Don't Go Against the Grain

Two Registered Dietitians said it best "Don't go against the grain, go whole grain" - Jennifer Nelson R.D., L.d. and Katherine Zeratsky R.D., L.D.(1)   We will review how a small shift towards more whole grains will make a huge impact on your body weight, satiety (feeling full), training, performance, recovery, and health.  

In the realm of nutritional research, recommendations on food choices seem to change frequently, so lets review information that is agreed upon by nearly all sources:   

Whole grains are a healthier option than refined grains or enriched grains.(2)

Let's start with the basics.  Whole Grain is made up of three parts: Bran, Endosperm, and Germ.  See the image below:

(2)

For a large majority of our foods the most nutrient packed parts of the whole grain; the bran and the germ, are removed during the refining process.  This means the majority of your vitamins, minerals, fiber, protein, and healthy fats are taken out and you are left with refined sugars and a very small amount of vitamins and minerals.  However, the food companies will occasionally add nutrients back in, this is called enriching.  The enriched foods usually have 4 or 5 nutrients added back into the processed sugar.  Look at the graph below that compares the nutrients for white bread (refined or processed grain) vs enriched white bread (nutrients added back in) vs whole wheat Bread (whole grain bread).(2)

As you can see whole wheat bread packs a ton of nutrients inside, definitely worth the extra cost of the bread.  Also, notice the nutrients within the enriched bread, they are out of proportion and in amounts that far exceed how much the body will absorb when digested.  Therefore, the B vitamins (Thiamin, Niacin, and Riboflavin) will pass through your system and out your body (you basically just bought expensive urine).  Lastly, notice the refined wheat flour (gray bars) robs you of a lot of the nutrients and actually increases the amount of calories.(2)

 What is the health impact of all those nutrients and antioxidants in Whole Grains?

Whole Grains reduce risk of Heart Disease,(3) Stroke,(4) Cancer, (5) Diabetes,(6) and Obesity.(7)

Whole Grains eaten regularly will reduce your risk of obesity, as measured by waist to hip ratio and body mass index, and reduce cholesterol levels.(8)

3 servings of Whole Grains each day will reduce your risk of:

Heart Disease by 25-36% 

Stroke by 37%

Type 2 Diabetes by 21-27%

Digestive System Cancers by 21-43%

Hormone-Related Cancers by 10-40% (2)

 

Research linked refined sugar with:

Depression(9)

In summary, Whole Grains are easily worth the extra cost for all the health benefits.  Refined sugars in white bread, rice, etc. are linked with higher risks for disease and depression.  The reduced cost of white bread does not make it affordable on your health.

Make sure to look for this stamp on the packaging of your foods:

The Basic Stamp means whole grains are in the food but the food also contains a small amount of refined grain.  The 100% stamp is what you want, this is made with 100% whole grains.(2)

Remember with every healthy food you buy, you're investing in your future.  

Next post will go more into depth and describe what refined sugar does to your body when it is digested and enters your bloodstream.

See You Soon,

Troy 

References:

(1) Nelson J, Zeratsky K.  Don't go against the grain - Go whole grain. Nutrition-wise blog. Sept 26, 2012.  <http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/expert-blog/eating-whole-grains/bgp-20056282> Accessed 10/28/15.

 

(2) The Oldways Family: The Whole Grains Council.  Whole Grain 101. 2003-2013. <http://wholegrainscouncil.org/whole-grains-101> Accessed 11/11/15.

 

3) Li Y et al. Saturated Fats Compared With Unsaturated Fats and Sources of Carbohydrates in Relation to Risk of Coronary Heart Disease. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2015 Oct. 66 (14):1538-48.

4) Johnsen NF et al. Whole-grain products and whole-grain types are associated with lower all-cause and cause-specific mortality in the Scandinavian HELGA cohort. British Journal of Nutrition. 2015 July 23:1-16.

