Probiotics and why drinks like Yakult are a waste of money.

At the moment one of the favourite marketing buzzwords is 'probiotic' and we are constantly bombarded with information and messages telling us that we need 'healthy' or 'friendly' bacteria in order to remain fit and healthy. Every other yoghurt in the supermarket is probiotic now and there is a huge market for the little probiotic drinks that you should take daily to improve your digestion and therefore immune system. The marketing has been comprehensive and as a result many hundreds of thousands of us dutifully drink our mini yoghurt drinks each day, thinking we can't function without it and so the millions of $$$$ roll in for the big food and pharmaceutical companies.

So, this raises a number of questions........ 1) What is a probiotic, and do we need a probiotic at all? ...and.... 2) Are drinks like Yakult actually any good for us?

1) Most people don't realise that about 80% of our immune system is actually contained in our gut, and therefore maintaining a healthy gut is crucial to your whole health and wellbeing. In the gut we have many billions of bacteria and enzymes that deal with any external bacteria, viruses or bugs that are ingested, as well as ensuring that we properly digest the foods we eat, fully absorbing all of the nutrients available. Clearly, without a healthy gut full of these good bacteria we won't be properly nourished, or properly protected from disease and illness.

Unfortunately for us, one of the side effects of modern life with its chemicals, convenience foods and poor diets is that the average British gut is not in a god way! It is lacking in good bacteria, is usually inflamed from all of the grain and low quality dairy products as well as the lack of raw fruit and veg, not to mention the damage done by cola, alcohol and other products. This partially explains how many people suffer from food allergies, IBS, and various vitamin and mineral deficiencies. Therefore, I believe the vast majority of the population would certainly benefit from supplementing their diet with a good quality probiotic. This view is supported by many doctors and nutritionists and people in similar fields. A good example is that a large scale trial has just been completed in the UK where hospital patients were all given a daily probiotic tablet for the entire duration of their stay, and it was so successful in preventing the spread of bugs and infection that it is being considered as a standard procedure for all British hospitals.

2) So, if we should all be taking a probiotic, then should we all be drinking Yakult and eating probiotic yoghurt daily? In my opinion, the answer is NO. Take a look at the information below that I cut and pasted from the Yakult website just now.....

Yakult

Ingredients: water, skimmed milk (reconstituted), glucose-fructose syrup, sugar, maltodextrin, flavouring, contains Lactobacillus casei Shirota.

	Per 100ml	Per bottle (65ml)
Energy	280.0kJ / 66.0 kcal	182.0kJ / 42.9 kcal
Protein	1.3g	0.9g
Carbohydrate	14.7 g	9.6 g
of which sugars	14.2 g	9.2 g
Fat	< 0.1 g	< 0.1 g
of which saturates	< 0.1 g	< 0.1 g
Fibre	0 g	0 g
Sodium	0.02 g	0.01 g

Contains 10¹⁰ (10 billion)Lactobacillus casei Shirota per 100ml when refrigerated (6.5 billion per bottle).

First, let us look at the ingredients:

Water - no problems.

Reconstituted skimmed milk - first of all this is low quality pasteurised and homogenised dairy that has been skimmed into little more than lactose water, and it has effectively been taken apart and put back together again in food processing. Do you really think your body will recognise this as a nutritious and available food or will it actually cause you inflammation and possible allergy?

Glucose-fructose syrup - basically sugar broken down into different parts and formed into a syrup making it very quick to be absorbed and very high GI, meaning a blood sugar spike and fat storage.

Sugar and Maltodextrin - more of the same, but maltodextrin is actually a very starchy product that closely resembles sugar.

Flavouring - this could be anything?!?! Are you willing to trust them no to fill this product with cheap, unsafe chemicals to make them more money, because I am not!

Finally, the actual bacteria which is listed at the bottom of the page as being a count of about 6.5 billion. Whilst this sounds like a lot, it is actually only about half of the amount found in the quality probiotic supplements recommended by informed doctors and experts in the field. Most recommend a daily intake in the region of 12 billion bacteria, and at times of illness or stress, up to 25 billion per day is taken.

The bottom line is that these drinks are only minimally effective at improving gut health due to the low numbers of bacteria, and that any benefit is mostly out weighed by the large amount of fattening and unhealthy sugar. Just look at the table above and tell me that is a good way to start your day with 9g of quickly absorbed carbohydrate. especially for a child! Don't believe the marketing hype, there is another way.......

