,120 --> 00:07:12,560 started, want to preface this by saying supplements are literally 141 00:07:12,560 --> 00:07:16,000 that they are a supplement to a solid foundational diet. 142 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:18,200 So I'll have a lot of athletes will be like, I'm taking all 143 00:07:18,200 --> 00:07:21,200 these supplements, but you know, I'm eating fast food every day 144 00:07:21,200 --> 00:07:23,520 and I'm eating chips before my workout. 145 00:07:23,520 --> 00:07:26,520 And OK, no, no, no, let's back up and make sure that we're 146 00:07:27,320 --> 00:07:30,200 really starting from a whole food focused diet. 147 00:07:30,200 --> 00:07:32,280 And then some of these supplements can really be 148 00:07:32,280 --> 00:07:34,680 helpful, but they're not going to be helpful unless the 149 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:38,360 nutrients that you're eating are supporting that. 150 00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:40,120 So I just wanted to preface that by saying that. 151 00:07:40,120 --> 00:07:41,440 I think that's a good point, Jen. 152 00:07:41,440 --> 00:07:43,720 Like we can go down the rabbit hole of all of the like, 153 00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:46,840 marginal gains that athletes can focus on, but if you're not 154 00:07:46,840 --> 00:07:50,600 nailing the basics, you're really wasting time, energy, and 155 00:07:50,600 --> 00:07:54,640 money on like stuff that's going to make like a .5% difference 156 00:07:55,120 --> 00:07:58,600 when if you focused on like the big stuff like general nutrition 157 00:07:58,600 --> 00:08:02,400 and sleep, you'd get a lot more bang for your buck. 1000%, yeah. 158 00:08:02,920 --> 00:08:05,400 Love that. But yeah, so back to caffeine. 159 00:08:06,440 --> 00:08:09,600 So we have a ton of research on the benefits of caffeine, and it 160 00:08:09,600 --> 00:08:12,680 really can be used to improve your performance. 161 00:08:12,680 --> 00:08:14,920 It's an ergogenic aid that's very effective. 162 00:08:15,400 --> 00:08:20,040 But, and there's a but with all of these, you really have to 163 00:08:20,040 --> 00:08:22,960 look at the bigger picture. So what caffeine does, which I 164 00:08:22,960 --> 00:08:25,560 think is fascinating, is it actually releases free fatty 165 00:08:25,560 --> 00:08:29,320 acids in your bloodstream and you can burn off the that those 166 00:08:29,440 --> 00:08:32,760 free flowing fatty acids to improve your endurance. 167 00:08:33,400 --> 00:08:35,360 It also lowers your tolerance for pain. 168 00:08:35,360 --> 00:08:38,000 So now we can push a little bit harder, run a little faster and 169 00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:41,200 lift a little bit more without feeling that quote UN quote 170 00:08:41,200 --> 00:08:43,480 pain. So we're getting more out of our 171 00:08:43,480 --> 00:08:46,080 workouts. We're able to a little bit more 172 00:08:46,320 --> 00:08:48,160 boost our heart rate a little bit higher, especially for 173 00:08:48,160 --> 00:08:52,480 higher intensity workouts. And it can actually improve your 174 00:08:52,480 --> 00:08:54,560 hand eye coordination to a certain extent too. 175 00:08:54,720 --> 00:08:58,320 Now the but comes into play because there is a rate of 176 00:08:58,320 --> 00:09:01,480 dimensioning effects, meaning if they're, if you're taking in too 177 00:09:01,480 --> 00:09:03,840 much, it can cause heart palpitations, it can cause 178 00:09:03,840 --> 00:09:07,480 shakiness, it can cause, you know, a little bit of attention 179 00:09:07,800 --> 00:09:12,440 deficit disorder, it can cause headaches, it can dehydrate us. 180 00:09:12,440 --> 00:09:15,080 Like there's a lot of negative effects of caffeine if we go 181 00:09:15,120 --> 00:09:18,040 over for the limit. And really the limit is 182 00:09:18,040 --> 00:09:20,560 different for everyone because we all metabolize caffeine at a 183 00:09:20,560 --> 00:09:23,440 different rate. Great way to tell is if you're a 184 00:09:23,440 --> 00:09:25,920 person who can have like a little cappuccino or espresso 185 00:09:25,920 --> 00:09:29,520 after dinner and you can go right to sleep, then that means 186 00:09:29,520 --> 00:09:31,760 you're a fast metabolizer of caffeine. 187 00:09:31,880 --> 00:09:33,760 You're burning through it really quick and it's not going to stay 188 00:09:33,760 --> 00:09:36,600 in your system very long. If you have a cup of coffee 189 00:09:36,600 --> 00:09:39,720 after 10:00 AM and you're up all night, that's me. 190 00:09:39,960 --> 00:09:42,440 It means it's staying in your system very long. 191 00:09:42,600 --> 00:09:44,680 So you're a slow metabolize or a caffeine. 192 00:09:44,680 --> 00:09:47,680 And if you know that you can actually change your dosage 193 00:09:47,680 --> 00:09:50,440 depending on that, meaning you probably need less if you're a 194 00:09:50,440 --> 00:09:53,040 slow metabolizer and you probably can handle a little bit 195 00:09:53,040 --> 00:09:57,040 more if you're fast metabolizer. But that being said, regulations 196 00:09:57,040 --> 00:10:00,400 for sports into like for athletes intake is about 200 197 00:10:00,400 --> 00:10:03,880 milligrams a day, which to be honest is pretty low for most 198 00:10:03,880 --> 00:10:07,320 people I know. Because a regular like drip 199 00:10:07,680 --> 00:10:12,080 coffee, just like in your coffee maker, it is about 80 to 100 200 00:10:12,080 --> 00:10:14,560 milligrams a cup depending on how strong your coffee is. 201 00:10:14,920 --> 00:10:17,560 And I know a lot of people are doing, they're drinking like 202 00:10:17,560 --> 00:10:21,920 four or five, six cups a day or doing shots of espresso, you 203 00:10:21,920 --> 00:10:24,800 know, in their latte or whatever, and maybe taking a lot 204 00:10:24,800 --> 00:10:29,600 more of that, in which case less is better because your body just 205 00:10:29,600 --> 00:10:33,240 can't process all of that and expect to perform at its best at 206 00:10:33,240 --> 00:10:36,160 the same time. So I mean, 200 milligrams a day, 207 00:10:36,160 --> 00:10:38,960 it's quite low, especially when you consider that there are a 208 00:10:38,960 --> 00:10:43,760 lot of gels on the market that contain 70 to 100 milligrams of 209 00:10:43,880 --> 00:10:49,080 75 to 100 milligrams of caffeine and people might be using four 210 00:10:49,080 --> 00:10:51,480 of them during a marathon. Right, Yeah. 211 00:10:51,480 --> 00:10:53,760 I mean, during a marathon that's probably a little bit different 212 00:10:53,760 --> 00:10:56,280 scenario because you are burning through them faster and you're 213 00:10:56,280 --> 00:10:59,720 using up not only the caffeine but also the free fatty acids 214 00:10:59,720 --> 00:11:01,680 that it's releasing during that marathon. 215 00:11:02,080 --> 00:11:05,120 I'm thinking more on a daily basis or a training basis. 216 00:11:05,200 --> 00:11:09,080 I thought less would be better for your health in general. 217 00:11:09,400 --> 00:11:12,720 Now, timing of caffeine is important when it comes to 218 00:11:12,720 --> 00:11:16,080 performance, right? So let's say somebody has a half 219 00:11:16,080 --> 00:11:18,360 marathon and their race is at 9:00 AM. 220 00:11:19,280 --> 00:11:22,000 When if they're going to use caffeine during the race, like a 221 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:25,360 caffeine gel? When is the best time for 222 00:11:25,360 --> 00:11:28,440 someone to take that gel? If they're going to take it at 223 00:11:28,440 --> 00:11:31,560 the start of the race versus should they take it halfway 224 00:11:31,560 --> 00:11:33,320 through? This is such a great question, 225 00:11:33,320 --> 00:11:36,160 and again, I know I'm going to say this a lot during this 226 00:11:36,160 --> 00:11:37,400 episode. It depends. 227 00:11:37,400 --> 00:11:40,920 We say that a lot here. And it's so personal because of 228 00:11:41,000 --> 00:11:43,840 how we burn through it. And also what you're doing in 229 00:11:43,840 --> 00:11:46,240 practice, like what you're doing in training should be what 230 00:11:46,240 --> 00:11:50,040 you're doing in racing. Typically, though I will say for 231 00:11:50,040 --> 00:11:53,480 say 1/2 marathon, I would take it around mile 3 or 4 because 232 00:11:53,480 --> 00:11:57,960 you do have a good ways to go and you'd need that boost on the 233 00:11:57,960 --> 00:12:00,240 earlier side. Whereas I know a lot of runners 234 00:12:00,240 --> 00:12:02,280 will be like, oh, I'm not going to take it until mile 10. 235 00:12:02,560 --> 00:12:04,680 Well then you know, most of the race is kind of over. 236 00:12:04,880 --> 00:12:07,640 And while you probably still need it for that push at the end 237 00:12:07,640 --> 00:12:10,920 and it could be beneficial, then it could also upset your GI 238 00:12:10,920 --> 00:12:15,000 tract at the very end, which will affect your race again, if 239 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:18,320 you're doing it during training. If that's less likely, but it is 240 00:12:18,440 --> 00:12:20,840 possible because you're exercising a higher intensity 241 00:12:20,840 --> 00:12:22,960 too. So there, there is a lot of bots 242 00:12:22,960 --> 00:12:28,400 and and ifs and it depends. But yeah, on the earlier side it 243 00:12:28,400 --> 00:12:30,160 is better. Same goes for a full marathon. 244 00:12:30,480 --> 00:12:33,560 Got it, Got it. Anything else that people should 245 00:12:33,560 --> 00:12:37,000 know about caffeine in terms of dosage? 246 00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:40,720 Just things to be careful of? I, I would say I've had a number 247 00:12:40,720 --> 00:12:43,640 of athletes and a number of friends who have had heart 248 00:12:43,640 --> 00:12:46,080 palpitations. And, you know, like, it's bad 249 00:12:46,080 --> 00:12:48,520 enough that they go to their doctor because they're concerned 250 00:12:48,520 --> 00:12:51,880 about their cardiac health. And often it turns out to be 251 00:12:51,880 --> 00:12:55,240 related to their caffeine consumption during like a long 252 00:12:55,240 --> 00:12:56,920 bike ride or during the long run. 253 00:12:57,360 --> 00:13:00,400 So what should people be on the lookout for? 254 00:13:01,880 --> 00:13:04,840 Any other words of caution regarding caffeine? 255 00:13:05,560 --> 00:13:09,440 Yeah, I mean, my biggest piece of advice is as much as possible 256 00:13:09,440 --> 00:13:11,800 to choose natural sources of caffeine, which really means 257 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:15,360 coffee or iced coffee or tea, iced tea, Masha. 258 00:13:15,920 --> 00:13:18,920 Because now we're we've, and I'm sure you've seen it among your 259 00:13:18,920 --> 00:13:21,800 athletes, is there's this world of energy drinks where it's 260 00:13:21,800 --> 00:13:24,480 synthetic sources of caffeine, where it's mislabeled, 261 00:13:24,480 --> 00:13:27,240 unregulated. So some of these energy drinks 262 00:13:27,240 --> 00:13:28,840 are really scary and they're sending athletes to the 263 00:13:28,840 --> 00:13:31,480 emergency room. And if you look at some of the 264 00:13:31,480 --> 00:13:34,960 recent research on it as well, we're seeing that energy drinks, 265 00:13:35,080 --> 00:13:39,440 long term use of energy drinks is damaging cardiac muscle. 266 00:13:40,200 --> 00:13:42,920 But now like that just really scares me because as athletes, 267 00:13:42,920 --> 00:13:44,760 our our heart is our engine, right? 268 00:13:44,760 --> 00:13:48,440 And now we're damaging it by over consuming synthetic forms 269 00:13:48,520 --> 00:13:50,360 of caffeine. And there's other ingredients in 270 00:13:50,360 --> 00:13:53,120 energy drinks too, that are, that are contributing to that 271 00:13:53,120 --> 00:13:56,560 issue. But yeah, ER visits for for 272 00:13:56,560 --> 00:14:00,680 heart palpitations and other cardiac issues due to energy 273 00:14:00,680 --> 00:14:02,560 drink consumption is on the rise. 274 00:14:03,120 --> 00:14:07,160 So when you say energy drinks, do you mean like Red Bull, like 275 00:14:07,160 --> 00:14:08,880 what you would buy in a gas station? 