HEED (High Energy Electrolyte Drink)

The healthy sports drink choice for superior energy

By: Steve Born with Hammer Nutrition

Whether you’re a hardcore athlete, a weekend warrior, or someone whose job requires a lot of physical exertion, chances are you’ve used a number of sports drinks over the years. That’s not at all surprising because they sure have been around for an awfully long time. Unfortunately, even after all these years, most sports drinks haven’t really evolved. Most of them still aren’t much more than artificially colored and flavored sugar water, which provides minimal, if any, benefits for your athletic performance, and definitely nothing beneficial for your health.

That’s precisely why we designed HEED, and ever since its introduction, it’s not just been well received, it’s been hailed as a breakthrough in the world of sports drinks! Seriously, if you use any kind of sports drink to stay hydrated, energized, and refreshed, HEED is your healthy alternative, rising above the liquid junk food constantly peddled to athletes and active people like you. With HEED, you get a product designed for relatively shorter exercise (two hours and under), but one that’s formulated just like the endurance fuels in our line (Sustained Energy and Perpetuem) – quality fuel designed to give you consistent, long-lasting energy.

Before we discuss what’s in HEED that makes it different from the glut of sports drinks flooding the market, let’s look at what it doesn’t contain, which is of equal importance and worth mentioning:

• No simple sugars – You won’t find any of the “ose” type sugars— glucose, sucrose, fructose—in HEED. As with all of the Hammer Nutrition fuels, we use complex carbohydrates with no added refined sugars. One of the primary reasons is because the use of simple sugars in an energy fuel not only severely limits the amount of calories that can be efficiently digested and utilized for energy, it may cause wild fluctuations in energy levels, the “flash and crash” type of energy that you want to avoid at all costs.
• No artificial colors, flavors, or sweeteners – There are no general health benefits to be derived from consumption of this junk (but plenty of potential negative effects), so it’s guaranteed that there aren’t any athletic performance-enhancing benefits to be garnered either. Put another way, as a health conscious individual, you try your best to avoid consuming foods with these artificial ingredients in them because you know that they have no benefits for you health-wise. Why deviate from that healthy choice when it comes to what you put in your body during exercise? Seriously, is it necessary to artificially color a sports drink neon green to let you know that the flavor is probably lemon-lime?

Bottom line: Avoid artificial colors, flavors, and sweeteners in your daily diet and your exercise fuels.

It would have been easy to make a “just like all the others” sports drink but we couldn’t and wouldn’t do it, simply because it wouldn’t benefit you. No, instead of resorting to making a copycat product—one that, as mentioned earlier, would be little more than artificially colored and flavored sugar water—we designed a sports drink that would match the quality of our other fuels. This means no artificial colors (that’s right, no “electric blue” colors), flavors, or sweeteners and, most importantly, NO ADDED SIMPLE SUGARS. Here’s why this is so important . . .

Both simple sugars and complex carbohydrates are absorbed at equal rates IF the solution concentration is within body fluid osmolality parameters (280-300 mOsm). Simple sugars meet this criteria and are effectively emptied from gastric channels only when they are mixed in 6-8% concentrations; any more concentrated than that and digestion will be delayed or halted, which greatly increases the potential for stomach distress. On the other hand, the complex carbohydrates that we use in HEED and our other fuels, match body fluid osmolality even when mixed in concentrations as high as 18%. This presents a distinct advantage because your body is able to digest, and thus convert to energy, a greater volume of calories from complex carbohydrates than it can from simple sugars.

Now, some “experts” disregard osmolality but we do not believe its importance can be overstated. The reason being (quoting/paraphrasing Dr. Bill Misner), “when osmolality goes above 300 or below 280 mOsm, the gut must pull minerals and fluids out of the serum circulates to mediate a narrow 280-300 mOsm range for immediate calorie absorption.” That’s why, when athletes make a “double strength” batch of a simple sugar-based drink in the hopes of obtaining the calories that their body requires, they most often have problems such as gastric stress, bloating, flatulence, vomiting, and muscle cramps. The reason this happens is simply because the mix is substantially higher than the 6-8% concentration limitation and the body is forced to divert electrolytes and fluids to the gut in order to lower the osmolality of this too-highly concentrated sugar mix.

An interesting point to note is that while a simple sugar like glucose has a high glycemic index (GI) rating of 100, the maltodextrin that we use in our fuels has an even higher GI rating of approximately 130. This means that complex carbohydrates raise blood glucose levels similarly, even more effectively than simple sugars (a desirable effect during exercise), but without the rapid and precipitous drop that is a common and non-beneficial effect of simple sugar fuels.

Bottom line: The complex carbohydrates in HEED provide the rapid energy that you want. Additionally, they allow you to obtain the maximum amount of calories that you need, providing more consistent and longer lasting energy without putting you at risk for stomach distress, a common problem associated with simple sugars.

