Breakfast of Old School Kickers!

Can't close out this blog without passing along a fantastic website on the history of my favorite cereal. HAVE FUN!












http://www.wheaties.com/history/index.aspx

"ENJOY THE JOURNEY"

Dear Fellow Bloggers,

It has been a great ride this past semester with Dr. Munoz' online course, hasn't it? I for one have learned a great deal about nutrition, it's impact on bone and muscle development, and general health and well being. No question that this knowledge will stay with me forever as my eating habits have already evolved for the better throughout the course. (Of course I still love my "Muscle Milk" protein drink for post workout recovery, too!)

Finally, learning how to create a blog has been kick ass too! Who woulda thunk it could be this easy to share stories, news, info, pics and videos with other folks?

Here's wishing you all the best that life has to offer. But never forget, it's all about the JOURNEY, not the destination. ENJOY it to it's fullest!

Very respectfully,

Tim "Old School #55" Davidson

"The anti-bone TRIFECTA"

WASHINGTON - Too little milk, sunshine and exercise: It's an anti-bone trifecta. And for some kids, shockingly, it's leading to rickets, the soft-bone scourge of the 19th century.

But cases of full-blown rickets are just the red flag: Bone specialists say possibly millions of seemingly healthy children aren't building as much strong bone as they should — a gap that may leave them more vulnerable to bone-cracking osteoporosis later in life than their grandparents are.

"This potentially is a time-bomb," says Dr. Laura Tosi, bone health chief at Children's National Medical Center in Washington.

Now scientists are taking the first steps to track kids' bone quality and learn just how big a problem the anti-bone trio is causing, thanks to new research that finally shows just what "normal" bone density is for children of different ages.

Dr. Heidi Kalkwarf of the Cincinnati Children's Hospital led a national study that gave bone scans to 1,500 healthy children ages 6 to 17 to see how bone mass is accumulated. The result, published last summer: The first bone-growth guide, just like height-and-weight charts, for pediatricians treating children at high risk of bone problems.

Next, the government-funded study is tracking those 1,500 children for seven more years, to see how their bones turn out. Say a 7-year-old is in the 50th percentile for bone growth. Does she tend to stay at that level by age 14, or catch up to kids with denser bones? If not, if she more prone to fractures?

Ultimately, the question is what level is cause for concern.

"I don't know if we're raising a population that's going to be at risk" for osteoporosis, Kalkwarf cautions. "It's really hard to know what the cutoff is, how low is too low."

But almost half of peak bone mass develops during adolescence, and the concern is that missing out on the strongest possible bones in childhood could haunt people decades later. By the 30s, bone is broken down faster than it's rebuilt. Then it's a race to maintain bone and avoid the thin bones of osteoporosis in old age.

"There's some early data showing that even a 10 percent deficit in your bone mass when you finish your adolescent years can increase your potential risk of having osteoporosis and fractures as much as 50 percent," says Dr. James Beaty, president of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.

Already there's evidence that U.S. children break their arms more often today than four decades ago — girls 56 percent more, and boys 32 percent more, according to a Mayo Clinic study.

Kalkwarf's hospital recently found that kids who break an arm have lower bone density than their playmates who don't. That suggests the fracture rise isn't due solely to newer forms of risky play, like inline skates.

And last year, government researchers found overweight children were more likely to suffer a fracture, even though theoretically their bones should be hardier from carrying more weight. Maybe they have poorer balance; maybe they fall harder. Kalkwarf says there even are hints that fat itself may produce bone-harming substances.

Doctors have long known that less than a quarter of adolescents get enough calcium.

But strong bones require more than calcium alone. Exercise is at least as important. Consider: The dominant arm of a tennis player has 35 percent more bone than the non-dominant arm.

And Canadian researchers recently reported that postmenopausal women who had exercised more as teens had 8 percent stronger bone decades later than their more sedentary counterparts.