276 00:14:08,880 --> 00:14:13,000 Or are there also issues with like some of the powders that 277 00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:15,920 are more designed for endurance athletes that contain? 278 00:14:16,240 --> 00:14:18,320 Yeah, good question. This study specifically was on 279 00:14:18,320 --> 00:14:20,160 energy drinks. You'll find it at gas station 280 00:14:20,160 --> 00:14:23,360 and stuff that a lot of younger athletes are using like Celsius, 281 00:14:24,280 --> 00:14:27,920 Aulani, Red Bull, obviously Monster. 282 00:14:27,920 --> 00:14:29,160 There's a million of them out there now too. 283 00:14:29,160 --> 00:14:33,480 But and a lot of college campuses, a lot of sports teams, 284 00:14:33,520 --> 00:14:36,600 a lot of prep schools have banned them from campus because 285 00:14:36,600 --> 00:14:38,960 of the dangers that are that were arising. 286 00:14:38,960 --> 00:14:41,480 So that's key. Yeah. 287 00:14:41,480 --> 00:14:46,400 But on the same note, if it's an unregulated supplement such as 288 00:14:46,400 --> 00:14:49,600 like a pre workout or something that's in maybe a gel or a 289 00:14:49,600 --> 00:14:52,840 powder, if it's not regulated and 3rd party tested, we have no 290 00:14:52,840 --> 00:14:56,560 idea how much is in there. So I would you know, have some 291 00:14:56,560 --> 00:14:59,560 caution with those sports products to the caffeine 292 00:15:00,240 --> 00:15:03,080 containing sports products. Yeah, it all comes down to the 293 00:15:03,080 --> 00:15:06,120 third party testing, doesn't it? Yeah, A. 100%, yeah. 294 00:15:06,760 --> 00:15:10,280 All right, so let's move on to another supplement that I also 295 00:15:10,280 --> 00:15:12,640 get a lot of questions about for my athletes, and that's 296 00:15:12,640 --> 00:15:14,920 creatine. So I feel like we're hearing 297 00:15:14,920 --> 00:15:17,400 more and more about it, particularly for female 298 00:15:17,400 --> 00:15:20,360 athletes. So can you explain to our 299 00:15:20,360 --> 00:15:24,320 listeners what creatine is, what it's supposed to help with, 300 00:15:24,680 --> 00:15:28,400 what's the big deal with it for female athletes and male 301 00:15:28,400 --> 00:15:32,080 athletes, and whether or not it's worth considering? 302 00:15:32,400 --> 00:15:33,600 Yeah. I mean, I think creatine is 303 00:15:33,760 --> 00:15:38,160 always, we have so over 40 years of research on creatine and its 304 00:15:38,160 --> 00:15:42,160 effectiveness and it can be very, very effective in certain 305 00:15:42,160 --> 00:15:45,240 situations and obviously for certain goals depending on the 306 00:15:45,240 --> 00:15:47,160 athlete. But we actually make creatine in 307 00:15:47,160 --> 00:15:49,720 our body. We have creatine naturally in 308 00:15:49,720 --> 00:15:52,720 our body. So taking exogenous creatine 309 00:15:52,720 --> 00:15:56,200 like as a supplement really just increases the availability of 310 00:15:56,200 --> 00:15:59,080 phosphocreatine. This is getting a little a 311 00:15:59,080 --> 00:16:01,000 little detailed for. But. 312 00:16:01,720 --> 00:16:04,640 What it does is it increases energy production in our bodies 313 00:16:04,640 --> 00:16:08,120 so that we all need, we all know we want and need, right, is just 314 00:16:08,160 --> 00:16:11,120 more energy availability. And that's something creatine 315 00:16:11,120 --> 00:16:12,600 can be really efficient in doing. 316 00:16:13,280 --> 00:16:16,120 Now, the reason why it's getting a lot of press among female 317 00:16:16,120 --> 00:16:19,240 athletes and even aging athletes, male and female, 318 00:16:19,320 --> 00:16:22,360 because we're losing muscle mass as we age. 319 00:16:22,880 --> 00:16:25,840 Every decade we lose. It's very sad by the minute. 320 00:16:25,840 --> 00:16:26,880 I feel like I'm losing muscle mass. 321 00:16:26,880 --> 00:16:29,160 So in order to offset that, we're doing obviously we're 322 00:16:29,160 --> 00:16:32,480 strength training, but if we supplement with creatine, it can 323 00:16:32,480 --> 00:16:36,360 also help offset that loss of muscle mass, which I think is 324 00:16:36,680 --> 00:16:41,000 fascinating and super helpful in terms of performing at our best 325 00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:42,920 for the longest time that we can. 326 00:16:43,200 --> 00:16:45,720 So how is that useful? Let's say if you're a marathon 327 00:16:45,720 --> 00:16:48,080 runner. See this is a good question too. 328 00:16:48,080 --> 00:16:53,840 Most of the research is actually done on shorter, faster, high 329 00:16:53,840 --> 00:16:57,520 interval intensity, high intensity interval training and 330 00:16:57,520 --> 00:16:59,840 also weightlifting. So that's kind of where the the 331 00:16:59,840 --> 00:17:03,040 bulk of our research is. But there has been a couple 332 00:17:03,040 --> 00:17:06,319 interesting studies on endurance athletes and it helping us 333 00:17:06,440 --> 00:17:08,240 maintain endurance. Go for longer. 334 00:17:08,359 --> 00:17:11,960 Again, push harder, similar to a caffeine does push harder for 335 00:17:11,960 --> 00:17:15,240 longer without feeling it, which I also think is fascinating. 336 00:17:16,040 --> 00:17:19,359 It can increase muscle recovery. It can improve training 337 00:17:19,359 --> 00:17:23,640 adaptations, it can improve strength and power, obviously, 338 00:17:23,640 --> 00:17:26,520 because it's it's helping us offset that muscle loss. 339 00:17:26,640 --> 00:17:28,560 So there's a lot of benefits to using it. 340 00:17:29,760 --> 00:17:34,440 I think there's, I think some women are, are hesitant to take 341 00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:36,920 it because it also can help with hydration. 342 00:17:36,920 --> 00:17:39,160 This is interesting, which sounds good, right? 343 00:17:39,280 --> 00:17:42,000 But if our muscles are holding onto water for a little bit 344 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:45,760 longer, then we're also going to carry another pound or two of 345 00:17:45,760 --> 00:17:47,680 weight. And I think that's a red flag 346 00:17:47,680 --> 00:17:49,680 for some women, which I think it should not be. 347 00:17:49,680 --> 00:17:54,080 If, if I'd rather gain a pound or two of high hydration and 348 00:17:54,080 --> 00:17:57,120 have that help my endurance and my strength and my power, then 349 00:17:57,520 --> 00:18:00,400 then not. But I think it is something that 350 00:18:01,080 --> 00:18:03,080 I think the other thing to realize it has to be something 351 00:18:03,080 --> 00:18:04,840 that's taken long term. It's not a quick fix. 352 00:18:04,840 --> 00:18:06,200 You're not going to feel it right away. 353 00:18:06,200 --> 00:18:08,400 It really can take four to six months to build up in your 354 00:18:08,400 --> 00:18:10,440 system for you to even notice a difference. 355 00:18:10,760 --> 00:18:13,560 So I think that's something else that offsets athletes from 356 00:18:13,560 --> 00:18:16,000 taking it. But but again, if it's taken 357 00:18:16,000 --> 00:18:19,240 properly, the right kind of creatine. 358 00:18:19,240 --> 00:18:23,680 So there's a lot of bad press in the past with creatine because 359 00:18:23,680 --> 00:18:27,720 it was combined with all these other ingredients that were 360 00:18:27,720 --> 00:18:30,800 potentially harmful. So what what we do know that we 361 00:18:30,800 --> 00:18:33,400 need is creatine monohydrate. That should be the only 362 00:18:33,400 --> 00:18:35,480 ingredient on the label and obviously needs to be third 363 00:18:35,480 --> 00:18:38,840 party tested company and then it can be really effective. 364 00:18:38,840 --> 00:18:42,280 So anything else on your label that's not creatine monohydrate 365 00:18:42,280 --> 00:18:45,400 it would not use. And is it the type of supplement 366 00:18:45,400 --> 00:18:49,560 that you take regularly over the course of many months, or is 367 00:18:49,560 --> 00:18:53,240 there like a period where you take it and then stop taking it 368 00:18:53,240 --> 00:18:56,160 to help with any of like the unwanted side effects? 369 00:18:56,440 --> 00:18:58,840 I know it's individual, but let's say we're talking about 370 00:18:58,840 --> 00:19:04,200 like a distance runner who does like 10K half marathon, maybe 371 00:19:04,200 --> 00:19:06,680 marathon. And of course it's individual 372 00:19:06,680 --> 00:19:09,520 and it depends. But just like generally 373 00:19:09,520 --> 00:19:14,320 speaking, what is like the the dosing regimen that a person 374 00:19:14,320 --> 00:19:16,280 like that might use? Yeah. 375 00:19:16,280 --> 00:19:19,160 In general, the dosing across the board is 5g per day. 376 00:19:19,160 --> 00:19:21,480 And yes, to be taken consistently over time. 377 00:19:21,880 --> 00:19:24,560 Was there was some studies that show that there's a loading 378 00:19:24,560 --> 00:19:27,280 phase? This is older research. 379 00:19:27,280 --> 00:19:30,560 I think the newer research has really kind of debunked that 380 00:19:30,560 --> 00:19:32,320 myth. There was a loading phase of 381 00:19:32,320 --> 00:19:35,240 like two to four weeks where you're taking 20 grams per day. 382 00:19:35,960 --> 00:19:39,040 But then people were getting GI distress, some people were 383 00:19:39,040 --> 00:19:41,840 breaking out, they're having some skin issues. 384 00:19:42,240 --> 00:19:45,760 And so then we've we've really honed down on the research that 385 00:19:45,760 --> 00:19:49,360 shows that if just a consistent intake of 5g per day is really 386 00:19:49,360 --> 00:19:51,200 most effective. Excellent, great. 387 00:19:51,400 --> 00:19:54,200 Any other thoughts about creatine that our listeners 388 00:19:54,200 --> 00:19:56,400 should know? I think just that the one take 389 00:19:56,400 --> 00:19:58,440 away about the hydration is when you're taking it, you do have to 390 00:19:58,440 --> 00:20:00,720 stay hydrated. Yeah, because that's that's 391 00:20:00,720 --> 00:20:03,000 really part of the whole mechanism of how it works. 392 00:20:03,120 --> 00:20:04,600 Right. Good, good tip. 393 00:20:04,680 --> 00:20:09,960 So the next thing on our list is Probratics, and I mean, this is 394 00:20:09,960 --> 00:20:13,480 more of a group of supplements than just one type because there 395 00:20:13,480 --> 00:20:17,240 are so many things that can be probiotic for humans. 396 00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:20,480 So can you tell people what those are, why they can be 397 00:20:20,480 --> 00:20:24,080 beneficial, why they're important for athletes, and how 398 00:20:24,080 --> 00:20:27,400 to choose the right one? Because there's a lot, a lot out 399 00:20:27,400 --> 00:20:31,200 there, and a lot of them are kind of just like pouring your 400 00:20:31,200 --> 00:20:33,440 money down the train. Yeah, so true. 401 00:20:33,520 --> 00:20:35,760 And we can actually probably do a whole episode just on 402 00:20:35,760 --> 00:20:37,800 probiotics and probiotics and gut health. 403 00:20:37,840 --> 00:20:41,360 And but it is, I think one thing to highlight is it's so 404 00:20:41,360 --> 00:20:44,400 important for athletes to really have some knowledge about their 405 00:20:44,400 --> 00:20:48,120 gut health and to focus on it because a lot of digestion, 406 00:20:48,120 --> 00:20:50,800 assimilation, absorption happens in our gut. 407 00:20:51,080 --> 00:20:54,120 And as runners, you know, there's a lot of pounding and 408 00:20:54,120 --> 00:20:58,200 that upsets our GI tract. And that can also break down 409 00:20:58,200 --> 00:21:01,960 some tissue of your GI tract. And if we don't take some time 410 00:21:01,960 --> 00:21:05,720 to really be knowledgeable about how to strengthen that, then we 411 00:21:05,720 --> 00:21:09,240 can have some things like runners GI issues. 412 00:21:09,360 --> 00:21:12,200 We have all experienced that taking probiotics and certainly 413 00:21:12,200 --> 00:21:14,840 offset that, which is great. There's a lot of inflammation 414 00:21:14,840 --> 00:21:18,200 that occurs in our guts because we are runners between the 415 00:21:18,200 --> 00:21:21,320 oxygen that we take up and that pounding that I was talking 416 00:21:21,320 --> 00:21:23,600 about. But but overall, what they do is 417 00:21:23,600 --> 00:21:25,480 they also enhance immune function. 