Smokepole, I've thought about this for a while and now it's time to comment on your nutrition post. Frankly, your information on "empty carbs" is simply based on alot of popular junk science. The body simply does not react to eating pasta like it does when sugar is eaten. Pasta takes a long time to digest. Sugar(s) require no digestion at all. That's why they cause an insulin spike in the blood. Pastas do not. This is all based, I'm sure, on the GI Index which has been proven faulty during further studies. What was found is that this index only applies when the listed foods were eaten in pure form. Nobody eats like that. Insulin has no role in converting carbs to fat. It converts glucose to glycogen which is then store in the liver and the muscles. Too much insulin in the blood stream and that glycogen gets locked up. But normal insulin levels allow that glycogen to be converted into glycose so that the body can maintain a steady level of glucose, also known as blood sugar. Glucose is the body's main fuel. Fats are also burned at a lessor rate when sufficent oxygen is present. Proteins have nothing to do with the digestion of carbohydrates. But fiber and fats do. So eating some good fats and lots of fiber helps. Another good reason to eat lots of whole grain carbs. No, a sugar based recovery drink isn't a good idea after a workout. It's agood way to get an insulin spike and feel even more tried and/or hungery. A protein drink will work, but a whole grain snack with both would be better. Your body builder friend straves himself before a "contest," which isn't a contest at all, but a show. Those guys are very low on energy when they compete, thanks to the starvation routine they put themselves through. Not a good idea at all. The idea that soy protein is bad for you because of plant estrogens is pure nonsense. They are not the same as human estrogen. There have been no accepted studies that show any of this to be true. Dark leafy green vegetables have very little to do with maintaining one's blood PH. But they and many other fruits and vegatables are very valuable for many reasons like anti-oxidents, cancer fighting compounds and fiber. Omega-3 fats have nothing to do with maintaining your body's consumption of calores. If you want that to happen, eat lots of complex, "quality carbs" like the whole grains. If the body's blood sugar level goes down, the consumption of fat also declines. So keep the blood sugat level up with lots of complex carbs and you will burn fat as long as there is enough oxygen present. Low intesnsity cardio workouts are fine. There is no evidence that they stimulate anything bad and lots of evidence that they do many good things for us. Again, the body stores extra sugars from carbs as glycogen, not fat. Only in rare circumstances does the body turn glycose into fat. The body can store between 1200-1400 calores from carbs as glycogen for most of us. There is no way any of us can eat that much at one meal. Try eating 12-14 medium sized potatoes which is what it would take to fill up one's storage capacity. I see your friend admits that his crash diets to make himself look good runs him down alot. What he doesn't understand is that he is also buring up his precious muscle tissue to get the glycose he must have to function. Not a good idea. Don't believe me ? Take a good look at a straving person sometime. No fat, but no muscle tissue either. The body can't use fat instead of glucose to function. E