Yet childhood exercise is dropping as obesity rises.

Likewise, the body can't absorb calcium and harden bones without vitamin D. By some estimates, 30 percent of teens get too little.

It's not just that they don't drink fortified milk. Bodies make vitamin D with sunlight. With teen computer use, urban youngsters without safe places to play outdoors and less school P.E., it's no wonder D levels are low. Because skin pigment alters sun absorption, black children are particularly at risk.

Rickets marks the worst deficiency, where bones become so soft that legs literally bow. Rickets was once thought to have been eradicated with milk fortification, but "I am now treating rickets in a way that I never treated it 20 years ago," says Tosi, who diagnoses rickets or super-low D levels in children every month at a bone clinic she runs for mostly inner-city children.

Doctors who've never seen rickets can miss it. Charlene Bullock repeatedly asked her 5-year-old's doctor why his leg was bending inward and he could no longer run with his playmates. It took a trip to Tosi's special clinic to learn Na-shun had rickets — the once energetic child had quit running because his bones ached like an old man's.

Fortunately, rickets caught early is easily cured with high-dose infusions of vitamin D and calcium, and Bullock's son quickly rebounded. "He's doing everything with that little leg."

It's the kids whose low vitamin D hasn't gotten quite bad enough for symptoms that Tosi most worries about. They may never get treated.



EDITOR's NOTE — Lauran Neergaard covers health and medical issues for The Associated Press in Washington.
26 November 2007

Winter Hits Humboldt!

If this is a new phenomenon to you, and you wake up on a gloomy, rainy day feeling depressed for no apparent reason, you might be suffering from SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder.) Yes, the shrinks have invented a mental illness especially for those of us in the Northwest.

But seriously, for many people it's no joking matter. It might be pretty random on a Protein blog, but I'm a firm believer that our mental health is DEPENDENT on our maintaining a healthy diet. Check this out:

http://www.kidshealth.org/teen/your_mind/mental_health/sad.html

And for those of us football players about to experience Post Football-Season Depression, time to stay OUT of the sports bar and stay active even without daily practice to suit up for. It's time to get back in shape for next season! (The attached photo is a tribute to my wacky teammates Garrett "the holder" Hubrich, and Chris "the snapper" Vicory. Thanks for the great memories, guys. It's NEVER TOO LATE to diet!)

There's something "fishy" about Protein

Fish Really May Be Brain Food
3 studies suggest regular consumption boosts thinking
-- Robert Preidt

(HealthDay News) -- There may be truth to old adage that eating fish can make you smarter, according to three new studies.
Each suggests that fish intake, particularly the consumption of omega-3 fatty acids in fish, may improve cognitive performance.
A Norwegian study of more than 2,000 elderly people found that those who ate more than 10 grams per day of fish had markedly better test scores and a lower prevalence of poor cognitive performance than those who ate less than 10 grams of fish a day.
The more fish a person ate, the greater the effect. People who ate about 75 grams a day of fish had the best test scores.
A Dutch study of 404 people, ages 50 to 70, found that higher plasma concentrations of omega-3 fatty acid at baseline were associated with a lower decline in several cognitive measures over three years.
Finally a New Zealand study of more than 2,400 people found a strong and consistent association between circulating concentrations of the omega-3 fatty acid eicosapentaenoic acid and physical health and a less compelling link between omega-3 fatty acids and mental health.
The studies were published in the November issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
While these are interesting observational studies, they don't establish a direct link between consumption of fish/omega-3 fatty acids and cognitive function, Dr. Irwin Rosenberg, of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University in Boston, wrote in an accompanying editorial. There is growing evidence of such an association, but randomized clinical trails are needed to confirm the link, he noted.

Protein Supplements & RECOVERY from Exercise

THE DEBATE RAGES ON IN THE NUTRITION COMMUNITY!

