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Lead Stories: Wednesday, December 3, 2008

TFS Review: nuun portable electrolyte hydration

Posted January 19th, 2007 at 5:00 PM by Kathryn Magro

Section: Nutrition, Hydration, Race Prep & Recov, Supplements, Special Features, TFS Reviews

Proper hydration is essential for runners and other athletes. Sports drinks are good options, but many people don’t enjoy their very sugary taste and/or experience stomach problems from the excessive carbohydrate intake. Looking for an alternative? Try nuun’s portable electrolyte hydration. Read on for our comprehensive review and the results of our product testing.

Product: nuun portable electrolyte hydration
Price: $6.50 per tube (12 tablets)
Rating: Excellent 8.6/10.0
Pros:Effective hydration on the go; convenient; versatile; won’t cause stomach discomfort; variety of flavors
Cons: Lacks vitamins; no individually packaging
Overall: An effective and convenient hydration option for runners, cyclists and other endurance athletes.

nuun is a portable electrolyte tablet. The tablets come in a small container that resembles Airborne and quickly dissolve when added to 16-20oz. of water. They are also effervescent so no mixing or shaking is required for the tablets to dissolve (unlike many sports drink powders).
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Eating carbohydrates and protein for muscle growth

Posted January 6th, 2007 at 6:02 AM by Martin Kennedy

Section: Nutrition, Health & Fitness, Exercise

If you want to become very strong, you should lift heavy weights, eat carbohydrates before you lift and eat plenty of protein afterwards.

Normal amounts of insulin help muscles grow, and eating carbohydrates causes your blood sugar to rise, which, in turn, causes your pancreas to release insulin. Taking in large amounts of protein after a workout helps muscles to recover faster from hard exercise, so you can do more hard work and grow larger and stronger muscles (Journal of Physiology).
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Should I be concerned about raising my growth hormone levels?

Posted January 2nd, 2007 at 4:00 PM by Hariz Siddiqui

Section: Nutrition, Supplements

As you age, blood levels of growth hormone drop. A 1990 study from the University of Wisconsin showed that taking growth hormone enlarges muscles. Since then equal numbers of studies support and refute that growth hormone increases muscles and decreases fat. But over-the-counter growth hormone releasers do not contain ANY growth hormone.

The advertised products are amino acids, the building blocks of protein, the same as the protein you get in your food. Eating anything raises your blood level of growth hormone temporarily, and protein raises it a little bit more than fats or carbohydrates. So any food can be sold as a growth hormone releaser without lying, but food sources of protein are a lot less expensive than the pills.
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Race Longer with a Low-Glycemic-Index Meal

Posted November 3rd, 2006 at 7:00 AM by Martha Jones

Section: Running & Training, Nutrition, Race Prep & Recov, Training Tips, Health & Fitness, Exercise

The Glycemic Index measures how high blood sugar levels rise 30 to 120 minutes after eating a particular food or combination of foods.

A study from Loughborough University in England shows that athletes in sports events lasting more than a couple hours may benefit from a pre-competition meal that has a low glycemic index (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, August 2006).

How long you can exercise a muscle without hurting depends on how much sugar you can store in that muscle and how long you can keep that sugar in the muscle during competition.

Just about everyone agrees that taking extra carbohydrates for two or there days prior to an endurance competition can help fill your muscles maximally with stored sugar and therefore increase endurance. [Read more about Carbo-Loading].

Since it takes up to 24 hours to fill your muscles maximally with sugar, the pre-race meal is not used for that purpose. This new study showed that a low-glycemic index meal taken three hours prior to competition may help an athlete to exercise longer by causing muscles to use more fat, and less sugar, for energy. Read the rest of this entry »

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Supplements Made Easy - Part 2

Posted October 25th, 2006 at 12:30 PM by Jonathan Faccone

Section: Nutrition, Supplements

This is Part 2 in my “Supplements Made Easy” Series for runners and other endurance athletes. Make sure to also go back and read Part 1!

Below is what all endurance athletes and runners should keep in mind before buying supplements.

Stick to the Basics:

There is no better way to start then beginning with the most important nutrient of them all, water. Water is the most abundant nutrient in the human body and has a wide variety of responsibilities from delivering oxygen and nutrients to different parts of the body as well as reducing friction between joints to facilitate movement.

Remaining hydrated before, during, and after running and endurance events is not only important for peak performance, but optimal recovery and overall health.

GES (Glucose-electrolyte solutions) is just the scientific term which simply means a sport drink containing water, carbohydrates, and electrolytes. Research continually indicates that when drinking a solution with the appropriate amount of carbohydrates can help maintain your body temperature as effectively as water and may enhance performance during prolonged exercise. Read the rest of this entry »

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