A simple, daily capsule will provide all that you need to support your body's needs. Look for about 12 billion bacteria per dose and take a dose daily with a meal. You can also help your gut by cutting out crap processed foods and eating more raw vegetables.

Here are some useful links to expand your knowledge:

This is what I use and recommend:

https://www.philrichardsperformance.co.uk/index.php/digestive-health/probioticgut-health.html

Dr Briffa's blog containing many article relevant to probiotics:

http://www.drbriffa.com/?s=probiotic&h=

Also read anything by Dr Nigel Plummer.

Stay Strong

Ben

Post Bootcamp Maintenance - Nutrition

As bootcamp comes to an end this week I was asked to write a little something about how to maintain a healthy balanced diet in the long term that is less restrictive than the one that my bootcampers have been following.

First of all I would ask you to consider how you feel now, having cut those things from your diet, do you feel fitter and healthier with more energy? If the answer is yes than maybe you should consider sticking to your new diet long term - I promise you will feel awesome!

I understand that is not for everybody though so here are some tips......

1. Designate a "Cheat" meal or even a cheat day during which you eat anything and everything.

2. Gently re-introduce a little dairy or wheat into your diet and see how you feel, keeping it in moderation and hopefully really enjoying and appreciating it when you have it.

3. You could try a basic form of carb-cycling where you have carb days where you allow yourself moderate amounts of pasta and bread etc, and no-carb days where you eat super clean. A week could be alternate days with a cheat meal on a Saturday night.

4. When you do your weekly shop only buy a small block of cheese (or other banned substance that tastes nice!) and make it last for the week, maybe enjoying a small amount daily, and when you run out you are not allowed any until next week.

5. Eat bad foods and carbs within 1 hour of exercise as your body is more likely to use the food for muscle repair and recovery rather than store it as fat.

6. By all means start drinking coffee again, but keep it under control, so you don't rely on it. 1 cup per day should be fine and don't sweeten it. Try and have at least one day off the black stuff per week, or try a more mellow option like green tea which is pretty good for aiding weight loss too.

7. Booze will always make you fat without fail so steer clear wherever possible. Choose when you want to drink and enjoy it guilt free, but don't slip into the habit of another drink in the evening just for the sake of it or due to habit.

I hope these pointers help you out post-bootcamp as I want all of my bootcampers to stay fit and healthy and education is key if you are going to achieve this.

As a point of interest I personally eat a Paleolithic diet which is pretty strict and I have never felt healthier, fitter or leaner in my life and I am a ripe old 31 now! To me it does not feel a chore to miss out grains and dairy 90% of the time as I feel so good compared to when I used to load up on pasta and rice and feel bloated lethargic. I really feel that this is how humans were designed to eat and I would encourage you all to investigate it for yourselves and ask me if you have any questions. I particularly recommend you read a book called "The Paleo Solution" by Robb Wolf. It is amazing and could change your life!

Stay Strong

Ben

Timing Your Carbs

Most modern approaches to weight loss involve some reduction or moderation of carbohydrate in the diet, and whilst this is largely correct, we can achieve even more for body composition by timing your carb intake properly.

When eating a low carb diet the body can feel a little low on energy whilst you adjust and you may feel a little drained for your training sessions, so a good time to have a small portion of carbs is about 30-60 minutes pre-training to boost your energy and to enable you to train hard. Good options include fruit and oats as they will not spike your blood sugar too dramatically.

The best window for carb intake is immediately after your training session when your muscles are at their most receptive and the carbs will be used to repair and replenish damaged muscle tissue. During this window or up to an hour, the carbs you consume are much less likely to be stored as fat, and to that end it gives you a little more freedom to have small portions of pasta,rice and bread, which you would normally be avoiding on a low carb diet.

We can also slow down the response to eating carbs by eating them with protein and or fat, therefore reducing the spike in blood sugar and the subsequent fat storage. For instance a slice of toast will spike your blood sugar, whereas a buttered slice will make the spike less dramatic due to the natural fats slowing digestion of the toast.

If you do not have a scheduled training session that day or are going to be having a pasta dinner or similar then you can do a short burst of exercise immediately prior to the meal. For instance you could perform 40 squats, or press ups to prepare your muscles to receive some of the carbs you are about to eat.

Ben