Since this question was along the same lines of Atreides question, I thought that I would go ahead and post it.
In one of your articles (I cannot recall) you stated that macronutrient ratios can sometimes be “gimmicky” and of little value.
What are your thoughts on macronutrient ratios?
Is the amount of macronutrients that one consumes per lb of bodyweight more important?
(And as Atreides asked…what are you recommending in terms of grams of protein,carbs and fat per unit of bodyweight?)
Mufasa
Dr. Berardi,
Yhis may seem a little off topic from the posts on this forum.
What do you think of online graduate programs? I came across the Acadamy of Nutrition website and was very interested, but a little skeptical. I also saw the Dr.Tim Ziegenfuss was one of the advisors. The only reason I am looking into this is because I am the Food Service Director at a university. I work 10-14 hour days which leaves me with little time to do anything else. I have a degree in dietetics and currently persuing a C.S.C.S. The website says that the program is accredited, but I would like to here some of oyur opinions and suggestions. Sorry for any misspellings, I am in a hurry because i’m at work. Sorry if this is off topic, but I would like to know.
Thanks,
phil
Why do lifters need so much vitamin C. It seems like every expert recommends at least 500mg a day for the formation of collagen and the maintenance of one’s immune system, if not 2,3,4 times that, but studies show that the body is completely saturated after 150-200mg. Does it have anything to do with the half-life which is only 30-mins apparently (like we need a constant supply of it).
What are your opinions on calorie cycling to keep hormones in peak condition and the body on it’s toes? I’m talking small cycles, like two weeks of overfeeding followed by two at maintenance? Or does slow and steady win the race simply because in the end, you’ve ingested more kcals.
If you’re strictly following a ME Reloaded type protocol, in which you’re eating <10g of fat over ~8 hours (two pre-wo, ~6 post), even longer if you then go to bed, what effect does this have on the digestion of fat-soluble vitamins (A D E K) that are absorbed with the help of dietary fat?
I suggest you give us more insight into your training philosophies. I loved your creation articles, especially how the second one’s training program was laid out, but you only write about nutrition here. Since you’re only on a maintenance program right now, how about an article on exactly what it takes training and diet wise to merely retain strength and muscle mass. I think the upcoming books are a great idea.
Sorry for the long post. Thank you.
Dr. John,
I have a question concerning PCT. In two weeks I’ll be coming off a 7 week cycle of pro-steroids. During my 7 weeks “on” I’ve been dieting–nothing extreme, about a 500Kcal deficit/day.
During PCT should I continue to cut calories, or should I bump calories back up to isocaloric in order to offset the lack of androgens in the body. That is, will continuing to diet while androgen levels may be low cause too much stress on the body?
Thanks,
Crowbar
Why are you moving Science Link to Texas?
JB - thanks for answering my earlier question - this is a great opportunity for us T-Men
My question for today concerns fiber content. I have noticed that dried beans have a great deal higher (about 3 times) percentage of fiber from carbs than do the pre-cooked canned beans. The dried beans list a 70-calorie serving as containing 23 carbs with 15 from fiber. A similar served of the cooked and canned beans reveals 21 carbs, with only 6 from fiber. I understand that some fiber is destroyed by cooking. How do we take that into consideration when cooking hi-fiber foods. If I am going to use low carb, high fiber flatbread to make a pizza, do I need to fear that the fiber content is being degraded by the baking process. Or, can I trust the labels on hi-fi pasta, or will the fiber degrade while the pasta is cooking.
Thanks
Dermo
[quote]John M Berardi wrote:
Cressey and Robertson,
How do you know there isn’t another category of fat that I recommend for that other 10%?
Won’t you look foolish, discrediting my math skilz, when you realize that the error is yours.
[/quote]
Actually, the error was in omitting the 10% that includes cholesterol, glycerol, and phophopholids in the first place. It’s sad when you age and the mind goes, huh, old man?
PS - Cass says hello, but just for the record, she had ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with helping a bonehead powerlifter out with coming up with this response. That was all me. 182% Eric Cressey, baby.
