Tips and Tidbits – April, 2010

Training Tip of the Month

Selecting a good spotter: The use of a spotter crucial to intense training. A spotter lets you use advanced training techniques, monitors your form and helps break previous barriers. Not everyone with whom you work out with is an effective spotter, however. There is a real art to spotting.

Here are some guidelines for selecting
a good spotter:

• The spotter must have the mental capacity to be as focused in the workouts as you are.

• He/she is knowledgeable enough in physiology to know if you are using the right muscles.

• He/she has the ability to prompt you on proper form, and then correct you if necessary.

• He/she is a good communicator, capable of reading your non-verbal responses to workout exertion.

Remember, you may choose the best spotter in the world, but maximum intensity in every workout is still your responsibility—and yours only.

Nutrition Tip of the Month

Importance of Essential Fatty Acids: Are you getting enough essential fatty acids? The body is unable to manufacture EFAs itself, they must be obtained from the diet. Normally people don’t have to worry about EFA deficiency in this country because the typical diet contains so much fat. Furthermore, EFAs can be stored in body fat so a dietary deficiency won’t show up for a long time. Extremely lean athletes, however, who follow a low-fat diet for a prolonged time are definitely at increased risk for fatty acid deficiency. Have I ever actually seen any bodybuilders with the clinical symptoms of essential fatty acid deficiency? You bet. Did their symptoms resolve after fatty acid supplementation? Yes – rapidly and dramatically. Parrillo’s Evening Primrose Oil™ and Fish Oil DHA 800 EPA 200™ provide EFAs without excess non-essential fats, letting you maintain a low-fat diet.

Question of the Month

Question: Why are Parrillo Liver Amino Formula™ supplements recommended for bodybuilders and athletes?

Answer: Parrillo Liver Amino Formula™ is one of the best supplements available for bodybuilders and endurance athletes: It provides heme iron, high quality protein, and B vitamins all in one. Desiccated liver supplements, like Liver Amino™, represent probably the most bioavailable iron source. High potency beef liver tablets, taken at recurring intervals throughout the day, combined with sensible eating, will allow an athlete to have a better recovery rate all day long. Each tablet contains a whopping 1.5g of high BV protein – along with blood strengthening heme iron (women take note), plus a handful of B-12, Choline and Dibencozide as well. We recommend athletes take 5 to 8 tablets with each meal, depending on your size, and a handful before bed. These nighttime tabs will provide you with a nice anabolic jolt as they dissolve deep into the sleep cycle.

News and Discoveries in Fitness and Nutrition

Cooling Inflammation for Healthier Arteries

Agricultural Research Service (ARS)-funded scientists have reported new reasons for choosing “heart-healthy” oats at the grocery store. Nutritionist Mohsen Meydani, director of the Vascular Biology Laboratory at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston, Mass., led the research on the oat compounds, called avenanthramides. Meydani previously has shown that phenolic antioxidants in oats obstruct the ability of blood cells to stick to artery walls.

Chronic inflammation inside the arterial wall is part of the process that eventually leads to a disorder known as atherosclerosis. Meydani and colleagues have reported findings that suggest the avenanthramides of oats decrease the expression of inflammatory molecules. The study showed that forms of avenanthramides possess potential anti-inflammatory properties through inhibiting factors that are linked with activating proinflammatory cytokines.Cytokines are small proteins released by cells while seeking to protect and repair tissue. Some trigger inflammation, for example, while responding to infection. Inhibiting inflammation through diet, drugs, or key nutrients is considered to be of great benefit in preventing atherosclerosis. Details of this study can be found in the scientific journal Free Radical Biology & Medicine.

The study provides additional indications of the potential health benefit of oat consumption in the prevention of coronary heart disease beyond its known effect through lowering blood cholesterol.

Quick Tip of the Month

Here are some easy ideas to add a little spice to your breakfast: Try adding a dash of cinnamon or nutmeg to your Parrillo Hi-Protein Pancake & Muffin™ batter. Add a shake or two of cinnamon to your bowl of oatmeal. You can even add a pinch of cinnamon to your morning coffee before you brew it. Add a pinch of dried thyme or dill to your egg whites before you scramble them. For some heat sprinkle in a little cayenne pepper or hot paprika.

- Rosalie Marion Bliss, Feb. 16, 2010, ARS website: www.ars.usda.gov

Dominique’s Time Cruncher

If you miss having a tall glass of cold milk, or milk to pour over your shredded wheat cereal or oatmeal, try this: Get a big pitcher with a lid, pour in 8 scoops of Parrillo Milk-flavor All-Protein Powder™ and 4 cups of water, mix well and place in the refrigerator. Now the next time you sit down to enjoy a Parrillo Contest Brownie™, you can pour yourself a glass of cold Milk flavor All-Protein™ to wash it down!