Hammer Nutrition is uncompromising in our stance on the use of complex carbohydrates as THE preferred choice, no matter what the distance or intensity, and all of our fuels—including HEED— contain complex carbohydrates and NO added simple sugars.

However, published reports have caused quite a stir, piquing the interest of many athletes. In fact, a few companies now produce sports fuels that contain the carbohydrate formulations used in the studies. In a nutshell, the research found that a blend of carbohydrates increased oxidation rates, indicating higher energy production. In one study, cyclists who ingested a 2:1 mixture of maltodextrin to fructose oxidized carbohydrates up to 1.5 grams/minute, or 360 calories per hour. Another study used a mixture of glucose, fructose, and sucrose and had rates that peaked at 1.7 g/min, or 408 calories per hour. These results are pretty eye opening, considering that complex carbohydrates typically oxidize at a rate of about 1.0 g/min.

However, there’s more to the results than what first meets the eye. Subjects in these studies cycled at low intensity, only 50-55% maximum power output, which I think we’d all agree is very much a recovery pace, if that. It’s definitely not the kind of output that you have when training or racing! To be blunt, at a leisurely 50% VO2 Max pace, athletes can digest cheeseburgers and pizza with no gastric issues. However, if the heart rate and core temperature are raised to only 70% VO2 Max, everything changes drastically: the body must divert core-accumulated heat from central to peripheral. This reduces the blood volume available to absorb ingested carbohydrates or whatever the athlete has consumed.

After two decades of experience, we have found that in the overwhelming majority of the athletes that we’ve worked with— athletes engaged in typical 75-85% efforts and/or in multi-hour endurance events—the combination of simple sugars and long chain carbohydrates (and even complex carbohydrates for that matter), in amounts higher than 1.0 – 1.1 grams per minute (4.1 – 4.6 calories per minute/240-276 calories per hour), have not yielded positive results. They did, however, increase performanceinhibiting, stomach-related maladies.

Dr. Bill Misner summarizes: “Absorption rate and how fast the liver can ‘kick it out’ are limiting factors. No matter what you eat, how much or how little, the body provides glucose to the bloodstream at a rate of about 1 gram/minute. Putting more calories in than can generate energy taxes gastric venues, electrolyte stores, and fluid levels.”

Bottom line: It’s not whether or not these published studies are disputable, but rather if these studies apply to normal bouts of exercise (read: faster paced, longer duration). We adamantly do not believe this to be the case, which is why we do not recommend the use of multiple carbohydrate sources during exercise. Please, DON’T fall for the multi-carb fad! Unless you plan on basically walking through your next workout or race, going at an effort no higher than 50-55% max (basically, a recovery pace, if that), stick with complex carbohydrate fuels— not simple sugars or fuels containing multiple carbohydrate sources—and we guarantee that you’ll see better results.

One of the first things that people notice when trying HEED for the first time is that it is significantly less sweet than the typical sports drink. We did this intentionally because the overwhelming majority of the athletes that we talked to told us that they were sick and tired of trying to choke down an overly sweet and syrupy tasting drink. The secret to how we’re able to make a drink that’s short on overt sweetness but not deprived of calories is in the sweeteners we use – Xylitol and Stevia. Neither of these nutrients generates much at all in the way of calories and they’re not intended to; that’s what the complex carbohydrate maltodextrin that we use in HEED is for. On the other hand, maltodextrin contributes almost nothing in regards to sweetness, especially compared to simple sugars such as sucrose or fructose. So while we did want to lightly sweeten the product, we didn’t want to rely on simple sugars (for reasons mentioned earlier) or, even worse, artificial sweeteners to accomplish that. Instead, we chose these two undeniably healthier alternatives.

Xylitol – If there’s such a thing as a perfect sweetener, xylitol is at or near the top of the list. Xylitol is a natural substance that can be found in a variety of fibrous fruits and vegetables. It is also known as birch sugar, primarily because it is usually extracted/produced from birch trees (though it can also be extracted/ produced from corn cobs). The human body naturally produces over 15 grams of xylitol every day by way of normal metabolic processes. Xylitol is used as a sweetener in HEED; however, it is not a major caloric donor. It produces by weight over 7% of the product, but donates only 4.76% of its calories. Additionally, xylitol contains fewer calories than other carbohydrates – 2.4 calories per gram or 40% less than other carbohydrates.

Xylitol’s most unique aspect, however, is in regards to its beneficial effects on oral health. Xylitol is non-fermentable and therefore cannot be converted to acids by oral bacteria, thus it helps to restore a proper alkaline/acid balance in the mouth. This alkaline environment is inhospitable to all of the destructive bacteria and, in fact, studies using xylitol have shown dramatic reductions in tooth decay. That’s why you’ll find this unique sweetener in gum, toothpaste, and mouthwash, and it’s one of the reasons why we include it in HEED.

