Do fattening foods exist?

September 3, 2001

Of course! Avocados and nuts contain a great deal of fat, but all fat is not

bad for you. I'm sure I don't need to explain this to this list. The real

trick with what you eat most of the time is to try to insure that the food is

nutrition dense. As far as the Glycemic Index of carbs is concerned, in many

instances lower index carbs are the most nutritious, although not always. How

about carrots, which are rated 101 (above white bread). Most of the time

people eat protein, fat and carbs in combination. So even if you eat carrots,

if they are eaten with a portion of some type of meat, then the protein and

fat contained in the meat will slow gastric emptying.

I have heard it argued that the body will turn any carb into glucose; that it

really doesn't know the difference. I have no studies to prove this, but it

makes sense. However, there is more to food than just having it turned into

glucose. If that were the case, we'd all be doing extremely well on cake and

cookies.

I agree with Whit that what you do most of the time is what really counts.

Life is too short not to indulge in your favorite junk food on occasion,

assuming you don't have some kind of medical problem or allergy that makes

doing so not worth it. I notice that as I age, I don't tolerate certain

things as well. My brain has yet to realize that an entire Cinnabon lands

very hard. But it sure tastes good going down and the endorphin rush is

fantastic!

Rosemary Wedderburn-Vernon

Venice, CA

cookiemagic@...

September 24, 2001

Rosemary wrote:

> The theory now is that people need to consume whey in liquid form with

a ce

> rtain ratio of a quickly digested carbohydrate after a workout. Yet

years

> ago, folks didn't have access to this stuff. Let's revisit some of

the fan

> tastic physiques of yesteryear when people simply came home and had

what St

> uart Mc refers to as " a good feed " that consisted of meat and

potatoe

> s. I'm going to eliminate the physiques of the current crop of

professiona

> l bodybuilders from this comparison because their muscle mass was not

simpl

> y enhanced by food. So let's compare the natural physiques of today

with p

> eople like Grimek, Bill Pearl, or whoever else you might think of

who

> didn't have access to hydrolized whey protein and got their

maltodextrin fr

> om liquor (if they, in fact, drank it).

Bill Pearl's physique wasn't built entirely on food either. If you want

a comparison, try looking at some of the Connery bodybuilding

pictures. Physiques are very different from what you'd see today.

> ly, I don't see any differences when looking at photos I see of

men fr

> om the early part of the 20th Century and the natural physiques I see

at co

> ntests and in the gym other than the fact that people often have less

body

> fat because they have access to these *new fangled* diuretics and/or

thermo

> genics. In my personal *experimentation* where I followed the

whey/maltode

> xtrin recommendation and protein timing religiously versus eating

normal st

> yle, yet well balanced meals consisting of real food, I found no

difference

> whatsoever. In fact, I find I actually do better on real food than

all th

> is powdered stuff. OTH, I still use it, but mix it in with real food,

such

> as oatmeal with protein powder, rice pudding made with skim milk and

eggs

> and enhanced with a bit of protein powder, etc.

I'll agree that a lot of test.net's stuff is hype. I certainly don't see

the need to mix hydrolyzed whey protein and maltodextrin in exact

amounts after a workout, I just eat rice bubbles with milk. I have

noticed some differences since switching from my steak/chips postworkout

meal to my carb/protein/no fat/high gi post workout meal. Namely, I seem

to get sick less often. I think proper post workout nutrition promotes

recovery and it's hard to notice unless you're working the body

somewhere near the overtraining threshold.

> I know someone is going to come back and say that athletes are better

today

> than they used to be, i.e. they have faster times, jump higher, etc.,

etc.

> I would venture the opinion that this is due to better knowledge of

train

> ing methodology, the availability of better vitamin and mineral

supplements

> and better general knowledge of food (years ago people didn't really

consi

> der things like saturated fat, for instance) and the cessation of

smoking a

> nd high alcohol consumption. We also have better medical care and

even tho

> ugh we don't like to admit it, a better and more varied food supply.

The g

> eneral population is physically larger, as well as living longer, even

with

> slothful habits, so why shouldn't today's athletes be better as well?

Closing remarks I think that nutrition is important but can be

overemphasized. Every time I start analysing my nutrition too much, I

always think back to Jumping Jai, an Australian olympian. nutrition

consisted of coffee, pizza and cigarettes (silver medallist, long

jump)

Don Nguyen

Sydney, Australia

September 27, 2001

Don Nguyen wrote:

" ...Closing remarks I think that nutrition is important but can be

overemphasized. Every time I start analysing my nutrition too much, I

always think back to Jumping Jai, an Australian olympian. nutrition

consisted of coffee, pizza and cigarettes (silver medallist, long

jump)... "

----------------

Dejan Vidic writes:

*I partly disagree with Don opinion. Coffee, pizza and cigarettes might not

hamper long jump ability, but they certanly would not allow a triatlete to