5) Yang M et al. Dietary patterns after prostate cancer diagnosis in relation to disease-specific and total mortality. Cancer Prevention Research. 2015 June 1.

6) InterAct Consortium. Dietary fibre and incidence of type 2 diabetes in eight European countries: the EPIC-InterAct Study and a meta-analysis of prospective studies. Diabetologia. 2015 May 29.

7) Dong D et al.  Consumption Of Specific Foods And Beverages And Excess Weight Gain Among Children And Adolescents. Health Affairs. 2015 Nov;34(11):1940-1948. 

8) Hollaender PL et al. Whole-grain and blood lipid changes in apparently healthy adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled studies. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2015 August 12.

(9) Gangwisch JE et al. High glycemic index diet as a risk factor for depression: analyses from the Women's Health Initiative. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2015 Jun 24.

Your Glutes

Your glutes are amazing...they really are. To put it simply, if you have a strong butt, you are less likely to sustain injuries to your low back, knees, and ankles (three of the most commonly injured areas). ^(1,2,3,4,5) This means that performing glute strengthening exercises will most likely allow you to spend more time performing what you love. Which is why Dr. Jordan Metzl, a sports medicine physician, stated a quote you should remember: "a strong butt is a key to a happy life". ⁽⁶⁾

Case and point on how glute strength impacts your life: Tiger woods in the 2015 Farmers
Insurance Open. 
 

After he withdrew from the tournament, he explained: "My glutes are shutting off. Then they don't activate, and then, hence, it goes into my lower back," he said. "So I tried to activate my glutes as best I could, in between, but...they never stayed activated". ⁽⁷⁾ In summary, Tiger's deactivated glutes kept him from enjoying his round of golf and kept him from loads of potential prize money.

Tiger's quote brings up a great point though, we do not only need a strong butt, we also need to be able to "activate" the muscle. This is the ability of the nerve to tell the muscle to turn on and start producing force. Think of the nerve as the road for the signal to travel down. If you rarely focus on training your glutes, it's like driving along a gravel road, the signal is slow and weak. Your glutes are going to be sluggish which means the muscles, ligaments, tendons, and joints above and below the hip have to pick up the slack...which they can for a short period of time.  But, the wear and tear will catch up with you, you're truly gambling with nagging low back pain.  However, if you focus on training your glutes regularly it's like driving down the highway...the signal is quick, so the glutes are able to activate quickly and on time to perform your activity pain free (which means you are definitely able to enjoy your golf outing a little more). And, in the eyes of Dr. Metzl, you just invested in a happier life.

A well-timed glute contraction can be the difference between back pain or a 350 yd drive.

Lack of training though, is only one of many reasons your glutes will not activate. For Tiger, it is because of low back tightness. His glutes deactivated after a 2 1/2 hour fog delay in the first round. He said his back tightened up during the delay and "never loosened back up again". ⁽⁷⁾ So, is it possible the glutes and the back interact like this? Take a look at the image below:  this is called Lower Crossed Syndrome.(8)

Erector Spinae = Back Muscles

The tight back muscles tip the pelvis forward.  

This lengthens and deactivates the glutes, 

placing them in a weak position.

As you can see, the glutes are without a doubt related to the low back.  If the low back muscles are angry and don't ease up, the glutes cannot activate to create power through the hips for hitting the golf ball.  Instead, as Tiger mentioned, the torque goes through his low back because the spine is excessively arched with the tight .  So in Tiger's case, he should of been doing glute activation exercises and low back stretches during the 2 1/2 hour fog delay.


Next post will be HOW to activate your glutes properly for all activities.


See you soon.


References:  

Please make sure what you read online has references or you are most likely just reading opinions.

(1) Leinonen V, Kankaapää M, Airaksinen O and Hanninen O (2000): Back and hip extensor activities during trunk flexion/extension: effects of low back pain and rehabilitation. Archives of Physical Medical Rehabilitation 81, 32-37.

