Power Foods
The Magic 13
by TC
I've had the dubious pleasure of eating lunch or dinner with hundreds — maybe
thousands — of bodybuilders, weight lifters, athletes, and fitness bunnies
and the undeniable truth is that almost all of them eat like crap.
Despite what they might think, a chicken breast and some steamed rice is
not a healthy meal, and that's what they eat most of the time, occasionally
substituting a potato for the rice.
Sure, it's a lot better than what most Americans cram down their gullet,
but it sure doesn't feed the machine.
These assorted athletes and wanna-be athletes are able to function adequately
on their fowl dinner, but that's because the body can take a lot of
abuse. I remember reading an article about a Japanese man who had survived
for 15 months on
nothing but popcorn. Think his nutrition was adequate?
Well chances are yours ain't much better, bubba.
My diet has rarely been beyond reproach, but doggone it, I'm getting
better about it; a lot better. I've consulted the writings of
our own resident nutritionists — Berardi, Lowery, and Barr — in
addition to books like
SuperFoods by Steven Pratt, M.D., and I've
come up with my own list of 13
"Power Foods." However, I didn't look at foods as a nutritionist;
rather, I looked at them from the perspective of my training as a microbiologist.
Each food was chosen because it appears to have incredible, almost drug-like
effects on human physiology. While I make no guarantees (there isn't
a nutritionist alive who can), eating these foods often will quite likely
change your health and change your life.
These are foods I buy each week, usually on Sunday. I buy specific quantities
and my goal is modest: to finish off the amount I bought by the next Sunday.
Maybe it's a little sloppy or haphazard, but who the hell has the time
to plan and prepare each meal?
My way is simple. And it works.
Here are my choices in no particular order, along with the reasons why I've
included them and the amount you should try to eat each week:
Broccoli
In 1992, a study conduced at Johns Hopkins found that broccoli consumption
prevented the development of tumors by 60% and it reduced the size of tumors
that did develop by 75%.
Clearly, broccoli, like Stacy's mom, has got it going on.
Broccoli contains more polyphenols than any other common vegetable. It also
contains large amounts of indoles, which are potent estrogen blockers.
Other super powers possessed by broccoli include an ability to boost the
immune system, build bones, fight birth defects, and to ward of degenerative
eye diseases.
Ways to eat them: You might want to consider buying broccoli sprouts
when they're available as they're 10 to 100 times more powerful
than mature broccoli spears.
To eat them, use them in stir-fry dishes or puree them and mix them in soup.
Of course, there's always my way, which is to steam them and serve drowned
in olive oil and blanketed with red chili flakes.
How much to eat: 1/2 to 1 cup daily
Wild Salmon
Ordinary salmon wear pocket protectors and study to be engineers. Wild salmon,
on the other hand, go to raves and listen to that crazy salmon music.
Nahh, I'm talking about eating salmon that were raised in the wild,
like Alaska. Farm-raised salmon are fed corn and grain and they develop fatty
acid profiles that aren't much different than most of our animal food
sources.
In other words, the farm-raised variety is woefully deficient in Omega-3
fatty acids, which is pretty much the whole reason you'd want to eat
them in the first place!
Sadly, most of the time when you order salmon in a restaurant, you're
getting the farm-raised variety. It's best to ask before you order.
Most of you are well aware of the beneficial effects of salmon oil, but
here's a mercifully brief refresher course in case you're not.
Salmon oil reduces the risk of coronary artery disease; controls hypertension;
controls inflammation; prevents cancer; prevents degenerative eye diseases,
and it may well boost your metabolism, making it easier for you to lose fat.
Keep in mind that the Omega-3 fatty acids in fish are, obviously, marine
based, and that the Omega-3 fatty acids found in walnuts and flaxseed are
plant based. As such, it's best to include both kinds in your diet.
Ways to eat it: Bake it, broil it, steam it. Or just buy Salmon oil
capsules or bottled liquids.
How much to eat: 24 ounces (3 8-ounce servings)
Note: Biotest is expected to have their own extremely pure Omega-3 fatty
acid product in the warehouse any time now. Grass-Fed Beef
Most of you probably know that the vast majority of beef in the US is corn-fed.
Hell, they advertise it like it's a good thing: "We have corn-fed
beef at $9.99 a pound!"
Well it's
not a good thing.
Here's what I wrote about the subject in a previous article:
"Nowadays, most cattle spend an average of 60 to 120 days in feedlots
where they're fattened up before being slaughtered. Obviously, most of us
know that heavily marbled beef isn't exactly part of a healthy diet but there
are other things going on that you need to know about. Feeding cattle corn
instead of grass drastically upsets the balance of essential fatty acids
found in their meat.
"The modern American diet is criminally short on Omega-3 fatty acids
and these fatty acids, when consumed in optimal amounts, can potentially
prevent coronary artery disease, hypertension, arthritis, cancer, diabetes,
and various inflammatory and autoimmune disorders. Conversely, the American
diet is high in Omega-6 fatty acids. While Omega-6 fatty acids are important
to health, too, bad things happen when the ratio of these fatty acids is
altered; namely, the aforementioned maladies.
"Many scientists guess that man evolved eating an Omega-6 to Omega-3
fatty acid ratio of 1 to 1 from both meat and plant sources. An acceptable
modern day ratio would be approximately 3 to 1. Trouble is, corn-fed cattle,
in various studies, have exhibited ratios of 21 to 1, 11 to 1, and 20 to
1. Not good. Grass-fed cattle, on the other hand, exhibit ratios of 3 or
4 to 1.
"Similarly, the meat from grass-fed cattle contains significantly higher
amounts of CLA, which supposedly lowers the risk of cancer."
I hope one part of that sunk in, the part about grass-fed cattle having
a ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3 of 3 or 4 to 1.
That makes grass-fed beef about as good a food as wild salmon. And we weight
lifters shouldn't forget that grass-fed beef contains relatively large
amounts of creatine. Maybe that's why we feel stronger when we eat it.
Lastly, grass-fed beef has a lot less saturated fat than corn-fed, and that
in itself is noteworthy.
Ways to eat it: What, I gotta' tell you how to make a steak?
How much to buy: 24 ounces (3 8-ounce servings)
Walnuts
People who eat walnuts have fewer heart attacks. One study actually found
an inverse relationship between walnut consumption and
all deaths.
I don't know how a walnut could keep you from being hit by a runaway
streetcar, but I do believe it's one healthful little nut. Walnuts
are one of the few rich sources of plant-derived Omega-3 fatty acids (alpha
linolenic acid), thus complimenting the animal-derived Omega-3 fatty acids
we get from another Power Food, salmon.
They're also high in plant sterols, which reduce cholesterol. Combine
that with their arginine-powered ability to keep the insides of blood vessels
smooth and you can understand their effect on heart health.
In addition to all that, they're the nut with the highest anti-oxidant
activity, and they contain rich amounts of magnesium and copper, two minerals
that are typically deficient in the American diet.
Ways to eat them: By the handful, on top of a Grow! pudding, or on
top of a salad.
How much to eat: 8 ounces (1-ounce or one small handful a day)
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