Equilibrium

Monday, June 10, 2013

How exercise can wreak havoc on your body

We endurance athletes and fitness enthusiasts are in a perpetual state of more, more, more. We're constantly testing ourselves and pushing our bodies to the max.

But, what does this actually do to the body?

There has been quite a bit of conversation in the media and scientific literature about the diminishing returns associated with exercise. Not enough is associated with a range of health and chronic disease issues, while too much can be just as harmful to the body. In previous posts I've written about some of the cardiovascular risks associated with prolonged endurance exercise.

In lieu of this month's regular "Monthly Reading Roundup," there was really one major article I wanted to share. Why, because it takes a detailed and comprehensive look at what exactly a hard workout, marathon, or triathlon does to your body's lipids, hormones, enzymes, and major organ function, like your kidneys.

Fitness expert and Ironman triathlete Ben Greenfield undertook his own personal experiment to test the damage that back-to-back triathlons caused on his body. A few weeks ago he did both the long-course (half Ironman distance) Wildflower Triathlon and the Olympic distance in one weekend; one race on Saturday, the other on Sunday. He had comprehensive blood work done a couple days before the races, and then again afterwards.

The results were both fascinating and scary, especially since my training protocol probably isn't too far off from what he does.

By far, the most concerning aspect is the huge rise in cortisol and inflammatory biomarkers. He writes:

"Yes folks, that’s nearly a seven-fold rise in inflammation. In other words, this type of brutal event creates a complete inflammatory firestorm in your body."

And the biggest issue isn't necessarily producing some inflammation following exercise (which is a good thing in terms of recovery and muscle development), but the cumulative effect:

"The problem is that in the absence of proper recovery, round after round of this acute inflammation can eventually become chronic inflammation, and that is when lack of blood flow to tissue, poor mobility, and risk for chronic disease or serious injury set in."

He sums up by saying:

"You need look no further than my cortisol levels, TSH, insulin, testosterone, growth factor, creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, white blood cell count, and liver enzymes to see this to be true.

And heck – I actually take care of myself pretty darn well. I sleep 7-9 hours, eat a healthy diet, meditate, and avoid excessive training. Just imagine what someone who doesn’t do all those things looks like.

But I’ll be the first to admit that despite the healthy measures I take, I’m brutally beating my body up with the sport I’ve chosen (triathlon), and if you’re reading this, you probably are too (Crossfitters – you don’t get off that easy – I’ve seen hundreds of these blood panels and you have the same issues)."

So if you're an endurance athlete, or you simply exercise frequently and beat up your body, this article really shines a spotlight on the delicate balance between performance and health.

It's a very detailed article, but well worth the time. Click here to read.

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Beating the heat at the North Face Endurance Challenge

It was going to be a hot one. The forecast for the weekend was for low 90's, and, of course, the wonderful humidity that the DC area is known for.

But, that was one of the last things I was thinking about when a friend of mine asked me to join her marathon relay team for last weekend's North Face Endurance Challenge, two days of trail runs ranging from a 5k all the way up to 50 miles.

My first triathlon of the year (Philadelphia) is only a few weeks away. So, heading into the event my mindset was to treat my leg of the marathon relay - a quarter of a marathon, or 6.55 miles - as a litmus test, much like I did for Cherry Blossom. Only this time the distance was more specific to what I'll see up in Philly, which will be a 10k (6.2 mile) for the run part of the triathlon.

The exciting part about the race was that it was something new - a trail race. And even though the forecast was for hot and humid, I was shooting for six minute miles. It wasn't too long ago I was playing multiple soccer matches over the course of a weekend in the dead of summer when temperatures were well into the mid 90's. The heat would be tough, but I knew it wasn't anything my body hasn't experience before.

The start of the marathon relay wasn't until 11am, which meant a fairly regular morning. I was able to sleep a little, wake up at a decent time, and have a pretty normal breakfast (and of course coffee - which I usually don't have before early morning races, though there is some pretty strong evidence suggesting a performance benefit from consuming some coffee before exercise).