I would like to see an article aimed at Diabetics in all honesty. overweight diabetics need help and i feel that they need to stop the whole GI index (too many carbs from what i have read).
Also an article about diffrent countries and the way they eat. a little vauge i know but my girlfriend comes from Russia and is beautiful, here friends are also very beautiful, is this due to their potato, cabbage and oatmeal diet or just through poverty and always being active? they have great bodies and i havent seen many fat girls over in eastern europe.
Anyway something for you to think about.
Simon Forsyth
Dr. JB:
Concerning increasing energy flux for powerlifters, can you give an example? How about high intensity sled-dragging for trips of 35-40 meters with 85-110% of one’s body weight? How about rest periods, number of trips, etc? I am very interested in increasing my energy flux to become as efficient and strong as I can in my weight class before going up to the next.
Also, among the three “greens” products that you favor, which one stands above the other two and why? I know that they are all good and whatnot, but in your opinion which is the best? Thanks for your time!
DR. JB
Thank you for hosting this forum. My question revolves around PWO nutrition. I have been following this PWO statagy for since 2001
Pre/During Exercise
40g-80g of carbohydrate (50%glucose-50%maltodextrin)
20g-40g of hydrolyzed protein
3-5g each of creatine, glutamine, BCAA
2L water (80g CHO + 40g PRO + 5g Creatine +5g Glutamine +5g BCAA = 135g of nutrients. In 1L of water this would be a 13.5% solution and too concentrated. In 2L of water this is about 6.75% and the concentration is just right).
Post Exercise
40g-80g of carbohydrate (50%glucose-50%maltodextrin)
20g-40g of hydrolyzed protein
3-5g creatine each of glutamine, BCAA
1L - 2L water
500mg vitamin C, 400IU vitamin E
Now I would like to statrt taking Surge, but I have always used these drinks at the high end of the spectrum (40p,80c) does it nessarly matter if I used Surge which has lower numbers of p+c (25p, 49c) because it falls with in these numbers?
Sorry if my question is confusing
Thank you for your time
Will42
Dr. B
It looks like me and Atreides have similar questions for you!
So…you’re going to be a “Longhorn”, huh? (You lucky dog, you…you’ll be around some of the cutest ladies in the world!)
What lead to the decision to move “ScienceLink” to Austin?
Will Phil and Carter be going also?
What are some goals that you’ll be having for the Company with the move to Austin?
Will you be working officially with any of the athletes at UT?
Sounds like an exciting move!
Congratulations!
Mufasa
Hey JB…
Did they teach you how to read minds when you were studying for your PHD???
I noticed you said about posting stuff you’d like to see from you in the future. I was thinking… I’m going to post because I’d like some recipes… BOOOOM!!! You post recipes… Nice… Thanks…
Real quick on this though… I think you may have misinterpreted what I was asking… I probably didn’t ask clearly… Let me try again…
I don’t mind eating the same stuff over each day. I don’t get bored with it. I can eat a low fat cheese omlete every day and look forward to it… Is that OK? You mentioned to prepare different meals… Is it OK to eat the same stuff?
OK… Here’s something that I’d like to see from you. You should talk to TC to see if you could do an atomic dog article from time to time, or… Write an article that doesn’t apply to nutrition or training. I see the way you answer these posts and you seem like a cool cat… It’d be cool to get some insight from you on other subjects…
Thanks for everything…
LJ
What would be the best way to clean out the h. pylori bacteria out of your digestive system, or does it not affect digestion much.
Thanx for your time.
Andrew Jones
Wing,
There is a ton of info on the web about ALA. (Im assuming you mean Alpha Lipoic Acid and not Alpha Linolenic Acid). You can also check www.pubmed.com as this is the database I search when trying to learn more research-based information.
I read through your questions and realized - you never asked the critical one - does it work?
ALA is a potent antioxidant and has been shown to have some “antidiabetic” properties. But here’s the kicker - IN DIABETICS (Type 2).