Here's a link from our course's readings for this week, just one of many actually, that exposes some of the arguments. Personally, I've been on daily doses of "Muscle Milk" since starting with my personal trainer, Navy special ops guy, J.T. Walker, in July 2006, I'm a true believer. It seems to really help me speed up post-workout recovery. Though all this scientific evidence fuels the controversy (excuse the pun.) And lest ye think my trainer is an imaginary ghost, here's a recent pic with his new toy. (Neither the bike nor his "guns" are street legal. ha!)

http://www.gssiweb.com/Article_Detail.aspx?articleID=602

FOOTBALL FOOD

SPECIAL THANKS TO BRYAN VALLE FOR THE HEADS-UP ON THIS COOL NEW LINK!

http://www.mvla.k12.ca.us/apps/pub.asp?Q=1313

You don't need to be a player to learn something from this link. Football FANS welcome too! Coach Adkins must already know this since the recommended pre-game meal is pasta and red meat sauce (which we eat at the "J" before each and every home game.) The post game meal recommendation is steak! Maybe USC Trojans get steak. We get KFC or pizza!

GO JACKS! Beat SO. Oregon Saturday Nov 3 @ 6pm in Redwood Bowl (Senior Night.)

Muscle Building 4 rookies (like me)

A skinny guy's guide to adding a pound of muscle every week
By: Adam Campbell (Men's Health Magazine)


Here's your fix: Follow these principles to pack on as much as a pound of muscle each week.

1. Maximize muscle building. The more protein your body stores -- in a process called protein synthesis -- the larger your muscles grow. But your body is constantly draining its protein reserves for other uses -- making hormones, for instance. The result is less protein available for muscle building. To counteract that, you need to "build and store new proteins faster than your body breaks down old proteins," says Michael Houston, Ph.D., a professor of nutrition at Virginia Tech University.

2. Eat meat. Shoot for about 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight, which is roughly the maximum amount your body can use in a day, according to a landmark study in the Journal of Applied Physiology . (For example, a 160-pound man should consume 160 grams of protein a day--the amount he'd get from an 8-ounce chicken breast, 1 cup of cottage cheese, a roast-beef sandwich, two eggs, a glass of milk, and 2 ounces of peanuts.) Split the rest of your daily calories equally between carbohydrates and fats.

3. Eat more. In addition to adequate protein, you need more calories. Use the following formula to calculate the number you need to take in daily to gain 1 pound a week. (Give yourself 2 weeks for results to show up on the bathroom scale. If you haven't gained by then, increase your calories by 500 a day.)
A. Your weight in pounds: _____B. Multiply A by 12 to get your basic calorie needs: _____C. Multiply B by 1.6 to estimate your resting metabolic rate (calorie burn without factoring in exercise): _____D. Strength training: Multiply the number of minutes you lift weights per week by 5: _____E. Aerobic training: Multiply the number of minutes per week that you run, cycle, and play sports by 8: _____F. Add D and E, and divide by 7: _____G. Add C and F to get your daily calorie needs: _____H. Add 500 to G: _____. This is your estimated daily calorie needs to gain 1 pound a week.

4. Work your biggest muscles. If you're a beginner, just about any workout will be intense enough to increase protein synthesis. But if you've been lifting for a while, you'll build the most muscle quickest if you focus on the large muscle groups, like the chest, back, and legs. Add squats, deadlifts, pullups, bent-over rows, bench presses, dips, and military presses to your workout. Do two or three sets of eight to 12 repetitions, with about 60 seconds' rest between sets.

5. But first, have a stiff drink. A 2001 study at the University of Texas found that lifters who drank a shake containing amino acids and carbohydrates before working out increased their protein synthesis more than lifters who drank the same shake after exercising. The shake contained 6 grams of essential amino acids--the building blocks of protein -- and 35 grams of carbohydrates. "Since exercise increases bloodflow to your working tissues, drinking a carbohydrate-protein mixture before your workout may lead to greater uptake of the amino acids in your muscles," says Kevin Tipton, Ph.D., an exercise and nutrition researcher at the University of Texas in Galveston.