This was my first experience as part of a relay team and one of the hardest parts was simply the downtime. Having to arrive for the start of the race, but then wait two and a half hours to actually run was something very new. Though, I couldn't complain about spending some quality lounge time in the shade, just relaxing at the park where the run was held. It sure would've been nice to have a book though.

Every so often I would stand up to move around a bit and loosen my legs. After about 90 minutes since the race started, I made my way closer to the start/finish line (which also served as the transition area for the relay teams) to keep an eye out for our first runner, James, who was doing the first two legs. He came in a little under two hours (not bad for his first race!) and our second runner, Kim, was off.

Now it was time to get focused.

After some short warm-up efforts, I finally felt my mind had switched from relax mode to race mode. I didn't want to overdue the warm-up with the heat, but a solid 15 minutes and I felt ready. I kept anxiously checking my watch, counting down the minutes until the approximate time I thought I'd see Kim come towards the transition area.

And before I know it she rounded the corner and comes into the transition area. We quickly exchange the timing chip strap fastened to her ankle, and I'm off...

I race out onto the course like I was trying to win. The first mile was all about getting accustomed to running on something other than pavement. I make it onto the trails every now and again, but not often enough to remember how much extra energy you need to focus and stabilize yourself on the uneven ground.

The next 4.5 miles was a mixture of paved pathway, packed gravel pathway, and packed dirt trails through the woods. Though I was trying to keep as fast a pace as I could, I really didn't have much of an idea what it was - I was just going based on feel. There were no mile markers, and I don't race with a GPS watch. The aid stations provided some guidance, but there were only two of them, spaced about 2.5 miles apart.

So, I decided to not even look at my watch and just run. There's something about running through the woods that feels so natural, so pure. I blew by the first aid station without taking anything and was really just trying to pass as many people as I could. I felt my pace slow just a little bit, which I wasn't too worried about because of the heat. I knew it would happen.

I ran at pretty close to max effort. I figured, it's a short race, why not push it. (Though, I wasn't thinking about how I might feel the next day, which I spent completely wiped out with zero energy - something that I've never experience after a race).

I felt myself getting hot and thirsty, and thankfully I came up on the second aid station. I grabbed two cups, threw them back, and kept on going. It was all about getting to finish line at this point - as fast as I could. I tried to take in as much of the scenery as I could, but before I knew it, I was closing in on the finish area. To make things more fun I had a nice dual with someone to the finish. It's always fun to sync up with someone at some point during the race. Rarely are any words spoken, but you're both taking jabs trying to go a little faster.

I crossed the finish line and my hands immediately went to my knees. I quickly grabbed one of the ice-cold water bottles and squirted about half of it on my neck. Man that felt good. I took a glance at my watch and saw 39 minutes - not too bad at all! I'll take a 6:06 in 90 degree heat any day!

Our relay team did pretty well - finished 22nd out of 81 total teams.

I was also really happy with how I ran, especially considering the heat and that it was my first trail race. I was even more stoked when I actually saw my chip time results, which were posted Sunday evening. I, of course, kept my time with my watch, but I was shocked when I saw how my time stacked up with the field. I compared my time with those who ran the stand-alone 10k.

With my pace, I would've placed first in my age group had I run the 10k, and fourth overall.

Well, I guess I'll just need to put that race on the calendar for next year...

Thursday, May 30, 2013

"Food: Transforming the American Table"

Last weekend I was at the National Museum of American History where I toured the new exhibition "FOOD: Transforming the American Table 1950-2000," which attempts to depict some of the major changes in food production, preparation, and consumption in the United States over the past half century.

The exhibit's website explains that "the public will be invited to take a seat at a large, communal table in the center of the exhibition to share their own thoughts and experiences about food and change in America." The irony, of course, is that the exhibit portrays all the reasons why a communal table isn't necessarily the best symbol for American meals anymore.

But as I strolled through the exhibit, two things really struck me. First, I was curious as to why the focus was only on 1950-2000. This was certainly a period of rapid change within the American food system and particularly with consumer preferences, but I couldn't help but get the sense that the exhibit was trying to convey this transformation as inevitable. Basically that "as a growing, industrialized country, the natural progression (i.e. transformation as the exhibit title says) is towards a system of abundance, convenience, and processed food."