Note: It is believed that xylitol is unsafe for consumption by dogs; therefore, we do not recommend that you feed your dog any xylitol-containing products, including HEED or Recoverite, nor any products that are made for human consumption.

Stevia – Another ideal natural sweetener is the extract (steviosides) from the leaves of Stevia rebaudiana, a plant native to subtropical and tropical South America and Central America. Stevia’s most obvious and notable characteristic is its sweet taste, considered to be up to 300 times sweeter than sugar, which means that minimal amounts are necessary to sweeten a product. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of stevia is that it has no calories, no Glycemic Index rating, and does not affect blood sugar levels. Stevia has been thoroughly tested around the world and found to be non-toxic. It has also been consumed safely in massive quantities (thousands of tons annually) for the past 20+years. Research indicates that stevia is safe for diabetics and effectively regulates blood sugar in people with diabetes and hypoglycemia. It is also purported that stevia tends to lower elevated blood pressure while not affecting people with normal blood pressure. Lastly, like xylitol, stevia inhibits the growth and reproduction of oral bacteria.

Bottom Line: For several reasons, including maintaining and potentially even improving oral health, xylitol and stevia are undeniably healthier alternatives than the simple sugars and/ or artificial sweeteners contained in most sports drinks.

If all we did was use complex carbohydrates and two healthy sweeteners, that alone would make HEED a better choice than the artificially flavored/colored/sweetened and simple sugar-filled sports drinks currently flooding the market. But there are three other features of HEED that are definitely worth noting:

A full-spectrum electrolyte profile – Unlike many sports drinks, which contain only some salt (oftentimes far too much salt) and potassium, HEED also provides a complete and easily assimilated electrolyte profile (sodium, chloride, calcium, potassium, magnesium). For some athletes, one or two scoops of HEED will completely fulfill electrolyte requirements (in addition to caloric requirements). For other athletes, the electrolyte profile in HEED will provide an excellent base to which additional Endurolytes can be consumed to completely satisfy electrolyte needs.

Chromium polynicotinate – Chromium may be a trace micronutrient, but its effects on athletic performance cannot be overstated. Considered by many experts to be the “master nutrient” for controlling blood sugar (which means stable blood glucose levels during exercise), chromium also plays a vital role in energy production and the synthesis of glucose, fatty acids, and amino acids. We use Chromemate™ brand chromium polynicotinate, the natural, niacin-bound form of dietary chromium, for its superior absorption rate over other forms of chromium such as chromium picolinate and chromium chloride.

L-carnosine – Last, but definitely not least, is l-carnosine. Also known simply as carnosine, it is a naturally occurring dipeptide of the amino acids l-alanine and l-histidine. Excess lactic acid accumulation during prolonged or intense exercise creates numerous undesirable effects including premature fatigue, reduced circulation, and increased muscle soreness & inflammation. Carnosine has been shown to effectively buffer lactate buildup in muscle structures so it is a powerful ally against excess lactic acid. Simply put, adequate carnosine stores are associated with an increase in physical performance, especially during anaerobic performance demand.

But that’s only half of the carnosine story. Carnosine is also highly regarded as an antioxidant, with multiple free radical-scavenging capabilities. In addition, carnosine exhibits powerful anti-glycation benefits. A simple definition of glycation is the undesirable cross-linking of proteins and sugars to form nonfunctioning structures in the body. Glycation is cited as an underlying cause of age-related problems including neurologic (brain), vascular (circulatory), and ocular (eye) disorders. Carnosine has been shown to help prevent glycation, so when you drink carnosine-enhanced HEED, you receive that great benefit along with its antioxidant and acidbuffering properties.

Bottom line: In addition to everything that HEED already provides, it contains these important and beneficial features as well, components that are most likely missing in other sports drinks.

Sports drinks can be a convenient way to fulfill energy requirements during shorter-duration exercise, and they can really come in handy to maintain energy levels if your job involves a lot of energy output (such as a construction worker), or if you’re simply doing chores in and out of the house. However, you need to be cognizant that what you put in your body determines the quality of energy you’ll get from it. The oft used saying “garbage in, garbage out” absolutely applies to nutrition, so if you’re serious about enhancing your exercise performance (not to mention your overall health), don’t put anything in your body that won’t benefit you.

HEED contains none of the refined simple sugars that most sports drinks are loaded with, nor does it contain any artificial colors, flavors, or sweeteners, which your body can’t use nor wants to deal with. What HEED does contain are nutrients that will positively influence the quality of your workouts and races. Additionally, some of the nutrients in HEED have benefits for overall health. Lastly, HEED’s taste is a pleasant departure from the syrupy sweetness that is the norm for most other sports drinks. All flavors of HEED—Lemon- Lime, Mandarin Orange, Strawberry, and Melon—are subtle and easy on the palate, even when mixed in more caloriedense concentrations. And if you don’t want any flavor at all, you’ll want to give the Unflavored version of HEED a try; it’s virtually taste-free!