Conclusion from the article: "The activity of the gluteus maximus muscle during the flexion-extension cycle was reduced in patients with chronic low back pain. The gluteal muscles should be taken into consideration in the rehabilitation of these patients."

(2) Bullock-Saxton JE, Janda V and Bullock MI (1994): The influence of ankle sprain injury on muscle activation during hip extension. International Journal of Sports Medicine 15: 130-134.

Conclusion from the article: "Analyses revealed that the pattern of muscle activation in subjects with [a previous ankle] injury differed markedly from normal control subjects, and that changes appeared to occur on both the uninjured and the injured sides of the body."

(3)  Friel K, McLean N, Myers C, Caceres M. Ipsilateral hip abductor weakness after inversion ankle sprain. J Athl Train. 2006;41:74-78.

Conclusion from the article: "Our subjects with unilateral chronic ankle sprains had weaker hip abduction strength and less plantar-flexion range of motion on the involved sides. Clinicians should consider exercises to increase hip abduction strength when developing rehabilitation programs for patients with ankle sprains."

(4) Fredericson M, Cookingham CL, Chaudhari AM, Dowdell BC, Oestreicher N, Sahrmann SA. Hip Abductor Weakness in Distance Runners with Iliotibial Band Syndrome. Clin J Sport Med. 2000 Jul;10(3): 169-75

Conclusion: Long distance runners with ITBS [knee pain on the outside of the knee, on the IT Band] have weaker hip abduction [Glute] strength in the affected leg compared with their unaffected leg and unaffected long-distance runners. Additionally, symptom improvement with a successful return to the preinjury training program parallels improvement in hip abductor [Glute] strength.

(5) Santos TR, Oliveira BA, Ocarino JM, Holt KG, Fonseca ST.  Effectiveness of hip muscle strengthening in patellofemoral pain syndrome patients: a systematic review.  Braz J Phys Ther. 2015 May-Jun;167-76. Epub 2015 May 29.

Conclusion:  Hip muscle strengthening is effective in reducing the intensity of pain and improving functional capabilities in patients with PFPS [pain on or around your kneecap].

(6) Remy, Mark.   Strong Butt, Happy Life.  Runner's World 2010 Nov 3. <http://www.runnersworld.com/fun/strong-butt-happy-life> Accessed on 2015 Sept 29.

"I preach preparing your body by cross-training. Strength training, jumping, landing. I always say if you want to keep running, a strong butt is a key to a happy life." - Dr. Jordan D Metzl

(7) Bissell, Kathy. Tiger Woods' Glutes: Is There Anything to His Comment About Their Deactivating? Bleacher Report 2015 Feb 7. <http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2357757-tiger-woods-glutes-is-there-anything-to-his-comment-about-them-deactivating> Accessed on Sept 29, 2015.

 

"My glutes are shutting off. Then they don't activate, and then, hence, it goes into my lower back," he said. "So I tried to activate my glutes as best I could, in between, but...they never stayed activated."

 

(8) Kolomvounis S. I Love Physical Therapy. 2013 Feb 16. <http://ilovephysicaltherapy.blogspot.com/2013/02/lower-cross-syndrome.html> Accessed on Oct 9, 2015.

Knowledge is Power

Hi everyone, thank you for visiting The Performance Post!  This blog is about helping you train, perform, and recover at your best.  Knowledge is power and each post will focus on providing you with valuable, evidence-based, and performance enhancing knowledge.  Most importantly, the information will key in on how it impacts you, so you know HOW to train smarter, perform better, and recover faster.  My goal is help you become the best version of yourself and perform at your very best.  If you have any questions, comments or requests for topics to cover (which is the reason for this blog), leave a comment or e-mail me at: ThePerformancePostBlog@gmail.com.  The topics can be anything from injury prevention, to rehabilitation, to performance of an event, competition, or sport.  

Thanks! 

Troy