418 00:21:25,520 --> 00:21:30,720 So we know that people with balanced gut microbiome get sick 419 00:21:30,720 --> 00:21:32,400 less often. And when you're sick less often, 420 00:21:32,400 --> 00:21:34,840 you miss less training sessions. And when you miss less training 421 00:21:34,840 --> 00:21:38,280 sessions, you perform better on your races and you have less 422 00:21:38,280 --> 00:21:40,560 risk of injury. So that's all super important to 423 00:21:40,560 --> 00:21:41,720 all of us. Absolutely. 424 00:21:42,760 --> 00:21:45,400 Again, it's related to faster recovery, it's related to 425 00:21:45,400 --> 00:21:49,440 reduced inflammation and everything else that goes along 426 00:21:49,440 --> 00:21:52,120 with with GI mobility and health. 427 00:21:52,560 --> 00:21:54,360 You can certainly get probiotics through food. 428 00:21:54,560 --> 00:21:58,160 So I want to start there like yogurt, kimchi, sauerkraut, 429 00:21:59,400 --> 00:22:02,040 miso, Kiefer. All of those are high in 430 00:22:02,040 --> 00:22:05,320 probiotics, but taking a supplemental probiotic is going 431 00:22:05,320 --> 00:22:10,360 to be a million times more in terms of the quantity of these 432 00:22:10,760 --> 00:22:13,680 bacteria, strains of bacteria, I should say. 433 00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:17,960 So it's and blindly supplementing with probiotics is 434 00:22:17,960 --> 00:22:19,600 really kind of like just throwing spaghetti at the wall. 435 00:22:19,600 --> 00:22:24,560 So I usually start with a stool test, believe it or not. 436 00:22:24,560 --> 00:22:27,280 I know that sounds kind of crazy, but if you know what 437 00:22:27,280 --> 00:22:30,640 strains you have and don't have in your gut, then you can 438 00:22:30,640 --> 00:22:34,320 actually supplement a little bit more specifically and, and 439 00:22:34,320 --> 00:22:37,440 target whether it's increasing your good bacteria or decreasing 440 00:22:37,440 --> 00:22:40,200 your bad bacteria so that you have some more balance in your 441 00:22:40,240 --> 00:22:42,520 in your microbiome. Aside from doing that. 442 00:22:42,520 --> 00:22:45,320 Not everyone likes to do that and be that specific. 443 00:22:45,320 --> 00:22:48,320 You could I recommend choosing a spore based probiotic. 444 00:22:48,320 --> 00:22:52,200 The reason this is important is because a lot of the millions of 445 00:22:52,200 --> 00:22:56,960 probiotics on the shelves out there won't survive the stomach 446 00:22:56,960 --> 00:23:00,640 acid in your stomach. And so you're right, it is like 447 00:23:00,640 --> 00:23:03,040 throwing your money away because by the time it gets to your 448 00:23:03,040 --> 00:23:05,480 small intestine, there's really no strains left. 449 00:23:05,480 --> 00:23:09,240 So spore based probiotics are produced specifically so that 450 00:23:09,240 --> 00:23:13,680 they can survive that transit through your stomach and all the 451 00:23:13,680 --> 00:23:16,120 stomach acid and they actually make it all to your gut and 452 00:23:16,120 --> 00:23:18,720 they're much more effective in terms of absorbing it, 453 00:23:19,040 --> 00:23:21,360 absorbability and balancing your gut microbiome. 454 00:23:21,960 --> 00:23:25,680 So if someone was going to get a stool test, how would they do 455 00:23:25,680 --> 00:23:27,920 that? Well, I do it in my practice and 456 00:23:28,000 --> 00:23:31,080 a lot of other nutritionist dietitians will do do it. 457 00:23:31,080 --> 00:23:32,400 And you just send it to your lab. 458 00:23:32,720 --> 00:23:35,200 You collect stool at your home. So you don't even have to go 459 00:23:35,200 --> 00:23:37,040 anywhere at your home. You send it in this little tube 460 00:23:37,040 --> 00:23:40,040 and you send it to the lab and we got a report back and it 461 00:23:40,040 --> 00:23:43,960 shows everything from if there's any parasites to your, your 462 00:23:43,960 --> 00:23:47,640 balance of good and bad bacteria to whether you have inflammation 463 00:23:47,640 --> 00:23:52,160 due to different foods like gluten, for example, It'll, 464 00:23:52,160 --> 00:23:56,400 it'll highlight different sensitivities that you have from 465 00:23:56,400 --> 00:23:59,160 a gut microbiome perspective. So people just need to find a 466 00:23:59,520 --> 00:24:02,040 dietitian. Could their doctor order a stool 467 00:24:02,040 --> 00:24:03,840 test? Some doctors do, yeah. 468 00:24:03,880 --> 00:24:05,880 Especially GI Doc. Yeah, for sure. 469 00:24:06,040 --> 00:24:08,120 Great. And then can you talk a little 470 00:24:08,120 --> 00:24:11,880 bit about the things that can upset our microbiome like 471 00:24:11,880 --> 00:24:15,280 antibiotics, because people might, you know, this year have 472 00:24:15,280 --> 00:24:17,840 a stool test and learn, OK, you need to take this. 473 00:24:17,840 --> 00:24:20,880 But then let's say they have have an infection, they go on 474 00:24:20,880 --> 00:24:23,480 antibiotics and everything might change after that. 475 00:24:24,120 --> 00:24:27,400 Yeah, I mean, we're all well aware that antibiotics decrease 476 00:24:27,400 --> 00:24:30,640 your good bacteria in your gut. So while they're beneficial for 477 00:24:30,760 --> 00:24:35,960 helping us get over an illness or an infection, we the 478 00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:40,680 secondary problem to that is that it can create an imbalance 479 00:24:40,680 --> 00:24:45,080 in our gut microbiome. So probiotics are usually, it's 480 00:24:45,080 --> 00:24:48,040 usually suggested to take probiotics when you're taking 481 00:24:48,160 --> 00:24:51,280 antibiotics or just after you take your finisher round of 482 00:24:51,280 --> 00:24:54,040 antibiotics. So to offset that imbalance that 483 00:24:54,040 --> 00:24:56,800 can occur. And there are some foods that 484 00:24:56,800 --> 00:24:59,240 can negatively affect the microbiome, right? 485 00:24:59,240 --> 00:25:01,720 Like alcohol can affect it. Is that correct? 486 00:25:02,080 --> 00:25:04,560 Oh my gosh, yeah. Alcohol can negatively affect 487 00:25:04,560 --> 00:25:08,120 almost everything. But yes, it's a toxin and other 488 00:25:08,120 --> 00:25:12,880 medications can too. Sugar can because you know 489 00:25:12,880 --> 00:25:16,600 that's going to affect just your feeding bad bacteria with sugar. 490 00:25:16,600 --> 00:25:20,760 They love sugar in imbalance, in in, in macro nutrients. 491 00:25:20,760 --> 00:25:23,520 So if you're eating too many carbs in relation to protein, in 492 00:25:23,520 --> 00:25:27,000 relation to healthy fats, there's some inflammatory high 493 00:25:27,000 --> 00:25:30,280 saturated fat foods that can affect negatively your 494 00:25:30,280 --> 00:25:32,360 microbiome. So yes, again, it comes back to 495 00:25:32,360 --> 00:25:36,160 food. So if your foundational diet is 496 00:25:36,160 --> 00:25:40,760 well balanced and effective in terms of feeding your body what 497 00:25:40,760 --> 00:25:44,520 it needs to offset your activity level to support your your 498 00:25:44,520 --> 00:25:48,600 activity level rather then your microbiome is is much happier 499 00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:51,640 and much more balanced. And sure, probiotics can still 500 00:25:51,640 --> 00:25:55,480 help, but probiotics won't help if your diets not foundationally 501 00:25:55,480 --> 00:25:58,120 sound. And now I've read some studies 502 00:25:58,120 --> 00:26:01,400 that suggest that there are some artificial sweeteners that can 503 00:26:01,400 --> 00:26:03,080 negatively affect the microbiome. 504 00:26:03,160 --> 00:26:04,880 Oh, yes, I'm so glad you brought that up. 505 00:26:04,880 --> 00:26:08,240 Yeah, because there's artificial sweeteners in so many things. 506 00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:10,800 There's even artificial sweeteners in some magnesium 507 00:26:10,800 --> 00:26:12,440 supplements. There's some artificial 508 00:26:12,440 --> 00:26:15,440 sweeteners in electrolytes powders, which we're going to 509 00:26:15,440 --> 00:26:18,120 talk about later. Yeah, it's amazing. 510 00:26:18,120 --> 00:26:22,040 And yes, there it has been linked to an imbalance in your 511 00:26:22,160 --> 00:26:25,880 good bacteria in your gut, which is a little scary because you 512 00:26:25,880 --> 00:26:27,880 think you're trying to do something good by cutting out 513 00:26:27,880 --> 00:26:30,680 sugar, but you're actually taking an artificial sweeteners 514 00:26:31,440 --> 00:26:33,560 which can do more harm than sugar itself. 515 00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:38,320 All right, so the main takeaways for probiotics are get a stool 516 00:26:38,320 --> 00:26:41,760 test so you can like more personalized which probiotics 517 00:26:41,760 --> 00:26:44,480 you take. The spore based probiotics are 518 00:26:44,480 --> 00:26:47,000 the best because those will actually survive your stomach 519 00:26:47,000 --> 00:26:50,360 acid and get to your small intestine where needs to be a 520 00:26:50,360 --> 00:26:52,160 small intestine, large intestine. 521 00:26:53,360 --> 00:26:57,880 If you've been on antibiotics, probiotics are a good idea and 522 00:26:58,640 --> 00:27:01,160 anything else. I think one other thing to to 523 00:27:01,160 --> 00:27:04,480 realize too is there something called prebiotics which feed 524 00:27:04,680 --> 00:27:10,040 your your healthy got bacteria and that's mostly found in foods 525 00:27:10,040 --> 00:27:12,000 that are high in fiber. So your fruits and veggies and 526 00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:14,440 your grains are really important to consume. 527 00:27:14,560 --> 00:27:18,120 Coming back to that foundational diet, if you have a healthy 528 00:27:18,520 --> 00:27:21,160 intake of prebiotics, then you're going to have a much 529 00:27:21,160 --> 00:27:23,000 better chance of balancing your microbiome. 530 00:27:23,320 --> 00:27:25,840 Yes. And actually isn't it that the 531 00:27:25,840 --> 00:27:29,120 prebiotics you take, because our microbiome does all sorts of 532 00:27:29,120 --> 00:27:31,320 things for our bodies, but one of the things they do is they 533 00:27:31,320 --> 00:27:34,360 produce substances that kind of act as hormones, right. 534 00:27:34,920 --> 00:27:38,120 So yeah, if you we totally should do the whole episode on 535 00:27:38,280 --> 00:27:42,200 the microbiome so much yeah. But if you feed your microbiome 536 00:27:42,200 --> 00:27:45,920 the stuff it needs, it can greatly influence your health in 537 00:27:45,920 --> 00:27:49,080 ways that are far beyond your digestive system. 538 00:27:49,200 --> 00:27:51,720 Oh yeah, it's linked to serotonin, it's linked to 539 00:27:51,720 --> 00:27:56,000 depression, it's linked to ADHD. It's it's it's honestly it's 540 00:27:56,000 --> 00:27:58,120 like 1 of it sounds crazy, but it's one of those cure alls. 541 00:27:58,120 --> 00:28:00,800 Like if you can nail your microbiome, you probably don't 542 00:28:00,800 --> 00:28:03,760 worry about anything else. Yeah, in 50 years, I think we'll 543 00:28:03,760 --> 00:28:06,640 just have such a better understanding of how it works. 544 00:28:07,400 --> 00:28:09,320 It's so new. I mean, absolutely. 545 00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:11,960 Even when I was in school we didn't even cover this because 546 00:28:11,960 --> 00:28:13,600 we didn't even have any research about it back then. 547 00:28:13,760 --> 00:28:16,480 Yeah, yeah. Well, 50 years from now, we can 548 00:28:16,480 --> 00:28:17,800 do another. That's right, there we go. 549 00:28:17,800 --> 00:28:22,000 Put it on the schedule. All right, so let's move on to 550 00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:25,160 protein powder, which I mean, I use protein powder. 551 00:28:25,160 --> 00:28:28,240 I'm sure you do too. There's so many types, so one 552 00:28:28,240 --> 00:28:32,160 why would somebody need to supplement with protein powder? 553 00:28:32,160 --> 00:28:35,400 And then if they did need to supplement, how do they decide 554 00:28:35,400 --> 00:28:38,160 which kind to use? Both great questions. 