You don’t need to sacrifice convenience for quality! HEED is a unique alternative in the world of sports drinks and it’s ready to serve you. As with all of our fuels, we guarantee you’ll love HEED or you get your money back, simple as that.

Is the amount of stevia used in HEED safe?

Any substance, solid or liquid (even water), may be toxic if too much is consumed. The term, LD50, describes the oral dose required to kill 50% of the lab animals. Let’s compare the LD50 of these common substances:

Note: For a 165-lb/75-kg athlete that translates to 1125 grams (1,125,000 mg) of steviosides.

REFERENCE: Akashi and Yamamoto reported a Stevia-LD50 was 15g/kg in oral administration (1975). 15g/kg means 15 grams of Stevioside for every 1 kg (2.2 lbs.) of body weight.

SUMMARY
Considering the safety record of stevia, plus the fact that its LD50 is 5x higher than salt, and even higher than vitamin C, the tincture of stevioside formulated in HEED or other Hammer Nutrition products should not be of any concern. In actuality, stevia is a healthy sweetener.

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The Hottest MLM System Ever!

by Brian Bier  12/17/09

©2009

 I recently visited a website that had a picture of a man’s face scrunched up as if he was extremely stressed and confused.  Super-imposed on the picture were the words: Opportunities, Pitches, Products, Hype!  This seeming to present a negative image of hearing those words.

Underneath the picture was a short description of this “new wealth building formula” that was so unique that nobody else has done it before.  It promises “no prospecting, no rejection, no advertising, etc.”

I’ve been in the MLM industry a while now.  I have a pretty good idea about who the target market for this “new formula” is.  At one time in my career, I just might have been weak enough to take a look at it.  I mean come on, no prospecting…no advertising…no rejection…who wouldn’t want a system like that?

As I stated before, I’ve been in the MLM industry for a while now, and I would NOT want a system like that!

Let me paint a little picture for you…

You join an MLM company.  You have great products or services that others can benefit from. You have intentions of building a solid business that will produce a long-lasting residual income.

In order to start earning any income, your job now as an Independent Distributor of ACME, Inc. is to move product!  Plain and simple.  You are paid when product is moved through your organization.

No matter what company in this industry you are a part of, there will always be three ways, and only three ways, that product will be moved through your organization:

1. Retail your product or service
2. Gather wholesale customers
3. Enroll other distributors into your organization who purchase product to use or sell (hopefully you will also train, develop and support these new team members as well!)

Each company will have various commissions, bonus pools, fast pays, etc. in their compensation plans to break up how they pay for sales in your organization, but make no bones about it…what you just read are the only ways that you can earn an income from a “legal” network marketing company!  The sale of a product or service to an end user is what all the commissions and bonuses are paid from!

Now that we understand this point, how does that tie into the “Hottest MLM System Ever” that promises “no advertising?”

Well, as an Independent Distributor, you are the marketing arm of the company you have chosen to align yourself with.  You are the “advertising” for the company’s product or service. 

In the traditional marketing or retail world, when a company wants to sell a new product or increase sales of a current product, they need to get the word out to consumers who may be interested in purchasing their goods.

How do they do that?  Simple…they advertise!  The companies will spend untold amounts of money to get their product advertised in the marketplace in the hopes that their target market will see the ad and then subsequently purchase the product.

Advertising alone is a huge industry!  One could imagine the incredible amounts of money that is spent on advertising every day.

Network marketing companies do things a little different.  You know those untold amounts of advertising money spent by traditional companies?  Well, a network marketing company still spends that same money, in the form of commissions and bonuses, however, they don’t spend it until the consumer has already purchased the product!  They are the first to get paid!

I don’t know about you, but that just seems like a pretty logical thing to do!  After having worked in the corporate world for so many years, my parents started their own restaurants.  Isn’t that the dream of so many people?  Become your own boss, start a business and become rich!  Well, I learned from my parents that the business owner is the last person to get paid!  Now that just doesn’t make sense at all, does it?

If you invented a new product and you wanted to sell it, what do you think is the best route?

• Spend a whole bunch of money (if you have it) to tell people about your new product in the hopes that enough consumers will buy from you to recoup that money
• Or…have a representative (not an employee) sell your product for you, and after you have already been paid, then you pay the rep. a percentage of the profit from that sell

Option number two seems like the best choice, wouldn’t you agree?  That is how network marketing companies work.  You see, you are the advertising!  The same advertising dollars that the traditional company spends in hopes of getting a customer, the network marketing company spends after they have gotten a customer, to you, the “advertising arm”…in the form of commissions, bonus pools, etc.

All right, now that we understand all of this, we are clear that since we joined an MLM company, and we have intentions of building a solid business that will produce a long-lasting residual income, and we know that in order to earn this income that we must move product through our organization, and in order to move product through our organization we must…Advertise!