My take is this - it may help a small amount in normal individuals BUT exercise is much more powerful! If you exercise properly and control blood glucose through diet you won’t need ALA.
As far as dose, we’re talking 300-600mg of R-ALA - the doses you mention are too small.
DBoy
While there seem to be “performance” or “muscle” non-responders (because they are already loaded), there are many other benefits of creatine.
Creatine has been shown to improve cognitive test scores in vegetarians (low creatine in the diet) and even potentially improve glucose tolerance and/or glycogen synthesis.
Because creatine does so much good stuff, I have most of my clients take 3g a day. No loading phase. No fancy creatine mixtures. No cycling on or off. Just 3g every day.
In fact my former PhD advisor doesnt even exercise much and still takes a few grams every day with lunch.
Dr. Berardi,
Congrats on the PhD. My question to you is what is your opinion on protein cycling diets such as the metabolic diet by Dr. Dipasquale and the Proetin cycling diet by Dr. Jones in the 1998 T-nation archives?
Edit: With the primary goal relating to hypertrophy.
Hey Again JB… Man this is cool having you hear to answer this stuff…
So your saying timing for creatine isn’t that important? I used to take it right after my workout. I haven’t used it in a bit, but planning on grabbing some. Again, funny this came up…
Would it be bad to add it to Surge?
Thanks again…
LJ
Browser,
I studied Philosophy and Psychology as an undergrad (In addition to my Health Science/Pre Med studies).
Since I was a real logical moron prior to starting university - all of the philosophers impacted my thought pretty greatly.
It’s like when Im riding good (expensive) motorcycles, every one Im riding, at the time, seems to be my favorite.
Same with philosophers.
Nowadays I like to do most of the thinking myself. That’s why I’ve grown fonder of reading fiction and deducing the author’s philosophical ideas (or those of the main characters).
I also have a “survey” approach to philosophy - read all the divergent ideas and figure who’s right in which domains…
Some of my favorite readings were:
Philosophy of Science - Kuhn, Popper, Feyerabend. If you’re into science and havent read any of these works - do so immediately. They are divergent, argumentative, even hard to read at times. But very thought provoking with respect to the currency we like to trade in nowadays - scientific ideas. If you call yourself a scientist, it’s important to step back and see what lies behind the scientific method.
American Philosophy - William James, Charles Pierce - these guys defined the American Pragmatic idealism. I also like the classic “The Closing of the American Mind” by Bloom. And, probably the most influential when I was 20 (I’ve left a few of her ideas behind since although I still love her stuff) is Ayn Rand. The reactionary position relative to communism is fascinating. Engaging writer too (However, after reading Rand, immediately read the Grapes of Wrath by Steinbeck - you’ll need to get a dose of perspective and Steinbeck, perhaps America’s greatest writer will do that for you - for sure).
You know, although not really philosophers, per se, I loved reading Freud and Jung. Fascinating ideas - even if some may be fictional.
And who can forget the ancient school - Socrates, Plato, Aristotle. While I might think that other philosphers influenced me more, my life is very in line with the Socratic method.
There are more but I won’t bore the thread with the rest…
Bobcat,
I don’t work with many Type 1s. Mostly Type 2s.
But, I dont do much different with Type 1s.
Basically the only difference (major) is that you have to control blood glucose manually - you’re flying your own insulin craft.
The rest of us are just on autopilot.
If you eat as recommended in my articles and on my site and just control your blood sugar (may require a more careful monitoring) with your insulin injections, you’ll be able to pack on muscle.
This may require access to a few different types of insulin (fast and slow) for better control.
It’s a project but if getting big is important to ya, go do the leg work.
Andrew -
You ask about pre-workout nutrition…
Again, it all depends on other factors…even the type of exercise.
If you’re an endurance athlete it’s different than a strength athlete.
As far as strength athletes, you don’t really have to do much different since physiology isn’t altered from “normal” before training.
You just have to not eat a big wack of carbs - you don’t want the blood glucose crash.
So eat normally going into the workout, sip a P+C drink during, and drink one after - you’re cool.