555 00:28:38,160 --> 00:28:39,800 So yeah, I do use protein powder. 556 00:28:40,080 --> 00:28:44,040 I think any athlete who is super busy has a hard time getting 557 00:28:44,040 --> 00:28:46,120 protein in during the day because we need a lot of 558 00:28:46,120 --> 00:28:48,200 protein. Should be using a protein powder 559 00:28:48,200 --> 00:28:51,120 because it's just a really simple way to get an extra 20 560 00:28:51,120 --> 00:28:53,600 grams of protein in your day, whether it's just shaking it up 561 00:28:53,600 --> 00:28:56,560 with a glass with milk or water or throwing it in a smoothie, 562 00:28:57,080 --> 00:29:00,080 it's just an easy way to do so. There is a lot of poor 563 00:29:00,080 --> 00:29:04,040 formulations of protein powders out there that have artificial 564 00:29:04,040 --> 00:29:09,880 sweeteners for one and other chemicals or preservatives or a 565 00:29:09,880 --> 00:29:12,600 lot of them are just they throw vitamins and minerals in there 566 00:29:12,600 --> 00:29:14,760 for no reason. So you really want to choose a 567 00:29:14,760 --> 00:29:18,360 protein powder that's highly absorbable and the best one we 568 00:29:18,360 --> 00:29:22,520 have is whey protein isolate. Now the tricky thing is some 569 00:29:22,520 --> 00:29:25,600 will have whey protein isolate and concentrate. 570 00:29:25,880 --> 00:29:27,920 If you read the labels, some of them will have like a 571 00:29:27,920 --> 00:29:31,120 proprietary blend, which means we're not telling you what's in 572 00:29:31,120 --> 00:29:34,200 here. Some of them have like a just a 573 00:29:34,200 --> 00:29:36,600 combination of other ingredients that we don't really want. 574 00:29:36,600 --> 00:29:39,320 If if you want the biggest bang for your buck, you want only 575 00:29:39,320 --> 00:29:41,200 thing on that label to be whey protein isolate. 576 00:29:41,760 --> 00:29:44,480 And you also, I'm going to repeat myself a million times, 577 00:29:44,480 --> 00:29:46,680 but you also want it to be third party tested because again, 578 00:29:46,680 --> 00:29:50,440 we've gone to, we've tested randomly protein powders and it 579 00:29:50,440 --> 00:29:52,240 says there's 20 grams of protein in there. 580 00:29:52,240 --> 00:29:55,160 And sometimes there's two if it's not a third party tested 581 00:29:55,320 --> 00:29:56,480 product. So you really want to be 582 00:29:56,880 --> 00:29:59,200 diligent about checking your labels, but it can be really 583 00:29:59,200 --> 00:30:01,640 helpful. You know, you absorb most of 584 00:30:01,640 --> 00:30:04,760 that whey protein isolate. It can balance your blood sugar. 585 00:30:04,800 --> 00:30:07,720 It can help you reach your protein requirements for the 586 00:30:07,720 --> 00:30:09,680 day. It can keep you satiated. 587 00:30:09,680 --> 00:30:12,680 Like there's really good benefits to every A protein and 588 00:30:12,680 --> 00:30:15,360 this is just a supplement that makes life a little bit easier. 589 00:30:16,000 --> 00:30:19,200 Now, is there a better time of day if you're going to use a 590 00:30:19,200 --> 00:30:21,560 protein supplement to take it like is? 591 00:30:22,120 --> 00:30:25,080 I know some people take their protein before bed because it 592 00:30:25,080 --> 00:30:27,440 can help with recovery. So what would you recommend 593 00:30:27,520 --> 00:30:30,680 again to like our hypothetical distance runner? 594 00:30:30,800 --> 00:30:32,920 Yeah, I mean, I don't think I think you're right. 595 00:30:32,920 --> 00:30:36,040 Protein at bed is can help you sleep and help with recovery, 596 00:30:36,040 --> 00:30:37,360 but it doesn't have to be protein powder. 597 00:30:37,360 --> 00:30:39,680 It could be any protein, could be Greek yogurt, it could be 598 00:30:39,680 --> 00:30:41,320 leftover chicken and rice from dinner. 599 00:30:41,320 --> 00:30:43,840 It could be anything. So it really doesn't matter the 600 00:30:43,840 --> 00:30:45,720 timing, just as long as you're getting your protein 601 00:30:45,720 --> 00:30:47,360 inconsistently throughout the whole day. 602 00:30:47,840 --> 00:30:50,680 But the one thing I will say is I have a lot of athletes who 603 00:30:50,680 --> 00:30:53,400 will take protein powder like 3-4, five times a day. 604 00:30:53,560 --> 00:30:57,760 I don't think that's the best strategy because then we're 605 00:30:57,760 --> 00:31:02,280 giving up an opportunity to take in another source of protein in 606 00:31:02,280 --> 00:31:04,360 another way. I like to have variety of 607 00:31:04,360 --> 00:31:08,720 protein intake so I say Max out at once a day if you need it, if 608 00:31:08,720 --> 00:31:12,720 that just so you're not limiting your diet, just A1 type of 609 00:31:12,720 --> 00:31:15,760 protein. Now of course whey protein is 610 00:31:15,760 --> 00:31:18,960 great and like hands down the research suggests that's the 611 00:31:19,240 --> 00:31:21,480 best one to take. But let's say someone is 612 00:31:21,480 --> 00:31:27,160 vegetarian or vegan or can't take whey for digestive reasons. 613 00:31:27,440 --> 00:31:32,720 So are there some non whey proteins that are better than 614 00:31:32,720 --> 00:31:35,840 others for people like who need something different? 615 00:31:36,280 --> 00:31:38,200 Yeah, for sure. So I'll have a lot of vegetarian 616 00:31:38,200 --> 00:31:40,920 and vegan athletes that will need an alternative. 617 00:31:40,920 --> 00:31:43,320 And the best really right now are pea protein. 618 00:31:43,640 --> 00:31:45,960 We we see a high absorbability with pea protein. 619 00:31:46,200 --> 00:31:49,560 I would say soy protein is probably equal to that or or 620 00:31:49,560 --> 00:31:53,240 next best and hemp protein. Those are the three that I 621 00:31:53,520 --> 00:31:55,840 suggest for a non whey alternative. 622 00:31:56,080 --> 00:32:00,160 And protein powders have been in the news recently because of 623 00:32:00,160 --> 00:32:03,440 heavy metal contamination. Can you talk a little bit about 624 00:32:03,440 --> 00:32:06,560 why that's a problem? And again, I mean, it just comes 625 00:32:06,560 --> 00:32:10,360 down to third party testing, but how someone could possibly 626 00:32:10,360 --> 00:32:13,960 choose a powder that's less likely to be contaminated? 627 00:32:14,840 --> 00:32:16,800 Yeah, I mean, I think you just said it if it's third party 628 00:32:16,800 --> 00:32:20,280 tested and it from a trustworthy company, that's your best bet of 629 00:32:20,280 --> 00:32:25,480 avoiding heavy metals. And and the reason why we want 630 00:32:25,480 --> 00:32:27,680 to avoid it is 'cause there, I mean you don't want, I just 631 00:32:27,680 --> 00:32:28,800 don't want heavy metals in your body. 632 00:32:28,800 --> 00:32:31,680 But it does cause inflammation and it can it can decrease 633 00:32:31,680 --> 00:32:34,840 performance overall, it can affect your microbiome. 634 00:32:35,160 --> 00:32:38,560 And we do want to do our best to stay away from any contaminated. 635 00:32:38,920 --> 00:32:42,680 And that was a Consumer Reports report recently, You're right. 636 00:32:42,680 --> 00:32:45,160 So I think people could look that up and see which ones they 637 00:32:45,160 --> 00:32:47,520 found were like the. Cleanest, yeah, I don't know off 638 00:32:47,520 --> 00:32:48,680 the top of my head, but yeah, there was any. 639 00:32:48,680 --> 00:32:52,560 Other of them, yeah. Anything else to mention about 640 00:32:52,560 --> 00:32:54,520 protein powder before we move on? 641 00:32:55,800 --> 00:32:57,480 No, I don't think so. I think we covered a lot of 642 00:32:57,480 --> 00:32:58,320 that. Yes. 643 00:32:58,480 --> 00:33:02,880 All right, so vitamin D is, gosh, one of the most probably 644 00:33:02,880 --> 00:33:07,200 common vitamins that anyone takes, you know, athlete or not. 645 00:33:07,200 --> 00:33:11,240 So why is vitamin D important for endurance athletes? 646 00:33:11,760 --> 00:33:13,520 Do we need to supplement with it? 647 00:33:13,880 --> 00:33:17,200 Is food the only way that we get it, or are there other avenues? 648 00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:20,160 Tell us about vitamin D. Yeah. 649 00:33:20,160 --> 00:33:22,160 So this is a, this is a big one because I think you're right, I 650 00:33:22,160 --> 00:33:24,680 think most people and maybe it's the hype with media and 651 00:33:24,680 --> 00:33:28,520 everything too, but it's one vitamin that we tend to be very 652 00:33:28,520 --> 00:33:32,280 deficient on most people who live above the latitude of 653 00:33:32,280 --> 00:33:35,480 Atlanta because we just don't see sun most of the year or are 654 00:33:35,480 --> 00:33:37,520 not as close to the sun most of the year. 655 00:33:37,600 --> 00:33:39,720 We are deficient in vitamin D. We get it from the sun. 656 00:33:39,960 --> 00:33:42,360 But on top of that, even when we are closer to the sun in the 657 00:33:42,360 --> 00:33:45,720 summer months, we're wearing sunscreen, we're putting hats 658 00:33:45,720 --> 00:33:49,120 on, we're wearing, you know, long sleeves to avoid the sun, 659 00:33:49,120 --> 00:33:51,480 sun damage. Or we're spending a lot of time 660 00:33:51,480 --> 00:33:53,000 inside. Like I'll have a lot of athletes 661 00:33:53,000 --> 00:33:55,240 say in Arizona that say I don't go outside all summer long 662 00:33:55,240 --> 00:33:57,880 because it's too hot. So if you're not getting enough 663 00:33:57,880 --> 00:34:02,280 sun exposure for various reasons, then a supplement needs 664 00:34:02,280 --> 00:34:05,800 to be taken. But I will say, athletes do not 665 00:34:05,800 --> 00:34:08,920 need to supplement if their current blood levels are within 666 00:34:08,920 --> 00:34:12,679 normal ranges. So I always start there, get 667 00:34:12,679 --> 00:34:16,120 your current level tested and then supplement. 668 00:34:16,400 --> 00:34:20,120 And chances are, especially like where we live in the Northeast, 669 00:34:20,239 --> 00:34:23,639 you may dip your levels of vitamin D in your blood may dip 670 00:34:23,639 --> 00:34:27,040 in the winter months and then increase in the summer months. 671 00:34:27,239 --> 00:34:28,920 You may not need to supplement in the summer. 672 00:34:29,000 --> 00:34:30,639 You may only need to supplement in the winter. 673 00:34:30,639 --> 00:34:32,639 As runners, we're outside a lot in the summer. 674 00:34:32,639 --> 00:34:35,360 I mean, I know we wear our sunscreen, which is great, but 675 00:34:35,360 --> 00:34:37,880 we still are absorbing some of that vitamin D from the sun. 676 00:34:38,880 --> 00:34:42,840 It's very typical for runners to need to keep their levels steady 677 00:34:42,840 --> 00:34:47,440 in the winter, maybe like 1000. I use of vitamin D, I'm sorry, 678 00:34:47,440 --> 00:34:51,320 in the summer, just 1000 just to keep their blood levels level of 679 00:34:51,320 --> 00:34:52,719 vitamin D. And then in the winter they 680 00:34:52,719 --> 00:34:54,639 might need 5000 because they do dip. 681 00:34:54,639 --> 00:34:57,080 But you really have to know what your levels are and how they 682 00:34:57,080 --> 00:35:00,080 fluctuate in order to come up with a supplement plan for 683 00:35:00,080 --> 00:35:00,920 vitamin D. Right. 684 00:35:00,920 --> 00:35:04,520 And it's more important not to go overboard with vitamin D 685 00:35:04,520 --> 00:35:07,240 because D is one of the fat soluble vitamins. 686 00:35:07,240 --> 00:35:10,640 So we don't pee it out the way we do if we took like too much 687 00:35:10,640 --> 00:35:13,240 vitamin C or whatever. Yeah, our body holds on to it 688 00:35:13,240 --> 00:35:15,920 because it is fat soluble. I mean, it's pretty rare for it 689 00:35:15,920 --> 00:35:18,920 to be, to get toxic levels, but it happens because there's a lot 690 00:35:18,920 --> 00:35:20,680 of people that are taking, I mean, there's supplements that 691 00:35:20,680 --> 00:35:24,120 are 10,000 I us. And if you're taking that 12 692 00:35:24,120 --> 00:35:27,360 months of the year, then it's, you know, it can be a problem. 