So, as an independent distributor of a network marketing company who must move product to get paid and must advertise in some fashion in order to move that product, why would I want a “new wealth building formula” that promises “no advertising?”  If I want to build an organization of others like me, then I’m pretty sure I don’t want to be using a system that promises “no prospecting!”

Remember those three ways that product can be moved through an organization? 

• Retail, Wholesale & Other distributors in your organization

Guess what?  To do any of those three things, so you can move product, so you can earn an income…you are going to have to advertise!  You are going to have to prospect!  You are going to encounter rejection!

What I teach my team members is a little different than what “The Hottest MLM System Ever!” promises.

When someone comes into my organization, I want them to be very aware that there will be Opportunity, Products and Pitches!  Remember those words that were supposed to invoke a negative response?

I assure them that they absolutely will encounter rejection.  They absolutely will be prospecting.  In order to get the word out about their product, the absolutely must advertise!

Of course, there will be plenty of training and support along the way and maybe we can teach them some different methods than they may be thinking of, you know something that they may be comfortable with.  We will advertise in ways that cost money and in ways that are free.  We will experience rejection and we will experience joy.  You see, our “wealth building formula” isn’t new…it has be tested and proven for over 50 years!  We move product, and we get paid!

——————————————————————————————————————————————— 

Brian Bier is a husband, father and networker. He is an advocate of Network Marketing and contributes positively to its reputation by helping others uphold the highest standards of ethics, values and honesty within the industry.

To receive additional information about what company Brian is aligned with, visit http://www.newedgemarketing.com or send an email to newedgemarketing@att.net.  Brian can be reached directly at (817) 419-8273 CST.

© 2009, Brian J Bier.  This information is copyright protected. Please feel free to distribute this information as long as this copyright notice, phone number and/or URL are included. Content must remain unchanged and original authorship acknowledged.

• Your body will be able to store more and more of a premium, ready-to-use fuel known as muscle glycogen.
• You will strengthen, not weaken, your immune system.
• You will kick start the rebuilding of muscle tissue.

You can really give yourself a major advantage come race day if you’ll take the time to put some quality fuel into your body as soon as possible after all of your workouts.

If you’re at all serious about performing better in your racing and staying healthier, then take heed to this saying: When you’ve finished training, you’re still not finished with training! Here’s what I mean: You must attend as much to recovery as you do to active exercise if you expect to reap the benefits of hard training. In other words, how well you recover today will be a huge factor in how well you perform tomorrow. Exercise, done properly, creates enough stress on your muscles and cardiovascular system to instigate a rebuilding and strengthening program, but without causing big-time damage. Your body responds by adapting to the stress you placed upon it. Too much exercise at once leads to over-training syndrome. If you train within limits, but fail to supply your body with adequate fuel and nutrients, you get pretty much the same thing: over-use symptoms such as weakening, increased susceptibility to infections, and fatigue.

Recovery includes many factors, including rest, stretching, muscle stimulation, and sleep, but we will limit our present discussion to the nutritional aspects. This article will cover the four essential nutritional areas of recovery: rehydration, the two macronutrients (carbohydrates and protein), and micronutrients (primarily antioxidants).

Rehydration

Technically, of course, water has no nutrient value, but it’s essential for performance and recovery, and well worth a couple of paragraphs here. The normal course of recovery nutrition intake will meet most hydration needs, but it is possible for an athlete to suffer from chronic dehydration. In the article on hydration (Hydration – What You Need To Know) we caution against excess fluid intake, a more common problem than dehydration, especially among the mass of recreational and fitness athletes. Top-level competitors, however, tend to under-hydrate during races.

As a rule of thumb, you want to finish a workout with no more than about 2% body weight loss, and certainly no weight gain. Weight loss in excess of 2% signals performance decline. For example, if you go out at 160 lbs (approx 72.5 kg) and return several hours later at 156 lbs (just under 71 kg), you’re probably a bit dehydrated, but that would not be an unusual deficit after a hard workout or race. (Obviously, a steady, reliable scale is important here). At a pint per pound (roughly 475 ml per kilogram), four pounds (nearly two kilograms) lost means you need to drink at least a good half-gallon (64 ounces, or just under two liters) of fluids in the next few hours. That’s fairly easy, and much of the fluid intake will come in the normal course of nutritional replenishment anyway.

Carbohydrate replenishment – The sooner the better!

Now let’s consider carbohydrate replenishment, the most obvious nutritional issue caused by endurance exercise. When you know the mechanism of carbohydrate replenishment, you can very effectively dial in your energy recovery program, so let’s briefly review your energy use and restoration cycle.

When you begin a workout or race, the primary fuel your body uses for the first 60-90 minutes or so is known as muscle glycogen, a glucose polymer that contains tens of thousands of glucose units arranged in branched chains. As your stores of muscle glycogen become depleted, your body switches over to burning fat reserves along with carbohydrates and protein consumed during exercise. You’ve only got so much of this premium fuel, muscle glycogen, but its importance can’t be overstated. In fact, several studies have shown that the pre-exercise muscle glycogen level is the most important energy determinant for exercise performance. Needless to say, to have a good race or workout, you need to start with a full load of muscle-stored glycogen; athletes who have more of this readily available fuel in their bodies have a definite advantage. The good news is that you can substantially increase your glycogen storage capacity through the process of training and replenishing.

Here’s how your body does it: Along with insulin, which regulates blood sugar levels of ingested carbohydrates, an enzyme known as glycogen synthase converts carbohydrates from food into glycogen and stores it in muscle cells. This also drives the muscle repair and rebuilding process. However, to maximize the recovery process, you need to take advantage of glycogen synthase when it’s most active. Carbohydrate replenishment as soon as possible after exercise, when the body is most receptive to carbohydrate uptake, maximizes both glycogen synthesis and storage. To paraphrase the late Ed Burke, a well-known nutritional scientist, “The sooner you do it, the better.” Glycogen synthesis from carbohydrate intake takes place most rapidly the first hour after exercise, remains fairly active perhaps another hour, and then occurs at diminished levels for up to 4-6 hours longer. Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin demonstrated that glycogen synthesis was highest when subjects were given carbohydrates immediately after exercise. Depletion followed immediately by carbohydrate intake yields the maximum glycogen re-supply.

Complex carbohydrates versus simple sugars

The one time where your body isn’t going to put up much of a fuss regarding complex carbohydrates versus simple sugars is right after a hard, glycogen-depleting workout. At this time your body is in such dire need of replenishment that it’ll accept just about anything. That said, complex carbohydrates still offer a distinct advantage over simple sugars, which is why we strongly recommend using them. Here’s why: Complex carbohydrates (such as the maltodextrin we use in Recoverite) and simple sugars (except fructose) have a high glycemic index (GI). This allows them to raise blood sugar levels and spike insulin rapidly, both desirable functions post-exercise. However, complex carbohydrates allow for a greater volume of calories to be absorbed compared to simple sugars. In other words, when you consume complex carbohydrates instead of simple sugars after exercise, your body is able to absorb more calories for conversion to glycogen without the increased potential for stomach distress that commonly occurs with simple sugar fuels.

Additionally, most of us already over-consume simple sugars from our daily diets. Numerous studies clearly show that sugar consumption in America is outrageously high. A report from the Berkeley Wellness Letter stated that each American consumes about 133 pounds (60+ kg) of sugar annually & that’s over 1/3 pound sugar every day, 365 days a year! Excess sugar consumption is implicated in a number of health problems. If simple sugars don’t offer any specific post-workout benefits, then why use them?

Bottom line: Use only high glycemic complex carbohydrates (maltodextrins) to optimally replenish glycogen stores.

A less-fit athlete, or one who has not been refueling properly after exercise, has very limited muscle glycogen available, perhaps as little as 10-15 minutes worth.

Which would you rather have when the gun goes off, 15 minutes of on-board fuel or 90 minutes?

It should now be clear that by taking in ample amounts of carbohydrates immediately after training and continuing for the next few hours, you can get a head start on refueling your muscles after workouts. Additionally, consumption of carbohydrates will also tip the scales in the direction of protein synthesis instead of protein catabolism (breakdown). In other words, ample carbohydrates are essential in rebuilding muscle cells as well as restoring muscle glycogen. Studies suggest that the carbohydrate inflow gives the muscle cells the necessary fuel to begin the rebuilding process. Using the energy derived from carbohydrates, the muscles absorb amino acids from the bloodstream, helping initiate protein synthesis.

Carbohydrates also boost the production and release of insulin from the pancreas. Insulin is an anabolic (tissue-building) hormone that has a profound positive impact on protein synthesis in muscles, and it also tends to suppress protein breakdown. A University of Texas study found plasma insulin values three to eight times higher post-workout for subjects ingesting carbohydrates versus placebo.

Bottom line: For replenishing glycogen stores and aiding in the rebuilding of muscle tissue, quick replenishment of carbohydrates is a must. As soon as possible after you finish your workout, ideally within the first 30 minutes, consume 30-60 grams of high quality complex carbohydrates.

Protein – Essential component for recovery

Carbohydrate intake promotes many aspects of post-exercise recovery, but it can’t do the job alone; you need protein as well. Protein in your post-workout fuel provides these benefits:

• Raw materials to rebuild stressed muscles – Whey protein is the premier protein source of the three branched chain amino acids (BCAAs – leucine, isoleucine, valine) used for muscle tissue repair.
• Enhanced glycogen storage – Numerous studies have shown that the consumption of carbohydrates plus protein, versus carbohydrates alone, is a superior way to maximize post-exercise muscle glycogen synthesis.
• Immune system maintenance – We strongly recommend whey protein, with its high levels of amino acids that spur glutathione production (see below).

Whey is the superior protein source for recovery

Of all the protein sources available, whey protein is considered the ideal protein for recovery, primarily due to its high Biological Value (BV) rating. The BV is an accurate indicator of biological activity of protein, a scale used to determine the percentage of a given nutrient that the body utilizes. In other words, BV refers to how well and how quickly your body can actually use the protein that you consume.

Of all protein sources, whey has the highest BV, with whey protein isolate (the purest form of whey protein) having an outstanding rating of 154, and whey protein concentrate having a 104 rating. Egg protein also has an outstanding BV, with whole eggs rating 100 and egg whites (albumin) rated at 88. With a 49 rating, soy protein ranks far below whey protein, making it a less desirable choice for recovery. (When the BV system was introduced, eggs had the highest known BV and thus were given a value of 100. Whey proteins came to researchers’ attention later, and they rang up even higher scores. The 154 BV of whey protein isolate and the 104 BV of whey concentrate are in comparison with the original BV benchmark, whole eggs.)

Other standards that evaluate protein quality/effect also show whey to be a superb protein source. One of these methods, the Protein Efficiency Ratio (PER), while it admittedly has limited applications for humans (PER measures the weight gain of experimental growing rats when being fed the test protein), still shows that whey protein ranks the highest, with a rating of 3.6 (soy protein has a rating of 2.1).

Another protein measurement is the Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score (PDCAAS). Nutritionists who disqualify the PER method for classifying protein quality (because it only references the amino acid requirements for lab rats) often will use the PDCAAS method for evaluating human protein requirements. According to this method, which utilizes an amino acid requirement profile derived from human subjects, an ideal protein is one that meets all of the essential amino acid requirements of humans. An ideal protein receives a rating of 1.0. Three protein sources – whey, soy, and egg – all have a 1.0 PDCAAS ranking.

One very important point about whey protein: for a supplement, make sure you use whey protein isolate, not whey protein concentrate. Whey protein isolate is virtually lactose and fat free; many lactose-intolerant people can still use whey protein isolate because it contains only a minuscule amount of lactose. Also, whey isolate checks in at a sturdy 90-97+% protein, whereas whey concentrate contains only 70-80% protein. Simply put, whey protein isolate is a purer protein, and the best protein you can put into your body after a hard workout.

Hammer Whey and the whey protein used in Recoverite is a pure un-denatured whey protein isolate of the highest quality. It is 97.7% pure, and virtually fat-free (0.5 g fat/100g), and carbohydrate-free (0.5 g lactose/100g). The whey protein isolate in Hammer Whey and Recoverite delivers rich immune-enhancing beta-lactoalbumins and alpha-lactalbumins. Hammer Whey has a unique profile of highly bioavailable protein with immune factors, potent branched chain amino acids (BCAAs), lactoferrin, and immunoglobulins. Independent laboratory tests show the PDCAAS (Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score) for the whey protein isolate in Hammer Whey and Recoverite is a whopping 1.14, a score that exceeds all of those reported for egg, milk, caseinates, and soy protein.

Glutathione: The key to optimal immune system support & recovery

Glutathione is a tripeptide consisting of the amino acids glutamic acid, cysteine, and glycine. It is one of the three endogenous (naturally occurring in the body) antioxidants, the other two being catalase and superoxide dismutase. Many researchers rate glutathione as the number one antioxidant. Ward Dean, MD, a leading nutritional scientist, in his brilliant article “Glutathione: Life-Extending Master Antioxidant, addresses the importance of glutathione, stating that Glutathione is present in nearly all living cells, and without it they can’t survive& glutathione has major effects on health at the molecular, cellular and organ levels.

One of the most important steps we can take to improve our recovery is to enhance/optimize body levels of this important antioxidant, and one of the best ways to do that is by consuming whey protein. Whey protein contains excellent levels of all three of the amino acids that comprise glutathione, as well as high levels of the sulfur-containing amino acid methionine. The two sulfur-containing amino acids (cysteine being the other) are particularly important for proper immune system function and the body’s production of glutathione. In addition, the amino acid glutamine has also been shown to help raise glutathione levels (both Hammer Nutrition whey protein products, Hammer Whey and Recoverite, contain high amounts of glutamine).

Bottom line: Adequate glutathione in the body will enhance your recovery and support optimal health.

© 2009, Endurance Marketing Group. This information is copyright protected. Please feel free to distribute this information as long as this copyright notice and EMG’s phone number and/or URL are included. Content must remain unchanged and original authorship acknowledged.

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“I want a fruit snack,” I hear my 2-year old say. He just had one and he wants another. Being the good parents that we are trying to be, we say no. He pleads a little and we explain that he can’t have another one right now. A few minutes later, we hear this crashing sound coming from the kitchen pantry! We run in and what do we see? Michael standing there surrounded by fallen items, with a package of fruit snacks in his hands! My wife and I look at each other in amazement, being that the box of fruit snacks was on the 4^th shelf up at approximately 5 feet off of the floor!