For your shake, you'll need about 10 to 20 grams of protein -- usually about one scoop of a whey-protein powder. Can't stomach protein drinks? You can get the same nutrients from a sandwich made with 4 ounces of deli turkey and a slice of American cheese on whole wheat bread. But a drink is better. "Liquid meals are absorbed faster," says Kalman. So tough it out. Drink one 30 to 60 minutes before your workout.

Down the carbs after your workout.
Research shows that you'll rebuild muscle faster on your rest days if you feed your body carbohydrates. "Post-workout meals with carbs increase your insulin levels," which, in turn, slows the rate of protein breakdown, says Doug Kalman, R.D., director of nutrition at Miami Research Associates. Have a banana, a sports drink, a peanut-butter sandwich.

6. Have some milk before bed.
Eat a combination of carbohydrates and protein 30 minutes before you go to bed. The calories are more likely to stick with you during sleep and reduce protein breakdown in your muscles, says Kalman. Try a cup of raisin bran with a cup of skim milk or a cup of cottage cheese and a small bowl of fruit. Eat again as soon as you wake up. "The more diligent you are, the better results you'll get," says Kalman.

7. Make one snack ice cream.
Have a bowl of ice cream (any kind) 2 hours after your workout. According to a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, this snack triggers a surge of insulin better than most foods do. And that'll put a damper on post-workout protein breakdown

Debunking some urban legends

Check this out from Men's Health:

http://health.msn.com/dietfitness/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100171438&GT1=10514

Definitely some things here that we take as accepted "conventional wisdom." Funny how when you get the TRUTH from science it can change so much. Makes me often wonder if we humans are like LEMMINGS (ready to follow the crowd even if they are lined up to jump off a cliff!)

The Morning After (a loss) Drink

Are Protein Shakes A Good Idea?
Q: Can you get buff without adding extra protein to your diet? What are the pros and cons of protein shakes?

Martica Heaner, MSN Fitness and Weight Loss Expert, July 11, 2007

I don't necessarily agree with everything this "expert" is preaching here. But it's posted for your perusal. Particularly for my female readers. Let me know your thoughts and experiences on the subject. Comments are cool even if only to say, "Hey, I think you're an IDIOT!" (I won't take it pesonally. See my "Rules to live by" on the side column)

Aging gracefully? Thanks, PROTEIN!

I am a simple man. In my childhood I got all my protein from cereal and grilled cheese sandwiches. In my twenties I heard about legumes. The word still scares me. Always been a big fan of eggs. Heck, my first job besides newspaper delivery boy was working at an IHOP at age 14 cleaning up the parking lot. The manager paid me $3 (alot in the 60's!) AND free breakfast (where I developed my love of ham & cheese omelets.) To this day it's a family tradition for anyone's birthday to hit the nearest IHOP. Unfortunately since the great cholesterol scare that comes with middle age, my eggs are always "egg whites only" or the dreaded egg beaters. (You young turks out there probably have no idea what the hell I'm talking about. Don't worry. You will someday.)

So the pros tell us that we men need a MINIMUM of 56 grams of protein daily to maintain those ever popular "essential amino acids." Of course we physical fitness psychos (like me in the past year) need even more. Thus my obsession with "Muscle Milk" after working out, football practice, etc. GOT NITROGEN?

Funny thing about protein, unlike it's wicked stepsister Carbs and it's evil twin Fat, is that PROTEIN CANNOT BE STORED. All the more reason for it to be a regular part of your daily diet, sports fans. So next time you are forced into a last resort trip for some fast food, eat fish! Trust me, you'll thank me later.

Now I don't want to sound like chicken little here ("the sky is falling!") but listen up: protein deficiency CAN LEAD TO REDUCED INTELLIGENCE. (Most likely a top notch explanation for George Bush's policies is his apparent lack of dietary protein intake.)