693 00:35:28,160 --> 00:35:30,880 There are some people that their blood levels are very, very low. 694 00:35:30,880 --> 00:35:33,320 So they need a 10,000 IU supplement for a short period of 695 00:35:33,320 --> 00:35:36,200 time to, to boost it up and then you have to taper down. 696 00:35:36,560 --> 00:35:39,600 So there's different ways to kind of deal with every 697 00:35:39,600 --> 00:35:43,280 individual's vitamin D status. And why should our owners care 698 00:35:43,280 --> 00:35:45,360 about vitamin D? What does it do for us as 699 00:35:45,360 --> 00:35:48,800 athletes? So it's technically classified 700 00:35:48,800 --> 00:35:53,360 as a hormone and it can balance everything from our hormones to 701 00:35:53,360 --> 00:35:56,600 our moods to our brain health, cardiac health. 702 00:35:56,680 --> 00:36:00,800 It plays a vital role in body composition regulation because 703 00:36:00,800 --> 00:36:03,840 it is a fat soluble vitamin. So if you're losing weight or 704 00:36:03,840 --> 00:36:06,440 trying to gain weight, it's really important in that process 705 00:36:06,440 --> 00:36:08,200 too. It can help with endurance. 706 00:36:08,640 --> 00:36:11,680 It's it's one of those vitamins that's connected to almost every 707 00:36:11,680 --> 00:36:14,400 function in your body. So that's why it's important. 708 00:36:14,400 --> 00:36:19,440 And because most of us are low, it's something that is is for 709 00:36:19,440 --> 00:36:23,160 good reason in the media a lot, and there's a lot of research on 710 00:36:23,160 --> 00:36:25,200 it. Because we're so low, a lot of 711 00:36:25,200 --> 00:36:29,040 other vitamins and minerals we don't really tend to get low in 712 00:36:29,040 --> 00:36:30,880 because we're eating enough of them in our diet. 713 00:36:30,880 --> 00:36:33,120 Vitamin D is very hard to get through food. 714 00:36:33,400 --> 00:36:36,800 Most of the vitamin D we get in food is like milk that's been 715 00:36:36,800 --> 00:36:40,000 fortified with vitamin D. And there's just a limited 716 00:36:40,000 --> 00:36:42,000 amount of foods that are high in vitamin D. 717 00:36:42,000 --> 00:36:44,960 And that's why it's a supplement that most people probably should 718 00:36:44,960 --> 00:36:46,960 look into. And is there a better 719 00:36:46,960 --> 00:36:50,240 formulation of vitamin D supplement for people to take 720 00:36:50,240 --> 00:36:53,680 than others? Not necessarily as long as as 721 00:36:53,760 --> 00:36:55,920 long as the supplements is third party tested. 722 00:36:56,440 --> 00:36:59,000 All right, so let's move on to another fat soluble vitamin, 723 00:36:59,000 --> 00:37:01,880 vitamin K. And I think people, this is 724 00:37:01,880 --> 00:37:05,760 definitely not in the news as much as vitamin D for sure, but 725 00:37:05,760 --> 00:37:08,520 it's a really important vitamin for athletes. 726 00:37:08,520 --> 00:37:11,000 So can you tell us a little bit about its role in the human 727 00:37:11,000 --> 00:37:13,680 body? How do you know if you need to 728 00:37:13,680 --> 00:37:17,200 supplement with it? Yeah, if I would actually say 729 00:37:17,200 --> 00:37:19,280 right off the bat, if you're supplementing with vitamin D, 730 00:37:19,280 --> 00:37:21,560 you need to supplement with vitamin K It's first of all, 731 00:37:21,560 --> 00:37:23,560 it's really important in our bone health and they're laying 732 00:37:23,560 --> 00:37:27,480 down a bone matrix and it works along with calcium, magnesium to 733 00:37:27,480 --> 00:37:31,200 do that to strengthen our bones. And as runners, one of the most 734 00:37:31,200 --> 00:37:33,280 common injuries is stress fractures. 735 00:37:33,280 --> 00:37:39,400 So having an adequate amount of vitamin K in our in our bodies 736 00:37:40,520 --> 00:37:44,000 consistently will decrease stress fracture injury, which is 737 00:37:44,040 --> 00:37:45,960 really important for all of us. Nobody wants that. 738 00:37:48,680 --> 00:37:50,520 But interestingly enough that we're talking about it right 739 00:37:50,520 --> 00:37:53,520 after vitamin D, it also works together with vitamin D because 740 00:37:53,560 --> 00:37:56,120 vitamin D supplement supplementation can actually 741 00:37:56,120 --> 00:37:58,720 lead to a build up of calcification in your arteries 742 00:37:58,720 --> 00:38:00,600 and vitamin K helps to clear that. 743 00:38:00,840 --> 00:38:04,320 So if you're taking vitamin D, you have to take vitamin K and 744 00:38:04,520 --> 00:38:06,520 it's more specifically has to be K2. 745 00:38:06,520 --> 00:38:10,360 So how would people find like a good K supplement? 746 00:38:10,520 --> 00:38:12,440 Is it something that's sold on its own? 747 00:38:12,440 --> 00:38:15,480 Do you take it as a complex? Oh, good question. 748 00:38:15,640 --> 00:38:18,720 A lot of Times Now because of the more recent research on 749 00:38:18,720 --> 00:38:23,520 vitamin K and it's necessary supplementation with vitamin D, 750 00:38:23,520 --> 00:38:25,640 it can come together. There's I see a lot of companies 751 00:38:25,640 --> 00:38:28,240 actually putting them together in the same supplement. 752 00:38:28,560 --> 00:38:31,720 If not like if you're happy with your vitamin D, they also sell 753 00:38:31,720 --> 00:38:33,920 it separately and you would just, you would just choose 754 00:38:33,920 --> 00:38:37,440 another one to pair with that. But I think it's really 755 00:38:37,440 --> 00:38:40,760 important to also to how much vitamin K you're taking depends 756 00:38:40,760 --> 00:38:42,160 on how much vitamin D you're taking. 757 00:38:42,160 --> 00:38:44,920 So I really would talk to somebody that has knowledge so 758 00:38:44,920 --> 00:38:48,240 you're you're not over dosing on one and under dosing on the 759 00:38:48,240 --> 00:38:49,800 other, right? Yeah, good tip. 760 00:38:50,520 --> 00:38:54,120 All right, so let's move on to magnesium and the other 761 00:38:54,120 --> 00:38:55,720 electrolytes. I think we should talk about 762 00:38:55,720 --> 00:38:59,880 magnesium separately because magnesium is kind of viewed as 763 00:38:59,880 --> 00:39:03,080 it's got all of these magic powers outside of just helping 764 00:39:03,080 --> 00:39:04,760 with hydration. So let's start with that. 765 00:39:05,120 --> 00:39:08,000 What's magnesium good for? Who might take it? 766 00:39:08,000 --> 00:39:11,000 They're a bunch of different compounds of magnesium. 767 00:39:11,120 --> 00:39:13,760 Is 1 better than others for athletes? 768 00:39:14,040 --> 00:39:16,480 Yeah, all good questions. There is a lot of different 769 00:39:16,480 --> 00:39:19,240 types of magnesiums for athletes specifically. 770 00:39:19,240 --> 00:39:22,440 Specifically for runners, Magnesium glycinate is 1 I 771 00:39:22,440 --> 00:39:25,520 recommend the most because it really is correlated to muscle 772 00:39:25,520 --> 00:39:29,680 recovery and strength and performance better than all the 773 00:39:29,680 --> 00:39:31,280 other ones. All the other ones have some 774 00:39:31,680 --> 00:39:34,400 some benefits but in a different way that are not associated with 775 00:39:34,400 --> 00:39:37,640 athletics so and it can also help with sleep and we know how 776 00:39:37,640 --> 00:39:40,720 important sleep is to recovery and performance as well. 777 00:39:40,720 --> 00:39:42,200 So that's the one I recommend the most. 778 00:39:42,680 --> 00:39:46,520 Again, it's really personal how much magnesium you need based on 779 00:39:46,520 --> 00:39:48,480 your blood levels. So it goes back to going to your 780 00:39:48,480 --> 00:39:51,440 doctor, getting, getting some labs done, and then seeing how 781 00:39:51,440 --> 00:39:54,160 much you need. Magnesium can be another 782 00:39:54,200 --> 00:39:56,560 supplement where you take throughout the day, in the 783 00:39:56,560 --> 00:40:00,120 morning, in the afternoon and the evening so that you can keep 784 00:40:00,400 --> 00:40:03,960 that consistent amount of magnesium throughout the whole 785 00:40:03,960 --> 00:40:04,840 day. Especially if you're someone 786 00:40:04,840 --> 00:40:08,200 who's really active, say in the morning, and then wants improved 787 00:40:08,200 --> 00:40:12,320 sleep at night if you're dealing with sleep issues. 788 00:40:12,680 --> 00:40:15,840 So that's one important thing. And and also it is an 789 00:40:15,840 --> 00:40:17,840 electrolyte, It's one of our electrolytes that can help us 790 00:40:17,840 --> 00:40:20,360 stay hydrated. So it sounds silly because a lot 791 00:40:20,360 --> 00:40:22,760 of times when you, you talk about a supplement like we just 792 00:40:22,760 --> 00:40:25,120 said it with date, like it's connected to so many different 793 00:40:25,120 --> 00:40:27,720 things. Magnesium's also connected to so 794 00:40:27,720 --> 00:40:31,480 many different things. We tend to get more magnesium 795 00:40:31,480 --> 00:40:33,280 through our diets if we have balanced diets. 796 00:40:33,280 --> 00:40:36,680 So we tend not to be as deficient in magnesium than we 797 00:40:36,680 --> 00:40:40,280 do in vitamin D, but that's not to say we don't need it because 798 00:40:40,280 --> 00:40:41,920 our bodies metabolize it differently. 799 00:40:42,160 --> 00:40:46,320 How important is it for like an electrolyte supplement to have 800 00:40:46,320 --> 00:40:49,520 magnesium in it? Like, let's say the electrolyte 801 00:40:49,520 --> 00:40:53,040 drink you take on your long run or you take on your bike ride. 802 00:40:53,400 --> 00:40:56,680 It's less important than sodium. Yeah, sodium's our big one. 803 00:40:56,680 --> 00:40:59,120 Sodium's the one that's going to pull that water into your cells 804 00:40:59,120 --> 00:41:02,080 and help you maintain hydration most efficiently. 805 00:41:02,440 --> 00:41:06,240 The others, magnesium, calcium, potassium, we need on a lot 806 00:41:06,240 --> 00:41:10,360 lower dosage to make make that hydration cascade happen. 807 00:41:11,000 --> 00:41:14,720 And we also get more magnesium, calcium and potassium through 808 00:41:14,720 --> 00:41:16,840 food if we're eating fruits and vegetables and grains. 809 00:41:16,840 --> 00:41:21,000 So those are easier to get. Sodium's not as easy to get 810 00:41:21,080 --> 00:41:24,200 unless you're eating like a lot of processed foods, a lot of 811 00:41:24,200 --> 00:41:25,680 fast food, that kind of things when you're trying to eat 812 00:41:25,680 --> 00:41:28,120 healthy. Sodium's one of the things that 813 00:41:28,280 --> 00:41:30,960 comes out of your diet, unfortunately, a little faster. 814 00:41:30,960 --> 00:41:33,440 So that's the one that's more important to boost. 815 00:41:33,840 --> 00:41:37,400 Plus we lose a lot more sodium in our sweat than we do 816 00:41:37,640 --> 00:41:40,760 magnesium, potassium, calcium. So we just need to supplement 817 00:41:40,760 --> 00:41:43,360 with that one a little bit more. Now it seems like a lot of 818 00:41:43,360 --> 00:41:46,880 athletes think that if they have a problem with muscle cramping, 819 00:41:46,880 --> 00:41:50,760 magnesium is like the magic electrolyte to help with that. 820 00:41:51,160 --> 00:41:54,080 What is the link there and is that really the case or is it 821 00:41:54,080 --> 00:41:57,800 just, you know, a little bit of magical thinking? 822 00:41:57,920 --> 00:42:01,480 Yeah, it's such a good question and our research is so mixed on 823 00:42:01,480 --> 00:42:05,960 this, so it's hard to answer. I feel like most some people who 824 00:42:05,960 --> 00:42:08,440 deal with muscle cramping supplement with magnesium and 825 00:42:08,440 --> 00:42:10,000 their cramping goes away. So guess what? 826 00:42:10,040 --> 00:42:12,520 They were probably deficient in magnesium and it was probably a 827 00:42:12,520 --> 00:42:15,840 good fix. I find it's more hydration issue 828 00:42:15,840 --> 00:42:18,840 in general. Also depends on the type of 829 00:42:18,840 --> 00:42:20,360 cramping. Is it like a Charley horse in 830 00:42:20,360 --> 00:42:22,480 the middle of the night or is it a stomach cramp while you're 831 00:42:22,480 --> 00:42:24,000 running? Like those kind of differ a 832 00:42:24,000 --> 00:42:27,960 little bit too. So it's still cramping, is still 833 00:42:27,960 --> 00:42:31,600 such a mystery in the research world because some things work 834 00:42:31,600 --> 00:42:33,120 and some things don't for different people. 835 00:42:33,120 --> 00:42:36,840 So we don't have a steadfast answer on that. 836 00:42:37,160 --> 00:42:40,520 But I do just get in there and do a little nutritional CSI and 837 00:42:40,520 --> 00:42:43,920 kind of experiment with some things and see what works and 838 00:42:43,920 --> 00:42:45,560 what doesn't work and we figure it out. 839 00:42:46,200 --> 00:42:47,800 Unfortunately, it's kind of still old school that way, 840 00:42:47,800 --> 00:42:51,200 right? So that but that is usually what 841 00:42:51,200 --> 00:42:54,000 has to be done. Is it like try something, see 842 00:42:54,000 --> 00:42:57,080 how a person responds, then go to the next step? 843 00:42:57,200 --> 00:42:59,160 Yeah, Yeah. These are research has the basis 844 00:42:59,320 --> 00:43:01,640 and then we do our own little personal experimentation. 845 00:43:01,640 --> 00:43:04,040 Yes. Yeah, because everyone is an 846 00:43:04,040 --> 00:43:06,640 individual. So the other electrolytes, 847 00:43:06,640 --> 00:43:11,600 sodium, calcium, potassium, what do they, what do we mean by 848 00:43:11,600 --> 00:43:13,720 electrolytes? You know, we, it's easy for us 849 00:43:13,720 --> 00:43:16,400 to throw these terms around. We understand them, but I don't 850 00:43:16,400 --> 00:43:19,800 think a lot of people understand exactly what electrolyte means, 851 00:43:19,880 --> 00:43:23,280 why they matter for hydration. So could you just do a little, 852 00:43:23,640 --> 00:43:26,200 you know, electrolyte 101 for our listeners? 853 00:43:26,280 --> 00:43:28,320 Yeah, sure. I mean, totally to simplify it, 854 00:43:28,320 --> 00:43:30,360 they're minerals. They're minerals that we can get 855 00:43:30,360 --> 00:43:32,400 in our diets through food. So that's really easy. 856 00:43:32,400 --> 00:43:35,520 And a lot of times these electrolyte supplements, they're 857 00:43:35,520 --> 00:43:38,920 not completely always necessary. You know, we if we're getting a 858 00:43:38,920 --> 00:43:41,440 lot of these minerals in our diets and we're hydrating 859 00:43:41,440 --> 00:43:45,200 properly, we could actually take in these electrolytes without 860 00:43:45,200 --> 00:43:47,560 ever supplementing. Now, the reason why the 861 00:43:47,560 --> 00:43:49,880 supplements come into play and why they're sometimes important 862 00:43:49,880 --> 00:43:53,880 is because when as runners we're out in hot and humid weather 863 00:43:53,880 --> 00:43:57,000 running sometimes for a long period of time, we we probably 864 00:43:57,000 --> 00:44:00,840 are heavy sweaters if you're very aerobically fit. 865 00:44:01,080 --> 00:44:04,000 So because you're more efficient at sweating and if we're losing 866 00:44:04,120 --> 00:44:08,080 more lot more fluid as we're sweating, we're probably losing 867 00:44:08,080 --> 00:44:10,040 some of those electrolytes too. And then they need to be 868 00:44:10,040 --> 00:44:12,040 replaced. But you don't necessarily need a 869 00:44:12,040 --> 00:44:14,080 supplement. I literally have some Celtic 870 00:44:14,080 --> 00:44:17,960 salt in my water right now. You can just add some salt, 871 00:44:19,080 --> 00:44:22,360 whether it's Celtic sock or sea salt or whatever, inch on on 872 00:44:22,360 --> 00:44:25,520 your food or in your water and not have to do an electrolyte 873 00:44:25,520 --> 00:44:28,040 supplement. But I use supplements too, just 874 00:44:28,040 --> 00:44:30,320 because they're easy, especially when you're on the road or out 875 00:44:30,320 --> 00:44:32,360 on a long bike ride. You know there's a place for 876 00:44:32,360 --> 00:44:34,480 them, but you don't necessarily need them all the time. 877 00:44:35,160 --> 00:44:39,400 So it let again, let's take our hypothetical distance runner and 878 00:44:39,400 --> 00:44:41,560 they're training in the summertime in a hot climate. 879 00:44:42,400 --> 00:44:46,120 Do you need to always bring like an electrolyte drink on your 880 00:44:46,120 --> 00:44:48,920 runs? How do you know what the right 881 00:44:48,920 --> 00:44:51,520 one to use is like? What should people look for on 882 00:44:51,520 --> 00:44:55,560 the label to know this is the right one for me? 883 00:44:55,720 --> 00:44:58,760 Yeah, such a good question. So you really have it all starts 884 00:44:58,760 --> 00:45:01,880 with knowing your sweat rate. So if you know your sweat rate 885 00:45:02,000 --> 00:45:04,280 and really if you simplify it, are you really heavy sweater, 886 00:45:04,280 --> 00:45:07,280 you moderate sweater, light sweater, then you know how much 887 00:45:07,280 --> 00:45:09,960 fluid and electrolytes you need. And that's why there's different 888 00:45:09,960 --> 00:45:12,280 electrolytes out there. So something like an element, 889 00:45:12,280 --> 00:45:14,480 for example, has 1000 milligrams of sodium. 890 00:45:14,480 --> 00:45:16,320 That is an electrolyte supplement for someone who's a 891 00:45:16,320 --> 00:45:18,840 very heavy sweater and loses a lot of sodium in their sweat. 892 00:45:19,040 --> 00:45:21,400 And you can tell after race if you have like grittiness on your 893 00:45:21,400 --> 00:45:25,320 skin, salt marks on your running cap or on your running clothes, 894 00:45:25,480 --> 00:45:28,200 then you know you're losing a lot of sodium in that particular 895 00:45:28,200 --> 00:45:30,880 environment. Changes throughout the year, 896 00:45:30,880 --> 00:45:32,720 too. So someone who's a very heavy 897 00:45:32,720 --> 00:45:36,040 sweater in August might not be losing as many electrolytes in 898 00:45:36,040 --> 00:45:39,520 January when it's dry and cold. So you may not need to 899 00:45:39,520 --> 00:45:42,560 supplement unless it's a weather issue. 900 00:45:43,240 --> 00:45:45,320 So sweat rate is first start with your sweat rate. 901 00:45:45,320 --> 00:45:47,400 Figure that out. How much fluid are you losing? 902 00:45:47,400 --> 00:45:48,920 How many electrolytes are you losing? 903 00:45:48,920 --> 00:45:52,160 And that in every different weather situation and in every 904 00:45:52,160 --> 00:45:56,440 different running situation. So you need different amount of 905 00:45:56,440 --> 00:45:59,800 electrolytes if you're going out for a 16 mile ride a run rather 906 00:45:59,840 --> 00:46:02,200 than if you're just doing a, a three mile tempo run. 907 00:46:02,200 --> 00:46:05,560 Like there's different, there's different situational needs as 908 00:46:05,560 --> 00:46:08,360 well. And then supplement accordingly. 909 00:46:08,400 --> 00:46:12,160 So if you're going out for a 16 mile run and it's 90° and hot 910 00:46:12,160 --> 00:46:15,200 and humid, an element might be a good way to go, especially if 911 00:46:15,200 --> 00:46:17,920 you're a heavy sweater. If you're going out for a three 912 00:46:17,920 --> 00:46:21,040 mile jog with one of your running buddies, you'll probably 913 00:46:21,040 --> 00:46:24,920 just need water and a nice little snack before you run 914 00:46:24,960 --> 00:46:26,600 something like that. Yeah, awesome. 915 00:46:27,440 --> 00:46:29,760 All right. So we've got a few more here and 916 00:46:29,760 --> 00:46:31,400 we've saved a couple of the best for last. 917 00:46:31,400 --> 00:46:34,200 But let's move on to one that maybe some people haven't heard 918 00:46:34,200 --> 00:46:37,840 of as much, but potentially can be beneficial and that's an AC 919 00:46:37,840 --> 00:46:41,240 or an acetyl cysteine. So can you tell us what the heck 920 00:46:41,240 --> 00:46:45,440 that is, why someone might decide to take it, and why it 921 00:46:45,440 --> 00:46:47,240 might be good for endurance athletes? 922 00:46:47,680 --> 00:46:50,200 Yeah, it's kind of a newer one. It hasn't gotten a lot of 923 00:46:50,560 --> 00:46:52,960 attention lately, but I think it will be shortly. 924 00:46:52,960 --> 00:46:54,080 So I'm glad we're talking about it. 925 00:46:54,400 --> 00:46:58,120 But it's a derivative of amino acid cysteine, so there's some 926 00:46:58,120 --> 00:47:00,440 Physiology for you. And it's a precursor of 927 00:47:00,440 --> 00:47:02,600 glutathione, which some of you may have heard of, which is 928 00:47:02,720 --> 00:47:06,040 basically an antioxidant, really powerful antioxidant. 929 00:47:06,040 --> 00:47:09,280 Now, as runners, we have a lot of oxidation in our bodies 930 00:47:09,280 --> 00:47:11,880 because we are taking in a lot of oxygen, which can create some 931 00:47:11,880 --> 00:47:13,880 damage. So antioxidants are super 932 00:47:13,880 --> 00:47:15,800 important. So I'm sure you know a lot of 933 00:47:15,800 --> 00:47:18,440 runners to take glutathione. This is a precursor to that, 934 00:47:18,760 --> 00:47:22,120 which can offset some of the inflammation and oxidation that 935 00:47:22,120 --> 00:47:24,760 happens in our body. But we're also finding out that 936 00:47:24,760 --> 00:47:28,600 it can reduce muscle fatigue, enhance recovery, and 937 00:47:28,600 --> 00:47:31,640 interestingly enough, can improve respiratory health, 938 00:47:31,640 --> 00:47:34,280 which can be really helpful for someone with asthma. 939 00:47:34,280 --> 00:47:36,680 Now that being said, you really do have to talk to your doctor 940 00:47:36,680 --> 00:47:38,680 because the amounts can be tricky. 941 00:47:38,680 --> 00:47:42,880 If you do have any asthma issues, it can increase 942 00:47:42,920 --> 00:47:46,960 endurance and because it's reducing muscular fatigue, it 943 00:47:46,960 --> 00:47:49,440 can increase endurance. So again, we can go longer, 944 00:47:49,440 --> 00:47:53,480 harder, faster and not our heart rates won't spike as high and 945 00:47:53,480 --> 00:47:57,080 we'll be able to process oxygen a little bit better without the 946 00:47:57,080 --> 00:48:00,160 damage that it can does too. There's actually an interesting 947 00:48:00,160 --> 00:48:03,200 study too that it can, this is related. 948 00:48:03,200 --> 00:48:04,560 It might be related, might not be related. 949 00:48:04,800 --> 00:48:07,560 It can actually help with cravings, like sugar cravings. 950 00:48:08,080 --> 00:48:10,400 So as runners, you know, like our blood sugar fluctuates 951 00:48:10,400 --> 00:48:11,880 throughout the whole day because we're burning through a lot of 952 00:48:11,880 --> 00:48:14,760 carbohydrates. So, and this happens to me, I 953 00:48:14,760 --> 00:48:16,760 don't know if it happens to you, but sometimes you can have like 954 00:48:16,760 --> 00:48:19,240 excessive cravings for sugar, especially after a long run. 955 00:48:19,640 --> 00:48:22,840 This can actually decrease that. So you can make better choices 956 00:48:22,840 --> 00:48:26,120 after a long run and not feel the need for processed sugar 957 00:48:26,120 --> 00:48:28,080 right away. Very interesting. 958 00:48:28,320 --> 00:48:30,720 That's just like a study I read recently that I thought was 959 00:48:30,760 --> 00:48:33,960 fascinating, so I'm I'm sure there'll be more to come on 960 00:48:33,960 --> 00:48:37,800 that. So with the antioxidants, you 961 00:48:37,800 --> 00:48:40,960 know, we can talk and I mean this could be like 5 episodes, 962 00:48:40,960 --> 00:48:45,480 but some oxidative stress is good for our bodies because 963 00:48:45,480 --> 00:48:47,320 that's actually how we get stronger. 964 00:48:47,840 --> 00:48:51,720 So taking something like an AC, is that something that you would 965 00:48:51,720 --> 00:48:55,440 take regularly or you might only take at certain times in your 966 00:48:55,440 --> 00:48:58,360 training cycle? What's what's like the 967 00:48:58,360 --> 00:49:00,680 guidelines for a substance like that? 968 00:49:01,120 --> 00:49:03,160 That's a good question. I don't know if there's any like 969 00:49:03,160 --> 00:49:05,360 quote UN quote guidelines, but it's something that you would 970 00:49:05,360 --> 00:49:08,640 take regularly, but the timing of it would be something you 971 00:49:08,640 --> 00:49:12,400 take before your workout. So you're right, we do want some 972 00:49:12,400 --> 00:49:14,920 of that inflammation, that oxidative stress and 973 00:49:14,920 --> 00:49:17,800 inflammation and that natural inflammation helps our bodies 974 00:49:17,800 --> 00:49:20,320 recover and get better. So there's there's benefits to 975 00:49:20,320 --> 00:49:22,600 inflammation. This is not stopping the 976 00:49:22,600 --> 00:49:24,640 inflammation. It's actually just a precursor 977 00:49:24,640 --> 00:49:26,200 to your workout to help your work. 978 00:49:26,240 --> 00:49:29,440 You work hard or junior workout. Would that create a little bit 979 00:49:29,440 --> 00:49:31,880 more inflammation and oxidative stress because you are pushing 980 00:49:31,880 --> 00:49:33,680 harder? Maybe, but you would be more 981 00:49:33,680 --> 00:49:35,480 capable of handling it. That's great. 