How in the world does a 2-year old child reach a box of fruit snacks on the 4^th shelf, 5 feet above the ground?

 My friends, there is the problem! We all know exactly what happened. We can easily deduct from the crashing sound, and Michael standing with the prize in his hands, that he pulled himself up the shelves (seems to be a very strong child), climbed and pulled until he got what he wanted. So what is the problem? Well, most people will ask the question that I just asked: “How in the world…”

I’ll tell you how.

He was focused on the fruit snack! How many times have you seen something that you wanted and then saw the obstacles in front of you and gave up? How many times have you said, “That can’t be done.” Have you ever settled for something less than what you wanted because the challenge was just too tough?

You see, Michael wasn’t looking at the shelves. He didn’t know that the height of the box of fruit snacks was more than twice his size. Michael was not aware that obstacles were in his path. He saw what he wanted and he did what he had to do to get it!

So how does that differ from you and me? We are grown adults. We can see a prize. We can see what needs to be done to get something. We can make a plan to overcome those objectives. So what is the difference? Why do so many people fail?\

Let me test you…

I want you really imagine each step in your mind. Close your eyes and visualize it. See yourself doing each step. Ready?

Imagine a long board. It is about 10 feet long and 12 inches wide. Place it on the ground (a flat surface) and walk across it. Actually picture yourself doing this. Even better, if you have a board like this, then physically do it!

Ok, now that you have walked across it, how do you feel? Pretty easy right. Really, how hard could it be? Your foot is probably no wider than 6 inches, you’ve been walking all your life, not too far to walk. Not bad right?

Ok, next, I want you to imagine that same board resting on 2 chairs. So now it is approximately 2 or 3 feet off the ground. Now, walk across it again.

Easy right? The board is wider than your foot, you’ve been walking all your life, and you’ve done it once already so you know you can do it. Not bad.

Next, Imagine that board just a little higher. Let’s say about 6 feet off of the ground. Now, walk across it. Probably just as easy right. Not too bad, your foot is smaller than the board, you’ve been walking all your life, and you’ve done it twice now. How hard can this be?

Ok, now, I want you to imagine that same board that you have walked across three times already, at a height of 110 stories; the height at which the World Trade Center Towers stood. Look down and see the tiny ants that are people. Look at those tiny moving things…they are cars. Now, walk across that board!

How do you feel now? Did you make it? Did you even try? Well, lets look at this. The board is larger than your foot, you’ve been walking all your life, you’ve crossed it three times now without a problem, so what happened?

Why didn’t you walk across the board? Are you concerned about, oh, lets say, falling!? Wait a minute; haven’t you walked across the board three times already? Were you concerned about falling those three times? Ah ha! I bet you weren’t.

So, how does all of this relate. Well, quite simply, what are you focused on? My son was focused on the fruit snack. Guess what, he got it! You were focused on falling. Guess what, you didn’t get it!

I believe that too often, we let our past dictate what we can and cannot do. We grow up all our lives being told no, what we can’t do, what we should and shouldn’t do. Do you think that maybe a 2-year old child that hasn’t had 20, 30, or 40 years of “no’s” programmed into his mind never even thinks about what he can’t do? I can tell you that since that incident, there is no telling him that he can’t have a fruit snack from up there! He knows he can get it! He’s done it already! We had to re-arrange things!

Would you agree that if your child were on the other side of that board at 110 stories high and their life was in danger that you would quickly get across it and save your child? I know I would! I wouldn’t even think about falling. I would think about saving my son! I would be focused on success!

So what can we learn from a child’s determination? That it is really pretty simple to get a fruit snack? Or that what we focus on is what we get?

Any time you feel yourself doubting something or struggling to achieve what you set out for, ask yourself: What am I focused on? Do I see the obstacles or do I see the end result? Do I have a big but? Huh? You read that right! I said, “Do I have a big but?” You know, everyone has big buts! Let me explain.

You are focused on your success, you are getting there, and there are some obstacles. You stop and ask yourself what you are really focused on. You answer, “Self, I am focused on the prize and my success, BUT…”

How many times do you use the word “but” in an answer or explanation? If you are constantly saying “but,” then you are NOT focused on success. You are focusing on an obstacle! My friends, you need to get rid of your buts!

You want to achieve success?  What are you focused on?

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Brian Bier is a husband, father and networker. He is an advocate of Network Marketing and contributes positively to its reputation by helping others uphold the highest standards of ethics, values and honesty within the industry.

To receive additional information about what company Brian is aligned with, visit http://www.newedgemarketing.com or send an email to newedgemarketing@att.net.  Brian can be reached directly at (817) 419-8273 CST.

© 2009, Brian J Bier.  This information is copyright protected. Please feel free to distribute this information as long as this copyright notice, phone number and/or URL are included. Content must remain unchanged and original authorship acknowledged.