But seriously folks, BALANCE is key here. The human body is a machine that runs on fuel. Whether or not you can afford regular, or premium, just make sure you don't keep running on empty (like your typical college student.) Because sooner or later, it will catch up with you. And it won't be pretty.

GO CONFIDENTLY IN THE DIRECTION OF YOUR DREAMS. LIVE THE LIFE YOU'VE IMAGINED. -thoreau

Awakening the inner jock in me

OK. Confession time. Ever since I was a skinny, small, uncoordinated kid who got beat up routinely in grammar school at lunchtime, and was NEVER picked to play on the teams during "gym class," I've envied the other guys. Not because they were cooler or anything (though certainly in high school they had a HUGE advantage with the ladies,) but because I just wanted to PLAY the games. I grew up with a dad who LOVED football. We watched college games on TV Saturday mornings while he cooked us breakfast (mom's day off from the kitchen.) Alas, he was taken from us at age 41 after cancer surgery on his stomach basically killed him. My grandma moved in to help raise us. She was a Brooklyn Dodger fan from childhood and brought her obsession were her beloved bums to LA along with Jackie Robinson. Needless to say, little Timmy caught the baseball bug and went out for Little League. Since I was only 7 when dad died, and my big brother was too busy being an all-star to teach me how to play, it was kinda challenging. I played three years in the minors. Never hit the ball out of the infield. Loved getting walked so I could steal a base or two and on a good day maybe even cross home plate. Usually banished to left field, one day was even lucky enough to make a catch that won me the "game ball."

But until two weeks ago, the last time I suited up in a uniform was exactly 40 years ago at age 12 for my last little league game. Dressing in the visitor's locker room at Menlo college for the Luberjacks Football game was a surreal experience. Yesterday we played our first home game of the season. If you were there, it needs no further explanation. Simply an historic comeback not to be forgotten.

So here's my problem; how to focus on graduate level studies this semester in the midst of living my lifelong dream of playing football? It aint easy, sports fans. My mind is so damn focused on improving my kicking, staying healthy, getting in shape, helping my teammates in any way I can--it all seems to matter more than getting that paper written or studying for that exam.

So along with finally feeling what it's like to be a "jock," I also have the added bonus of understanding why so many college student/athletes lose their eligibility because of low grades. It's virtually a full time job playing ball. (Especially when you factor in the post game parties, LOL.)

So we look forward to next week's game. And I'll continue to struggle with homework. But mostly I'll just ENJOY THE JOURNEY.

Dream like you'll live forever. Live like you'll die today.

P4P weekly advice (in honor of Jacks triple OT win!)

http://health.yahoo.com/experts/joybauernutrition/19322/foods-that-make-you-smarter

With mid-terms on deck, this is powerful stuff here folks. CHECK IT OUT!!!

your P4P tip of the week (courtesy of Yahoo Health)

Incorporate lean protein with every meal: Eating any food creates a thermic effect and boosts metabolism after consumption. However, the consumption of protein has the absolute greatest metabolic boost when compared to carbohydrate and fat. Plus, eating the appropriate amount of protein will ensure you're able to maintain and build muscle mass (the more muscle mass you have, the greater your metabolism). The Daily Protein Requirements in grams for the average healthy person is approximately 50% of your weight in pounds (for example, if you weigh 140 pounds, you'll need 70 grams protein each day). Some of the best protein sources include: fish, chicken, turkey, lean sirloin steak, skim milk, nonfat yogurt, eggs and egg substitutes, tofu, lentils, and beans.

EXCERPT FROM
Five Ways to Rev Your Metabolism!
by Joy Bauer, M.S., R.D., C.D.N.

FOR COMPLETE ARTICLE,
GO TO:http://health.yahoo.com/experts/joybauernutrition/16888/five-ways-to-rev-your-metabolism