982 00:49:35,920 --> 00:49:38,560 And then next on our list is beta alanine. 983 00:49:38,560 --> 00:49:41,600 And so again, maybe one that people haven't heard as much of. 984 00:49:41,600 --> 00:49:44,400 So what is it? What's it good for? 985 00:49:44,480 --> 00:49:46,680 Why might you take it? When might you take it? 986 00:49:47,040 --> 00:49:48,880 Yeah, so this one's fascinating to me, too. 987 00:49:48,880 --> 00:49:51,640 And I feel like this got a lot of press maybe 10 years ago and 988 00:49:51,640 --> 00:49:54,560 haven't heard as much about it lately, but a lot of athletes 989 00:49:54,560 --> 00:49:55,800 still use it. This is different. 990 00:49:55,800 --> 00:49:58,480 And this goes back to timing because this is something you 991 00:49:58,480 --> 00:50:00,800 would take just for a short period of time. 992 00:50:00,800 --> 00:50:03,840 You're not taking this all year long every day consistently like 993 00:50:03,840 --> 00:50:06,920 you would vitamin D or magnesium or some of the other supplements 994 00:50:06,920 --> 00:50:08,240 we talked about. This is something you would take 995 00:50:08,240 --> 00:50:10,440 about two to four weeks before your A race. 996 00:50:10,920 --> 00:50:13,520 So if you're someone who races a lot during the year, you pick 997 00:50:13,520 --> 00:50:16,680 one race that's most important to you that you want a PR try 998 00:50:16,680 --> 00:50:19,600 qualify for something and you're taking this leading up to your 999 00:50:19,600 --> 00:50:22,560 race. And again, it reduces lactic 1000 00:50:22,560 --> 00:50:24,520 acid. It takes it takes that amount of 1001 00:50:24,520 --> 00:50:25,920 time to build up into your system. 1002 00:50:25,920 --> 00:50:29,160 So you time inappropriately to the race and it reduces lactic, 1003 00:50:29,360 --> 00:50:31,400 lactic. Oh my God, I can't talk today. 1004 00:50:31,600 --> 00:50:36,320 Lactic acid accumulation in your blood, which as we know can help 1005 00:50:36,320 --> 00:50:40,200 us again, push harder, faster, longer without stopping or 1006 00:50:40,200 --> 00:50:42,760 slowing down. So it's pretty fascinating. 1007 00:50:42,760 --> 00:50:46,920 And it releases ox hydrogen atoms, atoms to help neutralize 1008 00:50:46,920 --> 00:50:50,760 your blood, which again can help us our performance. 1009 00:50:51,440 --> 00:50:54,080 Very interesting. So if someone was going to take 1010 00:50:54,080 --> 00:50:57,360 beta alanine, there's just like a straight beta alanine 1011 00:50:57,360 --> 00:51:00,960 supplement they would like follow what you said two to four 1012 00:51:00,960 --> 00:51:03,400 weeks before a big race and it's something you would take every 1013 00:51:03,400 --> 00:51:06,080 day or just before your big workouts. 1014 00:51:06,400 --> 00:51:08,400 Every day. Every day leading up to that 1015 00:51:08,400 --> 00:51:11,280 race, yeah, Because you wanted to build into your system. 1016 00:51:11,280 --> 00:51:13,840 And then during that training, two to four weeks, and some of 1017 00:51:13,840 --> 00:51:15,520 that training is tapering, obviously. 1018 00:51:15,640 --> 00:51:18,640 So it's still building up in your system and then it would 1019 00:51:18,640 --> 00:51:22,000 power you through that a race. So beta alanine kind of lets us 1020 00:51:22,000 --> 00:51:26,480 transition nicely into our next topic, which works in a similar 1021 00:51:26,480 --> 00:51:28,160 manner. And that's bicarb or 1022 00:51:28,160 --> 00:51:31,240 bicarbonate, Sodium bicarbonate. And this is one of, like, the 1023 00:51:31,240 --> 00:51:34,920 oldest, you know, athletic supplements on the planet. 1024 00:51:34,920 --> 00:51:38,600 There's so much research about it, but it's like, more in the 1025 00:51:38,600 --> 00:51:43,040 news now because Morton has come up with a way potentially to 1026 00:51:43,040 --> 00:51:45,520 deliver it that doesn't upset your stomach as much. 1027 00:51:45,520 --> 00:51:47,680 So tell us about bicarb. What is it? 1028 00:51:48,000 --> 00:51:50,800 Why might someone take it? Why are Olympic athletes taking 1029 00:51:50,800 --> 00:51:53,840 it? Another fascinating one because 1030 00:51:53,840 --> 00:51:56,440 it has been around for ages. I mean, cyclists and Tour de 1031 00:51:56,440 --> 00:51:58,840 France used to use it. It's basically baking soda. 1032 00:51:59,240 --> 00:52:03,320 So what they were doing is is taking baking soda in, but the 1033 00:52:03,320 --> 00:52:05,680 problem is it was really creating some serious GI 1034 00:52:05,680 --> 00:52:07,680 distress. So nobody really used it for 1035 00:52:07,680 --> 00:52:12,000 that long because it nobody could perform when they're, when 1036 00:52:12,000 --> 00:52:15,080 you have so much GI distress. So what Morton did was they, 1037 00:52:15,080 --> 00:52:18,480 their technology was able to, to encapsulate it. 1038 00:52:18,720 --> 00:52:21,200 They would obviously be able to explain it better than me so 1039 00:52:21,200 --> 00:52:24,800 that it could bypass your stomach and, and limit the GI 1040 00:52:24,800 --> 00:52:26,760 distress factor from bicarbonate. 1041 00:52:26,960 --> 00:52:29,960 But again, this is actually delaying the onset of fatigue 1042 00:52:29,960 --> 00:52:33,600 because it maintains a more preferable pH balance in our 1043 00:52:33,600 --> 00:52:35,920 blood. So again, that lactic acid isn't 1044 00:52:35,920 --> 00:52:37,480 accumulating, it's not building up. 1045 00:52:37,640 --> 00:52:41,000 So we're able to go for longer without slowing down or feeling 1046 00:52:41,000 --> 00:52:43,000 the need to, to slow our pace down. 1047 00:52:43,240 --> 00:52:44,960 So it actually is pretty fascinating. 1048 00:52:44,960 --> 00:52:49,000 Blaze muscle fatigue, it's really shown to improve our 1049 00:52:49,000 --> 00:52:51,600 ability to push at higher intensities. 1050 00:52:51,600 --> 00:52:54,600 So it's really good for temple workouts or, or interval 1051 00:52:54,600 --> 00:52:57,640 training. Again, we can go, we can go 1052 00:52:57,640 --> 00:53:00,720 faster without that lactic acid stopping us. 1053 00:53:00,720 --> 00:53:04,480 So we're able to perform and improve quicker than we would 1054 00:53:04,480 --> 00:53:06,880 without taking it. So I think there's and there's 1055 00:53:06,880 --> 00:53:09,280 more and more companies. Morton is actually probably the 1056 00:53:09,280 --> 00:53:12,520 first one to bring it back into into into light. 1057 00:53:12,680 --> 00:53:15,240 But there's other companies following suit now that are 1058 00:53:15,320 --> 00:53:19,320 creating a product that's not going to affect your GI, or 1059 00:53:19,320 --> 00:53:22,520 create GI distress rather. Now it seems like I remember 1060 00:53:22,520 --> 00:53:26,080 reading that like a number of 800 meter runners were using it 1061 00:53:26,200 --> 00:53:29,560 at the Olympics last year. So is this a product that's 1062 00:53:29,560 --> 00:53:33,880 better for shorter races or is this something that like you 1063 00:53:33,880 --> 00:53:38,040 might take before a marathon? What's the like who is the best 1064 00:53:38,280 --> 00:53:41,960 person or what's the best distance for using bicarb? 1065 00:53:42,320 --> 00:53:43,760 Yeah. I mean, right now the research 1066 00:53:43,760 --> 00:53:46,800 is pointing to you take it right before your high intensity short 1067 00:53:47,200 --> 00:53:49,480 workout. So sprinters for example, that's 1068 00:53:49,480 --> 00:53:52,920 where the most of the bulk of research is providing a benefit. 1069 00:53:53,240 --> 00:53:55,840 There's some research and I'm sure they'll be more coming out 1070 00:53:55,880 --> 00:53:58,560 also about it improving endurance. 1071 00:53:58,680 --> 00:54:01,360 That's kind of still a question mark because it doesn't, they're 1072 00:54:01,480 --> 00:54:03,600 not really sure how long it's lasting in our system or how 1073 00:54:03,600 --> 00:54:05,240 long long the effect can last for. 1074 00:54:05,600 --> 00:54:09,160 And I think there's also some research that's going to come 1075 00:54:09,160 --> 00:54:13,200 out about taking it in during endurance exercise. 1076 00:54:13,200 --> 00:54:14,440 So that'll be really interesting. 1077 00:54:14,440 --> 00:54:16,040 But I don't really have any results to that yet. 1078 00:54:16,040 --> 00:54:19,680 But my thought is it could be helpful if we keep taking it 1079 00:54:19,680 --> 00:54:23,000 during a longer run. That's just my hypothesis. 1080 00:54:23,000 --> 00:54:25,040 So we'll see if that's true, but it's fascinating. 1081 00:54:25,240 --> 00:54:27,600 How might we do that? Because right now Morton's 1082 00:54:27,600 --> 00:54:31,000 product is like a, it's almost like a soup consistency. 1083 00:54:31,080 --> 00:54:35,360 So, you know, I can imagine like in the middle of your marathon, 1084 00:54:35,360 --> 00:54:39,320 grabbing like a bottle of a soupy substance that you're 1085 00:54:39,320 --> 00:54:40,000 trying to. Yeah. 1086 00:54:40,640 --> 00:54:43,680 So I guess it's. Really Well, so it but there are 1087 00:54:43,680 --> 00:54:46,880 companies that make a pill. So I think that and maybe Morton 1088 00:54:46,880 --> 00:54:48,560 will come out with a pill eventually too, where we can 1089 00:54:48,560 --> 00:54:50,800 just pop it or turn it into a gel. 1090 00:54:50,840 --> 00:54:52,360 I don't know. They're they're so smart, 1091 00:54:52,360 --> 00:54:56,160 they'll do something fun. But but yeah, this is one to 1092 00:54:56,160 --> 00:54:58,080 keep an eye on for sure. I've actually tried it. 1093 00:54:59,160 --> 00:55:02,360 I guess I really feel a difference, you know, maybe 1094 00:55:02,360 --> 00:55:05,840 there's some placebo effect. I've tried before lifting for a 1095 00:55:05,840 --> 00:55:08,720 couple weeks and it's really something you don't take every 1096 00:55:08,720 --> 00:55:10,760 day, you take before high intensity workout. 1097 00:55:11,160 --> 00:55:13,360 And you know, I don't know, I don't know what to say 'cause 1098 00:55:13,360 --> 00:55:18,320 I'm not like it's, it's just me, but I, I felt like it helped, 1099 00:55:18,320 --> 00:55:20,320 but I also like had a really good meal beforehand. 1100 00:55:20,320 --> 00:55:23,400 So it could have been a meal. So I mean, I'll keep doing it 1101 00:55:23,400 --> 00:55:26,480 and and report back to see how I feel, but we'll see. 1102 00:55:26,800 --> 00:55:28,760 And how was it just consuming it? 1103 00:55:28,760 --> 00:55:31,600 Was it? I didn't take, I didn't take the 1104 00:55:31,600 --> 00:55:33,440 Morton one. The one thing to realize too is 1105 00:55:33,440 --> 00:55:36,160 this, this supplement is one that's still really expensive. 1106 00:55:36,480 --> 00:55:38,800 So a lot of athletes are like, I don't know if it's worth it for 1107 00:55:38,800 --> 00:55:40,800 me. I'm sure Olympic athletes are 1108 00:55:40,800 --> 00:55:42,000 like, yeah, it's worth it for me. 1109 00:55:42,000 --> 00:55:47,760 But I think, you know, just a, you know, old marathoner may not 1110 00:55:47,760 --> 00:55:51,080 be worth it, but but there are some less expensive pill 1111 00:55:51,080 --> 00:55:53,720 versions that and that's the one that I Chuck. 1112 00:55:54,080 --> 00:55:55,880 Oh, OK. So I don't know if it's as 1113 00:55:55,880 --> 00:55:58,800 powerful as a Morton one. Maybe that's maybe it wasn't as 1114 00:55:58,800 --> 00:56:01,000 high a dosage. So there's a lot of still 1115 00:56:01,000 --> 00:56:03,920 question marks on this one, but exciting stuff to. 1116 00:56:03,920 --> 00:56:06,360 Come for sure. Yeah, next few years will be 1117 00:56:06,360 --> 00:56:08,160 really interesting. Yeah, yeah, I'd love to keep an 1118 00:56:08,160 --> 00:56:10,920 eye on this one. All right, and we saved one of 1119 00:56:10,920 --> 00:56:14,560 the more interesting topics for last, and that's ketones. 1120 00:56:14,560 --> 00:56:17,920 You know, I feel like everywhere you look, another professional 1121 00:56:17,920 --> 00:56:22,720 runner is Hawk, and ketones or another cycling team says that 1122 00:56:22,720 --> 00:56:24,800 ketones are the key to their success. 1123 00:56:25,120 --> 00:56:29,280 So what are ketones? What do they do in our bodies? 1124 00:56:29,280 --> 00:56:33,280 How do they fit into our metabolism and how might they 1125 00:56:33,280 --> 00:56:36,320 help endurance athletes? Yeah, so this is another 1126 00:56:36,320 --> 00:56:37,920 interesting one. And I'll preface by saying we 1127 00:56:37,920 --> 00:56:41,480 don't have a ton of research yet on ketones and endurance 1128 00:56:41,520 --> 00:56:43,040 athletes and specifically runners. 1129 00:56:43,040 --> 00:56:45,120 But what we do know and I'm sure everyone's heard about the 1130 00:56:45,120 --> 00:56:48,440 ketogenic diet, is ketones are a source of energy that our body 1131 00:56:48,440 --> 00:56:50,440 can burn. So we can burn carbohydrates, we 1132 00:56:50,440 --> 00:56:53,040 can burn fats, we can burn proteins, but we can also burn 1133 00:56:53,040 --> 00:56:55,720 ketones. And they are typically shown up 1134 00:56:55,720 --> 00:56:58,960 in our bodies on a very low carbohydrate diet or in a time 1135 00:56:58,960 --> 00:57:02,120 when you're maybe fasting or when you wake up in the morning 1136 00:57:02,120 --> 00:57:04,960 because you have fasted all night, your ketone level might 1137 00:57:04,960 --> 00:57:07,600 be high, higher because your body has burned through 1138 00:57:07,760 --> 00:57:10,520 carbohydrates. So bodies using that as fuel. 1139 00:57:10,520 --> 00:57:14,680 Now that can be a little bit of a stress on your liver. 1140 00:57:15,520 --> 00:57:18,800 So that's one downside because it's low carbohydrate diet and 1141 00:57:18,800 --> 00:57:22,640 ketones really are not supposed to be burned off. 1142 00:57:23,720 --> 00:57:26,800 Now what we're doing with the supplemental ketones is 1143 00:57:26,800 --> 00:57:30,960 exogenous ketones that we're drinking, usually drinking and 1144 00:57:31,800 --> 00:57:34,600 and then we're using that to increase your blood levels of 1145 00:57:34,600 --> 00:57:37,960 ketones and burn off that. Honestly, some people swear by 1146 00:57:37,960 --> 00:57:39,640 them. I've never personally used them, 1147 00:57:39,640 --> 00:57:42,280 so I can't really attest to how it feels or tastes or anything 1148 00:57:42,280 --> 00:57:45,200 like that. But there are some studies that 1149 00:57:45,200 --> 00:57:48,000 show that it can improve endurance and it can prove 1150 00:57:48,160 --> 00:57:53,080 mental clarity and speed. So it's an interesting one to 1151 00:57:53,080 --> 00:57:57,120 look at the research and to see how this transpires over the 1152 00:57:57,120 --> 00:58:02,080 next few years and see if it's something you want to try or 1153 00:58:02,080 --> 00:58:04,640 not. So if someone was going to try 1154 00:58:04,640 --> 00:58:07,440 ketones, the timing is really important, right? 1155 00:58:07,440 --> 00:58:09,920 So when do you take them? Do you take them at the 1156 00:58:09,920 --> 00:58:12,240 beginning of your workout? At the end? 1157 00:58:12,240 --> 00:58:15,080 In the middle? Yeah, remember there are fuel to 1158 00:58:15,080 --> 00:58:16,520 burn off. So it would be something you 1159 00:58:16,520 --> 00:58:20,400 take before your workout almost. And I know athletes that you do 1160 00:58:20,400 --> 00:58:23,480 this almost instead of a pre workout meal. 1161 00:58:23,680 --> 00:58:27,440 So instead of, you know, your pasta and chicken before your 1162 00:58:27,440 --> 00:58:29,600 long run or whatever you're eating before you're you're 1163 00:58:29,600 --> 00:58:33,280 running work out, you would be taking in the ketones instead 1164 00:58:33,480 --> 00:58:35,680 and then your body would be using those as fuel instead of 1165 00:58:35,680 --> 00:58:37,040 food as fuel. All right. 1166 00:58:37,160 --> 00:58:39,920 And then like let's say you're going out for a 2 hour long run. 1167 00:58:39,920 --> 00:58:42,440 Do you just take them at the beginning or you're supposed to 1168 00:58:42,440 --> 00:58:45,480 take more during? Good question. 1169 00:58:45,480 --> 00:58:47,680 I think people have done both and I think there's been studies 1170 00:58:47,680 --> 00:58:50,800 on both because obviously if you just take them for two hour run 1171 00:58:50,800 --> 00:58:52,040 that you're out there for a long time. 1172 00:58:52,040 --> 00:58:54,120 So if you just take it before, it wouldn't be enough fuel to 1173 00:58:54,120 --> 00:58:56,040 last. And then what would happen if 1174 00:58:56,040 --> 00:58:58,600 you didn't take another dose during your run? 1175 00:58:58,600 --> 00:59:00,520 You would start to break down muscle mass, which is what 1176 00:59:00,520 --> 00:59:02,240 happens on the ketogenic diet anyway. 1177 00:59:02,840 --> 00:59:05,000 And when you burn down muscle mass, it's called 1178 00:59:05,160 --> 00:59:08,440 glyconeogenesis, You're actually turning protein into 1179 00:59:08,440 --> 00:59:11,440 carbohydrate, into glucose and burning that. 1180 00:59:11,440 --> 00:59:13,160 But then you're actually decreasing the amount of 1181 00:59:13,160 --> 00:59:15,000 strength you have to if you do that too often. 1182 00:59:15,200 --> 00:59:18,480 So that's the danger of that. So my assumption is is you would 1183 00:59:18,480 --> 00:59:20,920 take it before and you would also bring some to take during 1184 00:59:20,920 --> 00:59:25,120 periodically during the run. Any other things that people 1185 00:59:25,120 --> 00:59:27,240 should be aware of? Like are there some people who 1186 00:59:27,240 --> 00:59:30,920 shouldn't take ketones? Like because of the potential 1187 00:59:30,920 --> 00:59:32,440 effects it can have on the liver? 1188 00:59:32,800 --> 00:59:35,400 Should people with liver issues not take it? 1189 00:59:35,400 --> 00:59:38,520 Is it bad if you take ketones if you're taking Tylenol? 1190 00:59:38,520 --> 00:59:42,040 Like do you know about any research relating to that? 1191 00:59:42,720 --> 00:59:45,840 That I don't know, I think the people I would be most concerned 1192 00:59:45,840 --> 00:59:49,080 is anybody who's diabetic athletes or pre diabetic 1193 00:59:49,080 --> 00:59:51,560 athletes or any athlete that would suffer from low blood 1194 00:59:51,560 --> 00:59:53,720 sugar because it would dip your blood sugar pretty low. 1195 00:59:54,840 --> 00:59:56,880 So that would be something I would be concerned about. 1196 00:59:57,120 --> 00:59:59,520 I don't, I can't really speak to any liver Daisy. 1197 00:59:59,520 --> 01:00:00,920 I just haven't read any research on that. 1198 01:00:00,920 --> 01:00:02,000 So I don't have any knowledge of that. 1199 01:00:02,000 --> 01:00:07,200 But since since you're playing around with your liver and other 1200 01:00:07,200 --> 01:00:10,640 systems in your body, I would definitely look into that a 1201 01:00:10,640 --> 01:00:12,040 little bit more before trying them. 1202 01:00:12,640 --> 01:00:13,880 Right. And I feel, you know, in 1203 01:00:13,880 --> 01:00:18,800 cycling, there's some teams who won't use ketones because their 1204 01:00:18,800 --> 01:00:22,160 team doctors say, look, we don't know the long term effects on 1205 01:00:22,160 --> 01:00:25,640 the body of, you know, relying on ketones to fuel these like 1206 01:00:25,640 --> 01:00:29,800 extremely long hard efforts. And it does seem like there is a 1207 01:00:29,800 --> 01:00:35,920 lack of research about, well if I use ketones to train for and 1208 01:00:35,920 --> 01:00:39,960 race this marathon, is it going to affect my body long term? 1209 01:00:40,360 --> 01:00:43,080 Right, Yeah, I think that's a good thing to keep in mind as we 1210 01:00:43,080 --> 01:00:47,160 don't know the long term effects is a newer supplement and I 1211 01:00:47,200 --> 01:00:50,080 think that that's something to consider before taking it for 1212 01:00:50,080 --> 01:00:52,120 sure. Any closing thoughts? 1213 01:00:52,120 --> 01:00:55,080 I mean, I think one of the biggest things is you've got to 1214 01:00:55,080 --> 01:00:57,120 get a supplement that's third party tested. 1215 01:00:57,920 --> 01:01:01,880 Often consulting with your doctor, a sports dietitian, 1216 01:01:02,200 --> 01:01:06,200 someone who is extremely knowledgeable about these topics 1217 01:01:06,200 --> 01:01:08,320 is important. But anything else that people 1218 01:01:08,320 --> 01:01:12,080 should consider before starting to take a new supplement? 1219 01:01:12,680 --> 01:01:14,640 Yeah, I mean, I, I think it comes down to your personal 1220 01:01:14,640 --> 01:01:16,360 goals too. Like what are you trying to 1221 01:01:16,360 --> 01:01:19,000 achieve? And maybe the supplement will 1222 01:01:19,000 --> 01:01:20,560 help you achieve that goal. Maybe it won't. 1223 01:01:20,560 --> 01:01:22,800 I feel like a lot of athletes, just like you said in the very 1224 01:01:22,800 --> 01:01:24,760 beginning, they're taking 20 different things because they're 1225 01:01:24,800 --> 01:01:27,280 all they're they're running partners take these things and 1226 01:01:27,280 --> 01:01:29,440 they just heard it was good, but they're not really thinking 1227 01:01:29,440 --> 01:01:31,360 about is this good for me? And is this going to help me 1228 01:01:31,360 --> 01:01:33,920 achieve my goals? And is it also going to be 1229 01:01:33,920 --> 01:01:36,120 healthy for me in the long term? So those are really big 1230 01:01:36,120 --> 01:01:39,080 questions that you should, you should ask yourself because I 1231 01:01:39,080 --> 01:01:42,680 mean, we're human too. I see marketing, you know, 1232 01:01:43,000 --> 01:01:47,120 something on Instagram or, or something in the CVS or 1233 01:01:47,120 --> 01:01:49,440 whatever, and I'll say, Oh my gosh, this supplement's going to 1234 01:01:49,440 --> 01:01:52,280 make you win, Kona. And I'll be like, I want some of 1235 01:01:52,280 --> 01:01:53,840 that. And then I'll have to like, slap 1236 01:01:53,840 --> 01:01:56,320 myself and be like, OK, OK, let me just think about the facts 1237 01:01:56,320 --> 01:01:58,680 here. Very effective marketing. 1238 01:01:59,040 --> 01:02:01,720 Very effective marketing and you know, everybody wants a quick 1239 01:02:01,720 --> 01:02:04,120 fix, myself included. I wish there was a quick fix to 1240 01:02:04,120 --> 01:02:08,080 make me win Kona, but but there's not. 1241 01:02:08,200 --> 01:02:11,160 But there could be a lot of different layers between 1242 01:02:11,320 --> 01:02:14,680 foundational, you know, solid foundational diet, maybe a 1243 01:02:14,680 --> 01:02:17,680 supplement or two to fill in the gaps, maybe a protein powder, 1244 01:02:17,680 --> 01:02:21,280 vitamin D when the time of year comes where your vitamin D is 1245 01:02:21,280 --> 01:02:23,200 low. And then that can really help 1246 01:02:23,200 --> 01:02:25,560 you achieve your your goals. And I think there's puzzle 1247 01:02:25,560 --> 01:02:27,840 pieces to put together, and I think it's different for every 1248 01:02:27,840 --> 01:02:28,920 person. I love it. 1249 01:02:28,960 --> 01:02:32,280 That's a great summary, John. Thank you so much for coming on. 1250 01:02:33,040 --> 01:02:36,600 We will throw all of the ways to get a hold of Jen in the show 1251 01:02:36,600 --> 01:02:39,880 notes because you do virtual consultations, right? 1252 01:02:39,880 --> 01:02:43,040 So if somebody lives in California, they could do a 1253 01:02:43,040 --> 01:02:45,120 virtual visit with you and you could help him out. 1254 01:02:47,640 --> 01:02:50,960 So we'll throw Jen's contact info in there. 1255 01:02:51,720 --> 01:02:53,840 Once again, everyone, thanks for listening. 1256 01:02:54,160 --> 01:02:57,240 If you have a comment, leave it in the comments below. 1257 01:02:57,240 --> 01:03:00,120 Send us an e-mail, doctorsrunning@gmail.com. 1258 01:03:00,600 --> 01:03:03,400 And thanks again, Jen, for joining us. 1259 01:03:03,400 --> 01:03:05,840 It's always great having you on. Thanks for having me, this is so 1260 01:03:05,840 --> 01:03:06,200 much fun.