The framing reminded me of a 2011 TED talk by Mehmood Khan, the chief executive officer of PepsiCo's Global Nutrition Group and it's chief scientific officer. His basic argument is that to feed a growing global population, we need food processing. I found it quite a coincidence that when I left the exhibit and took a look at the sign recognizing its primary sponsors, the Land o'Lakes Foundation was listed right there at the top.

I was recently in a media workshop where the facilitator made the important point to distinguish between the facts and the truth. I won't argue with the facts that were presented in the exhibit, but it's important to remember how they are presented.

Which leads me to my second point (and related to twisting the facts). The exhibit was full of fascinating food marketing and advertising.

Consider these two LIFE magazine covers from 1955 and 1962. What I find most interesting is the second of these two covers that prominently features fresh fruit and vegetables with the title "Bounty of Food." The irony of this, of course, is that though we'd certainly characterize the American food system as plentiful, there isn't necessarily a bounty of nutritious foods, like fruits and vegetables. Instead, and in part due to subsidies that incentive production of crops like corn, wheat, and soy, we see a bounty of processed food very different than what's depicted on the cover.

And here's an example of an advertisement for diet soda. It's fascinating to see how current advertising around diet and low calorie soda hasn't really changed all that much. Sure it may only have a few calories, but many diet sodas contain ingredients that really fly under the radar with consumers, including the artificial sweetener aspartame. Aspartame has been shown to cause migraines and a variety of other effects on health. This, of course, often goes unnoticed with a sole focus on calories.

This final picture I found fascinating and mostly because I'm currently in the middle of Waterlogged by Tim Noakes, which really debunks many of the common beliefs and assumptions of hydration. One of his main conclusions (which I won't talk about too much - the subject of a future blog post) is that dehydration isn't actually a bad thing if you're talking about endurance performance. Specifically, there have been countless studies showing a close relationship between change in body weight (i.e. level of dehydration through water loss) and performance. Those who had the highest percent change in body weight were those who performed best. Unfortunately, we've seen companies that produce sports drinks do a very good job of convincing us otherwise.

Overall, I was glad to see the museum take on the issue of food in the United States. Our food system has changed quite dramatically and over a relatively short period of time, and I thoroughly enjoyed how some of these changes were presented. There are some interesting pieces related to local food movements, in particular, that were certainly worth taking a look at. Oh, and if you're a fan of Julia Child, her kitchen that is on display is a big hit.

So, if you're around the National Mall anytime soon, I certainly recommend making a stop in to tour the exhibit.

Sunday, May 19, 2013

The latest on GMO crops: how prevalent are they?

The issue of genetically modified crops (or technically genetically modified organisms - GMOs) was front and center last week when the Supreme Court ruled on a case involving an Indiana farmer and Monsanto, the maker and patent-holder of Roundup Ready genetically-modified soybean seeds (Bowman v. Monsanto). Though the court ruled narrowly on the issue and didn't speak much to the broader issue of patent protection for products that might be self-replicating, it was a reminder of how complicated and often contentious the issue of GMOs has become in the United States.

The ruling also coincidentally came just weeks before trade talks between the U.S. and the European Union are set to begin with. And you guessed it, GMOs and differing views on agricultural practices will be a part of the discussion.

But of course the issue of GMOs isn't just in trade talks. Grocery stories like Whole Foods are taking steps to rid their shelves of all GMO products. Earlier this year, they announced mandatory labeling of all GMO foods by 2018. Vermont is going so far as to mandate labeling of products with GMO ingredients.

According to polling conducted earlier this year, the majority of the country agrees. An overwhelming 82 percent of Americans across different demographics think GMO foods should be labeled.

So, should we be concerned about GMOs? A recent series of articles published in the prestigious journal Nature shed some light on the prevalence of GMO crops in the U.S. agricultural market.

Here are a few highlights: